Zoology was well-represented at the 7th International Conference on Oil Palm and the Environment, in Bali, Indonesia last month. The theme of the conference was 'Oil palm agro-ecological transformation: towards climate- and nature-positive agriculture'.

The Conference is an important platform for academics, scientists, government officials, financial institutions, industry players, and NGOs to discuss approaches to make oil palm cultivation more sustainable and to reduce its negative impact on the environment. 

Dr Becky Heath, Dr Michael Pashkevich, Professor Ed Turner and Professor Lynn Dicks gave talks and Sacchi Shin-Clayton presented a poster; all based on research that groups in our department have led for many years on how to improve the sustainability of oil palm production in Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Also present were our collaborators from IPB University, Bogor; the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; the University of Nottingham; the Natural Resources Institute Finland; and Sinar Mas Ago Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMARTRI).  In partnership with SMARTRI we have several large-scale and long-term management experiments ongoing in oil palm plantations in Riau, Indonesia.

There were many interesting discussions about topics like deforestation, sustainability, circular economies, methane capture, citizen science, education and ecological resilience. 

Professor Dicks said, ‘This conference was a chance for us to share results and future plans with key players in industry, NGOs and Governments from around the world.  New partnerships were formed with other key producer countries.'

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