Traceability will play a key role in implementing no-deforestation policies in Indonesia. Fortunately, Global Forest Watch (GFW), an online forest monitoring and support system, has used satellite imagery to create a multilayered, interactive map of Indonesia's forest lands -- a valuable tool for increasing transparency throughout the supply chain. Using this map, GFW is currently advising Unilever about which of its mills are more likely to be engaged in illegal activities like burning and deforestation; information that Unilever will then use to conduct investigations on the ground.
"We supply the data which companies use to better manage their supply chains, and NGOs use to look for violations and issues to focus on," said Elizabeth Baer, GFW's global commodities manager. "We think it's amazing that advocacy has worked and driven these companies to make such ambitious commitments -- the pace of change is unlike anything that I've seen before in my career. But it's incredibly challenging for these companies to make good on their pledges within the time frame they've promised. So there is a lot of effort, a lot of resources and brainpower being poured in to help them do so."
In addition to tracking developments on the ground, GFW is negotiating with both food corporations and NGOs to hammer out basic ground rules and definitions for the no-deforestation pledge -- like what constitutes a "forest," and how conflicts between all of the various stakeholders are to be adjudicated and resolved.
Some environmental groups remain wary of corporate motives, and plan to carefully monitor the developments on the ground in Indonesia to make sure that the public commitments don't end up as exercises in "greenwashing and delay," as one recent RAN blog put it.
The jury is still out on whether the New York Declaration on Forests will halt the bulldozers that are clearing Indonesia's magnificent rainforest. Nevertheless, Tillack is guardedly hopeful: "In the last 12 months we've seen an unprecedented shift toward adopting responsible palm-oil production standards. But the devil is in the details, and now it is time to put these commitments into action. We'll be working hard to hold companies to account to insure that they are implementing their pledges."
This article was reprinted with permission from Earth Island Journal.
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