Anglo Eastern Plantations (AEP) – Kahayan Agro Plantation (KAP) – popup

1. Mighty Earth RRR1 alleged that Kahayan Agro Plantation (KAP) deforested an estimated 420 hectares between October 2016 and September 2017, including clearing of Bornean Orangutan habitat. Prior to October 2016, an estimated 3,593 hectares were cleared, including 700 hectares of orangutan habitat.
2. The report also included allegations of land conflict and licensing issues, including:
   • Disregard of the Gunung Mas Regent’s decree to excise land from their concession due to the concerns of local people, and the continued acquisition of land despite a ban on KAP on land sale negotiations.
   • Disregard of Governor’s directive to conduct an inventory of all land claims within KAP’s

We sent a letter to express our concerns related to the report; and requested for more information on the issues raised.

1. that a Stop-Work Order (SWO) on land clearing is in place;
2. a High Carbon Stock (HCS) study is being undertaken;
3. a Sustainability Policy is in practice;
4. a MoU has been signed with the community in Desa Dandang Kecamatan Kahayan Hulu Utara to maintain a conservation area.

AEP have submitted KAP’s HCS report (no. 52) to the HCS secretariat. Refer to the status of AEP’s report submission here.

Mighty Earth RRR14 alleged that KAP deforested 189 hectares of forest between 18 May 2018 to 01 April 2019.

We are still in discussion with AEP about the peer review process.

KAP has also mentioned that they are going to issue a moratorium (stop-work order) on new land-clearing starting from 03 June 2019 until the peer review process is finished (estimated timeframe of 3.5 months or earlier).

Mighty Earth RRR15 alleged that KAP deforested an estimated 40 hectares of forest between 01 April to 02 May 2019.

Mighty Earth RRR24 alleged that 11 hectares of forest were cleared in KAP’s concession between 15 December 2019 – 13 January 2020.

We had a physical meeting with AEP to clarify the findings of Mighty Earth RRR24 against KAP.

AEP clarified that KAP has fulfilled all the steps required by HCSA. The HCSA assessment report has went through the HCSA peer review process and this completion is evident through the official notice from HCSA to KAP. KAP then conducted the land-clearing activities based on the completed HCSA peer review results.

However, due to the publication of Mighty Earth’s Rapid Response Report 24, the HCSA secretariat informed KAP that there may have been an interpretation error in the initial HCSA peer review assessment which has been published by HCSA. As such, the HCSA Secretariat commissioned an additional rapid review by a new peer reviewer. The result of the second peer review concluded that there was an error in the categorisation of area as disputed in the Mighty Earth Report. The particular area was originally designated as a Medium Priority Patch (MPP), was found to be a High Priority Patch (HPP) in the second peer review result. The HPP area, as per the HCSA Toolkit, needs to be conserved.

As such, the HCSA Secretariat requested KAP to issue a Stop Work Order (SWO) and identify another potential area for plasma development through re-engaging with the community and local government.

In response to the HCSA request which came after the publication of Mighty Earth’s report, KAP stated that suspending the land development is not possible due to the following reasons:

1. KAP had previously issued a Stop Work Order twice; once during the HCSA Assessment, and another during the initial HCSA peer review process. During the previous two Stop Work Orders, KAP constantly engaged the community and promised the community and local government that they will proceed with the land development immediately after receiving the initial peer review completion notification from HCSA (published by HCSA on 09 December 2019).
2. KAP have communicated with the community, which was witnessed by the local authorities. During the communication, the community expressed that they reject the postponement and relocation of the plasma area and second peer review by HCSA.

KAP clarified that they are committed to the process that they have gone through. KAP is willing to provide additional information and data to proof that the initial peer review is accurate and acceptable.

KAP informed us that the engagement between KAP and HCSA is currently ongoing.

Mighty Earth RRR25 alleged that KAP cleared nine hectares of forest in their concession between 13 January – 11 February 2020.

Musim Mas supports the constructive communication process between HCSA and KAP. We will continue to monitor the progress.

https://highcarbonstock.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/PUBLIC-RESPONSE-KAP-of-HCS.pd

The detail of the declaration is accessible on AEP website via this link.

Based on the positive progress, we consider the case closed.