APP to develop forest conservation area<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
One of Indonesia's largest pulp and paper companies, Asia Pulp &
\nPaper Co. Ltd (APP), plans to convert about 76,000 hectares of
\nits timber forest into a conservation area.<\/p>\n
The company is also completing a sustainability action plan,
\nwhich covers the development of conservation areas, community
\ndevelopment and the tracking of timber.<\/p>\n
"We want to be able to have renewable raw material input into
\nour mills so that we can produce pulp and paper.<\/p>\n
"We're also responding to the aspirations of our stakeholders
\nwho want us to show how we're going to be a responsible
\ncorporation and citizens," APP director of sustainability and
\nstakeholder engagement Arian Ardie told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
APP currently manages around 900,000 hectares of industrial
\ntimber forest in the provinces of Riau and Jambi. The planned
\nconservation area is in addition to the company's existing
\nconservation areas.<\/p>\n
The country's forestry law says that all owners of industrial
\ntimber forests need to put aside 20 percent of their total area
\nfor conservation and development of indigenous trees and
\ngreenbelts.<\/p>\n
Arian also said that APP would invest around US$7 million for
\nthe conservation area, and around $50 million in total to
\naccomplish the plan, which is projected to be completed in five
\nyears.<\/p>\n
"This is probably the largest budget a private company has set
\naside for conservation. It's also the first time for an
\nIndonesian company in the natural resources sector to have such a
\ncommitment to sustainability," Arian said.<\/p>\n
He added that the company would soon seek approval from the
\ngovernment to convert part of its land into a conservation area,
\ngiven that the land was purchased from the government under
\nlicenses for industrial timber forest.<\/p>\n
Arian saw the decision to set aside this portion of their land
\nmore as an investment rather than a loss.<\/p>\n
"This (decision) will assure (the availability of) our raw
\nmaterials. Without doing that, there's a risk we won't have
\nenough input to continue making pulp and paper.<\/p>\n
"It also enables us to continue to access the key markets
\naround the world. Markets are demanding sustainability, and they
\nwant to know that the products they use come from well-managed
\nforest," said Arian.<\/p>\n
Arian said that APP had two sets of action plans to help curb
\nillegal logging.<\/p>\n
"We want to guarantee that we're not, by accident, taking in
\nillegal logs. We are also trying to gain control of our own
\nresources, and track the wood from the forest directly into the
\nmill.<\/p>\n
"We're also going to establish some forest rangers and
\nsecurity patrols in this area to make clear where the boundaries
\nare ... that this is a conservation area," he said.<\/p>\n
Arian stated that the company's exports to countries such as
\nJapan, the European Union, Australia and the United States
\nreached over $2 billion last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/app-to-develop-forest-conservation-area-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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