Professional Training Series Evaluation Report of the HCV ...

Wild Asia Sdn Bhd (634446-W)

Upper Penthouse, Wisma RKT, No 2 Jalan Raja Abdullah, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia T +60 3 1700 80 7008

Technical Support Programme

¹ Advisory ² Training ³ Assurance

Professional Training Series

Evaluation Report of

the HCV Concept and

Application in RSPO

Training Course

17-19th

September 201, Yaounde,

cameroon

Report by Wild Asia Sdn Bhd

SAI TRN 2012 P162 RSPO-endorsed HCV Training for RSPO

Last updated: 14/10/2013 12:10

A social enterprise dedicated to promoting sustainability in Asia

www.wildasia.org

http://www.wildasia.net/

HCV Concept in RSPO

14-Oct-13 | P162 HCV RSPO Evaluation Report 19Sep2013_Cameroon

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About Wild Asia

WILD ASIA operates as a not-for-profit organization and works with businesses

to promote concepts of sustainability through global standards and models.

Through strategic partnerships with businesses that have a direct impact on our

natural environment, wildlife, people and communities, we aim to inspire and

create change from within the industry. We use our knowledge to advise, train

and build capacity and innovate new approaches to support this mission. Over

the years, Wild Asia has built up a wide experience in dealing with the

complexities and challenges of promoting sustainability in this part of the world.

Wild Asia has experience in the forestry, tourism and agriculture sectors.

For more about Wild Asia, visit www.wildasia.org.

About our Technical Support Programme

Wild Asia’s professional experience is directed towards an advisory programme

to assist the business community to understand, implement and support

sustainability initiatives that meet International environmental and social

performance standards. We work with producers, people on the ground,

working on implementing environmental or social programmes. We also work

with buyers, financiers, trade networks, to develop a combined assurance and

support programme to be able to risk assess and support improvements in the

supply. These are strategies we feel that will create incentives to improve the

environmental and social performance of the supply chain, and ultimately,

improve working environments on the ground. Wild Asia has developed its

experience in forestry, tourism, and agriculture sectors.

Wild Asia Sdn Bhd (634446-W)

Upper Penthouse

Wisma RKT

No 2 Jalan Raja Abdullah,

50300 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia

T +60 3 6201 2150

E [email protected]

T www.wildasia.org

http://www.wildasia.org/

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Background ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

2. Overall Feedback .................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1. The Success ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Recommendations for Improvement ................................................................................................................................... 6

3. Participants Exam Results ................................................................................................................................ 6 3.1. Summary of Exam Results ........................................................................................................................................................ 6

4. Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 7

Appendix 1. Course Programme in Cameroon Session ...................................................................................... 8

Appendix 2. Course Trainers Background ........................................................................................................... 11

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1. Background

The HCV Training course in Cameroon is the second course to the series that was endorsed by RSPO. Wild Asia had adapted had been collaborated with Zoological Society of London (ZSL) by having additional day focusing on Monitoring of HCV’s and reporting process. Please see the full list of trainers in Appendix 2.

The course material has been adapted from the final training material developed by the HCV Resource Network. Wild Asia enhanced a number of the workshops, developed an exam to accompany the course and improved on the delivery of the course modules.

A summary of the participant’s country of origin and background is provided below:

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2. Overall Feedback

2.1. The Success

Most participants showed appreciation of having HCV training course conducted in Africa. The style the course was conducted using both lecturing and activities/workshop to get the main points across. The feedback had been summarized as shown below:

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2.2. Recommendations for Improvement

Not all participants made observations for improvements. Those that did noted the following points:

Longer training time and some field experiences;

Provide workshop materials in advance to participants; and

Training materials to be provided in semi-finished product.

3. Participants Exam Results

3.1. Summary of Exam Results

Since ZSL’s sessions involved more on workshop and example of practical groundwork, the exam did not include ZSL’s modules. It took place after the first session conducted over two days by Wild Asia. The pass marked is at 60% and the results showed as below:

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4. Conclusion

Overall, the training was well-received. There were several last minute registrations, which boosted final numbers up to 15, exceeding original registrations.

Sessions were exceptionally interactive, there was a high level of exchange of lessons and experiences during the delivery of the modules. Due to the nature and depth of interaction and discussions, which was felt to be very useful for the participants, the time allocated to modules was insufficient.

