SINGAPORE - Olam International's joint venture with the Republic of Gabon has received the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification for its Mouila Lot 3 palm plantation in Gabon, the mainboard-listed global food and agri-business said on Thursday (May 2).

The 38,363 hectare (ha) plantation is managed by the 60-40 joint venture, Olam Palm Gabon.

Mouila Lot 3 is Olam's third RSPO-certified plantation, and is the first oil palm plantation in Africa to be developed entirely on grassland, Olam said.

Its total planted area is 18,272 ha, while 18,765 ha of high conservation value is being conserved. The remaining area is infrastructure, including facilities, roads and housing.

Mouila Lot 3 is expected to make a net positive climate impact by fixing 236,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years, based on the RSPO GHG (greenhouse gas) calculator, the company said.

Olam said it is on track to achieve RSPO certification for all its plantations in Gabon by 2021.

Supramaniam Ramasamy, Olam's global head of plantations, said: "This certification is the most recent milestone in our continued progress towards sustainable palm production and sourcing, both on our own plantations and through our third-party supply chain."

Olam Palm Gabon manages three plantation areas in Gabon with an overall concession area of 144,000 ha. More than 50 per cent of that area is protected as an ecological network of habitats with high conservation value, including forests, wetlands and savannah.

Shares of Olam International were trading at $1.93 as at 10.09am on Thursday, down five cents from Tuesday.