Satellites for Transparency in Palm Oil Supply Chains
Will the “eyes in the skies” improve sustainability of raw material supplies like palm oil?
Google Earth was a novel experience back in the day when it made it possible to view satellite images of your neighbors backyard or street views in cities thousands of miles away. Advancing technology is making it possible to watch what happens to locations far removed from curious eyes in real time.
This screen shot below from zoom.earth shows what the average person with a computer and internet access can do today. Live aerial views and real time satellite imagery with locations on fire are available with a few clicks.
Google Earth was a novel experience back in the day when it made it possible to view satellite images of your neighbors backyard or street views in cities thousands of miles away. Advancing technology is making it possible to watch what happens to locations far removed from curious eyes in real time.
This screen shot below from zoom.earth shows what the average person with a computer and internet access can do today. Live aerial views and real time satellite imagery with locations on fire are available with a few clicks.
Zoom.Earth screenshot
The technology available today is leading to a proliferation of the use of satellites to manage supply chains globally. Companies that are concerned about deforestation in their supply chains for example, can access public resources like Global Forest Watch to get an idea of what is happening in regions they buy from. GFW touts itself as:
Global Forest Watch offers the latest data, technology and tools that empower people everywhere to better protect forests. Global Forest Watch offers the latest data, technology and tools that empower people everywhere to better protect forests.
Its open access tool MapBuilder has even been used by an unidentifed user “JD” to create an open data platform for viewing forests and land use in Malaysia. More on “JD’s” initiative and the interactive map created under HutanWatch can be read in this GFW blog.
HutanWatch is not specific to the palm oil industry, unlike the many other efforts to monitor forest canopy change around palm oil operations. Sime Darby’s CrossCheck monitoring platform is one example of satellite mapping and monitoring that is specific to the industry.
Newer developments in the use of satellite imagery include the partnership between Bunge, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), Mondelēz International, Musim Mas, Nestlé, Pepsico, Sime Darby Plantation, Unilever and Wilmar to establish the RADD system which “will make it much easier for companies and other stakeholders to see deforestation happening in near-real-time and with greater accuracy.”
Dutch asset manager, Robeco, has meanwhile partnered with Satelligence, a geodata company to monitor deforestation in palm oil operations from Malaysia and Indonesia.
In order to keep up with the developments, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) obtained permission from the Malaysian government to publish maps of its members operations in Malaysia and launched GeoRSPO. CEO of the RSPO, Darrel Webber was quoted as calling it a great step for “traceability and accountability” in a news report that urged the Indonesian government to follow suite.
Breaking news in this new year of 2020 is the development of SkyWatch, a new satellite imaging platform from Canada which has attracted “an influx of capital from investors as it launched “at a time when there’s a huge amount of excitement around the business of outer space.” There is no doubt that some within the global palm oil industry have invested into this latest use of satellite imagery but does that mean their supply chains will be more sustainable?
Sustainability Should NOT Be a Knee Jerk
All this mapping of palm oil operations and monitoring for deforestation in palm oil supply chains makes for good headlines but does little for the credibility of the industry.
It may be superior to anything that competing vegetable oils like soy or rapeseed are offering but the connotations are that further deforestation WILL occur in the palm oil industry and that these “eyes in the skies” are somehow expected to give the average consumer confidence in a sustainable palm oil industry.
The palm oil industry should not kid itself or fall for the glimmer thrown off by the satellites. The skies around them remain dark as the average netivist on social media will not care to spend the hours needed to verify whether the latest report of orangutan shooting or deforestation is connected to their breakfast cereal.
These netivists who influence consumer choices may be low in numbers but they do influence the narrative around palm oil. To a point where the sustainability of the palm oil industry hinges upon deforestation with zero regard for the development of other countries.
This attitude may be considered a crime against humanity in other narratives that seek sustainable development where infant mortality is lowered and girls get equal opportunities in life but these are the tough nuts that the palm oil industry has to deal with.
You cannot blame the netivists. Why should an industry be considered “sustainable” when there is a threat that it may be the cause of deforestation that threatens orangutans with extinction? A sustainable product should have a rock solid stance where this threat against orangutans does not exist.
Better use of palm oil maps
New for 2020 in mapping palm oil operations is the news that Malaysia intends to publish all maps of palm oil concessions in a bid for traceability and transparency.
This bid for transparency by the Malaysian palm oil industry may invite further criticisms of its footprint. Once published, it will not take much for computer savvy types like “JD” to overlay critical habitats for wildlife with palm oil plantations in Malaysia. This is especially so for the Central Forest Spine in West Malaysia which has long been mapped to identify critical areas for wildlife. The maps from WildCRU can be accessed here.
Global Forest Watch offers the latest data, technology and tools that empower people everywhere to better protect forests. Global Forest Watch offers the latest data, technology and tools that empower people everywhere to better protect forests.
