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" Evaluating the Role of High Conservation Value (HCV) Areas in Reducing Deforestation within Indonesian Oil Palm Plantations "
Smith, Charlotte Z.
Carlson, Kimberly
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1057609
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| Doc. No
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TL56726
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| Main Entry
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Smith, Charlotte Z.
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| Title & Author
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Evaluating the Role of High Conservation Value (HCV) Areas in Reducing Deforestation within Indonesian Oil Palm Plantations\ Smith, Charlotte Z.Carlson, Kimberly
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| College
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University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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| Date
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2020
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| Degree
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M.S.
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| student score
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2020
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| Note
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39 p.
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| Abstract
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In response to rapid tropical deforestation due to commodity crop expansion, corporationshave adopted environmental standards that require forest conservation within their landholdings.In the oil palm sector, many companies rely on standards set by the Roundtable on SustainablePalm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO’s New Planting Procedure (NPP), instituted in 2010, requires thatRSPO members prepare for plantation development by identifying and protecting HighConservation Value areas (HCVs), which contain biological, ecological and/or cultural values.While HCVs are designed to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, it remains unclearwhether such designation and management yields these intended outcomes. Thus, my researchaims to assess how HCV designation in the oil palm sector affects forest conservation.Specifically, I address the following questions: 1) What factors influence the likelihood that alocation in an NPP property will be designated as an HCV area? 2) How does NPP participationaffect forest retention over time via designation and protection of HCVs? 3) How does NPPparticipation affect overall deforestation rates in plantations? To answer these questions, I reliedon digitized maps of NPP properties and their HCVs, as well as non-RSPO plantations, acrossthree major oil palm growing regions in Indonesia. Within these areas, I derived annual 2001 to2019 metrics of forest cover and deforestation. I then used several robust counterfactualapproaches to answer my questions. Findings suggest that HCV designation is more likely inhigher, steeper, more forested areas. Although areas designated as HCV continued to experiencedeforestation over time, HCV designation leads to greater probability of forest survivalcompared to similar non-HCV areas within non-RSPO properties. Overall, participation in theRSPO NPP leads to a significant reduction in deforestation when compared to forest loss insimilar oil palm properties held by non-RSPO member companies. These results suggest thatwhile HCVs incur some forest loss, the New Planting Procedure has a positive benefit for forestconservation in oil palm plantations that are undergoing active development.
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| Descriptor
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Environmental studies
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Natural resource management
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Southeast Asian studies
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| Added Entry
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Carlson, Kimberly
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University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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