Bumitama Group – Multiple Subsidiaries – popup

We sent a letter to express our concerns related to the report and requested for more information. We discussed with Bumitama on its progress and action plan. We have also encouraged the supplier and will continue to monitor the situation, review the progress and encourage the implementation of Bumitama’s sustainability commitments.

Progress to-date

Peatland – the company has worked together with the government for a detailed moratorium map, resulting in a “no peat moratorium” inside the concession. Bumitama has also conducted a comprehensive peat delineation survey to set aside the available Peatland for conservation.

High Conservation Value (HCV) degradation – Bumitama has done an HCV analysis. The identified area has been set aside for HCV conservation.

High Carbon Stock (HCS) degradation – Bumitama conducted an HCS analysis and subsequently set aside the area being for conservation.

Fire – Bumitama has put together a detailed fire prevention system involving the community to address fire hazard surrounding the operation.

Overlapping of land with the national park – Bumitama has returned the land area back to the government.

Permit irregularities – Bumitama explained the legal position of the concession. The company’s operations comply with the legal requirements now.

Sustainability Policy – Bumitama is committed to its sustainability policy and will be reporting on its progress:

• Multi-stakeholder landscape project in West Kalimantan on wildlife corridor and Peatlandconservation with local communities;
• Livelihood improvement and local community projects;
• Certification programme focused on scheme Smallholders and independent Smallholders ;
• GHG reduction programmes;
• Supply chain traceability programmes.

It published its objectives and targets for implementation of its sustainability initiatives for the years 2017 to 2024.

They also published their time bound plan for RSPO certification for all subsidiaries and Smallholders .

An area of 29,415 hectares has been set aside for conservation.

Bumitama provided a detailed statement on the legality and process surrounding the acquisition of PT Langgeng Makmur Sejahtera (LMS) in Central Kalimantan.

The full Sustainability Report can be found here and the Grievance Procedure Update can be accessed here.

The RSPO is conducting a legal review on the PT Hati Prima Agro complaint.

Illegality: The report alleges that Bumitama has no legal permits for many of their plantations. They used dubious means, through divesting of concessions ownership to escape complaints, i.e: via management agreements with supposedly independent companies.

There are currently two pending cases with RSPO:

– PT Bumitama Gunajaya Abadi
– PT Hati Prima Agro

Bumitama issued a press release on 25 September in response to Greenpeace’s report “Final Countdown”. It assures stakeholders that the company remains committed to its NDPE policy outlined in its 2015 Sustainability policy. Read the full release here.

Bumitama has engaged a well-respected organisation, Aidenvironment, to assist in the assessment and implementation of their Sustainability Policy, including a commitment to continuously improve on their sustainability practices.

Bumitama is committed to transparency by publishing the information on its Sustainability Dashboard, which can be used to monitor the Group’s progress.

Greenpeace also submitted a letter to RSPO, calling for action against said supplier.

 Report stated that Mondelez continues to buy Palm Oil from Bumitama, which has developed over 70,000 ha of concession in 2012 without the necessary permits. Since 2005, 11,100 ha of forest were cleared within the ‘laundered’ concessions in the three case study areas, and nearly 2,300 ha of this clearance was from 2014 onwards.

Bumitama issued a press release on 15 November in response to Greenpeace’s report “Dying for a Cookie”. It reiterates the company’s commitment to its NDPE policy, and consistent adherence to the applicable laws in all transactions involving the acquisition of concessions. Read the full release here.

We will continue to engage with Bumitama and follow up on their updates on KML.

They will be developing a rehabilitation plan and conserving the cleared area.

Ground-truthing on the cleared land will also be conducted and Bumitama will publish regular updates through their website and sustainability dashboard.