Partnerships andCollaboration
We are pushing for positive change in the sustainable palm oil industry by developing innovative solutions and by sharing best practices with our peers. To achieve real transformation on the ground, we must look beyond our own supply chains and work together with all stakeholders across the palm oil sector to tackle issues that impact both our industry and the global landscape at large.
Our main stakeholder collaborations and partnerships are outlined below.
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Consortium of Resource Experts (CORE)
CORE brings together two leading organizations dedicated to ensuring sustainable commodity production and sourcing: Proforest and Daemeter Consulting. This offers a comprehensive range of services, including risk analysis, policy development, traceability, capacity building, and third-party evaluation; as well as staff with unrivaled levels of technical and practical expertise at all levels of the supply chain.
Since 2015, Musim Mas has been working with CORE to meet our commitments on sourcing sustainable palm oil. We have engaged in environmental risk assessments on a landscape-level, implementation of intervention programs for smallholders and suppliers, as well as the overall implementation of our Sustainability Policy.
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Decent Rural Living Initiative
The Decent Rural Living Initiative (DRLI) aims to improve the protection of human and labor rights in agriculture. The initiative aims to produce practical and realistic recommendations to help rural workers associated with the agricultural sector secure their long-term ability to thrive. Together with Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources, Sime Darby Plantation, and Wilmar International, we are piloting two pre-competitive solutions to address systemic labor rights challenges in Indonesia’s palm oil industry: (i) contract innovations to improve labor conditions of casual workers, and (ii) enhancing gender committees’ role on estates.
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Earthqualizer
Formerly known as Aidenvironment Asia, Earthqualizer is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming commodity supply chains to benefit people and nature. Its work blends environmental recovery with government and corporate responsibility and socio-economic justice. The organization support corporates, national and regional governments with reliable and actionable data.
Since 2015, Musim Mas has been working with Earthqualizer as a technical partner for monitoring deforestation in our supply base, as well as promoting inclusive smallholder and support social forestry in Aceh Singkil and Sambas district for sustainable landscape development and engagement with many various stakeholder at landscape level. Learn more about Earthqualizer at https://www.earthqualizer.org/
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Fire Free Alliance
Musim Mas joined a group of leading forestry and agriculture companies, NGOs, and other partners as founders of the Fire Free Alliance (FFA) in 2016. FFA activities support the Indonesian Government’s commitment to a haze-free ASEAN region by 2020. All FFA members share knowledge, data and, where possible, resources to roll out fire prevention initiatives based on APRIL Group’s Fire Free Village Programme (FFVP). All company members have implemented the FFVP as a means to engage local communities in protecting forests from fire. Learn more about the FFA at http://www.firefreealliance.org/
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High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach Steering Group
The Steering Group provides overall governance of the current HCS Approach and oversees the further development of a methodology designed to achieve no deforestation including refining its definition, its objectives and its relationship to other approaches to halting deforestation. Musim Mas has been a member of the Steering Group since 2015, and a member of its Executive Committee (HCSA decision-making body). We are also a member of several Working Groups, including the Social Requirements, High Forest Cover Landscapes, and Protection. Learn more about the HCS Approach at http://highcarbonstock.org/.
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Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO)
The Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) is a policy adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture on behalf of the Indonesian Government. It aims to improve the competitiveness of the Indonesian palm oil in the global market through regulation and certification for sustainable palm oil production. We are leading the ISPO’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Working Group and have formulated the calculation guidelines for plantations in Indonesia together with the ISPO Commission. Learn more about the ISPO at http://www.ispo-org.or.id/index.php?lang=en.
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Indonesian Palm Oil Development for Smallholders
Musim Mas is the sole Indonesia-based partner with International Finance Corporation (IFC) working on this program. Since 2015, we have been assisting independent smallholders in our operations in North Sumatra and Riau, through financial support and capacity building programs on efficient farming practices.
