After decades of massive deforestation, Indonesian pulp & paper industry promised to turn the page. In reality, things are not going in the right direction. A few days ago, Greenpeace and WWF disengaged from Asia Pacific Resources Limited (APRIL) because of misleading, lack of transparency and poor implementation of their commitments, and repeated violations to the regulations on peat protection. In a few words, APRIL failed. APRIL’ competitor, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is not performing much better. As well as APRIL, APP has been also sanctioned for poor and illegal peat management, and this company has a much larger number of unaddressed local conflicts, hundreds of them, and trice and extension of plantations on peat still draining and degrading.
To plant acacia the peat is drained, leading to peat oxidation and to the release of massive greenhouse emissions (up to 80 t. per year per hectare). While dissolving into the atmosphere, the carbon soil disappear and the terrain goes down becoming prone to flooding in the rainy season. In the dry season the dry peat becomes fuel for massive fires, such as those that ravaged Sumatra and Borneo in autumn 2015, leading to several deaths almost 100,000 hospitalisations and releasing more than one billion tonnes of CO2, and damages for 16 billions USD.
APP seems to face the same challenges of APRIL, on an even wider scale, and despite releasing its commitment two yeas before, in 2013, its policy implementation on the ground is highly disappointing. Furthermore, the company failed to provide clear answer on how it will feed the new huge mill that is going to start its operations soon in South Sumatra.
Between 2013 and 2015, APP and APRIL announced between 2013 and 2015 new policies to address the huge deforestation that wiped out millions of rainforests, causing hundreds of social conflicts and threatening the global climate with major CO2 emissions by por peat management. Despite some skepticisms, the environmental NGOs hailed these commitments as a new hope of Indonesian forests and local communities. However implementation has been much more problematic than commitment.
Active deforestation mostly stopped also because most of the conversion had been already completed - but it is still ongoing in the areas that have to be protected according to the law. Much worst is the policies implementation on social conflicts resolution, as the conflicts that have been addressed are just a few, compared to hundreds of standing conflicts. Performance on peat management are even worst. Both companies committed to protect the peat, and settled up peat experts groups, but at the same time their concessions have been the licence suspended or revoked for violating laws and regulations. While local communities has to develop and divulgate environmental friendly peat management techniques, the industry still degrade the peat in its concessions, perpetrating yet an other massive climate crime.
Active deforestation mostly stopped also because most of the conversion had been already completed - but it is still ongoing in the areas that have to be protected according to the law. Much worst is the policies implementation on social conflicts resolution, as the conflicts that have been addressed are just a few, compared to hundreds of standing conflicts. Performance on peat management are even worst. Both companies committed to protect the peat, and settled up peat experts groups, but at the same time their concessions have been the licence suspended or revoked for violating laws and regulations. While local communities has to develop and divulgate environmental friendly peat management techniques, the industry still degrade the peat in its concessions, perpetrating yet an other massive climate crime.
This is the big challenge that Indonesian and global environmental and social organisations are facing to reform this pulp and paper industry. Here below a short list of other failures to comply with laws and regulations by APP and APRIL subsidiaries or suppliers.
The Environmental Paper Network developed an interactive lists of public data on identified APP and APRIL related companies, to guide paper buyers and investors. It is available at: http://ind-forestproducts.environmentalpaper.org
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Asia Pulp & Paper (APP)
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No restoration in burned peatlands - APP found again illegally planting burned peatlands
After doing checks on the field, the Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry concluded that there has been no peat restoration activity this year in APP’s suppliers concessions. Instead, APP has been carrying out replanting of acacia in last year’s burned peatlands, an activity prohibited by a ministerial regulation since mid-December 2015.
“As of early December this year, the ministry’s monitoring has led to the conclusion that no peat restoration efforts have been carried out in APP’s pulpwood concessions,” stated the ministry' Director General San Afri Awang. According to the ministry, APP is also illegally replanting acacia in drained peat domes after the previous acacia harvest has been completed.
More info and photos at http://www.foresthints.news/no-peat-restoration-efforts-across-app-supply-chain-concludes-ministry-monitoring
APP: Illegal operations on burned peat
The Environment and Forestry Ministry found APP suppliers PT BAP continuing to carry out land preparation and replanting of acacia in last year’s burned peatlands, a few days after the Ministry also found an other APP suppliers, PT WBH doing the same thing, in direct contravention to a ministerial regulation issued in mid-December last year.