Its open access tool MapBuilder has even been used by an unidentifed user “JD” to create an open data platform for viewing forests and land use in Malaysia. More on “JD’s” initiative and the interactive map created under HutanWatch can be read in this GFW blog.
HutanWatch is not specific to the palm oil industry, unlike the many other efforts to monitor forest canopy change around palm oil operations. Sime Darby’s CrossCheck monitoring platform is one example of satellite mapping and monitoring that is specific to the industry.
Newer developments in the use of satellite imagery include the partnership between Bunge, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), Mondelēz International, Musim Mas, Nestlé, Pepsico, Sime Darby Plantation, Unilever and Wilmar to establish the RADD system which “will make it much easier for companies and other stakeholders to see deforestation happening in near-real-time and with greater accuracy.”
Dutch asset manager, Robeco, has meanwhile partnered with Satelligence, a geodata company to monitor deforestation in palm oil operations from Malaysia and Indonesia.
In order to keep up with the developments, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) obtained permission from the Malaysian government to publish maps of its members operations in Malaysia and launched GeoRSPO. CEO of the RSPO, Darrel Webber was quoted as calling it a great step for “traceability and accountability” in a news report that urged the Indonesian government to follow suite.
Breaking news in this new year of 2020 is the development of SkyWatch, a new satellite imaging platform from Canada which has attracted “an influx of capital from investors as it launched “at a time when there’s a huge amount of excitement around the business of outer space.” There is no doubt that some within the global palm oil industry have invested into this latest use of satellite imagery but does that mean their supply chains will be more sustainable?
Sustainability Should NOT Be a Knee Jerk
All this mapping of palm oil operations and monitoring for deforestation in palm oil supply chains makes for good headlines but does little for the credibility of the industry.
It may be superior to anything that competing vegetable oils like soy or rapeseed are offering but the connotations are that further deforestation WILL occur in the palm oil industry and that these “eyes in the skies” are somehow expected to give the average consumer confidence in a sustainable palm oil industry.
The palm oil industry should not kid itself or fall for the glimmer thrown off by the satellites. The skies around them remain dark as the average netivist on social media will not care to spend the hours needed to verify whether the latest report of orangutan shooting or deforestation is connected to their breakfast cereal.
These netivists who influence consumer choices may be low in numbers but they do influence the narrative around palm oil. To a point where the sustainability of the palm oil industry hinges upon deforestation with zero regard for the development of other countries.
This attitude may be considered a crime against humanity in other narratives that seek sustainable development where infant mortality is lowered and girls get equal opportunities in life but these are the tough nuts that the palm oil industry has to deal with.
You cannot blame the netivists. Why should an industry be considered “sustainable” when there is a threat that it may be the cause of deforestation that threatens orangutans with extinction? A sustainable product should have a rock solid stance where this threat against orangutans does not exist.
Better use of palm oil maps
New for 2020 in mapping palm oil operations is the news that Malaysia intends to publish all maps of palm oil concessions in a bid for traceability and transparency.
This bid for transparency by the Malaysian palm oil industry may invite further criticisms of its footprint. Once published, it will not take much for computer savvy types like “JD” to overlay critical habitats for wildlife with palm oil plantations in Malaysia. This is especially so for the Central Forest Spine in West Malaysia which has long been mapped to identify critical areas for wildlife. The maps from WildCRU can be accessed here.
Rather than using the maps to identify palm oil companies who may be a threat to the survival of elephants, tigers and orangutans and shame them from there, the better use of maps for palm oil plantations in Malaysia would be to identify which companies can play a role in returning habitat to wildlife in Malaysia.
This is an effort that will require the support of not only the Malaysian palm oil industry but also that of other industries including timber. A good start for the Malaysian industries would be to adopt the IUCN’s Motion, Protecting Rivers as Corridors in a Changing Climate.
Our suggestion to the Malaysian palm oil industry would be to initiate the return of riparian reserves to wildlife in Malaysia. Not merely what is mandated by federal or state laws but to ensure these reserves are adequate for the wildlife that depends on these riparian corridors for survival.
Update Jan 24, 2020. UN FAO signs deal to include powerful satellite data from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to better monitor forest conditions. Reuters
Published January 13, 2020. CSPO Watch
This is an effort that will require the support of not only the Malaysian palm oil industry but also that of other industries including timber. A good start for the Malaysian industries would be to adopt the IUCN’s Motion, Protecting Rivers as Corridors in a Changing Climate.
Our suggestion to the Malaysian palm oil industry would be to initiate the return of riparian reserves to wildlife in Malaysia. Not merely what is mandated by federal or state laws but to ensure these reserves are adequate for the wildlife that depends on these riparian corridors for survival.
Update Jan 24, 2020. UN FAO signs deal to include powerful satellite data from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to better monitor forest conditions. Reuters
Published January 13, 2020. CSPO Watch