Experimenting in a production landscape

TRAILS is a multi-year research and pilot project in which knowledge institutes, civil society organisations and companies work together to explore how production landscapes can be redesigned with greater ecological resilience — while remaining economically viable.

The project starts from a question highly relevant to t he s ector: how can palm oil production be maintained in ecologically vulnerable areas without abandoning the productive function of the landscape altogether? By introducing trees into existing plantations, TRAILS aims to restore biodiversity, improve water management and strengthen climate resilience. In doing so, it tests alternative forms of land use within a landscape that is primarily designed for production.

After four years of fieldwork, the first lessons are emerging. In the Kinabatangan region of Sabah, agroforestry systems are being trialled within active palm oil plantations, integrating native tree species into a landscape structured for oil production. This demonstrates that ecological goals and agriculture are not mutually exclusive — but it also reveals the added complexity and trade-offs involved.

Efficiency remains the benchmark

It is important to clarify what TRAILS is not. Agroforestry is not a direct substitute for optimised monoculture. From the perspective of process optimisation, mechanisation and cost efficiency, row-by-row cultivation of a single crop remains the most effective way to produce large volumes of vegetable oil. That scale and predictability underpin the current vegetable oil industry.

Mixed systems, by contrast, introduce additional complexity. Management becomes more labour-intensive, mechanisation more difficult and yields per hectare less predictable. This makes scaling up challenging, particularly in a sector built on bulk production, security of supply and tight margins. Promoting biodiversity is valuable — but it does not automatically align with the logic of efficiency.

Learning from limitations

It is precisely because TRAILS exposes these tensions that the project is relevant. It shows where ecological gains are possible within production landscapes, but also where limits become visible. Biodiversity-enhancing cultivation systems are not yet close to matching the efficiency of fully optimised production systems.

Scientific guidance — including from CIRAD — plays a crucial role. By systematically monitoring ecological effects, the project makes both progress and trade-offs transparent. This knowledge is highly valuable for a sector facing major transitions in sustainability, land use and climate policy, while still needing to remain economically sound.

Not a blueprint, but a learning platform

For the vegetable oil sector, the value of TRAILS does not lie in presenting a ready-made model. Rather, it functions as a learning platform. It helps clarify where innovation is possible, which directions show promise and where economic and operational realities set boundaries to ecological ambition.

Sustainability is not optional; it is a structural challenge. At the same time, in our sector it can only endure if it remains compatible with scalability and economic viability. TRAILS illustrates how complex that balance is — and why continued dialogue on this issue remains essential.