Aceh is an Indonesian province situated in the Northernmost part of Sumatra. It contains high cultural and natural diversity. A significant portion of Aceh is also part of the Leuser Ecosystem, a vast 2.6 million hectares of forest, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest remaining contiguous forest expanses. The region is facing major threats of deforestation, as well as human-wildlife conflicts.
While we do not have an operational presence in Aceh, and the province constitutes only less than 10% of our total supply base, we recognize the importance of Aceh as a biodiversity hotspot. In 2020, Musim Mas launched a five-year strategy and roadmap for the Aceh Landscape, which details the objectives and targets for implementing our No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) policy in the landscape. Ever since, we have been working intensively in smallholder capacity-building efforts through our Smallholder Hubs program and holding multi-stakeholder workshops with other traders to raise awareness for responsible sourcing, and direct engagement with suppliers to enhance their traceability systems. These efforts represent our commitment to protecting sensitive landscapes while promoting sustainable practices in the palm oil sector. However, recent developments in Aceh have brought renewed urgency to these efforts.
News of spikes in active deforestation in the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve in Southern Aceh came as a surprise. Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is located in the vicinity of where we have just started working, and we are sourcing from some of the mills in the neighboring district. An investigation by Rainforest Action Network (RAN) highlighted details of the deforestation and identified potential links to one of our suppliers.
Upon learning of this, we immediately activated our grievance mechanism to address the situation and engaged with the implicated supplier. Available evidence was examined, supporting documents were requested, and dialogues with both the supplier and the grievance raiser ensued. However, in the end, not enough evidence was provided to dispel the allegations of the RAN investigation. So, we decided not to continue the commercial relationship with the alleged supplier at the end of November 2024.
But the issue is much bigger than that. The greater challenge is how to address the deforestation still continuing in an area considered one of the last habitats for Orangutans along with other critically endangered species in Sumatra. In Aceh, the social and political complexity behind the forest destruction is immense and cannot be addressed by a single intervention. Rather, it requires a coordinated effort by local, provincial, and central governments, enforcement agencies, NGOs, processors, local mills, and consumer brands. We are deeply committed to assisting in convening such an effort and putting an end to illegal deforestation in the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve. We call upon other concerned stakeholders to join us in this undertaking.
