HCV, SEIA, GHG and LUCA Guidance Documents and Tools for Smallholders are now available for download

We are pleased to inform you that the RSPO Board of Governors (BoG) has endorsed four Smallholder guidance documents and tools in June 2018. These guidance documents/tools will provide optional simplified approaches to conduct RSPO required assessments for smallholder groups.

The first three guidance documents are now available in infographics. These include:

●     Guidance on Map Submission for Land Use Change Analysis (LUCA) for Independent Smallholder (Version 1, December 2017)

●     Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Assessment Procedure for New Development (Reference Tool for Smallholder) (Version 1, December 2017)

●     Smallholder- Friendly Manual for Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) Tool (Version 1, December 2017)

The fourth guidance on Simplified High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach for Independent Smallholder in the RSPO is available in two versions, i.e., mobile app (free download at Google Store as ‘RSPO HCV’); and as a non-infographic printable download as:

● Simplified HCV Approach for Independent Smallholder in the RSPO – HCV Procedures for New Plantings (Phase 3 and 4) 

● Simplified HCV Approach for Independent Smallholder in the RSPO – Introduction Document (Phase 1 & 2) 

All documents are available for downloads here.

These documents were developed to guide Group Managers of RSPO Group Certification for Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) production, i.e. a Group that is already certified or with the intention of achieving certification, to do assessments themselves, without having to assign Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS).  Nonetheless, if the result generated from these simplified assessments shows a medium or high-risk identification, the group may need to assign an accredited ALS to conduct a full assessment accordingly.

The RSPO Smallholder Unit will conduct a series of activities to socialise these documents, followed by training sessions for Group Managers of smallholder groups. For further information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]