Resources

The High Carbon Stock approach is a methodology that “distinguishes forest areas for protection from degraded lands with low carbon and biodiversity values that may be developed,” according to the website of the HCS working group. The methodology classifies different types of forest and simplifies a system for determining go/no-go areas for conservation.

High conservation value land is land that is biologically, ecologically, socially or culturally important. It can include high concentrations of endemic or rare/endangered species, landscape-level or rare/endangered ecosystems, important sources of ecosystem services, including resources for integral to the health, food and water security, and/or nutrition of local communities, or which carries cultural, historical or religions significance.

Fresh fruit bunches are the ripe fruit of oil palm trees, that are harvested for eventual refining and processing into oil.

Local and indigenous communities are entitled to give or withhold their free, prior and informed consent for any interventions that might affect their lives or livelihood, under many United Nations conventions and treaties as well as many national legal systems. For example, see the Food and Agriculture Organization’s manual on FPIC. To comply with FPIC, Socfin will engage with these communities and solicit their active participation in undertaking transformative actions under its Responsible Management Policy; Socfin is also committed to addressing any grievances that arise during the process.

Traceability can have different definitions depending on different contexts, including who is doing the supplying of the raw materials.

Palm oil definition: Below is a summary of the data that Socfin must collect on each type of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) source to meet its definition of traceability.