Oil palm cultivation is a principal driver of tropical land-use change and deforestation. Oil palm provides significant earnings for countries, corporations and smallholders, but often at great environmental and social costs within and beyond the landscapes where it is grown.

Project description

The OPAL project uses natural and social sciences to build role playing games that reflect existing oil palm landscape realities. Using these games we aim to explore alternative oil palm trajectories with stakeholders and decision makers in Indonesia, Cameroon, and Colombia, to help chart a path towards more sustainable and inclusive futures.
More on the project purpose.

The project started in March 2015 and is funded for six years.

Latest articles about OPAL:

Serie of 4 blogs on CIFOR's Forests News:

• Sketching out sustainable futures - New methods for mapping and planning in Colombia (14 March 2018)
• Playing the long game with palm oil - Using role-play to improve landscape management in Cameroon (13 March 2018)
• Indonesia's game of palms - Finding ways to conserve forests in the face of expanding plantations (28 February 2018)
• Playing for keeps - How a simple board game could lead to more sustainable palm oil, article and video (28 February 2018) 

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Project team

The consortium, led by ETH Zurich, includes 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.
More here.

Countries

The OPAL project is taking place in Switzerland and in 3 oil palm growing countries: Cameroon, Colombia and Indonesia.

Find out more about:
OPAL in Cameroon
OPAL in Colombia
OPAL in Indonesia
OPAL in Switzerland

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The OPAL project is funded by:

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