TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The International Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) 2016 was officially closed on Friday, March 18, 2016. More than 400 delegations from 18 countries discussed issues related to oil palm productivity while reducing palm oil impacts on the environment.
Topics discussed during the three-day conference include maintaining superior productivity by using quality seeds, best agricultural practices, and how to involve farmers in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. Participants of the conference also discuss how to calculate carbon prints and how to reduce emissions resulted from the oil palm industry based on sustainable oil palm certification schemes, such as ISPO, RSPO and ISCC.
Michel Eddi, president managing director of the French Agricultural Research and International Cooperation Organization (CIRAD), expressed his gratitude for the research cooperation built between the government and private sectors. Mr. Eddi said that challenges faced by the Industry were limiting expansion of oil palm plantations through sustainable production intensification, while improving local people's welfare.
"Comprehensively improving the sector resilience depends on the sustainability principles and criteria that need to be jointly researched," Eddi added.
Some of important solutions discussed during the ICOPE 2016 were halting deforestation and peatland conversion, capturing methane gas when processing liquid waste, and preventing land opening and burning by farmers.
JP Caliman, chief of the organizing committee for ICOPE 2016, said that technology for climate change mitigation and adaptation had been available for the oil palm industry.
"What's more important is how stakeholders in this sector can work together to support our farmers by providing incentives, regulation, and technical assistance," Caliman added.
FERRY ANDRIANSYAH