Olam International’s Mouila Lot 3 in Gabon has become a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified palm plantation.

Spread over 38,363ha, the Mouila Lot 3 palm plantation is managed by Olam International’s joint venture with the Republic of Gabon, Olam Palm Gabon.

It is the company’s third RSPO certified plantation and the first oil palm plantation in Africa that is developed completely on grassland.

Olam Plantations global head Supramaniam Ramasamy said: “We are proud to be at the forefront of implementing sustainable practices on our plantations that are positively contributing to protecting landscapes and to supporting communities in Gabon.

“This certification is the most recent milestone in our continued progress towards sustainable palm production and sourcing, both on our own plantations and through our third-party supply chain.”

The Mouila Lot 3 palm plantation has a total planted area of 18,272ha, and 18,765ha of high conservation value (HCV) is being conserved. The remaining area of the plantation is infrastructure including facilities, roads and housing.

It is expected to fix 236,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years, as per the RSPO GHG calculator.

With the latest development, the company expects to achieve full RSPO certification for all its plantations in Gabon by 2021.

RSPO CEO Darrel Webber said: “We congratulate Olam on this huge achievement. This success nearly doubles the RSPO certified areas in all of Africa. It is our hope that this success will inspire more companies and countries in Africa to embark on the sustainable development of palm oil.”

In Gabon, the joint venture manages three plantation areas with an overall concession area of 144,000ha.