APP, WWF signs forest deal
APP, WWF signs forest deal
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Asia Pulp & Paper Co. (APP) on Tuesday agreed to set aside
part of its forest concessions in Sumatra as conservation areas,
and tighten up procedures to stop the supply of illegal logs to
its mill.
The Sinar Mas Group, which owns APP and a number of forestry
companies, signed an agreement with the World Wide Fund for
Nature to help protect what remains of Sumatra's most
ecologically important rainforest.
The WWF has said that widespread illegal logging to feed APP's
mill in Riau province, on the eastern side of Sumatra island, has
added to the devastation of the rainforest.
APP's efforts to restructure its debt this year have sparked
fears among ecologists the company will need to run its mill at
full capacity to help repay creditors. Sinar Mas has been slow to
set up sustainable plantations to supply the mill, meaning it has
relied heavily on cutting down natural forest.
Under Tuesday's agreement, Sinar Mas will stop logging part of
its government-allocated concessions in Riau. The area under the
moratorium totals 165,000 hectares, or twice the size of
Singapore, a statement issued jointly by the WWF and Sinar Mas
said. That will leave the company with a similar amount of
natural forest which it can still cut down for wood supply.
"This is an important step in APP and SMG's continuing efforts
in the area of environmental sustainability and social
responsibility," said Mubariq Ahmed, the WWF's Indonesia
director.
APP vowed to improve its procedures for monitoring the wood
which it buys from third parties. APP has said that it can't be
100 percent sure that all the wood it gets from outside its own
concessions comes from legal sources. The WWF has complained that
illegal logging is putting at risk its Tesso Nilo conservation
area - which is home to Sumatran elephants and one of the world's
most diverse range of plant species.
The company agreed to draw up a plan to show how it will meet
its annual wood supply needs starting in 2004. Although APP has
increased the size of its plantations in recent years, it doesn't
expect them to become self-sustaining until the second half of
this decade. The company has discussed buying wood chips from
other sources, such as Australia, to make up any supply
shortfall.
The agreement also includes a provision to help clear up land
disputes with local communities that claim they were kicked off
their ancestral land when APP began expanding in the 1990s.