To map an Indonesian farm for EUDR, capture ground coordinates plot by plot: a single GPS point for plots under 4 hectares and a boundary polygon for anything larger, each tagged to its sub-district (kecamatan). Store every plot in a farmer registry, test it against the 31 December 2020 deforestation cut-off, and keep the evidence for your Due Diligence Statement.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; confirm current EUDR requirements with the European Commission, your EU importer, and a licensed customs/legal adviser before acting.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EU Regulation 2023/1115), in force since 29 June 2023, will not let coffee, cocoa, rubber, or wood enter the EU market without plot-level geolocation attached to a filed Due Diligence Statement (DDS). For an Indonesian exporter that means one practical thing on the ground: someone has to walk the farms and capture coordinates precise enough to survive an inspection. This walkthrough covers the field workflow end to end. If you would rather hand the fieldwork to specialists who run it daily, our EUDR geolocation mapping service executes these same steps at scale across Bali and eastern Indonesia.
What do you need before you head to the farm?
Fieldwork fails when the kit or the paperwork is missing, so prepare both before the first plot. You do not need survey-grade equipment for most smallholder plots — a modern phone with a GNSS chip and a mapping app is usually enough — but you do need reliable power, offline maps, and a clean way to tie each coordinate to a named grower.
| What to bring | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| GPS handheld or phone with a mapping app | Records point or polygon coordinates in decimal degrees |
| Farmer list with names and plot counts | Ties each coordinate to a real grower and land document |
| Land-tenure documents (SHM, SKT, or girik) | Supports the “legal under Indonesian law” condition |
| Charged power bank and offline base maps | Many plots have weak or no mobile signal |
| A short farmer consent note | Permits you to record and share plot data with EU buyers |
What are the step-by-step field stages?
Run each plot through the same sequence. Consistency is what lets one dataset cover a whole village and, later, repeat shipments from the same verified supply base.
- Build the plot list. Pull farmer names, village, kecamatan, and estimated plot size from your collection records before you leave the office.
- Brief the farmer and record consent. Explain that the EU buyer needs plot coordinates, and note the farmer’s agreement.
- Confirm the land document. Photograph the SHM, SKT, or girik so legality and geometry live in the same record.
- Decide point or polygon by size. Under 4 hectares takes a single point; 4 hectares and above needs a walked boundary.
- Capture the geometry. For a point, stand near the plot centre and hold for a stable fix. For a polygon, walk the perimeter and drop a vertex at every corner and bend.
- Tag the attributes. Attach farmer ID, commodity, kecamatan, area in hectares, and the capture date to each geometry.
- Photograph the plot. Take wide shots of the standing crop and close shots of boundary markers or neighbouring land use.
- Sync and back up. Upload to your farmer registry the same day and keep a second copy; a lost phone should never mean a lost plot.
Point or polygon — which does each plot need?
The regulation ties the geometry type to plot size. Getting this wrong is the single most common data error EU compliance teams flag, so classify each plot before you record it.
| Plot situation | Geometry required | Field method |
|---|---|---|
| Under 4 hectares | Single GPS point | Stand near the centre, wait for a steady fix, save one coordinate |
| 4 hectares and above | Polygon boundary | Walk the full perimeter, drop vertices at every corner |
| Scattered or split holdings | Separate geometry per parcel | Map each parcel on its own; never merge distant plots into one shape |
A coffee smallholder with three tiny gardens in different hamlets gets three records, not one. A rubber block above 4 hectares gets a closed polygon whose start and end points meet.
How do you verify plots against the December 2020 baseline?
Coordinates alone do not prove a plot is deforestation-free — you also have to show the land was not cleared after the 31 December 2020 cut-off. In practice that means running each point or polygon against satellite and remote-sensing imagery for the baseline period, then recording a negligible-risk assessment for the plot. Where the imagery shows possible clearance or the risk is not negligible, the DDS must document mitigation measures before the goods can move. This satellite check against the 2020 baseline, paired with digitized chain-of-custody from farm to export lot, is exactly the shift the Indonesian government’s national response strategy and EU buyers are already pushing for ahead of formal enforcement.
What evidence should you keep with each mapped plot?
Geolocation is one input to the due-diligence file, not the whole thing. EU buyers typically want a supply-chain map showing partner farms, collection points, and processing sites. Helpfully, the European Commission’s practical guidance notes that operators do not have to publish exact coordinates publicly — a regional map labelled with kecamatan names and an area scale reassures compliance teams while protecting farmer privacy.
- Legal certificates and land-tenure or land-use-rights documents
- Farmer contracts and collection records
- Field photos of the crop and plot boundaries
- Independent surveys and audit results
- Scheme documents where relevant — SVLK for timber and furniture, ISPO for palm, or voluntary FSC and Rainforest Alliance certificates
None of those schemes is an automatic pass, because deforestation-free proof against the 2020 baseline plus geolocation are still required. Retain every record so it can be produced during enforcement inspections. Each DDS carries a unique reference number that must be quoted on the EU customs declaration and shared with your logistics operator before clearance, and a single DDS can in practice cover repeat shipments from the same verified supply base while the data stays current.
Timing raises the stakes. As announced, large and medium operators must comply by 30 December 2026 and micro and small operators by 30 June 2027 — but enforcement has shifted before (some Indonesian sources still cite 30 December 2025), so treat every date as of 2026, subject to change, and confirm the current position with the European Commission at environment.ec.europa.eu and your EU importer. Non-compliance can cost up to 4% of an operator’s EU-derived turnover on top of rejected shipments and goods blocked at EU customs, which is why clean plot mapping now is cheaper than a stopped container later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a survey-grade GPS to map my coffee farm for EUDR?
For most smallholder plots, no. A recent phone with a GNSS chip and a mapping app captures points and polygons accurately enough for the DDS. Hold still until the fix stabilises before saving. Survey-grade receivers help on large, high-value blocks or disputed boundaries, but the regulation asks for a reliable plot location, not centimetre precision.
How do I map plots when a smallholder does not know the exact boundaries?
Walk the plot with the farmer and any neighbours present, and drop polygon vertices where they agree the boundary sits, cross-checking against the SHM, SKT, or girik document. Record the walked shape and photograph the corner markers. Where lines stay uncertain, note it in the plot record so your risk assessment and the EU buyer see the caveat honestly.
Can I combine several small adjacent plots into one polygon?
Only if they genuinely form one continuous parcel under the same grower. Separate or scattered holdings must each get their own geometry — a point for parcels under 4 hectares, a polygon for larger ones. Merging distant plots into a single shape misstates the location and is a common reason EU compliance teams reject a Due Diligence Statement.