Sustainability

We have been dedicated to conservation, human rights, and economic development for more than 40 years. These high standards apply to all our companies including palm oil, timber, and wind tower production. We are always exploring new ways in which we can advance our environmental and social responsibility standards to uphold our commitment to accountability that guides us today.

Governance

Good governance is a cornerstone of sustainability and KORINDO Group has established policies and management systems across all operations worldwide to support this. Legal requirements are a minimum standard and in many cases, our policies and systems go above and beyond those. We have policies which provide the framework for managing environmental, social, and governance matters which are compliant to Indonesian regulations and international standards alike.

We have also adopted the principles of corporate social responsibility and embedded them into our business management processes. Corporate policies and a commitment to continuous improvement underpin our sustainability goals. Through our group’s sustainability, we defined our own vision and direction to manage our impacts and opportunities with increasing efficiency.

Above all, KORINDO Group is committed to continuous improvement as the means to achieve to achieve our vision.

KORINDO is committed to following a strict Code of Conduct:

Support and respect the protection of human rights.
Ensure that we are not complicit in human rights abuse.
Uphold the freedom of association and of the right to collective bargaining.
Eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor, child labor, and discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
Participate in initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Vision

Mission

Key Program

Key Value

Participation | Coordination | Intergration | synergy

Environment

As a developer and harvester of local resources and consistent with KORINDO Group’s values, we understand our responsibility to operate these businesses with the highest level of integrity. As such, our resources division operates under the following principles:

Only utilizing land that has been zoned for development by the Indonesian government, to produce timber, plywood, or palm oil.
Continuing a zero burning policy and not utilizing burning to clear land.
Operating our timber and plywood divisions consistent with the guidelines of the Forest Stewardship Council.
Operating our palm oil division consistent with the guidelines of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Offering only Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certified palm oil endorsed by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture.
Committing to not develop on peat land.
Conducting ongoing dialogue with companies throughout the palm oil supply chain, local communities, and non-governmental organizations.

In accordance with KORINDO’s aim to develop productive multi-purpose timber plantations, improve people’s livelihood, and ensure effective plantation management, we support sustainable timber production through the process of certification of sustainable forest management.

With this, KORINDO commits to fulfill its role to work on sustainable forest management. Our sustainable timber production process is based on three core ideas: production of lasting and balanced profit (Profit), environmental sustainability (Planet), and social welfare (People). We commit to continuous improvement and transparency in the activities of sustainable forest management.

Forestry Certification and Standards:

We commit to achieving internationally-recognized third-party standards and certification for our assets.
For forestry assets, we commit to forest management certification with the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) for all eligible assets.
In cases where an asset is not eligible for FSC certification, an alternate standard will be selected such as The Indonesian Timber Legality Verification System (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu, SVLK) or Sustainable Production Forest Management (Pengelolaan Hutan Produksi Lestari, PHPL).

KORINDO’s commitments to responsible timber production by complying with policies of no peat, no exploitation, no burning, and no deforestation are already in effect. We will continue to offer sustainable forest products in support of our customer demands. We will monitor the implementation process and constantly improve operations related to timber plantation and production.

KORINDO will adjust and follow policies in ways that are consistent with Indonesian government regulations to protect forests, peat lands, local communities, and human rights as well as appropriate global standards.

The palm oil industry has the potential to generate significant economic and social development in Indonesia. Palm oil is one of Indonesia’s most successful agricultural products and largest agricultural exports. It also provides a means of income and economic development to many of Indonesia’s rural poor. The Indonesian palm oil industry is expected to continue its rapid growth in the medium-term. However, with this opportunity comes the responsibility to address the known environmental, social, and economic challenges and risks associated with this supply chain.

We commit to sustainable palm oil production, which includes reduction of greenhouse gases, improvement of livelihoods, and food security. It is critical that all parts of our palm oil products are produced in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.

We endorse the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) as the primary sustainability standard for palm oil products and support the efforts of the ISPO to develop mechanisms to distinguish sustainable palm oil products. In addition, we will continue to improve our operations to comply with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard and its implementation.

Our commitments to the responsible palm oil production by complying with policies of no peat, no exploitation, no burning, and no deforestation are already in effect. We will continue to offer sustainable palm oil products in support of our customer demands. We will monitor the implementation process and constantly improve operations related to palm oil plantation and production.

We will adjust and follow policies in ways that are consistent with ISPO and Indonesian government regulations to protect forests, peat lands, local communities, and human rights.

HCV and HCS

KORINDO only develops lands that have been zoned for development by the Indonesian government. Additionally, we do not develop in High Conservation Value (HCV) or High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas.

