Evaluation of floristic biodiversity in an oil palm plantation Indonesia

Context of the service

In 2005, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) adopted 8 principles and 39 criteria of sustainability as a preamble to the creation of a certification system.

In this context, the International Center for Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), in partnership with PT SMART, a subsidiary of the Indonesian agro-industrial group Golden Agri-Resources (SinarMas Group) has initiated a series of research projects to determine sustainable management indicators for oil palm cultivation.

As principle 5 is dedicated to the conservation of species and natural habitats, one of the research axes focused on assessing the biodiversity of vascular plants in industrial oil palm plantations.

This study was defined as a prerequisite for the construction of a management indicator aimed at assessing the ecological connectivity of plantations, i.e. their ability to allow the transit of non-domestic plant or animal species.

Services provided

The expert was mobilized to pilot a protocol for assessing the biodiversity of vascular plants (pteridophytes and angiosperms) in an experimental oil palm plantation:

- Development of a sampling protocol adapted to the environmental variability of the plantations (humidity, presence of rivers, edge effects, type of soil, etc.), to the diversity of agronomic treatments applied (weeding, organic or chemical fertilization, etc.) and to their structural complexity (taking into account epiphytes, windrows of organic matter, etc.);

- Sampling and botanical identification of the species present in the plantation, and creation of a reference collection (herbarium);

- Training of the staff of the SMART Research Institute (SMARTRI) in sampling and botanical identification techniques;

- Statistical determination of biodiversity variability explainable by environmental and structural effects;

- Evaluation of the robustness of the proposed protocol and its optimization;

- Presentation of the results to the PT SMART Board of Directors in order to ensure the continuity of its support for the research implemented by CIRAD.

Summary of the service

Evaluation of floristic biodiversity in an RSPO certified oil palm plantation: Development of a sampling protocol; Botanical identification of species and creation of a herbarium; Training of the research base staff (SMARTRI); Statistical determination of biodiversity variability; Evaluation of the robustness of the protocol and optimization; Presentation of the results to the PT SMART Board of Directors.