DYAH AULIA NUR FADILLAH

PT3YAE

Kalimantan’s Biodiversity and Palm Oil Industry

Background

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the large variety of life on earth. The word can be used to
refer to all living creatures such as micro-organisms, animals, plants, and humans. Scientists have
estimated over 8,7 million species of plants and animals in existence, but only 1,2 million have
been identified. The scale of biodiversity on earth varies between each area and ecosystem. Some
areas in the world have a higher level of biodiversity than other areas. An area with high-level
biodiversity is called Hotspot.

Borneo is the third largest island on earth (Gosh, 2021). Located in the Sundaland Hotspot, Borneo
or Kalimantan is one of the global biodiversity hotspots ( (Whitten, et al., 2004). Borneo is an
island with the oldest tropical rainforest biome in the world. There are 10 primate species, over
350 bird species, and 150 reptile and amphibian reptiles, and more than 15.000 plants live on this
220.000 km2 island. Borneo is the home of some endangered species such as Bornean Orangutan,
Bornean clouded leopard, proboscis monkey, and others. The biodiversity in Borneo has a big role
in helping scientists discover the evolution of species.

Human is having an important role in maintaining biodiversity. However, a lot of species are in
endangered status due to human consumption and activity that destroy the ecosystem. The palm
oil industry was responsible for at least 39% of forest loss on Borneo between 2000 and 2018
(Ananthalakshmi, 2019). The increasing number of global palm oil demands has powered the
massive deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra. This oil is used as an important ingredient for soap,
shampoos, detergents, and toothpaste.

Oil Palm Plantation

Palm oil is one of the important ingredients to fulfill human needs. The production fee of palm oil
is cheaper than other oils, costing around $2 per 2.2 pounds (Lloyd, 2020). Indonesia is the world’s
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largest producer of palm oil. Each year, Indonesia can produce more than 30 million tons. 85% of
global palm oil demands are produced by Indonesia and Malaysia.

The analysis conducted by Greenpeace and The TreeMap reports that in 2019 there was a total of
3,118,804 ha of oil palm planted inside Indonesia’s forest estate. Kalimantan is the second island
where oil palm affects the most. Sumatra and Kalimantan suffered the worst deforestation over the
past two decades. In Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan specifically, there was 817,693 ha of oil of
palm planted in the forest area. Industrial oil palm plantings are dominating Kalimantan forest
estate than smallholder planting by over five times.

Ironically there are oil palm plantings which opened in conservation areas, an area designated
strictly for conservation purposes. The analysis has found a total 90.200 ha footprint of oil palm
plantings. 28, 319 ha land of conservation areas in Kalimantan are affected by this plantings.
Nationwide, there are more than 146,871 ha of oil palm planted on protected forest areas. Both
conservation and protected areas’ main purpose is to protect the water catchments and maintain
the biodiversity inside, yet thousands hectares of land of oil palm plantings were found. Land
clearing process is done by many methods including forest burning, and deforestation.

Green House Emissions in Palm Oil Industry

The most influential greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide. The most known gas which is influenced by palm oil production is
carbon dioxide. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 410 ppm per March 2018
(Meijaard, et al., 2018). Tropical forests in Kalimantan contain high amounts of carbon. In order
to make way for Oil Palm plant, the land needs to be cleared. When a forest is cleared away, high
amounts of carbon are lost. Taken from Indonesia’s 2015 National Forest Reference Emission
Level submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
the amount of forest carbon specifically in Kalimantan is 128 Mg C/ha.

The development of oil palm plantations goes hand in hand with carbon dioxide lost to the
atmosphere. Based on Greenpeace’s finding, in a national scale, Indonesia had lost an estimated
104 Tg (Million metric tons) forest carbon to oil palm between 2001-2009. This is equivalent to
60% of the annual emission of international aviation. The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in
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Earth’s atmosphere can thicken the layer of gas emission which causes climate change and
temperature increase. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses absorb sunlight and solar
radiation that have bounced off the Earth’s surface. However, due to these layer, the radiation
cannot escape into space. The radiation can last for years in the atmosphere, and trap the heat. The
impact of this process is the planet getting hotter and it is called the greenhouse effect (MacMillan
& Turrentine, 2021).

Some oil palm growers burn their land to expand the plantation. The burning forest can release
smoke and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and pollute the air. A total of 3,404,000 hectares
of land were burned between 2015 and 2018 in Indonesia. In 2015, Indonesian Environmental
Ministry announced 2,6 million hectares of land and forest burned with 120,000 fire spots between
June and October. Due to this devastating case, 28 million people were affected, 18 people died
and almost 500,000 people had respiratory health problems. The smoke from this forest fire
affected Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam. During the dry season,
Kalimantan and Sumatra are now subject of annual fires and haze.

Soil and Water Quality from Palm Oil Industries

A palm oil mill generates 2,5 metric tons of effluent for every metric ton of palm oil it produces.
The massive development of plantation is increasing run-off and siltation due to reduced tree as
the ground cover and earth moving. Fertilizer, pesticides and other chemicals that are used for
palm oil production can influence the local drainage and impact local water quality and aquatic
biodiversity. This freshwater pollution can affect human and their health.

