Siak Pelalawan Landscape Programme: How Companies Collaborate and Engage

This case study looks into private sector engagement in the Siak Pelalawan Landscape Programme (SPLP), which currently comprises eight palm oil producers, traders, and downstream buyers, namely namely Cargill, Danone, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), L’Oréal, Musim Mas, Neste, PepsiCo, and Unilever, in the Siak and Pelalawan districts in Riau province, Indonesia. The Coalition has been facilitated by Proforest and Daemeter Consulting, who also implement the programme.

Several key lessons for future private sector engagement in jurisdictional initiatives were identified. First, companies find collaboration on achieving a common goal in general attractive and efficient. The presence of a neutral convener is seen as essential to build trust within the coalitions as well as bridge trust with other stakeholder groups to allow real engagement and collaboration to take place. While SPLP activities are funded and implemented by its members, the mainstreaming of local government’s commitment to sustainable land use into policies is also highlighted as key to ensuring jurisdictionwide impact related to sustainable palm production. Companies interested in jurisdictional initiatives should be ready to commit for an extended period, as building coalitions takes time.