It was suggested by some participants that the course should be over 5 days to accommodate detailed discussions on real case studies. Participants also mentioned that it is really important to have more such courses and discussions in Africa and to reach out to more stakeholders, including and especially the governments; and to make these more accessible and affordable for different stakeholders in Africa (NGos, smallholders, consultants, producers, investors, government etc).

This indicated a real need for more HCV and RSPO (in general) awareness, capacity building and training events in Africa to provide various multi-platforms for these discussions to occur at different levels. It was felt by participants that most RSPO discussions and decisions (e.g. on the HCV compensation mechanism) occur in Southeast Asia, where sustainability discussions and resources on large-scale oil palm development was first discussed, hence missing an African regional voice.

It was noted that many oil palm growing nations in Africa still lack RSPO national interpretations (apart from Ghana, while an initiative has started in Liberia and Nigeria), and hence the understanding of RSPO certification systems and standards and how the HCV process fit into the standards is still generally lacking.

It was also felt that the applicability of the RSPO systems in some African countries still needs further testing/thought as the oil palm infrastructure and supply chain options for smallholders and growers are at a nascent stage of development from the matured-industry context of Southeast Asia. In Cameroon, for example, palm oil production is mainly for domestic consumption and there is a lack of larger scale milling/processing facilities (that are the units for certification). This also affects smallholders, where more conventional routes for independent smallholder group certification as in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are not yet developed.

The participants turned out to be delightful and highly outspoken participants. They freely shared their feedback. What worked well: 1) The reaction to the video showing the Chevron’s experience with communities affected by Chevron’s operations was striking. Participants (especially from oil palm companies) felt that they could wholly relate to the situation as they faced similar challenges. 2) Discussions on HCV 1-6 also drew lengthy discussions – showing keen interest for better understanding of issues and in developing workable solutions.

In concluding, it needs to be reiterated that more awareness roadshows, training courses, capacity building on RSPO and HCV needs to be planned for all levels of stakeholders in the African oil palm growing countries.

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Appendix 1. Course Programme in Cameroon Session

Day One l 17th September 2013

Time Duration Programme

0830 30 Registration

0900 30 Welcome and Introductions

0930 60 M1 – Overview: The RSPO & HCV Concept

1030 30 Break

1100 90 M2 – HCV and the RSPO Standard

1230 60 Lunch

1330 90 M3 – HCV Biodiversity & Ecosystem Values

1500 30

A1: The Identification of HCVs (HCV Process)

Introducing a case study of a new plantation development. This exercise will aim to help participants identify and delineate boundaries of potential biological, environmental or social HCVs.

1530 30 Tea Break

1699 30 A1: continued

1630 60 M4 – HCV Reporting in the RSPO

1730 End of Day One

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Day Two l 18th September 2013



0900 30 E1 - Pop Quiz & Recap

0930 60 M5 – HCV Basic Needs & Cultural Values

1030 30 Break

1100 90

A2: Understanding HCV5-6

A case study exercise to reflect on issues that might arise in the operationalization of HCV 5 and 6.

1230 60 Lunch

1330 45

A3 - Video case study & discussion

A look at a real case study to highlight some of the real business risk of not taking the participatory process as a core strategy in planning new developments.

1415 60 M6 – HCV Management & Monitoring Principles

1515 15 Open Forum and Q&A

1530 15 Tea Break

1545 90 E2-3: Written Evaluation & Feedback

Written and group evaluation to test the understanding of the HCV concept.

1715 15 Wrap up and conclusions

1730 15

Open forum “RSPO Compensation Procedure”

An opportunity to get an update on the RSPO compensation procedure. Questions and feedback are welcomed.

