Forest and High Conservation Value Areas Enhance Wildlife Diversity in Oil Palm Landscapes: Evidence from FGV Plantations

Oil palm plantations (OPP) have often been linked to deforestation and loss of biodiversity. However, understanding how the surrounding landscape influences wildlife is very important to support sustainable and biodiversity-friendly plantation management. This study was carried out to compare the diversity of different biodiversity taxa in OPP with different landscape structures. The types of landscapes studied were plantations with no forest, plantations with forest patches, and plantations located next to forest reserves.

The study was conducted in four FGV plantations, namely FGV Setiu in Terengganu, FGV Lepar in Pahang, FGV Tenggaroh in Johor, and FGV Aring in Kelantan. Sampling methods vary across taxa within 1km radius at each landscape type. Each site represented a different level of forest connectivity, allowing comparison of wildlife presence in relation to surrounding habitat conditions. The overall survey recorded 48 species of mammals, 92 species of birds, 27 species of herpetofauna, and 594 species of insects. Among the species detected were several iconic and threatened wildlife, including the sun bear, Asian elephant, Malayan tiger and Malayan Tapir. These findings show that OPP can still support a wide range of wildlife species, depending on how the landscape is structured and managed.

Plantations located next to forest reserves showed the highest number of species followed by plantations with forest patches (HCVs). The lowest number of species was found in plantations with no forest at all. The same trend was seen for threatened species such as Endangered, Vulnerable, and Near-Threatened species, which were more common in plantations next to forests.

Among the sites, FGV Aring showed the highest conservation value as several threatened species were recorded there. The results indicate that forest and HCV areas are an important component of OPP because they help to reduce biodiversity loss and provide refuge for many species. Therefore, maintaining and restoring forest patches and High Conservation Value areas within plantations are essential steps toward achieving sustainable palm oil production and long-term wildlife conservation.