RSPO Update on legality of e-maps publication in Indonesia

The RSPO Secretariat in Indonesia recently consulted with the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning, Mr Sofyan Djalil, and some of BPN’s senior civil servants, with regards to the disclosure of RSPO members’ concession maps. As a result of this meeting, the Indonesian Government has confirmed there’s no legal requirement preventing RSPO members to publish their concession maps, through the shape-file format collection, and that RSPO may proceed to request the concession map in shapefile format directly from its Indonesian grower member companies.

During the consultation, RSPO Indonesia presented the Global Forest Watch platform, which assists the RSPO Secretariat in monitoring its members, especially in relation to preventing land fire incidents inside concession boundaries. This platform was welcomed by the Indonesian Government, as it assists with monitoring the performance of some land-based used commodities in Indonesia.

BPN senior civil servant Bp. Sudarsono confirmed that publication of maps via such a platform is allowed, via direct collection from RSPO members. In the discussion, RSPO was reassured that the letter issued by the Minister, which was addressed to GAPKI back in September 2016, was to underline that the Government of Indonesia is not permitted to share the map information. The RSPO Secretariat acknowledges that the Indonesian Government is not authorised to share such information, however, companies who provide consent, are free to share concession maps with other parties, for their own benefit.

With this recent progress, the RSPO Secretariat urges its remaining members, who are not yet submitting the shape-file of their concession map boundaries, to immediately deliver the information, as part of their compliance to RSPO GA10 resolution’s 6g.