Study: APP Has Sufficient Plantations for Zero Deforestation

Asia Pulp and Paper Group has sufficient plantation resources to meet the pulp requirements of its existing mills and its future mill in OKI, South Sumatra, according to an independent study by The Forest Trust and Ata Maria.

The announcement comes as APP releases an 18 month update on the implementation of its Forest Conservation Policy, which was launched in 2013 and committed the company to producing pulp and paper free of fiber or activity linked to deforestation.

According to Scott Poynton of The Forest Trust, APP and its suppliers have sufficient resources for the company’s 100 percent plantation target. He did note that one minor gap was identified in 2020 but that it can be filled by increasing the productivity of plantation operations.

The methodology and conclusions of the report will be evaluated by the Rainforest Alliance as part of an independent evaluation of APP’s Forest Conservation Policy it is currently conducting.

During the last 18 months, APP has introduced a moratorium on all natural forest clearance while carbon and biodiversity assessments are carried out. The results of all assessments – high conservation value, high carbon stock, peatland and social – are now in the process of being combined into landscape level Integrated Sustainable Forest Management Plans in stages.

The report also provides an update on the commitment APP made earlier this year to support the protection and restoration of one million hectares of forest in Indonesia.

APP came under fire in 2011 from Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund and Eyes on the Forest when it was revealed that one of APP’s wood suppliers had been clear cutting in a Sumatran tiger sanctuary that APP had publicly supported. A number of companies, including Kmart, Kroger, Xerox, Danone and Disney, stopped sourcing paper from APP as a result.