How we are supporting Aceh’s Sustainable Palm Oil Road Map

Ringed by palm oil estates and smallholder farms, a block of rainforest in Aceh called Rawa Singkil—roughly the size of Singapore—remains one of the last refuges for Sumatran orangutans. Its peat swamps are being drained by illegal canals, its forests cleared for crops, and its survival is under relentless pressure. Without intervention, both the forest and the 1,500 orangutans that survive there face a bleak future.

This struggle is driven by global demand for palm oil, compounded by poverty and weak governance. Last week in Banda Aceh (August 12-13), however, a significant step forward was taken: the launch of a working group, supporting Aceh's Sustainable Palm Oil Roadmap. The Roadmap aims to chart a path where palm oil production not only supports livelihoods but also safeguards the Leuser Ecosystem—one of the most biodiverse landscapes on earth.

Convened by IDH, Sofi and I attended the launch of the working group. We were joined with government representatives from all levels, including the Deputy Governor, executives from major palm oil traders and consumer goods manufacturers such as Unilever and Musim Mas, representatives from international embassies, including the Ambassador of the Netherlands, and local and international civil society groups such as HAkA and Rainforest Action Network. We discussed monitoring approaches, raising palm oil yields, and strengthening land tenure and traceability through smallholder mapping.

The Aceh Sustainable Road Map

Coordinating Action

The Project Management Unit (PMU) is a newly formed body tasked with coordinating the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the 2023–2045 KSB Roadmap in Aceh Province. The PMU is housed in Bappeda Aceh and reports directly to the Governor. It has the authority to coordinate across government levels and gather information from civil society and the private sector.

Within its mandate, the PMU will collect, verify, and disseminate information as well as coordinate responses on deforestation, fires, and human rights issues such as land and labor conflicts. It will act as a hub, giving guidance, sharing information, producing reports and evaluations, and building trust and accountability toward the Roadmap's goals.

How Palmoil.io helps

Information supporting the PMU’s mission will come from many sources. They are already receiving NGO reports on recent deforestation and supply chain links, as well as preparing for the oncoming fire season.

Palmoil.io will provide forest monitoring and case management tools and training to support the PMU’s mission. Our jurisdictional dashboards will deliver monthly forest alerts for every jurisdiction in Aceh, as well as key landscapes including Rawa Singkil. Palmoil.io will produce monthly Risk Insight reports on verified deforestation cases and file them with the PMU for review. With our Plot Check tool, the PMU can independently verify and monitor cases submitted by stakeholders such as watchdogs.

The PMU will also have access to our grievance database, which is updated monthly. This will give the PMU a full view of the 168 grievances Palmoil.io is currently tracking in Aceh, allowing them to quickly review and respond to company updates. By tracking cases closely, the PMU can make the grievance process more effective, identify trends, and help close unresolved conflicts.

Tracking high priority cases
Functioning like a company grievance tracker, we are also helping the PMU establish a case tracker. This will provide the PMU with a system for collecting and managing updates on deforestation and other cases. It aims to speed up responsiveness and keep track of multiple cases simultaneously.

For example, in Rawa Singkil, Palmoil.io has already established buffers to monitor illegal canal development reported by watchdogs. Our analysts will monitor these buffer areas monthly for new clearing, so we can rapidly inform the PMU of any new encroachment or land development.

Why this matters to companies and buyers

By addressing the root causes of deforestation and conflicts across Aceh, the PMU’s efforts will help reduce procurement risks for palm oil buyers. Companies can also subscribe directly to Palmoil.io’s jurisdictional dashboard, which highlights districts and desas with the highest deforestation or social risk exposures and traces high-risk plots to nearby palm mills. Rather than simply reacting to NGO reports, companies can actively use our monthly Aceh-specific insights to identify problem areas, engage suppliers with credible data, and demonstrate to regulators and customers that they are managing compliance and sustainability risks.

Hitting the ground running

While the PMU and the Roadmap are still in their infancy, this is an enormous opportunity—not only to demonstrate that palm oil can be produced sustainably in a globally significant conservation landscape, but also to prove that jurisdictional approaches in Indonesia can deliver tangible results.

Bringing stakeholders together around a plan is difficult, and building an accountable structure for implementation is even harder. Given the many competing interests, I understand the cynicism about whether it will work. But years of thought and planning have gone into the Roadmap, and there is both political will and funding on the table to make it succeed.

This is an opportunity to pull together in the same direction, and we are excited to play our part. The Working Group launch could not come too soon. We are already confronting a worrying spike in deforestation rates across Leuser, so it is time to turn lofty statements and good intentions into tangible outcomes on the ground.

If you would like to learn more about how Palmoil.io’s Jurisdictional Dashboard can help your organization monitor risks, engage suppliers, and strengthen compliance in Aceh and beyond, please reach out at info@maphubs.com to schedule a demo. You can learn more here: https://www.palmoil.io/features/jurisdictional-monitoring