Management Strategy of Palm Oil Plantation Conservation Acreage of PT.MSM Wilmar Plantation, Central Kalimantan, Based on the Economic Value of the Area and the Society’s Perspectives

Abstract

A new initiative on acreage management with high conservation value issued in Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard shows a form of environmental responsibility of oil-palm entrepreneurs. RSPO stimulates palm oil industry to be committed to save wild life around the plantation. Conservation acreage management of palm oil plantation aims to manage environmental aspects with High Conservation Values; while on the other side, the policy of conservation acreage management often times crashes with the society’s interests which depends on natural resources within palm oil plantation acreage. The purpose of this research is to formulate strategies of palm oil plantation conservation acreage based on the economic value of natural resources and the perceptions of society who lives around the palm oil acreage by studying the case of PT. MSM Wilmar Plantation, Central Kalimantan. This research is a combination of a qualitative descriptive and quantitative methods with the following analysis methods: economic valuation, scoring, and SWOT. Economic valuation is used to know the economic value of palm oil plantation conservation acreage. Scoring analysis is used to know the society’s perceptions on the existence of conservation acreage and palm oil plantation. This research shows that the total economic value of palm oil plantation conservation belong to PT MSM is Rp. 120.868.807.307/year for firewood, rattan, wild animals, carbon sequestration, water resource, existence value, option value, and inheritance value. From the society’s perceptions, it is known that the society think that the forest has not given much influence on their lives. It can also be concluded that the society feel the palm oil plantation has given negative influence on many aspects of their lives. Therefore, the proper conservation acreage management strategy to be implemented in palm oil plantation belonging to PT MSM Wilmar Plantation Group, Central Kalimantan, is a strategy located in quadrant I room B: Stable Growth Strategy

Keywords: Palm Oil Plantation, Conservation Acreage, Economic Value, Perception.