Blogs: 环境

Last night, GAR’s subsidiary, PT SMART Tbk (SMART) received three sustainability awards at two high-profile events in downtown Jakarta.

“SMART aims to complete RSPO certification by 2020, and commit to forestry conservation and protection in high carbon stock areas. In partnership with GAR, The Forest Trust and Greenpeace, they have developed a scientifically robust and cost-effective methodology to identify these areas for conservation,” cited by SBA at the awards night.

For starters, we were recognised at the Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) Indonesia for our achievements in the category of Land use, Biodiversity and Environment. A rigorous assessment was carried out starting with an initial selection by the Global Initiatives team which was then verified by PwC Consulting. The National Advisory Panel which consists of experts on sustainability in the country also provided feedback.

Executive Director, Jesslyne Widjaja receives the Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) Indonesia 2016 from Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs.

President Director of SMART, Daud Dharsono receives two awards for Social Business Innovation and Green CEO.

It is a great recognition of the company’s efforts over many years including our work in the protection of the environment and rich biodiversity found in our concessions. This includes our commitment to maintain around 75,000 hectares of conservation area, our Zero Tolerance Policy towards the hunting, killing and possessing of rare and endangered species, and our special focus on protecting orangutans.

We are also innovating new approaches to conservation which helps communities to first map and then determine land use so that crucial areas like food growing land is not given up for other development – ensuring continued food security. The process involves sitting down with communities to do joint conservation planning.

At another awards ceremony, SMART won the Social Business Innovation Award given by Warta Ekonomi in consultation with the Ministry of Environment for our contributions to CSR and sustainability. The selection process involved more than 500 listed companies in Indonesia. They also chose SMART President Director, Bapak Daud Dharsono as the Green CEO for 2016.

Bapak Daud Dharsono during his visit to Orangutan Care Center established by Orangutan Foundation International.

In response, Pak Daud said, “I’m honoured to have been chosen from amongst so many esteemed colleagues for this award. We believe that economic growth can go hand-in-hand with environmental protection and I’m proud of the work we are doing on the ground to protect the environment and to improve the lives of the local communities through our social programmes.”

Where do we go from here?

Kudos to everyone who’s helped the company achieve this recognition. Where do we go from here? Onwards and upwards. Our projects and initiatives whether it be with local communities, suppliers, conservation partners, are designed to meet real needs and deal with some very complicated issues. We are helping to change lives on the ground but we can’t afford to rest too long on our laurels as many of these issues require an ongoing investment of time and energy. And new issues tend to crop up to challenge our ingenuity.

Getting these awards should spur all of us to reach greater heights. We can and should see it as a call to action to demonstrate that we can continue to improve our social and environmental practices.