Reconciliation of Indonesian National Palm Oil Cover

For Indonesia, palm oil has a very strategic role economically because it plays an integral part as it serves as a provider of raw materials for the industrial subsector, absorbing labors, and producing foreign exchange. Besides, palm oil is also a top estate crops commodity favored by the Government of Indonesia with main destinations namely India, China, Europe, the USA, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa.

Palm oil (Elaeis) is generally known as food and industrial commodity to which it could  generate cooking oil and biofuel for machine. Palm oil is also known as a raw material for the CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and PKO (Palm Kernel Oil). According to Indonesian Estate Crops Statistics, Directorate General of Estate Crops, Ministry of Agriculture (DG Estate Crops, 2018) has increased over time. In the 2003-2007, 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 periods, the export volume of CPO increased by 21.04 million tons, 71.08 million tons and 81.57 million tons, respectively. Meanwhile, the increase for PKO was 2.97 million tons, 8.90 million tons and 8.60 million tons, respectively. This shows that the palm oil commodity is very promising in the future.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) recorded that from January to June 2019, exports of palm oil consisting of CPO and its derivatives, biodiesel and oleo-chemicals rose 10% to 16.84 million tons compared to the same period in 2018, which was 15.30 million tons (CPO Fund/BPDPKS, 2019). Oil palm plantations also recorded to absorb a large labor force, namely 3.4 million people in 2010 and this figure increased by 60.8% to 5.4 million people in 2014. Absorption of labor in the palm oil business from upstream to downstream is likely up to 16-20 million people throughout Indonesia (DG Estate Crops, 2016).

With the rapid development of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, there are several versions of national oil palm plantations data which are sourced from respective government agencies and palm oil observers. These discrepancies basically arisen due to differences in the methodology and data acquisition technologies used in broad calculations. Based on data from Palm Oil Plantation Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, palm oil cover in Indonesia in 2018 is 14.31 million Ha, meanwhile from BIG the area of oil palm plantations in 2018 of 17.93 million Ha based on the results of image interpretation of medium and high resolution satellites (CSRT) from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (LAPAN) covering all regions of Indonesia except Java and Papua. Indonesian Biodiversity Trust Fund through SPOS Indonesia Program has also calculated the area of Indonesian palm oil plantations in 2016 which is 16.8 million.

To avoid further problems in national development planning with these discrepancies, the Indonesian Government through the Directorate General of Plantations, the Ministry of Agriculture, as the estate crops data guardian needs to take tactical steps to synchronize and centralize data sources related to oil palm plantations coverage using the right methodologies and technologies. This is considered necessary to support the Government’s development planning for the better and more sustainable, especially to enhance economic development, social welfare, and environmental sustainability.

Presidential Regulation No. 9 of 2016 on Acceleration of the Implementation of One Map Policy (KSP) at the level of map accuracy of 1: 50,000 scale is a policy that aims to achieve the realization of thematic maps (such as maps of palm oil plantations) that function as (a) reference of improvements and IGT (thematic geospatial information ) from each sector and (b) a reference to the planning of integrated large-scale spatial planning that is integrated in the Spatial Planning document (Article 2, Presidential Regulation No. 9 of 2016). The acceleration of KSP is also expected to be a solution to the various challenges and obstacles during the development process in order to avoid overlapping conflicts in land use. Presidential Regulation No. 9 of 2016 can be implemented in parallel with Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2018 since the implementation of KSP can be carried out during the moratorium period. Therefore, under the coordination of Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Indonesian Government has conducted the reconciliation of national palm oil cover to which will generate national palm oil cover map, managed by Ministry of Agriculture as the data guardian.

Objectives and Scope of the Reconciliation of National Palm Oil Cover

Reconciliation of National Palm Oil Cover throughout Indonesia is aimed to consolidate national palm oil cover, verify national palm oil cover and prepare a national palm oil cover map which

Includes several aspects, namely: (a) data collection, (b) data consolidation, (c) verification of the results of the consolidation with a one map policy approach, and integration of verification results on the base map (IGD), (d) field surveys, (e) and endorsement of the closing report of Palm oil reconciliation.

Data source

Main data were sourced from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), and from the Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI – SPOS Indonesia), where the three data are in the form of spatial data for land cover maps, while other spatial data used are high-resolution satellite imagery (SPOT and Pleiades) for the 2016-2019 acquisition year sourced from the National Institute of Aviation and Space (LAPAN).

Analysis Method

The analysis method used in this work is based on the One Map Policy (KSP) approach. One Map Policy is a policy that aims to produce a national map that refers to a geospatial reference, a standard, a database, and a geoportal to accelerate the implementation of national development.

The stages of analysis carried out in this reconciliation are as follows:

1. Data Compilation
2. Spatial Analysis
3. Verification on SPOT 6 and 7 Satellite Imagery
4. Field Validation
5. Accuracy Test
6. Reinterpretation of Oil Palm Cover
7. One Map Policy Integration
8. Determination of One Map of National Palm Oil Cover in 2019

Of the 34 provinces in Indonesia, palm oil covers were found only in 26 provinces. The result of this work shows that the total area of national palm oil cover is 16,381,959 hectares. In December 2019, this result is formalized through Agriculture Minister Decree No. 833/KPTS/SR/020/M/12/2019.