APP’s latest promise no more than protecting already protected forest

The “sustainability roadmap” issued recently by controversial Indonesia deforester Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) dramatically backtracks on a series of promises it has made – and broken - previously, an analysis by the Riau NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest has found. "We were abundantly justified in not trusting their 2004 Sustainability Action Plan promise to cease native forest pulping by 2007 and responsible paper buyers or consumers should be dismayed that nearly a decade later, APP’s latest Sustainability Roadmap doesn’t even promise to go that far by 2015," said Muslim Rasyid, coordinator of Eyes on the Forest member Jikalahari (Forest Rescue Network, Riau). Part of the giant Sinar Mas Group (SMG), APP announced in early June that it would temporarily halt clearing of natural forest in only its “own” concessions while it conducts assessments for forests of high conservation values, an industry practice that conservation groups have long called for APP to do. “Our analysis found there is no natural forest left to apply their new policies to in Riau Province, since all natural forest in their ‘own’ concessions had either already been cleared or protected under Indonesian law or APP showcase commitments which are also mostly nothing more than confirmation that the company would obey the law,” said Rasyid. “We believe that APP’s new policies offer no conservation benefit for any forest outside Riau either.” The Eyes on the Forest analysis APP/SMG: The pulping continues finds "the fate of up to 1.2 million hectares, more than half of Riau’s remaining forest, remains in danger of being cleared by APP/SMG’s so-called 'independent suppliers' who can continue to deliver natural forest wood to the company’s mills unaffected by the new forest policies." These forests include some of the last refuges of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger and elephant, as well as forests on carbon-rich deep peat, whose clearing will lead to very high carbon emissions for decades to come. “This so-called roadmap to sustainability is just another element of APP’s investment in greenwashing, rather than greening,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the WWF International Forests Programme. “This is not a roadmap to sustainability, but a roadmap to pulp more of Indonesia’s forests.” Not only is APP backtracking from the broken sustainability commitments of 2004 and 2007, it also appears to be moving back from commitments made just a year ago in its “Vision 2020, a roadmap to guide sustainability principles, goals and program.” In this announcement, APP said it would “source 100 percent of its pulpwood supply from sustainable plantation stock by the end of 2015”. The 2012 roadmap switches terminology from “100 per cent sourcing” to “100 per cent capability” with the introduction of a new loophole for “Mixed Tropical Hardwood (MTH) waste & residues”. APP/SMG: The pulping continues includes photographic evidence of clearfelled rainforest areas APP calls “waste and residues. Eyes on the Forest members including WWF and Walhi Riau are calling on APP and SMG to immediately stop natural forest wood from forest conversion entering any of its pulp mills. "Until APP makes this commitment and finds a way to demonstrate it is not just yet another empty promise, its financiers, paper buyers and paper consumers need to maintain and extend their own growing moratorium on dealing with APP," said Hariansyah Usman, Executive Director of Walhi Riau

Farmer dies at APP plantation site

A farmer was found dead in canal of timber supplier of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) last week, in the Senepis forest block. His name was Supratmin. Buluhala residents says that Supratmin, the victim was previously attacked by security of PT Suntara Gaja Pati (SGP), an APP’s affiliated company). The police probed the incident as farmers association in Buluhala urged the official to investigate the death of Supratmin who had got bruises and wounds, Riaulive website reported on Thursday.

As rain rarely pours Riau Province many fires hotspots found recently including in timber concessions and protected areas. At least 613 hotspots detected within three weeks in this month as the total of hotspots in the province are 1573. There are 613 fire hotspots were totally found in several concessions of acacia plantation or industrial timber plantation during period of June 1-20 where the most hotspots detected were on concession of Asia Pulp & Paper’s timber supplier PT Satria Perkasa Agung (ex- HPHTI PT. Intipalma/ affiliated to APP) with 225 spots.

It is followed by PT Sumatera Riang Lestari Blok 3 (Asian Pacific Resources International Limited/APRIL) with 101, PT Dexter Timber Perkasa Indonesia (APP) 44, PT Rimba Rokan Perkasa (APP) 35, PT Rimba Lazuardi (APRIL) 22, PT Arara Abadi – Duri (APP) 21, PT Bina Daya Bentala (APP) 17, PT Rimba Rokan Lestari (APRIL) 17, PT Artelindo Wiratama (already split from APP) 11, and PT RAPP Baserah (APRIL) 11. Other concessions that also significantly hit by hotspots are PT Suntara Gaja Pati (APP), PT Arara Abadi Pelalawan (APP), PT Perawang Sukses Perkasa Industri (APP), PT RAPP Pulau Padang (APRIL), PT Sumatera Riang Lestari Blok 4 (APRIL), PT Selaras Abadi Utama (APRIL) and PT Ruas Utama Jaya (APP). By affiliated companies, APP has 408 hotspots while APRIL 205. The monitoring of forest and land fires hotspot is conducted based on satellite of Modis Terra Aqua that managed recently by NASA and it is analyzed by Eyes on the Forest. By HPH selective logging concession, PT Hutani Sola Lestari in Tesso Nilo landscape has 38 spots followed by PT Siak Raya Timber in Tesso Nilo with 13 spots, and PT Diamond Raya Timber in Senepis with 7 spots. By protected and conservation areas, Tesso Nilo National Park is the most hotspots detected with 108 and followed by Giam Siak Kecil biosphere reserve with 8 hotspots