Please find our reply to you request to respond to the report remitted to the RSPO of which we received on Thursday, 13 February 2014.

Transcription

1 24 February 2014 Dear Ravin, Please find our reply to you request to respond to the report remitted to the RSPO of which we received on Thursday, 13 February BAL Commitment to RSPO as of 21 November 2013 Company Our Commitment LSM Stop land clearing as of 14 October 2014 NKU Stop land clearing as of 21 November 2014 ASMR Stop land clearing as of 21 November 2014 KML As per BAL commitment, has stopped land clearing as of 21 November PT. LSM As per BAL commitment to the RSPO to stop land clearing activities dated 14 October We would like to explain on the 3 sites AidEnvironment has raised: Site 1 There was land clearing activities prior to 14 October 2013, outside HCV area. Management actions As per BGA commitment to the RSPO, no land clearing conducted after 14 October Attached maps dated 5 October 2013 and 10 February 2014 which show that there was no land clearing on Site 1 after 14 October (Attachment 1). Site 2 The area highlighted in the report is lowland area prone to flooding during the raining season (Attachment 2 shows the area you highlighted was wet or flooded on 24 November 2013). Therefore LSM conducted water and ground management works (ditch and road improvement), which are still ongoing by LSM, to mitigate the risk of flooding (Attachment 3 shows the water and ground management works map in the Site 2 and around). Management actions These activities have been shared with the RSPO and YIARI, as part of the Best Management Practices for lowlands area which is prone to flooding. Site 3 Not all the areas within the LSM IUP have been acquired. There are patches of land, mostly along the border of LSM IUP, that are still owned by community, and have not been sold to LSM, and managed directly by the communities, either through individual farming or group community farming, or LSM plasma. The Site 3 AidEnvironment pointed out is managed by Kelompok Tani Dusun Tanah Merah (Attachment 4). The area is enclave even though some of it is inside LSM IUP. The area itself is just next to Dusun Tanah Merah. The clearing activities conducted by them are outside and along the border of LSM IUP.

2 Some of the land clearing activities touched about 6 ha within the earlier identified water conservation area. However, LSM have not been able to acquire this area, and this has resulted in the land clearing of this 6 ha. LSM is now trying to acquire the land for water conservation. Management Action LSM is now trying to acquire replacement land for water conservation along the same river/landscape. 2. PT. NKU This is an extract from the SGX announcement dated 18 April 2013: The Company also requested that NKU suspend all its operations in the interim while the Company gathers more information on COP s petition. The Company has conducted field investigations together with the village officials and local communities situated around NKU s landbank. Since then, all heavy equipment has been withdrawn from the operational area of NKU as a gesture of goodwill to COP The above paragraph clearly highlights the ownership was not finalized at that time and BGA is using its influence as the prospective buyer to request NKU management to stop land clearing and conduct HCV assessment from 7 to 13 April The Company only request for suspension of activities in the interim. The Management of NKU at that time did not acknowledge that they are a member of the RSPO and therefore only wants to comply with Indonesian laws and regulations. Since the press release on 21 November 2013, NKU has stopped all land clearing activities and the only activities were some works for strengthening ditches (tanggul) and clearing river silt (locally known as cuci sungai) in Sungai Mirah. As per BAL commitment to the RSPO to stop land clearing activities dated 21 November 2013, please find the explanation for the 3 sites shown on the satellite maps: Site 1 There was some land clearing activities conducted prior to 21 November 2013 as NKU was not considered a RSPO member. Management actions All activities have stopped since 21 November Site 2 There were some activities conducted prior to July 2013, as NKU was not considered a RSPO member. Management actions All activities have been stopped since 21 November Site 3 As can be seen from the attachment 5, there has been no activity during 1 June January 2014.

3 NKU did not have any activities after 21 November 2013 until 21 February (today), when NPP notice period had just started during the beginning of February. Based on the data on 27 January (AidEnvironment map), the image of Site 3 (Attachment 5) most probably have been misinterpreted due to cloud cover for the 24 November 2013 image. As can be seen from the NKU Landsat map dated 27 January 2014 (Attachment 5), it shows that the area had been open, due to the land clearing by the previous owner of NKU, and now the area is occupied by grassland or shrub. 3. PT. ASMR As per BAL commitment on 21 November 2013, ASMR has stopped all land clearing activities. The areas highlighted in AidEnviuronment report are community areas in Desa Teluk Pulai, inside ASMR IUP and have not been acquired by ASMR. These are timber land and paddy fields. Please refer to the statement from the Village Head of Teluk Pulai that there is a local businessman who has been opening the area for the planting of hardwood/timber, mainly Jabon (latin: Anthocephalus cadamba) and this planting requires the use of excavators (attachment 6 & 7). As can be seen from ASMR HCV report, there is a Teluk Pulai village, with population of 348 (as of 2010), with paddy rice fields and timber land (Attachment 8). 4. PT. KML Refer to the BAL previous explanation on the question related to KML submitted by RSPO on 13 February 2014, the area highlighted is ha of land cleared but on non HCV area. All activities had stopped as per BAL announcement on 21 November 2013 and as per the commitment, KML conducted NPP audit which was uploaded on the RSPO website by 18 December 2013 There was also no activity during the NPP process, 18 December 2013 to 18 January After the NPP notice was over by 20 January 2014, KML started land clearing and new planting activities. KML had just only recently received from the RSPO the public comment on 13 February As can be seen from the KML map, dated 22 November 2013 and 27 January 2014, there was still no activity in the highlighted area (Attachment 9).

4 Attachment 1 LSM Site 1 Maps: No Land Clearing after 14 October 2013

5 Attachment 2 Low Lands Area in Site 2: Floods in November Rainy Season Lowlands need water management works, including in peatland Floods in November 2013

6 Attachment 3 Water Management System Map Ditches & roads improvement on previously cleared lands

7 Attachment 4 Map of Planting Area LSM: The Site 3 is not part of Planting Area Map from AidEnvironment Planting Area LSM as of 31 December 2013 Community cleared area, not part of LSM planting area

8 Attachment 5 Site 3 from 1 June to 27 January 2014: No Land Clearing No land clearing from 1 June 2013 up to 27 January 2014

9 Attachment 6

10 Attachment 7 Location of the Anton NG area

11 Attachment 8 ASMR Area Teluk Pulai, taken from HCV report Jabon/timber plantation Paddy fields

12 Attachment 9 KML Map: No land clearing after 21 November 2013 up to 25 January 2014 No land clearing after 21 November 2013 up to 25 January 2014