Deforestation and Landscape Approach

The Palm Oil Smallholder Union (SPKS) Committed to NDPE and Forest Conservation

The Palm Oil Smallholder Union (SPKS) is the only Indonesian independent smallholder organization which is committed to NDPE and forest conservation. It is an oil palm farmer organization founded in 2006 with a total membership of more than 58,000 independent smallholders currently spread across 13 districts in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, including in Jambi and East Kalimantan provinces. SPKS was established with the main vision of helping small farmers to be independent, prosperous and sustainable. The overall purpose of SPKS is to cooperate and support its members to strengthen the sustainability foundation of their operations, to enhance the welfare and independence of smallholders while implementing responsible practices, including a no-deforestation approach through capacity and institutional building, as well as access to financial support, policy and decision makers and global market. 'Independent smallholder' is defined by SPKS as a farmer who owns land or has a long-term lease with a maximum of 10 hectares of farm holding size, lives in a village, uses the farm as their main source of income, are free to manage their land and its production, and the farm is based primarily on their own family labor and capital.

Currently, the implementation of NDPE commitments and forest conservation is carried out by SPKS through the simplified high-carbon stock (HCS) and high conservation value (HCV) approach:

1. Trialling of the Simplified HCS-HCV Approach for Smallholders in Sanggau and Sekadau Districts, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
2. Field Report “HCS-HCV Toolkit Test Phase 2” Setawar Village, Kab. Sekadau and Sungai Jaman Village, Kab. Sanggau, West Kalimantan.
3. Report Implementation of the Draft on Simplified HCS-HCV Approach for Independent Smallholders in Mondi Village, Sekadau Hulu Subdistrict, Sekadau District.
4. Report on Developing an Incentive and Benefit Mechanism.