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  • ComMoDO (COMpanion MOdelling in InDOnesia)
    Photo by Ricky Martin/CIFOR
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  • Oil Palm Adaptive Landscapes (OPAL) Online Research Seminar Series
    Landcape Oil palm plantation in Muara Kaman Ilir village, East Kalimantan. Photo by Ricky Martin/CIFOR
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  • "Kramer" or artisanal oil palm mill in Ghana's Eastern region. Photo by Ahtziri Gonzalez/CIFOR

  • Aerial views of Buluq Sen village, Kutai Kertanegara District. East Kalimantan on December 18, 2017. Photo by Nanang Sujana/CIFOR

  • Landscape of Sabintulung village, Muara Kaman District, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan. Photo by Ricky Martin/CIFOR

  • Swiss stakeholders playing the roles of palm oil producers in Cameroon. ETH Zurich, December 2016 Photo: Danny Nef
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  • Game developed by PhD Student Nur Hasanah (ETH Zurich) for Indonesia Photo: Nur Hasanah

Oil Palm Adaptive Landscapes (2015-2021)

The OPAL Project, funded by the SNF-r4d programme, took place from March 2015 until May 2021 in the following participating countries: Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia and Switzerland. Using disciplinary research as well as participatory approaches such as role-playing games, we have been enhancing knowledge on oil palm landscapes and fostering dialogues that could lead to shared solutions across perspectives and complexities. Learn more

Teams

The consortium was led by ETH Zurich and included international institutions (CIFOR, CIRAD, WWF), universities (University of Javeriana, Bogor Agricultural University, EPF Lausanne), and consulting firms specialized in oil palm (NES Naturaleza), and a number of local grower associations.

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Countries

The OPAL Project has been taking place in Switzerland and in three oil palm growing countries: Cameroon, Colombia, and Indonesia.
Find out more about the activities and achievements in each country:

OPAL in Cameroon
OPAL in Colombia
OPAL in Indonesia
OPAL in Switzerland

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Results

The achievements of our 6-year project have been compiled in a report. Visit the Results page to get a summary of our main results, listed by country.

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NEWS

  • August 5, 2021

Project final report and results

  • June 6, 2021

Final project workshop – collecting feedback and celebrating our achievements

  • June 3, 2021

OPAL Project: Shaping pathways toward sustainable palm oil production

  • April 27, 2021

Palm Oil Science: Webinar Series and Journalism Fellowship

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Peer-reviewed publications

2022

Deforestation-free land-use change and organic matter-centered management improve the C footprint of oil palm expansion

2021

Environmental Impacts of the Oil Palm Cultivation in Cameroon

2021

The Sustainability of Independent Palm Oil Smallholders in Multi-Tier Supply Chains in East Kalimantan Indonesia

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VIDEOS

Permainan untuk perubahan
Project achievements in Cameroon
Un jeu pour changer
A game to change
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PRESENTATIONS

  • May 8, 2021

Mainstreaming sustainability in the palm oil sector in Cameroon (World Sustainability Forum, Sept. 2020)

  • May 7, 2021

The problems of acceptance of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) (World Sustainability Forum, Sept. 2020)

  • May 7, 2021

The sustainability of oil palm multi-tier supply chain (World Sustainability Forum, Sept. 2020)

  • May 7, 2021

Impact of oil palm development for Woman (World Sustainability Forum, Sept. 2020)

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The OPAL Project was funded by:
Project Consortium:
Location

Oil Palm Adaptive Landscapes (OPAL)
c/o Prof. Jaboury Ghazoul
Chair of Ecosystem Management
Department of Environmental System Sciences
ETH Zurich
Universitätstrasse 16
8092 Zürich
Switzerland

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