As part of our commitment to operating sustainably and not developing on high conservation value land, KORINDO recently undertook HCV (High Conservation Value) and HCS (High Carbon Stock) self-assessments across its palm oil land concessions. The field assessments were carried out over a period of time by independent third-party assessors approved by responsible global bodies.

We are currently undergoing quality review on our self-assessment results and these will also be reviewed by responsible global bodies such as HCV Resource Network (http://www.hcvnetwork.org) and High Carbon Stock Approach (http://highcarbonstock.org)

The status of quality review so far can be checked by the link below.

HCV: http://www.hcvnetwork.org/als/public-summaries (No. 44, 52, 55, 56, 60)
HCS: http://highcarbonstock.org/registered-hcs-assessments/ (No. 34 ~ 39)

Certification	Product
Timber Legality Information System (SVLK) Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) is a tracking system whose development was made by involving multi-stakeholders to ensure the legality of sources from which timber being traded in Indonesia originates. SVLK is also meant to encourage the implementation of the existing government’s regulations related to trade. Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) serves to ensure the origins and management of timber products and raw materials obtained or derived from sources meet the legal requirements. Timber is considered legal when its origin, logging permit, logging systems and procedures, transport, processing, and trade can be proven to meet all applicable legal requirements.	Timber, Plywood, Wood Products
Sustainable Production Forest Management (PHPL) In June 2009, the Minister of Forestry of Indonesia issued Ministerial Regulation No. P.38/2009 on Standards and Guidelines for Evaluating the Sustainability Performance of Production Forest Management (PHPL) and Timber Legality Verification. This regulation obliged timber utilization permit holders and timber industries to implement sustainable forest management and timber legality standards.	Timber
Forest Law Enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) FLEGT stands for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. The EU published the EU FLEGT Action Plan in 2003. The Action Plan aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening the sustainability and legality of forest management, improving forest governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber. FLEGT takes a multidimensional, coherent approach to overcoming the complex drivers and enablers of illegal logging. Indonesia was one of the first countries to start negotiating FLEGT with the EU. It was the first Asian country to implement FLEGT with EU.	Plywood
Forest Stewardship Council FSC is an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC certifies forests all over the world to ensure they meet the highest environmental and social standards.	Timber, Plywood, Wood products
Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil The Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) Foundation is a national non-profit organization aiming to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the Indonesian palm oil industry and contribute to the Indonesian government’s objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and draw attention to environmental issues.	Palm Oil

Labor

Safety and Human right
Procedures

KORINDO has been dedicated to conservation, human rights, and economic development for more than 40 years. These high standards apply to all our companies including palm oil, timber, and wind tower production. We are always exploring new ways in which we can advance our environmental and social responsibility standards to uphold our commitment to accountability that guides us today. Each palm oil company of KORINDO has stated its sustainability policy, in compliance with the FPIC principles, to improve the quality of life for indigenous people as follows.

Protecting Human Rights and Respecting Local Culture

We prohibit illegal, abusive, forced or child labor within our operations anywhere in our plantations and mills.
We commit to the protection and respect of human rights (the rights of all workers, including contractual, temporary, and migrant workers), the elimination of discrimination in employment and the promotion of equal rights, and lastly the freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain.
We respect the rights of indigenous and local communities to give or withhold their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to the utilization of lands to which they hold legal, communal, or customary rights.
We are strongly against the use of forced labor, and will work with parties to resolve complaints and conflicts based on Indonesian government regulations.

Contribution to Local Community and Local Economy

We commit to develop a regulated Plasma Palm Oil Plantation to contribute to economic growth of the local community.
We support the integration of our plasma farmers into the sustainable supply chain.
We commit to contribute to the local economic development through Corporate Social Responsibility activities and programs, which include infrastructure, healthcare, education, and other suitable social empowerment programs that can help boost the welfare and livelihood of the local communities.

In order to implement these policies, our palm oil companies have set up a dedicated department of indigenous people support to conduct dialogue and assistance programs for indigenous people. In addition, we have prepared detailed procedures for receiving and processing complaints and requests of indigenous people by integrating the know-how that we have cumulated through the communication with indigenous during the past 20 years in Papua Province.

Assistance & grievance procedures

Other procedures

CSR

KORINDO Group has been operating in Indonesia for 48 years. During this period, KORINDO Group has made efforts to build sustainable societies in various fields through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. This is carried out in accordance with the company’s philosophy to build a harmonious, beneficial, and sustainable relationship with the community and stakeholders for the sake of improvement and prosperity. Our CSR activities focus on strategic, systematic, and sustained programs throughout the 5 pillars of the main program:

Education

We are aware that the quality of human resource development is one of the keys to success in sustainable development. KORINDO Group provides development assistance in the field of education in the form of funding, learning facilities, and school buses.

