How to Identify Degraded Land for Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia

The document presents a methodology for identifying potentially suitable degraded land for sustainable palm oil in Indonesia, specifically applied in West and Central Kalimantan. The approach uses a two-step process: a desktop analysis based on environmental, economic, social, and legal indicators, followed by rapid field assessments. This method is designed to align with RSPO standards, Indonesian law, and national REDD+ strategies. In a pilot application in West Kalimantan under Project POTICO, the method helped identify nine potentially suitable areas. Across West and Central Kalimantan, the initial desktop analysis identified approximately seven million hectares of potentially suitable land.

• The proposed identification method consists of a desktop analysis using available data and rapid field assessments, incorporating indicators related to legal, social, economic, and environmental factors.
• The methodology is designed to be consistent with Indonesian laws, national REDD+ strategies for low carbon degraded land, and sustainable production standards such as those from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
• A desktop analysis applied to the provinces of West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan identified approximately seven million hectares of land as potentially suitable for oil palm cultivation.
• In a pilot application for Project POTICO in West Kalimantan, the method was used to identify nine potentially suitable areas through field assessments of high-priority sites identified via desktop analysis.
• The method is intended as a first step to reduce costs for further due diligence; it is not meant to predetermine expansion sites and must be followed by activities such as high conservation value (HCV) assessments, social impact assessments, and free prior and informed consent (FPIC) processes.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). How to Identify Degraded Land for Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia. https://www.wri.org/research/how-identify-degraded-land-sustainable-palm-oil-indonesia

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How to Identify Degraded Land for Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/how-identify-degraded-land-sustainable-palm-oil-indonesia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How to Identify Degraded Land for Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia |url=https://www.wri.org/research/how-identify-degraded-land-sustainable-palm-oil-indonesia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendhow, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How to Identify Degraded Land for Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/how-identify-degraded-land-sustainable-palm-oil-indonesia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }