Plantation study gives green light for Sumatra pulp mill
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) claims it has enough timber plantations to 100% fuel its massive 19 million tonne output as well as supply its new Oki pulp mill when it comes on line.
According to a study commissioned by the giant Indonesia-based pulp and paper manufacturer from The Forest Trust (TFT) and Ata Marie as part of the an 18-month-old Zero Deforestation plan the company can answer critics with about its sustainability. Just how reliable the conclusions and the methodology of the report are is being evaluated by the Rainforest Alliance as part of an independent evaluation.
Over the years APP has battled accusations and boycotts over its environmental credentials or lack of them in harvesting sensitive rainforest. In recent years it has undertaken major campaigns to clean up its act, source its pulp from massive plantations throughout Indonesia and present itself as a responsible pulp and paper producer.
According to Scott Poynton, executive director, TFT, there are sufficient plantations to meet APP’s growing demand, apart from a gap in six years time, likely to be around the time the new mill comes into full production. “We have identified one minor gap in 2020 but this can be easily filled by increasing the productivity of the plantation operations between now and then,” said Poynton.
Because it is located in the tropics, APP claims a harvesting rotation of around five years, much faster than its northern European competitors. This gives it a tremendous competitive advantage. It believes it can bridge the 2020 ‘gap’ by increasing productivity of its supplier plantations through improved yield, better tree stock and reducing waste.
The launch of APP’s Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) in February 2013, had the company commit to producing 100% of its pulp and paper free from fibre or activity linked to deforestation.
According to Aida Greenbury, APP’s managing director of sustainability, FCP is central to the group’s business model. “This study proves that the model works – we can continue our operations and expand profitably without having a detrimental impact on forests in Indonesia or anywhere else in the world,” she said.
“It has been 18 months since we embarked on our Zero Deforestation journey with the launch of the FCP and although there is much left to do, a lot has been achieved in a short time and we are confident that we are on the right track.
The announcement comes as APP releases an update on implementation. Over that period, the company says it has introduced an effective moratorium on all natural forest clearance while carbon and biodiversity assessments are carried out. The results of all assessments – High Conservation Value (HCV), High Carbon Stock (HCS), peatland, social – are now in the process of being combined into landscape level integrated sustainable forest management plans in stages.
The report also provides an update on APP’s commitment to the protection and restoration of one million hectares of forest in Indonesia, announced in April 2014. Since then the company has been engaged in a planning phase of activity with a variety of key stakeholders including NGOs and governments. As part of this, initial mapping has been completed for the ten landscapes selected for conservation activities. The mapping process also identified conservation opportunities, key threats, and stakeholders with land rights in each of the landscapes.
More details on the FCP update report