Health

Health problems have been one of several concerns of KORINDO Group to be addressed through CSR programs such as free healthcare services and clinics established in each plantation block. To reach secluded citizens and build a healthy lifestyle, KORINDO Group also provides health education through itinerant doctors along with the ambulances and free health services every two weeks. Through these activities, people can receive health checks and immunizations as well as free medicine to boost health and prevent disease.

Economy

To improve the economic independence and welfare of society, KORINDO Group provides productive business assistance such as business support for fish, poultry, cattle, and pig farms, rubber and palm oil plantations, as well as the ownership units of shop houses and stalls. With productive and direct business assistance, it is expected to increase family income, economic development, and social welfare in a sustainable manner.

Environment

With the vision of “Green Tomorrow,” KORINDO Group always seeks to preserve the environment. Our concern for the environment has been proven by concrete actions through tree planting and routine environmental cleaning. We always engage and cooperate with various elements of society such as local authorities, military, police, as well as religious and customary leaders, so the entire community can participate in environment conservation.

Infrastructure

Since regions may be hard to reach, infrastructure support certainly becomes a major need for the people. Therefore, KORINDO Group actively participates in the development of infrastructure, such as repairing bridges, constructing sport facilities, and mending roads, as well as establishing public facilities such as clean water supply, electricity, schools, clinics, churches and mosques, markets, shops, sport fields, village halls, the clan chief’s house, etc. This proves the commitment of KORINDO Group management to building a harmonious and prosperous life together with all the stakeholders in all locations.

Education

KORINDO has given scholarships for 8,792 students from primary to secondary schools and universities. We have also provided learning and sport tools to 109 preschools and secondary schools, supported the building and operation of 28 schools with 208 teachers in remote areas in Indonesia, and provided 36 school buses.

8792

Scholarships

109

schools

208

Teachers

School Buses

Health and

Social Activities

We have provided health supplements and playful-children weighing scales for 4,680 children under 5 years old in 72 child medical centers, built 19 clinics and 1 polyclinic, provided 1,000 medicine packages for flood victims in Jakarta, supported the building of the Dharmais Hospital National Cancer Center in Jakarta, and provided 200,000 meal packages for the victims of Aceh Tsunami, Padang earthquake & Jakarta floods.

4680

Children

Clinics

1000

Medicine

200000

Meal

Environment

We have supported the building of an agricultural research center and nursery center for 100,000 original Indonesian trees in Bogor, planted 221,600 productive trees in Bogor (West Java), Wonogiri (Central Java), Boven Digoel (Papua) & Timor Leste, provided 200 waste sorting bins for primary, junior and senior high schools in Pancoran, Jakarta, and provided lessons on environment conservation to 2,660 people living around river banks and villages. We also removed 12 tons of garbage from rivers and cleaned the surrounding areas.

100000

Indonesian Trees

221600

Productive Trees

200

Garbage Bins

Garbage from Rivers

Infrastructure

We have built and maintained 551 Km road and 80 bridges, supported the construction of 66 religious buildings (mosques, churches, etc.), provided 8 MW of electricity to local people, and provided clean water to 13,350 people.

551

Road

Bridges

Religious Buildings

Electricity

13350

Clean Water to people

Job Creation and

Economic Impact

There have been 12,300 direct employments and 21,000 consequential jobs, including employment of the local indigenous people up to 31%. We have contributed up to 40% of the GDP of Boven Digoel Regency and Merauke Regency in Papua. We also supported 450 entrepreneurs through cooperation in Central Kalimantan, Papua, Bogor, and Jakarta.

12300

Employment

21000

Consequential Jobs

GDP of Boven Digoel & Merauke

450

Supported Entrepreneurs

Income Generation

Activities

We have developed and supported the operation of a 350 ha rubber plantation for the local community. We have also built and supported the operation of breeding farms for local community with capacities of 7,000 chickens, 100 cows, 50 pigs and 10,000 fishes. We have built & supported the operation of a greenhouse for urban farming for the local community with a capacity of 2,000 organic vegetables per week. Lastly, we have supported 300 farmer’s families in fruit farming in Wonogiri, Central Java.

