Ensem Sawita

Ensem Sawita is a privately-owned Palm Oil mill located within Aceh Timur, Indonesia.

1) Rainforest Action Network (RAN) report titled, “The Last Place On Earth – Exposing The Threats To The Leuser Ecosystem: A Global Biodiversity Hotspot Deserving Protection” (11 November 2014)

2) Rainforest Action Network (RAN) article titled, “PT Agra Bumi Niaga: Continues To Destroy Elephant Habitat And Sell Conflict Palm Oil To Suppliers of Major Brands Across The Globe” (July 2017)

For more information on our initiatives in Leuser, please download our factsheet.

(1) The first report highlighted Ensem Sawita as one of the companies operating legally and illegally within the protected Leuser Ecosystem.

(2) Ensem Sawita was highlighted as having purchased from PT Agra Bumi Niaga (ABN).

In the article by RAN, RAN fielded an investigation which allegedly found evidence of active, illegal clearance of critically endangered Sumatran elephant habitat within the rainforests of the Leuser Ecosystem. The supplier in question was a Palm Oil producer known as PT Agra Bumi Niaga (PT ABN) who supplies a neighbouring crude Palm Oil processing mill operated by PT Koperasi Prima Jasa (KPJ) which supplies to major buyers.

According to RAN, the documented activity violated the moratorium announced by the President of Indonesia in April 2016 and instructions from the Governor of Aceh made on 17 June 2016 ordering the same company to cease all forest clearance activities, including areas with existing permits.

We have been actively engaged with suppliers located in the vicinity of the Leuser Ecosystem since RAN’s first report in November 2014.

The Aceh Leuser landscape is a top priority for our engagement with the industry. We are working with other major Palm Oil players in a multi-stakeholder effort to identify scalable solutions for the landscape.

The focus areas will be Aceh Tamiang, Aceh Timur and Aceh Singkil. The multi-stakeholder landscape work will entail engaging the local governments on policy development and spatial planning, identifying local NGOs to spearhead projects. We will follow up with more specific details on this landscape work in the near term.

June 2015
RAN reported that Ensem Sawita owned 500 ha of land illegally with a Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) that is illegally obtained. The land is located in a High Conservation Value (HCV) area, an orangutan habitat. (30 April 2015)

We clarified the issue of owning/ operating an illegal Plantation in Aceh Tamiang with No HGU which is an HCV area – habitat for orangutan (500 ha)

Conducted the verification of legal documents and operational processes

We met Ensem Sawita on 19 June 2015 and conducted a mill visit as well as an assessment on 28 September 2015.

Ensem Sawita clarified that the alleged 500 ha of illegal land reported by RAN was sold after they found out about the problem regarding its legality in 2011.

July 2017
We met up with Ensem Sawita in August 2017.

January 2018
We conducted a visit to enhance their traceability protocol.

We are collaborating with an industry peer on a supplier support programme to assist Ensem Sawita with the undertaking of an action plan.

August 2017
Ensem Sawita affirmed its commitment to sustainability and confirmed the following:
All purchase from PT ABN has ceased.
The company has embarked on Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification for the mill.
An internal sustainability policy in line with our NDPE policy will be formulated and shared with us prior to implementation.
An action plan (including traceability initiatives) with timelines will be submitted on all the above.

September 2017
Ensem Sawita has committed to an action plan in collaboration with Musim Mas and Golden Agri-Resources to ensure that its sustainability practices are in line with the policy commitments of the latter two.

It has embarked on a traceability programme to ensure that all of its FFBs are procured from known suppliers, and to ensure that no fruits produced from sensitive ecosystems are in its supply chain.

September 2018
Ensem Sawita has conducted the traceability exercise since the joint visit by Musim Mas and Golden Agri Resources in early 2018 for providing assistance in traceability to Plantation implementation. Currently, Ensem Sawita has identified over 90% of its FFB suppliers with its location. Ensem Sawita will continue the traceability exercise up to 100%.

January 2019
Ensem Sawita has completed their traceability exercise and identified 100% of their FFB suppliers.

Ensem Sawita will continue to maintain the data annually.