Peat Management

SOP Group has stopped new development on peat land as a way to demonstrate our commitment to address concerns linked to the environmental impacts due to oil palm development on peat land. Peat management has been a core focus for the group’s plantation operations as we continue to identify gaps for improvements.

Existing plantations on peat land are managed in accordance with best practices in the industry including RSPO manual on Best Management Practices for existing oil palm cultivation on Peat, MPOB Guidelines for the Development of a Standard Operating Procedure for Oil Palm Cultivation on Peat and site-specific approach to peat management which are integrated into our standard operating procedures.

Drainability studies were carried out for all SOP Group peat plantation development to ensure that the water management parameters are established from the onset. These includes the designs, locations and construction of main outlet drains, collection drains, check gate, sand bag water gate and flood pumps to achieve optimum level of water for peat plantations. Subsidence post and piezometers are also fixed as reference points to monitor the water levels and subside rates of the peat land.