A new land-use change analysis showed a promising sustainability outlook for Indonesia’s palm oil sector, underscoring the importance of no-deforestation practices, robust trade and governance, and the influence of green consumer behaviour in steering the industry toward sustainability. Yet despite such significant strides, a challenge remains, as only a fraction of palm oil reaches the ‘green’ market, suggesting misalignment with global green trade initiatives.
The research was part of the Trade, Development, and the Environment Hub (TRADE Hub)—a global research consortium led by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC) and supported by the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (UKRI GCRF). Initiated in 2019, the consortium sought to innovate in the trade of key agricultural commodities and wildlife products through sustainable practices.
That project is now coming to a close. On March 19, 2024, around 200 participants, including researchers, students, and other stakeholders, attended the TRADE Hub’s closing event. Within Indonesia, the Hub’s work consisted of a transformative five-year journey aimed at confronting the complex challenges in the trade of sustainable palm oil, coffee, and wildlife. Below, we share key findings from TRADE Hub research into two such sectors: palm oil and songbirds.
Pathways to sustainable palm oil
The aforementioned TRADE Hub project explored methods to make Indonesian palm oil more sustainable through system dynamic simulations and comprehensive stakeholder consultations with over 600 participants from 270 institutions. “To truly move towards sustainable palm oil trade, we must implement key actions that address the core needs of the industry and its stakeholders,” said study lead Herry Purnomo, Senior Scientist and Indonesia Country Director for the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).
“We need to foster stronger multistakeholder fora and collaboration,” he continued. “On the ground, this means consumers should provide incentives for producers to strive towards sustainability. Smallholders must implement sustainable practices and improve their business models with adequate support.” To support this transformation, he called for a harmonized accountability framework and equitable incentive schemes.
Machine learning and sustainable trade
Another TRADE Hub study, led by CIFOR-ICRAF scientist Beni Okarda, unveiled critical findings about the songbird trade in Indonesia, revealing a significant shift to online markets and the potential of machine learning in monitoring this trade.
In Indonesia, songbirds are not just pets but are integral to cultural practices, especially in Java. However, the trade poses a major threat to biodiversity, contributing to the decline in wild songbird populations. From 2007-2018, the percentage of households in Java that kept songbirds more than doubled, from 14.2 percent to 31.9 percent, driven largely by the popularity of songbird contests.
Traditionally studied through physical markets in major cities, researchers’ focus has now shifted to the burgeoning online trade. As such, the TRADE Hub study analyzed 371,301 online advertisements for songbirds, which featured 247 species across 49 families, with 80 percent of these being native to Indonesia, and six percent being considered ‘threatened’. Java emerged as the central hub for the online songbird market, accounting for 91 percent of the ads, while most sellers were shown to be hobbyists and breeders, with a small percentage being professional traders. Most birds advertised are linked to contests, and a significant majority (79 percent) of the native birds advertised are sourced from captive breeding.
Given the economic and cultural significance of the trade, Okarda stated that completely halting it isn’t feasible; instead, he underscored the need for a robust, effective monitoring platform to ensure the trade can continue sustainably. The study highlighted the effectiveness of machine learning in uncovering patterns in the online trade, suggesting that digital monitoring could complement traditional methods. With the increasing use of machine learning and big data, there’s hope that Indonesia can strike a balance between cultural practices and biodiversity conservation, potentially setting a benchmark for wildlife trade monitoring worldwide.
Looking back, looking forward: Wins for community empowerment and sustainability
Overall, the Indonesian division of the global TRADE Hub yielded an array of scientific insights, from green trade initiatives that benefit forest landscapes and communities to technical guidelines and digital tools for disseminating knowledge.
Dida Gardera, a civil servant at the Indonesian Ministry of Economy Affairs, highlighted the crucial role of palm oil and coffee in the nation’s economy, stressing the importance of sustainable practices amidst growing environmental and trade challenges. “The TRADE Hub project stands as a testament to Indonesia’s commitment to balancing economic growth with environmental conservation and social welfare,” he said.
CIFOR’s efforts to facilitate independent oil palm smallholders and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Indonesia Program’s work with coffee smallholders in Lampung highlighted the project’s commitment to action research. Meanwhile, academic partners like the University of Indonesia and IPB University contributed through studies on sustainable financing and capacity building within the science community, illustrating a multi-faceted approach to tackling environmental and trade challenges.
The project’s on-ground actions, such as supporting deforestation-free coffee production and monitoring the online trade of songbirds, demonstrate a comprehensive approach to environmental conservation. These initiatives address immediate ecological challenges and empower local communities to adopt sustainable practices.
As the TRADE Hub project concludes its activities in Indonesia, its legacy endures through the knowledge shared, the practices established, and the partnerships formed. Rogier Klaver, who leads CIFOR-ICRAF’s project management unit, emphasized the TRADE Hub project’s role in fostering deeper integration between forestry and agroforestry, signifying a broader vision of connecting ecosystems, economies, and communities through trees. “This project has advanced our understanding of sustainable trade and paved the way for future innovations in environmental stewardship and socio-economic development,” he said.
Neil Burgess, representing UNEP-WCMC, lauded the project’s achievements in Indonesia, from enhancing scientific capacity to influencing policy and improving livelihoods. “The project’s impact extends beyond its timeframe, setting a precedent for future research and policy-making in sustainable trade.”
We want you to share Forests News content, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This means you are free to redistribute our material for non-commercial purposes. All we ask is that you give Forests News appropriate credit and link to the original Forests News content, indicate if changes were made, and distribute your contributions under the same Creative Commons license. You must notify Forests News if you repost, reprint or reuse our materials by contacting forestsnews@cifor-icraf.org.
