The High Conservation Value (HCV) course involving 64 MPOB TUNAS officers

Kursus High Conservation Value (HCV) melibatkan 64 pegawai TUNAS MPOB bagi Zon Tengah dan Timur telah diadakan pada 23 Jun yang lalu di Golden Hope Academy, Klang, Selangor.

Kursus yang dianjur dan dibiayai sepenuhnya oleh Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foudation (MPOGCF) ini merupakan siri ketiga bagi tahun 2025 dan merupakan kerjasama antara SD Guthrie, Malaysian Palm Oil Berhad (MPOB) dan Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO).

Tujuan kursus ini adalah untuk melatih pegawai TUNAS MPOB sebagai penilai HCV di lanskap kebun pekebun kecil sawit dalam pematuhan pensijilan MSPO 2.0.

Jurulatih kursus, Nur Aida Ab Ghani dari SD Guthrie telah menyampaikan pembentangan mengenai Amalan Terbaik di Ladang Sawit dan dapatan Kursus HCV dan Biodiversiti kepada pekebun kecil sawit (Kerjasama MPOGCF-SD Guthrie- PKPKM, tahun 2022-2024). Manakala Maichal Isthyben Sawairnathan dari MSPO telah berkongsi Status Pematuhan Sijil MSPO serta Keperluan HCV dalam MSPO 2.0.

Sementara itu, Penolong Pengarah Kanan, PERHILITAN Negeri Selangor, Mohd Amir Abu Bakar, yang dijemput sebagai penceramah jemputan telah menyampaikan ceramah berkenaan Pengurusan Konflik Manusia-Hidupan Liar di Kawasan Pertanian.

Pada hari kedua, peserta dipecahkan mengikut kumpulan bagi menjalankan kerja lapangan di Ladang Sawit SD Guthrie. Hasil analisis dan laporan oleh kumpulan menunjukkan kehadiran dua HCV iaitu perkhidmatan ekosistem, di kawasan Zon Riparian (HCV 4) dan bangunan bersejarah iaitu Hatter’s Castle (HCV 6).

Hadir sama dalam kursus tersebut adalah Pengurus Pemuliharaan dan Kemampanan MPOGCF, Ahmad Shahdan Kasim, Ketua Seksyen Pensijilan MSPO (MCS), Unit Khidmat Pengembangan MPOB, Parthiban Kannan serta wakil Jabatan Pemuliharaan dan Kemampanan MPOGCF, Zalifah Ramli, Ahmad ‘Aizat Azuri dan pelatih industri, Muhammad Ashraf Aman.

Pegawai TUNAS adalah kumpulan yang memberikan khidmat pendidikan pengembangan seperti ceramah teknikal, tunjuk kaedah, nasihat dan bimbingan, menyampaikan maklumat dan teknologi terkini dan menyalurkan skim bantuan kerajaan kepada pekebun kecil sawit.

Kursus seterusnya akan diadakan di Sibu pada 11 -13 Ogos 2025 bagi melatih Pegawai TUNAS MPOB di Zon Sarawak.

——————————————————————————————————————-

The High Conservation Value (HCV) Course involving 64 MPOB TUNAS officers from the Central and Eastern Zones was held on 23 June at the Golden Hope Academy in Klang, Selangor.

Organised and fully funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF), this was the third course in the 2025 series and was a collaborative effort between SD Guthrie, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO).

The purpose of the course was to train MPOB TUNAS officers as HCV assessors within the smallholder oil palm plantation landscape to comply with the MSPO 2.0 certification.

Course trainer Nur Aida Ab Ghani from SD Guthrie delivered a presentation on *Best Practices in Oil Palm Plantations* and findings from the *HCV and Biodiversity Course for Oil Palm Smallholders* (a collaboration between MPOGCF, SD Guthrie, and PKPKM from 2022 to 2024). Meanwhile, Maichal Isthyben Sawairnathan from MSPO shared insights on the *Status of MSPO Certification Compliance* and *HCV Requirements under MSPO 2.0*.

Also present as a guest speaker was Mohd Amir Abu Bakar, Senior Assistant Director from PERHILITAN Selangor, who gave a talk on *Human-Wildlife Conflict Management in Agricultural Areas*.

On the second day, participants were divided into groups to carry out fieldwork at the SD Guthrie Oil Palm Plantation. Analysis and reports by the groups identified two HCVs: ecosystem services in the Riparian Zone (HCV 4) and a historical building, Hatter’s Castle (HCV 6).

Also in attendance were MPOGCF’s Conservation and Sustainability Manager Ahmad Shahdan Kasim, Head of MSPO Certification Section (MCS), MPOB Extension Services Unit Parthiban Kannan, as well as MPOGCF Conservation and Sustainability Department representatives Zalifah Ramli, Ahmad ‘Aizat Azuri, and industrial trainee Muhammad Ashraf Aman.

TUNAS officers are a group that provides agricultural extension services such as technical talks, method demonstrations, advisory and guidance, dissemination of current information and technology, and delivery of government assistance schemes to oil palm smallholders.

The next course is scheduled to be held in Sibu from 11–13 August 2025 to train MPOB TUNAS officers in the Sarawak Zone.