WWF-Malaysia, SD Guthrie To Pilot Regenerative Palm Oil Project

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- The World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) and SD Guthrie Berhad launched a five-year pilot regenerative agriculture programme for palm oil in Sabah, the first initiative of its kind for the industry in Malaysia.

In a joint statement today, the organisations described the partnership as transformational and part of WWF-Malaysia’s larger initiative to deliver landscape-scale biodiversity and climate-positive outcomes in the region.

The collaboration focused on a 13,000-hectare (ha) landscape in Tawau, Sabah, spanning five Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified Guthrie estates and served as a pilot under WWF's Reconnect Borneo Initiative, a regional effort to restore ecological connectivity across Borneo through wildlife corridors.

“As part of the collaboration, WWF-Malaysia and Guthrie will work together to establish a wildlife corridor, strengthen biodiversity conservation, and implement WWF’s global regenerative palm oil framework, in real operating conditions.

“This initiative is designed to move beyond certification towards measurable improvements for biodiversity, climate resilience, and communities while optimising long-term productivity,” the statement read. 

The regenerative palm oil framework built upon existing sustainability standards, including the RSPO and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certifications, to ensure palm oil production remained commercially viable, supported workers and local communities, and actively improved biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate resilience.

The statement added that the success of the initiative would be measured against clear baselines, with progress demonstrated through biodiversity connectivity, ecosystem services, soil health and social outcomes.

Meanwhile, WWF-Malaysia chief executive officer Sophia Lim described the collaboration as a significant milestone, stating that through the ground-breaking partnership, WWF-Malaysia and SD Guthrie were taking a decisive step to pilot regenerative palm oil practices and deliver landscape-scale biodiversity and climate outcomes in a priority area of Sabah.

“This partnership reflects a shared understanding that transformation cannot happen in silos --conservation organisations, industry leaders, and value-chain stakeholders must work together to co-create practical, science-based and scalable solutions,” she said in the statement. 

Lim further said that as a conservation organisation, WWF-Malaysia believes in engaging constructively with the palm oil sector, alongside other priority industries, to drive meaningful environmental outcomes.

Meanwhile, Guthrie group managing director Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad said the collaboration reinforced its "Beyond Zero" sustainability framework that includes a key goal to pilot a Regenerative Agriculture Framework for palm oil by 2028 and its commitment to restoring and conserving 100,000 ha of land by 2030 to enhance biodiversity and environmental resilience, which resonates with WWF's landscape-level initiative.

“With this initiative, we will go above and beyond certification requirements, aiming not only to minimise and mitigate our negative impacts, but also ensure that we actively cultivate positive outcomes in the landscapes where we operate,” he said in the statement. 

Activities under the collaboration, which included RSPO and MSPO-certified plantations and conservation areas, would be subject to independent audits, risk reviews and WWF governance controls, with future communications focusing on verified conservation baselines and outcomes.

Designed as a pilot, the partnership had the potential to inform wider industry adoption and future engagements with all stakeholders within the sector, seeking credible pathways to support regenerative practices.

By anchoring regenerative palm oil within a landscape-scale conservation approach, WWF-Malaysia and Guthrie aim to demonstrate how collaborative action could contribute to Malaysia’s biodiversity and climate goals while influencing broader transformation across the global palm oil sector.

-- BERNAMA