Environmental watchdog RimbaWatch has called for the halt of a 2,228-hectare palm oil project proposed on a virgin peat swamp forest in the Terengganu state in Malaysia, which it says will lead to the loss of carbon stocks and endangered species.

In a statement released Tuesday, RimbaWatch said the Projek Penanaman Kelapa Sawit, Kelapa dan Buah-Buahan – a palm oil, coconut, and fruits plantation project proposed by local palm oil producer Pure Green Development – should be scrapped as it lies entirely within forested land.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project was out for public consultation until Aug. 12, following which public comments will be reviewed by the Department of Environment (DOE).

According to the watchdog, the project lies on land that used to be a forest reserve but was degazetted in 2020 by the Terengganu state government for the development of palm oil plantations.

The former forest reserve had recorded the presence of great hornbills and dusky langurs, both classified as vulnerable and near-threatened by the IUCN, it said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) commented in the EIA process that it violated a 2019 government ban on the conversion of forest reserves for oil palm, it added.

As per the EIA, roughly 1,500 ha of the land involved is a peat swamp forest and a further 1,029 ha is located in a virgin peat swamp forest.

Peat swamp forests are one of the most carbon-intensive ecosystems in the world, storing significantly more carbon than other terrestrial forests, making it a high carbon stock forest, RimbaWatch said.

The EIA also stated that all locals surveyed predicted human-wildlife conflict to be exacerbated by this project, which is expected to affect around 51 species of reptiles and amphibians, 43 species of mammal, along with several species of fish, birds, and trees.

Moreover, RimbaWatch found that the mitigation measures proposed by the EIA consultant for the negative environmental impacts were “excessively inadequate”.

No mitigation measures have been proposed for the loss of carbon stocks.

The watchdog also questioned the project’s legal legitimacy. It said that the proposed plantation will not be eligible for Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, as the forest would be cleared after the MSPO’s deforestation cut-off date of Dec. 31, 2019, making it “technically illegal”.

It added that the produce from proposed plantation would fail international standards such as the upcoming EU regulations on deforestation-free products thereby rendering the products “unexportable and unmarketable”.

Rimbawatch, therefore, called for the Department of Environment to reject EIA, the state government to re-gazette the forest reserve, and the federal government to amend EIA screening process so that the projects which are inconsistent with the country’s legal frameworks are declared ineligible.

By Nikita Pandey – nikita@carbon-pulse.com

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