peaTland
since september 2013, we commit to prohibiting all new
planting on peatlands within the group, regardless of peat
depth. For existing developments planted on peat before
this date, we have created water canals and ensured a daily
water level of 60 – 80cm.
peatlands contain high levels of embodied carbon. if
they are drained and used for cultivation, this releases
co
2 emissions into the atmosphere. burning of peatland
contributes significantly to particulate pollution and haze,
as the fires are hard to put out, with peat often burning
under the surface.
diSciPlinE in canal
iRRiGatiOn
Time is of the essence in fie
prevention on peatlands. indoagri
and the local military teamed up in
october 2015 to show farmers a rapid
solution to stop peatlands drying out,
using military engineering techniques
and locally sourced materials. The
techniques were shown to farmers
in four separate demonstrations,
during which excavators and pumps
proved how quickly it can be done. it’s
a regimented approach that we will
be repeating as a means to control
fies and the consequent haze.
Fire preVenTion
The causes of fies vary greatly. The impacts can be
catastrophic, including loss of life and loss of primary
biodiversity. we understand that fies present long-term
commercial risks and potential costs are high. wider risks
also include threats to national climate change goals,
environmental sustainability and poverty reduction.
Zero open burning policy
Historically, all land preparation for planting at indoagri
is done using mechanical clearing instead of burning, in
compliance with local regulations; this continues to this
day at our operations. we have a policy commitment to zero
burning in land clearance on all estates; we also urge our
suppliers to comply with this. To avoid interruption to our
business, our erM team guides our response to risks and
scenarios, including haze and fie. safety is the dominant
concern. They coordinate daily communication between
head offie and the plantations on fie risk and incidents,
using satellite data, and they have specialist fie teams at
their disposal in every estate.
fire safety and fie rings
our fire safety crews are regularly trained in fire prevention
and fire-fighting covering 76 of our sites in 2015. Training
is done with the local authority, a specialist governmen