Addressing the challenges of managing and monitoring biodiversity in High Conservation Value areas and High Carbon Stock forests within oil palm landscapes

Corporate commitments to biodiversity protection are difficult to achieve due to limited knowledge of effective conservation strategies and insufficient attention to the social challenges involved in fulfilling these commitments. We explore these concerns in tropical oil palm landscapes focusing specifically on the commitment of members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to meeting environmental sustainability standards relating to maintaining or enhancing High Conservation Values (HCVs) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) forests.
Prior to developing new plantations, the RSPO requires that baseline assessments be conducted by licensed assessors to identify HCV and HCS forest areas for protection. Growers then develop management actions to mitigate threats to these HCVs and HCS forests and preserve the conservation values and carbon stocks within them.
We investigated the challenges that growers face in achieving these environmental sustainability commitments by carrying out onlin..., , # Data from: Addressing the challenges of managing and monitoring biodiversity in High Conservation Value areas and High Carbon Stock forests within oil palm landscapes

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqvj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqvj)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains anonymised survey and interview data collected from Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) member oil palm companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. The data were gathered as part of a study examining current biodiversity management and monitoring practices in RSPO certified and member plantations. The dataset includes responses from an online survey and summarised notes from semi-structured interviews. All participants provided informed consent for the publication of de-identified data in the public domain.

### Files and variables

#### File: Anonymised_Online_Survey_Results_RSPO_Biodiversity_Management.xlsx

**Description:** This file contains anonymised responses from th..., The study received ethical approval from the University of York’s Biology Ethical Committee (BEC). Information sheets and consent forms were provided to all 18 participants from 12 Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) member companies who took part in the survey. All interviews were voluntary, and participants provided written informed consent prior to participation, including consent for the publication of de-identified data in the public domain. Participants were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time. All uploaded data have been anonymised, and specific identifying details have been removed or redacted to ensure participant confidentiality.