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Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG)
POIG is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on responsible palm oil production verification and innovation. Musim Mas has been a member since 2015 and has participated actively in the POIG Organising Committee (POIG’s decision-making body), Verification Working Group, Retailers & Manufacturers Working Group, and led the development of the POIG Traders & Processors Charter. We are currently chairing the Traders & Processors Working Group, as well as Communications Working Group. Learn more about POIG at http://poig.org/.
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PONGO Alliance
Musim Mas is a pioneer member of the PONGO Alliance since its launch in 2017. PONGO has been managing and protecting orangutan habitats and that of other wildlife within oil palm landscapes. Learn more about PONGO at http://www.pongoalliance.org/.
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Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
The RSPO is a not-for-profit organization that unites all stakeholders from the palm oil industry: oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, and environmental and social NGOs, to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil. Musim Mas has been a member of the RSPO since 2004.
We are a substantive member of the RSPO P&C Review Task Force, alternate member for Indonesia Growers in RSPO Board of Governors, as well as a substantive member of various Working Groups: Smallholders, Biodiversity and High Conservation Values, Human Rights, Emissions Reduction (Co-Chair). Learn more about the RSPO at https://rspo.org/about.
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Sustainable Landscapes Working Group (Verified Sourcing Areas)
A collaborative forum that is convened and facilitated by IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative. The Working Group comprises of key stakeholders representing brands, suppliers, and NGOs, among others. The Sustainable Landscapes Working Group (previously the Traceability Working Group) in the palm oil sector recognizes the need for landscape-level verification and set targets and milestones for the industry to work towards.
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Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) 2020
The Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA 2020) is a global public-private partnership that aims to reduce tropical deforestation associated with the sourcing of commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, and paper and pulp. Musim Mas has been a member of TFA 2020 since 2017. Learn more about TFA 2020 at https://www.tfa2020.org/en/.
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General Mills
Musim Mas and General Mills collaborate to build smallholder extension services in Aceh’s Leuser Ecosystem, Indonesia. This program is part of Musim Mas’ vision to establish Smallholders Hub that serves as pre-competitive platforms where companies can pool resources and share their expertise to train farmers.
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Nestlé and AAK
Musim Mas partners with AAK and Nestlé to address deforestation outside of concession areas in Aceh, Indonesia.
AAK and Nestlé have pledged to fund the first two years of the five-year program, reaching out to approximately 1,000 oil palm independent smallholders within two years and enrolling them in Musim Mas’ smallholders program supported by Smallholders Hub. -
MUFG, Bank Danamon, and iApps
Musim Mas, MUFG Bank, Danamon, and iAPPS collaborate to promote financial inclusion among independent smallholders.
This collaboration aims to introduce smallholders to AgriON, a digital finance and financial learning platform driving traceability and sustainability across the agricultural supply chain. -
South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP)
Musim Mas collaborates with the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), a Borneo-based scientific research facility that has expertise in habitat restoration and sustainable plantation management. Through this partnership, we aim to quantify our conservation efforts and review our management and monitoring plans.
Musim Mas gathered biodiversity conservation data across its plantations for over 10 years and engaged SEARRP to assess and provide recommendations in terms of data collection, data management, and best practices. In July 2022, a report on the findings, particularly on bird biodiversity, was published. A workshop was held after for Musim Mas’ staff surveyors to improve their techniques and understand new tools such as SEARRP’s Forest Integrity Assessment (FIA) tool to record biodiversity data.
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Radar Alerts for Detecting Deforestation (RADD)
Musim Mas joined a coalition to support and fund the development of a radar-based forest monitoring system known as Radar Alerts for Detecting Deforestation (RADD). This partnership between Bunge, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), Mondelēz International, Musim Mas, Nestlé, Pepsico, Sime Darby Plantation , Unilever and Wilmar will make it much easier for companies and other stakeholders to see deforestation happening in near-real-time and with greater accuracy.
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Verité
Musim Mas collaborated with Verité to conduct an independent labour compliance assessment.
The assessment aimed to identify risks of non-conformance to POIG’s Charter, RSPO Principles and Criteria, Verité Best Practice Standards and other international norms on worker protection and Occupational Health and Safety. They also targeted to determine the areas of innovation required.