Preservation of Riparian Reserve 

The preservation of riparian reserve is to serve as:

1. Soil erosion control measures, water quality, hydrology and aquatic resources. Provision of adequate riparian reserve will contribute positively to the protection of quality and quantity of water to downstream communities, which are dependent on watersheds of the rivers and streams for domestic uses and fishing; and the riparian reserve, can further prevent downstream siltation and flooding.
2. Wildlife and forested corridor network along the banks of the streams, creeks and wetland. It provides a corridor for animals to move in search for food and serve as temporary refuge.
3. Protection of riverine biodiversity and aquatic resources. Most of the trees and plants along the rivers in the area have adaptive morphological features to ensure their survival, which is otherwise sensitive to clearing activities. Meso- and microclimatic changes due to openings of canopy will cause the loss of the epiphytic flora on these trees and plants. Inadequate or removal of the riparian reserve could damage their protective role.

 

Riparian Reserve for the GVL oil palm plantation

River Width (m)	River Reserve (both river banks)
>40	50m
20-40	40m
10-20	20m
5-10	10m
<5	5m
>3	–

 

Reduction on the Flood Levels 

As mentioned in the ESIA of potential impacts from the oil palm plantation; no significant threat of neither floods nor droughts due to the oil palm plantation development is foreseen. If there are any increases in flood levels, it will be for a short term and temporary. However, to increase the infiltration capacity and reduce run-off volume and flood peak downstream, the following is strongly recommended:

1. Proper management practices and encompasses aspects of land clearing and site preparation.
2. Detail map showing the development in phases.
3. Encouraging the growth of natural ground cover and secondary vegetation immediately after clearing and maintaining adequate streamside buffer strips, also known as riparian reserve

 

Protection of Water Quality from Sediment Yield 

In addition to the riparian reserve or buffer zones, the mitigating measures to reduce the potential impacts due to sedimentation are as follows:

1. Develop the oil palm plantation in different phases and scheduled over drier period or months.
2. Roads must be carefully laid out, preferably following the contour and must be far enough from stream.
3. Land Clearing should be done parallel to contour lines, starting from high to low ground.
4. Install cross drains for minimizing overland flow.
5. Timing of road construction or road upgrading to conform to periods of less rainfall and allowing sufficient time for earthworks to stabilize.
6. Using the appropriate machineries in the land clearing to minimize disturbance to the soil.
7. All clearing, grading and stabilization operations done before starting the next phase.
8. Where possible, the stages of development should be from the high to low grounds, so as to take advantage of the present vegetation to act as silt and runoff barriers.
9. Reduce the duration of land exposure to natural elements i.e. reduce the time between land clearing and tree establishment (maximum 3 months interval).
10. The company shall avoid carrying out any tree felling, building or structures and other works within the buffer strips.

 

Farms and/or Palm Oil Mill Units enrolled in the Environmental Management Plan and Monitoring program are obligated to do the following activities related to managing water pollution and preparation of assessment data:

1. Ensuring that sewage quality is tested for conformity to existing standards each month.
2. Ensuring that sewage conforms to quality standards (e.g., BOD < 5,000mg/1, pH 6-9).
3. Ensuring that pH and the volume of sewage discharge is measured each day.
4. Ensuring the sewage use permit is in order.
5. Ensuring that condensed sewage, boiler water, and washing water are processed properly.
6. Ensuring that the monitoring well is functioning properly once every six month
7. Ensuring that soil quality is monitoring annually.
8. Ensuring that reports to the office of the Ministry of Environmental Affairs (MEA) are submitted as