Visit to Krabi - Pilot Area for Sustainable Palm Oil Production for Bio-Energy

Guarantees of sustainability are becoming increasingly required within the biofuels industry, and the Round Table for Sustainable Oil Palm Oil (RSPO) has introduced its scheme to ensure biofuels are produced sustainably using best practice.

From 25th to 26th November 2008 David Oberhuber, GTZ Country Director for Thailand, and Daniel May, Director for an upcoming GTZ project “Sustainable Palm Oil Production for BioEnergy” visited Krabi Province to meet potential project partners. They were accompanied by a group composed of project staff from GTZ, the Office for Agricultural Economics (OAE) and the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI).

As Krabi has been selected as a pilot area for the project, cooperation with local authorities as well as other important stakeholders is planned. A project office is to be set up in Krabi within the offices of one of the partner institutions. The visit was therefore a great opportunity for GTZ to present the project to local stakeholders and to gain a better understanding of the region and possible partners in the project. The group visited two palm oil and biodiesel cooperatives which are potential partners to work on the certification of smallholders under the RSPO scheme. A second meeting took place with a private oil mill which is also interested in certifying its production. The visit ended with a meeting with the Krabi provincial government, which emphasized its strong interest and support for the project.