APP has issued a statement against claims made by Greenpeace, which were published in the Times newspaper about its wood sourcing policies in Indonesia.
The report singles out Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, for sourcing trees from rainforest and peatland that are home to endangered species like the Sumatran tiger and the orangutan.
The key points of APP’s statement read:
These articles have been based on false and incomplete information, and in our eyes damage the reputation of The Times for good journalism.
On Wood Supply:
APP has zero tolerance for illegal fibre. Today, around 30% of APP’s pulp raw materials originate from Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certified sources such as LEI, PEFC and FSC. Another 35% originates from independently audited non-controversial legal origin sources under a phased-approach toward SFM certification and the balance of 35% is from recycled sources.
To ensure traceability, APP implements stringent, rigorous, externally audited Legal Origin Verification (LoV) and Chain of Custody (CoC) systems and protocols. APP and its pulpwood suppliers’ LoV and CoC systems were independently audited using national law, Eco-label Institute and Timber Legality and Traceability Verification (TLTV) standards by SGS, one of the world’s leading environmental auditors. The SGS auditing team has found no indication of any illegal pulpwood being harvested by our suppliers or being introduced into APP’s mills.
APP’s main papermills are certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) and the Indonesian Eco-labeling Institute (LEI) with Chain-of-Custody. PEFC’s paper certification standard is similar to FSC’s. In line with other paper producers their certified products also contain some non-certified material, which have been classified as legal as is Non-Controversial and Controlled Wood, respectively.
On Bukit Tigapuluh National Park:
APP is fully committed to the protection of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (BTNP) and to the responsible management of its surrounding areas. Descriptions of an area as being in the “Bukit Tigapulah Forest Landscape” are very misleading. The Government has established the Bukit Tigapulah National Park, and around this National Park they have awarded concessions for the development of land for a variety of end uses, not just pulpwood plantation. 2
In 2009 APP’s pulpwood suppliers, in accordance with the law, were granted a new concession to develop a pulpwood plantation in a production forest area to the southeast of BTNP, entirely outside of the National Park. Recognizing the importance of BTNP, our pulpwood supplier, as part of the application process, has clearly stated that all areas adjacent to BTNP will be designated as conservation set asides to ensure added protection for high conservation value areas surrounding the park. Well managed pulpwood plantations can act as buffer zones, which have been proven to deter illegal logging – this ensures that protected areas remain protected.
In June 2009 a multi-stakeholder group, containing NGO’s such as WWF and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, was set up by the government to review the ecological conditions of this area. This is an ongoing process and we fully support this, and we will respect the findings of the independent group. As previously stated we will not accept any pulpwood from this area until the assessment is fully completed and a sustainable development plan for the area has been officially approved by the Government of Indonesia.
APP and its pulpwood suppliers have taken the additional step of planning to connect, via corridors, the 10,000 ha Taman Raja Reserve, which is located east of BTNP. Taman Raja is a forest concession consisting of more than 16,400 hectares in Jambi Province. On independent evaluation, the concession was seen to have 6,800 hectares inhabited by several local communities and 6,000 hectares of natural forest rich in vital biodiversity and social value.
By connecting BTNP to the Taman Raja Reserve in addition to other conservation set asides, our pulpwood suppliers are actually proposing to expand the habitat of these rare species, not threatening it, as has been suggested by The Times.