350

Rubber Plantation

17150

Livestock Animals

2000

Organic Vegetables / week

300

Farmer Families

Awards & Collaboration

Institution	Activities
Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation Established in 1991, the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the Bornean orangutans and their habitat, in cooperation with local communities, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, and international partner organizations.	Wildlife protection
Boven Digoel Multi Stakeholder Forum (USAID LESTARI) USAID LESTARI supports the government of Indonesia to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and conserve biodiversity in carbon rich and biologically significant forest and mangrove ecosystems. USAID LESTARI activities are targeted in six strategic landscapes across Aceh, Central Kalimantan, and Papua. Multi-stakeholder forum was established in Boven Digoel, Papua in 2016.	Sustainable Development in landscape level
Global Agri-business Alliance The Global Agri-business Alliance (GAA) is an international, CEO-led, private sector alliance committed to harnessing the collective strengths of the global agri-business sector to tackle environmental, social, and sustainability challenges to improve the resilience of farmers across the world. Particularly, GAA wants to help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”	Sustainable Development in Agriculture
Korea Overseas International Cooperation Agency’s “Medical Service Improvement for the Local Communities in Indonesia“ Project The first general hospital in Asiki, Papua province was established by the cooperation between Korea Overseas International Cooperation Agency and KORINDO. Papua is the region with the poorest regional health indicators such as infant mortality rate, AIDS and HIV prevalence, maternal and child health, and various diseases. The hospital’s establishment is expected to play a major part in the improvement of these indicators. It is anticipated that medical access for local residents can be greatly improved.	Healthcare
Kampar REDD+ project It is a joint project between Indonesia and the Korean government to protect peat swamp forest and reduce greenhouse gas emission in Kampar peninsula, Sumatra, Indonesia. KORINDO Group contributed to this project by spearheading research and project development together with research institutions from various sectors.	Peat swamp forest protection

FAQ

What is KORINDO’s involvement in the palm oil industry?

KORINDO’s palm oil operations were founded in 1998 in Papua province, Indonesia. We operate over 55,000 hectares in Indonesia producing 100,000 tons of palm oil each year and employing over 10,000 people in Indonesia.

What is KORINDO’s policy on developing land for palm oil in Indonesia?

We recently announced a temporary moratorium on new land use. This applies to new land development in our oil palm plantations including our two largest and oldest plantations. KORINDO only develops lands that have been zoned for development by the Indonesian government. Additionally, we do not develop in High Conservation Value (HCV) or High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas, or in virgin rainforest areas.

What standards does KORINDO follow to develop palm oil, timber, or plywood in Indonesia?

All KORINDO companies are committed to operating in a sustainable manner, including our palm oil, plywood, and timber operations. The company complies with all Indonesian laws and regulations for development, labor, and community relations; a requirement to obtain the necessary planning permissions to use any land in Indonesia for commercial purposes. KORINDO also follows the industry’s best practices on sustainable development, such as those of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the internationally respected Forest Stewardship Council. (https://us.fsc.org/en-us).

What practices does KORINDO use to develop land for palm oil?

KORINDO has a zero-burning policy for all its palm oil, plywood, and timber operation. The company does not utilize burning to clear land. We do understand that there are illegal palm oil production activities taking place in Indonesia, such as illegal burning, and we stand firmly against those activities. KORINDO has undertaken steps to help combat issues such as illegal burning, by funding local firefighting operations. However, it is important to recognize that images can be misconstrued, such as a heat map in which a naturally occurring forest fire may be misinterpreted as illegal burning to clear forest.

How does KORINDO work with local communities on land development planning and rights?

At KORINDO, we respect the rights of indigenous and local communities to give or withhold their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to the utilization of lands to which they hold legal, communal or customary rights. Before any land is developed and prior to the registration of any palm plantation, KORINDO participates in public hearings with local residents, villages, and other stakeholders. This is not just a KORINDO practice but is required by Indonesian law. If these discussions don’t take place, the company does not get its permits.

How does KORINDO support local communities?

KORINDO works closely with the local communities where we operate. We prohibit illegal, abusive, forced, or child labor within our operations anywhere in our plantations and mills. We are committed to respecting the human rights of all our workers, whether they are full time or temporary. This includes promoting equal rights, the freedom of association, and the right to collectively bargain.

We also work hard to bring additional benefits to the community. KORINDO employs more than 10,000 Indonesian workers, has provided scholarships for over 2,500 students and supported the building local schools and hiring of teachers. We provide free medical service and treatment to local residents near our developments and have even begun building a local hospital.

What are KORINDO’s policies for development in peatland, High Conservation Value (HCV) or High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas?

KORINDO has not applied for or developed any palm plantation or timber plantation concession in peatland, HCV or HCA areas. We work closely with the Indonesian government bodies and third-party experts to conduct HCV and HCS studies prior to any development.