Several practices have been adopted by the Malaysian oil palm industry to enhance the sustainability of the industry, such as:
- Adopting Environmental Policies and requirements
- Implementing Good Agriculture Practices (GAP)
- Implementing Codes of Practices (COPs)
- Completed MPOB LCA Studies along oil palm supply chain
- Conservation efforts
Adopting Environmental Policies and requirements:
The oil palm industry in Malaysia is highly regulated according to the law of the land. These include laws pertaining to;
- Land Matters:
- National Land Code 1965
- Land Acquisition Act 1960
- Environmental Matters:
- Environmental Land Conservation Act 1960 revised in 1989
- Quality Act 1974 (Environmental Quality) (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) Regulation 1977
- Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 1978
- Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987
- Labour and Employee Matters:
- Labor Law
- Workers’ Minimum Standard of Housing & Amenities Act 1990
- Occupational Safety & Health Act 1977
- Pesticide Use:
- Pesticides Act 1974 (Pesticides Registration) Rules 1988
- Pesticides (Licensing for sale & storage) Rules 1988
- Pesticides (Labeling) Regulations 1984
- Factories & Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulations 1989
- Wildlife Matters:
- Protection of Wildlife Act 1972
Implementing of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP)
- Recycling of oil palm biomass and optimization of fertilizer inputs
- Adopting Zero Burning & Re-planting Policy: accumulation of soil carbon in the plantation
- Land Management & planting of leguminous cover crops
- High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF)
- Integrated Pest Management
- POME treatment system
Several of GAPs adopted by the Malaysian oil palm industry
- Maintain riparian reserve
- Water management
- Cover Crop
- Zero burning policy
- Organic fertilizer (EFB)
- EFB as compost
Integrated Pest management (IPM)
- Effective IPM system for the management of pest, diseases, weeds and introduced species
- Use of natural predators & beneficial plants
- Use of barn own to control rats
- Use of natural biopesticides – Metarhizzium Bt to control pesticides (bagworm)
- Decreased reliance on harmful chemical pesticides
- Only approved chemicals are used when required
POME treatment system
Capturing biogas at oil palm mills produce electricity for supply to
the national grid or for their own use at the mills. Biogas from mills
contains 65% methane and 35% carbon dioxide. Implementing biogas
capture facility will avoid biogas emission of about 17 million tonnes
of CO2 eq.
Under National Key Economic Area (NKEA), all oil palm mills in
Malaysia will be equipped with biogas capture facilities by 2020.
Status of biogas captures facilities as of April 2012;
- Plants in operation: 51
- Under construction: 20
- Under planning: 109
Launching of Code of Practices throughout the supply chain by
MPOB, in August 2007 by Minister of Plantation Industries and
Commodities, covering 7 Codes of Practices (COPs):
- Good Practice for Nursery
- Good Agricultural Practice for Oil Palm Estates & Smallholdings
- Good Milling Practice for Palm Oil Mills
- Good Crushing Practice for Palm Kernel Crushers
- Good Refining Practice for Palm Oil Refineries
- Good Practice for the Handling, Transport and Storage of Products from the Oil Palm
- Good Practice for Bulking Installations
MPOB LCA study for oil palm products including biodiesel had been completed.
- Publication of LCA studies can be found under Biodiesel Resource
Conservation efforts in preserving biodiversity;
- Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund (MPOWCF): US$ 5.6 million managed by Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).
Aims to:
- Help finance appropriate wildlife and biodiversity conservation activities;
- Study the effectiveness of conservation efforts on wildlife and biodiversity;
- Promote our own initiatives on conservation and sustainability activities that will enhance the production of palm oil;
- Help NGOs achieve their objectives on conservation,biodiversity and sustainability;
- Enhance the promotion of conservation and sustainability initiatives for the benefit of the Malaysian Palm Oil producers and consumers throughout the world.
Kinabatangan River- Corridor of Life in Sabah
- The Kinabatangan River is the longest river in Sabah and its landscape is very important for its biodiversity. It is home to over 250 bird, 50 mammal, 20 reptile, and 1,056 plant species. It is one of two places on earth where 10 primate species can be found together, including the orang-utan, proboscis monkey and the Bornean gibbon (the other apparently being in the Cuyabeno Reserve in Ecuadorian Amazonia).
- The Malaysian oil palm industry is also working with WWF on the Corridor of Life. We fully support its vision towards sustainable development
Several new initiatives have emerged in pursuit of sustainability, and these include:
- Publication of the Sustainability Manual for the oil palm industry developed by MPOB and the industry members.
- Establishment of Tropical Peat Institute covering 3 areas of research which includes:
- Inventory of peatland cultivation in Malaysia
- Review on working program of GHG flux studies
- Best management practice (BMP) of oil palm on peatland
- International Research Collaboration
- Collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Environment and Spatial Planning and University of Wageningen in the Netherlands on the tropical peatland projects
- Collaborative projects on biodiversity with the Netherlands
- Collaborative projects on carbon emission studies
- Introduction of the Roadmap for oil palm industry to enhance its competitiveness as part of oil palm NKEA (National Key Economic Area) covering 8 Entry Project Points (EPP).
- EPP1: Accelerating the replanting of oil palm
- EPP2: Improving Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) yield
- EPP3: Improving workers’ productivity
- EPP4: Increasing oil yield extraction
- EPP5: Developing biogas at the palm oil mills
- EPP6: Developing palm-based oleochemical derivatives
- EPP7: Commercializing of second generation biofuels
- EPP8: Expediting growth in food and health-based downstream segment.
Conclusion
Sustainable agriculture is not just environmentally sound land management practices, but is an integration of the three main goals of social responsibility, environmental health, and economic profitability. Malaysia is proud of being well on the way towards fulfilling the sustainable business triple bottom line of people, planet and profits. However, in pursuing the objectives of sustainability, the Malaysian oil palm industry does not want it to be abused as a trade barrier but welcomes a fair and balanced view on issues related to sustainability of palm oil.