Palm oil productions, such as land clearing, plantation management by using fertilizer, and
pesticide) and processing of oil palm fruits to make crude palm oil can send the sediment, nutrients
and the chemical substance into streams that run through the plantations (Jordan, 2014).
Deforestation causes the reduction number of tree forest as water catchment, erosion prevention,
and land cover. The tree can be the barrier for rain to directly touch the land or soil, this barrier
can help to prevent run-off, erosion, landslide, and siltation. Not only those three, but also tree help
to maintain the quality of the underground water that kept under the soil and tree. Without the tree
and the plantation management, the underground water will be polluted by the chemicals which
are used in the industry
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Biodiversity

This case can ruin the biodiversity in its area. Kalimantan’s rainforest is one of the world’s most
species-rich environments and home to a lot of endangered species. Some of the animal that live
in Kalimantan’s rainforest under threat, they are orangutan, elephants, tigers, and others. It is need
to be understood that an ecosystem is an area where plants, animals and other organism even
weather and landscapes work together to form a bubble of life. Every factor in an ecosystem
depends on each other and can affect the balance of life. Oil palm plantation can cause decreasing
level of biodiversity and imbalance in the ecosystem.

Oil palm plantation create uniform oil palm monocultures which have a very low level of
biodiversity compare to rainforest. The soil and water pollution from the chemical use on
plantations makes other forms of agriculture impossible. These changes, from a rich rainforest to
an oil palm ‘forest’, can destroy the habitat of an enormous variety of animal and plant species and
create imbalance not only locally but also globally due to climate change.

Habitat loss can threaten the species living inside the area, in some cases, it can create conflicts
with humans. Killing and hunting of wildlife are done to create a ‘safe’ area for oil palm
plantations. Orangutan, an endemic species in Kalimantan, is considered as a pest for the palm oil
industry. This makes orangutans become a hunting target and live in threat. By the end of 2019,
183,687 ha of orangutan habitat in forest estate was converted to oil palm plantations. Orangutan
is categorized as critically endangered with only 104,700 Bornean, 13.846 Sumatran and 800
Tapanuli left. Since they have a role as “gardener” of the forest, it can create an imbalance in the
ecosystem and disperse of plant varieties if this extinction gets worse. Land clearance is not only
a threat to orangutan’s life but also other less well-known species.

Indigenous Community And Palm Oil Industry

The forests are home to over 2,000 Indigenous communities whom cultural identity and livelihood
are bound up with the land. Official census figures put the number of people living in or around it
at 8.6 million39 of whom 35% rely on forest resources to supplement their livelihoods, including
18.5% for whom it is their primary source of livelihood (Greenpeace Southeast Asia, 2001). Much
indigenous land crucial for traditional cultural life and livelihoods, is located within the forest
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estate. Greenpeace also found that there is an oil palm company that steals indigenous land
illegally. PT HMBP is accused by Dayak people in East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan of
stealing their land. This case shows illegal and uncontrolled oil palm plantations create conflicts
and imbalance.

Field Facts in Handling Palm Oil Industry

In 2013, the government of Indonesia released Law on Prevention and Eradication of Forest
Destruction. In this law, the prohibition on plantations in the forest estate is set out more explicitly,
the companies also are faced with administrative sanctions, permit freezing, and cancellation. The
sanction in this law also includes fines of USD 1.4 million – 3.5 million (IDR 20 billion – 50
billion) and prison terms for company officers from a minimum of 8 years up to 20 years. If a
company wants to open an oil palm plantation in the forest estate, the law states it must apply to
Minister for Environment and Forestry. The process of permit appliance involves obtaining a series
of different permits, approval, and decrees from both local and central governments.

Unfortunately, field facts do not go hand in hand with the law. Based on Human Rights Watch,
Indonesian government, both local and central government, fail to protect its communities from
palm oil companies. Community members have demonstrated against the expansion of PT Sintang
Raya’s plantations, but the government authorities harassed and threatened the member by
carrying out mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, and abusive prosecutions.

This condition is worsened with the new law that was released in 2020, Omnibus Law or UU Cipta
Kerja. This law is intended to boost Indonesia’s economy and create jobs by simplifying business
permits and easing foreign investment restrictions. Ironically, The Omnibus Law will also ease the
requirement for businesses to carry out an environmental assessment and permit, this situation can
be a backlash for Indonesia’s environmental situation and causes greater deforestation and
diversity loss.

Recommendation

In order to achieve the balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability, there
should be a clear and firm law that states the responsibility of the company and also the right of
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indigenous people in the land. Considering the condition of Indonesia, especially Kalimantan
forest state, there should not have been amnesty in law in order to protect the sustainability of
Indonesia.

As a civil society, we need to be able to come together to protect the environment by not
contributing to illegal hunting especially to those endangered species, and refusing to have
endangered animals as a pet.

References
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