An international approach to reduce the negative impacts of land-use transformations on the environment is to identify and protect areas with a high conservation value (HCV). HVC is a “biological, ecological, social or cultural value of outstanding significance or critical importance at the national, regional or global scale”^[35]. According to Delabre et al.^[36], there are six categories of HCV:

1. Biodiversity: Concentrations of biological diversity, including rare, threatened or endangered species.

2. Landscapes: Landscape-level ecosystems and mosaics, including intact forest landscapes.

3. Ecosystems: Rare, threatened, or endangered ecosystems, habitats or refugia.

4. Ecosystem services: Basic ecosystem services in critical situations, including water catchments.

5. Livelihoods: Sites and resources fundamental for satisfying the basic necessities of local communities or indigenous peoples.

6. Cultural identity: Sites, resources, habitats, and landscapes of global or national cultural, archaeological or historical significance.

HCV areas are areas in which an identified value is focused and supported by management. They can be, for example, ecosystems that cover a large part of a landscape or ecosystems that are threatened, rare or endangered^[37].

However, there is also critique on the HCV approach. For example, Koh et al.^[38] argue that no clear guidelines exist to identify HCV areas, and on how to integrate HCV areas into oil palm management. Also, the implementing of HCV is depending on stakeholders’ commitment. Strong commitment in terms of disclosure and monitoring of the HCV by farmers and companies is needed^[36].