Leading agri-business group Olam, that has large palm oil plantations in Gabon, has secured Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification for its Bilala palm oil mill and concessions in Mouila, Gabon. The plantation covers 15,900 hectares (ha) of planted oil palm, and 19,500 ha of protected High Conservation Value areas.
This is Olam Palm Gabon’s second plantation to be RSPO certified. In 2016, its 20,000 ha Awala concession, with 6,800 ha of plantation and mill, became the first-ever new development in Africa to achieve RSPO certification.
With Bilala’s certification, Olam Palm Gabon has a total of 55,400 ha of RSPO certified areas.
The company is also aiming to secure RSPO certifications for its remaining two lots – 27,300 ha of planted palm and the protection of 36,600 ha of High Conservation Value forest and savannah. These are expected to come through by 2021.
Ranveer Chauhan, Managing Director of Oil Palm and Natural Rubber, Olam International, said, “Certified palm oil accounts for about 19% of global volumes, with Europe leading the way, and we expect other regions to start following suit. Achieving the certification was not easy – and nor should it be – we are proud of the environmental standards we have achieved, the jobs we have created (more than 7,700 Gabonese) and the wider social benefits created for the village communities around the plantations.”
Olam is also equally committed to its 100% traceability for its third party supply base and verification by 2020. There has been good progress on this front and at the end of 2017, close to 1,600 indirect mills have been analysed from 14 suppliers, up from about 1,100 mills at the end of July 2017. Olam confirms that by the end of Q2, 2017, 86% of crude palm oil and palm kernel oil volumes were successfully traced using GPS co-ordinates, with 100% of derivatives traced.
At
CMT’s 5th Africa Sustainable Oil Palm Summit on
25-26 April, 2018 in
Accra, Ghana, listen to a session on
‘Integrating Africa with the Global Industry’ by
Mr. Ranveer Singh Chauhan, MD & CEO - Edible Oils & Natural Rubber Business, Olam International Limited.
Contact Ms. Huiyan at
huiyan@cmtsp.com.sg or call +65 6346 9113 for more details.
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