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Day Three l 19th September 2013



0900 30 Session 1 – Introducing Monitoring

0930 30 Practical Exercise 1: De-alienating monitoring

1000 30 Tea Break

1030 45 Session 2 – Developing a Monitoring Plan

1115 45 Practical Exercise 2: Monitoring objective and question setting

1200 30 Practical Exercise 3: Practicalities of monitoring in the field

1230 60 Lunch

1330 30 Session 3: Practical Monitoring

1400 60 Session 4: Practical Systems – Case studies

1500 30 Tea Break

1530 30 Session 5: Reporting, evaluation and verification

1600 30 Practical Exercise 5: Reporting structures and adaptive management

1630 30 Questions and answers

1700 15 Wrap up and conclusions

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Appendix 2. Course Trainers Background

Lead Trainers

Dr Reza Azmi is the founder and Executive Director of Wild Asia, a Malaysian-based conservation initiative. Reza is a certified ISO 140001 (Environmental Management) Lead Auditor and has developed his audit experience in both forestry and oil palm certification assessments using FSC and MTCC (forestry) and RSPO (oil palm). An individual member of RSPO since 2006, Reza was among the early external experts to be involved in assessing Malaysian plantations against the RSPO Principles & Criteria.

Reza has over 14 years experience in botanical research (floristics, taxonomy and ethnobotany) and in issues relating to biodiversity conservation (protected areas, sustainability standards and trade). Apart from botanical and wildlife surveys, he has led several multi-disciplinary teams conducting HCV assessments for both forest concessionaires and oil palm plantations. Reza is a registered practitioner and lead assessor in both the HCV Resource Network and RSPO and also currently sits on the technical committee for the Global HCV Network and the RSPO Biodiversity Technical Committee.

Since 2007, Reza has been developing initiatives to directly support the oil palm industry to understand and implement sustainable practices. This has included the Stepwise Support Programme to provide a global support programme for the oil palm sector across its supply chain; in essence, providing certification support for producers and risk management for users of palm oil. The programme is run in partnership with ProForest (UK).

Reza has applied his practical knowledge to a number of other initiatives including the development of Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Initiative, which promotes the use of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and has pioneered several training programmes that are aimed at practitioners: Biodiversity for Busy Managers which provides practical guidance for plantation managers, and the RSPO-endorsed Stepwise Support Training Series for RSPO (including the Lead Auditor training).

Reza’s work has been extensively covered in the national and international media, and apart from technical publications, much of his work is published online on www.wildasia.org, which has grown to be a resource center for like-minded people and ideas.

Su Mei Toh is an associate advisor of Wild Asia. Sumei is a natural resource biologist trained in environmental and development studies. Trained in Social Accountability International (SAI)’s SA8000 social standards, her auditing experience focuses on social aspects of certification systems using the FSC and MTCC P&C for forestry, and the RSPO P&C for oil palm.

Specialising on the social and environmental aspects of development, she has also conducted research and assessments on land and resource tenure issues where it concerns local and indigenous communities in Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. She has written an analysis of the impact of FSC certification on an affected indigenous community in a forest concession in Peninsula Malaysia for her Masters thesis (School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, 2004); researched and co-wrote a FAO case study on the role of forestry and land tenure in poverty alleviation in Sabah’s indigenous communities (FAO, 2007); investigated the effectiveness of the HCV requirement in RSPO in Indonesia (FPP, 2009); and researched joint-venture and smallholder oil palm development on NCR land in Sarawak (in prep, IIED, 2011); besides completing multiple

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social assessments (including HCV assessments) assignments for corporations, development agencies, government departments and NGOs.

Sumei has applied her accumulated knowledge on labour and social issues to training, from the RSPO-endorsed Stepwise Support Training Series with Proforest on the RSPO standard for auditors and other interested management professionals, to training workers and communities on issues and policies that affect them.

Michal Zrust is a Biodiversity and Palm Oil Project Manager of ZSL. He has been at the helm since November 2011 and works tirelessly to ensure that all aspects of the Biodiversity and Palm Oil project are running along smoothly. He manages the field projects (namely the development of the HCV Monitoring System), oversees the development of the Sustainable Palm Oil Platform, and represents ZSL as a member of numerous RSPO Working Groups, Task Forces, and as an alternate on the RSPO Executive Board.

As well as an MSc in Wildlife Management and Conservation, Mike has more than ten years of practical experience in the conservation field, most recently as Deputy Expedition Leader with the Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation and Communities (BRINCC) Expedition to a remote part of the Heart of Borneo, where he also led the small mammal research. He has also worked with the CREES Foundation in Peru, for the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project in Central Kalimantan, and in the Conservation Science Department of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. He has even worked with sheep farmers to help protect their flocks from wolves in Slovakia. If you ever get chatting to him over a beer he can tell you some great stories about his adventures in the wilderness, not to mention the array of interesting tropical diseases he has survived.

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