Greenomics: APP related concession licenses frozen by the government due forest fires

Greenomics release today a new report on Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). According to thereport, two concessions linked to APP in South Sumatra have had their licenses frozen following the recent land and forest fires. In November 2015, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry froze the license of PT Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH) – an APP-linked concessionaire, whose concession is located in the province of South Sumatra, Sumatra island, Indonesia – because of the massive burning that occurred on its 250,000-hectare concession. Almost 400,000 hectares of APP-linked concessions located in peatland areas have had their licenses frozen.

Last week, a group of NGOs based in South Sumatra, released a briefing including maps showing that the the was majority of burned areas is inside concession related to APP: 78% of the burned concession areas in South Sumatra, more than a half on peat soil.

Greenomics  report  title is “APP Milestones?” quoting the milestones released by EPN in September 2013: "APP's Peatland Management Milestones and Peatland Best Practice Management programs must now be called into question” says the report. The Greenomics document criticize APP for starting to re-wet peat areas.
"The massive extent of the burned-out peatland on the largest APP-linked concession clearly demonstrates the company’s inability to comply with its legal obligation to prevent or control forest and land fires on its concessions”,  concludes Greenomics, adding that for this is the reason the Ministry of Environment and Forestry decide to freeze the BMH concession license.