For the first time ever, government planners, private companies, and civil society can create a customizable suitability map to guide field assessments and planning for sustainable palm oil production in Kalimantan, Indonesia, using a public, free, easy-to-use online application.

 

In Indonesia, policy-makers and industry leaders are developing policies and practices in support of low-carbon palm oil production on “degraded land.” In this context, ‘degraded land’ refers to areas with low carbon stocks and low levels of biodiversity. Such policies and practices have the potential to enable industry expansion while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. They also could contribute to poverty reduction if this expansion follows sustainable planning and management practices, including respect for local peoples’ interests and rights.

 

The Suitability Mapper enables users to identify potentially suitable sites for sustainable palm oil production. The application has the potential to translate Indonesia’s low carbon development plans into reality. As part of its 26% emissions reductions plan, Indonesia has targeted 860,000 ha of oil palm plantations to be established on low carbon “degraded” lands.

 

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Sekala developed the Suitability Mapper to allow users to replicate or customize the desktop portion of a method developed under Project POTICO. This method was developed to identify potentially suitable areas for sustainable palm oil in Indonesia and to identify priority sites for further investigation in the field based on environmental and crop-specific criteria, such as land cover and peat depth. It was designed in accordance with established standards for sustainable palm oil production. It incorporates relevant Indonesian laws and policies, and is consistent with the proposed national REDD+ strategy to support palm oil production on degraded land. The application was designed with Blue Raster and is powered by ESRI.

 

 

The Suitability Mapper, using WRI’s set parameters for palm oil, produces results showing approximately 14.5 million hectares of potentially suitable land in Kalimantan. This number reflects only the desktop analysis portion of the POTICO method, which needs to be followed up by field assessments.

 

The Suitability Mapper can be used by a wide variety of stakeholders for a range of potential applications, such as Indonesian government officials assessing policy options to support palm oil production on degraded land and palm oil producers committed to certification standards, such as those of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

 

Working in partnership with the RSPO, WRI publically launched the Suitability Mapper during the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) RT10 Conference on October 30th, 2012 in Singapore.

 

WRI is working closely with the Indonesian Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) regarding how government decision makers can actively apply the Suitability Mapper in spatial planning decision processes. WRI conducted a workshop with Bappenas in March 2012 and further workshops and training sessions are scheduled for 2013. Successful adoption of the Suitability Mapper by Bappenas and other Indonesian government agencies would help to ensure that important suitability considerations for palm oil would be included in initial stages of land use planning.

 

Visit http://www.wri.org/applications/maps/suitability-mapper/ to access the Suitability Mapper and find out more.