Our Environment
Protecting our Environment
As a leading player in Africa's palm oil industry, we deeply understand our responsibility to safeguard the natural world. Situated in the heart of the equatorial forest, PHC's concessions are home to rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems. We are fully committed to their preservation and conservation, ensuring that our operations coexist harmoniously with the environment.
PHC aims to achieve our growth and production targets by focusing on yield intensification and by rehabilitating abandoned plantations, returning them to producing sites. This approach reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting our environment while maximising capacity through better land management practices and innovations in crop breeding, ensuring that PHC can grow sustainably while minimising its environmental impact.
PHC’s environmental commitments
- Zero deforestation
- Comply with national laws and environmental principles
- Operate only on land already exploited for palm oil production
- Use sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices and products
- Reduce emissions to fight climate change
Safeguarding our land and biodiversity
Of our 100,000+ hectares of concessions, only 30% have been utilised for palm oil cultivation, while the remaining 70% are dedicated to local communities or preserved as protected forests. Since 2003, we have maintained a strict policy against converting new land for plantations, reinforcing our unwavering commitment to zero deforestation. Our planting efforts are focused exclusively on previously exploited sites, allowing us to restore degraded land, safeguard biodiversity, and protect areas of high conservation value.
We are committed to adopting responsible and sustainable practices in palm oil production to protect forests, prevent deforestation, and preserve biodiversity, all while meeting our productivity goals. Our efforts focus on intensifying plantation productivity through cutting-edge inputs developed by our R&D team and implementing best management practices across all operations.
PHC actively partners with local communities through advocacy and awareness campaigns, emphasising their critical role in conserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species like bonobos. Unique to the DRC and critically endangered, bonobos are safeguarded through PHC’s dedicated conservation program. This initiative works closely with local populations to protect bonobo habitats near our concessions, fostering community-driven efforts to ensure the survival of this important species.
Nurturing our soils through good agricultural practices
Current global agricultural practices are responsible for 25% of worldwide carbon emissions. However, adoption of sustainable agricultural practices can make the agricultural sector a net carbon sink.
At PHC, the application of good agricultural practices begins from the preparation of the soil for the planting of young palm plants to the end of the plot’s 25-year life cycle. These practices help preserve the soil while ensuring its nutrient supply, either naturally or with the help of mineral and organic fertilizers.
The cobs that leave the factory after the fruits have been removed are collected and spread on the soil of the plantations – serving as an organic fertilizer.