PT BAP see: http://www.foresthints.news/app-under-the-spotlight-as-another-company-found-replanting-burned-peatlands.html
PT BMHv see: http://www.foresthints.news/govt-takes-tough-line-against-app-continual-exploitation-of-burned-peatlands
APP concession condemned for forest fires
The government required companies to restore the plantation land that has been burned in Autumn 2015. Great parts of three APP pulpwood concessions in South Sumatra were very seriously affected by these peat fires. In August this year, the High Court of Palembang (South Sumatra) declared that PT BMH (an other APP supplier) had committed an unlawful act with respect to peat fires in 2014.Sinarmas concessions in South Sumatra are key suppliers for the new huge APP mill that will start its operation by the end of the year in the OKI regency.
see: http://www.foresthints.news/sinarmas-forestry-company-found-guilty-of-unlawful-conduct-by-high-court-over-peat-fires
APP and forest fires
According to WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), APP deliberately set fires on peat to meet the production targets required by the new giant mill that the company is building in South Sumatra, and that it will be operative by the end of this year. Proof of this, WALHI asserts, lies in the fact that these burned peatlands have now been replanted with acacia by the giant pulp company.
see: http://www.foresthints.news/largest-ngo-says-app-peat-fires-deliberately-set-for-replanting-purposes.html
Google Earth images demonstrate true extent of burned peatlands in APP concessions
see: http://www.foresthints.news/google-earth-images-demonstrate-true-extent-of-burned-peatlands-in-pulp-giant-concessions
APP restoration plan rejected by the government
Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry rejected APP plan for landscape conservation. The plan, released by the APP-driven Belantara Foundation, is aimed to “compensate” past damage by the company. However, according the Ministry, APP is just pretending get a green image by managing conservation in intact ecosystems, while their own concessions are managed by business-as-usual practices - including peat drainage and erosion. According to the Ministry, APP cannot lead conservation in ecosystems land outside their land bank, while failing to address the huge environmental impacts in their own concessions.
In the past months, APP presented its conservation project in numerous international forums as an exemplar case of corporate responsibility.
http://www.foresthints.news/indonesian-authorities-reject-app-landscape-conservation
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Asia Pacific Resources Limited (APRIL)
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Greenpeace and WWF disengage from APRIL’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee
Greenpeace and WWF disengage from APRIL’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee
Two key stakeholders of APRIL’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC), Greenpeace and WWF, have announced that they are suspending their engagement with the committee, which was formed by APRIL in order to supervise the implementation of its “zero deforestation and no-peat development policy” launched in early June last year. The decision has been motivated with, misleading, lack of transparency, poor implementation of the commitments, and repeated violations to the government policy towards peat protection and restoration.
and: http://www.foresthints.news/two-prominent-ngos-disengage-from-april-stakeholder-advisory-committee
The Ministry of the Environment and Forestry found that the company was planning to keep expanding pulpwood plantation in the Kampar Peninsula of Sumatra’s Riau province. The plan has been already refused back in October, due to illegal plantation expansion on peat in the Kampar Peninsula landscape. The ministry also carried out a ground inspection, discovering that business-as-usual practices have taken place in the concession’s peatlands, including new land clearing and canal development. The Ministry sent a letter to APRIL intimating to restore the plantation being developed, while the acacia that has already been planted and newly-developed canals closed. The Ministry director general San Afri expressed his surprise at these operations by APRIL, considering that the pulp and paper giant is consistently promoting to the international community that its sustainability policy has included no peat development since early June 2015: “It turns out that APRIL is still carrying out business-as-usual practices, which actually violate its very own sustainability commitments. In fact, one of the director generals at the ministry was in attendance on behalf of the minister at the event at which APRIL launched its no peat development policy.”
see: http://www.foresthints.news/pulp-giant-company-work-plan-annulled-due-to-plantation-expansion-in-kampar-peninsula-landscape
And: http://www.foresthints.news/govt-punishes-april-business-as-usual-practices-in-peatlands
APRIL supplier fined for illegal logging
A timber supplier of APRIL in Riau was fined by Supreme Court in August trial to pay compensation amount to 16.2 trillion (US$1.19 billion) for illegal logging and environmental destruction occurred during 2004-2006 in Pelalawan district, Riau province. PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari, an APRIL timber supplier since 2003, was found guilty conducting illegal logging of 5,590 hectares and environmental destruction of 1,873 hectares of its concession.
see: http://www.eyesontheforest.or.id/?page=news&action=view&id=976
Caught in illegal activities, APRIL send the security to prevent official inspection
APRIL controlled PT RAPP has been found converting peatlands and digging canals in the Padang Island (Sumatra) in violation with the law. The local community informed the Peat Agency about the facts.
The Peat Restoration Agency has been created by the President with a strong mandate to protect and restore the peat after last year huge fires and the haze crisis. The fires were mostly linked to palm oil or pulp plantation companies, such as APRIL suppliers.
The head of the agency, Nazir Foead, immediately organized a field inspection in the concession, together with forest rangers and officials form the Environment and Forests Ministry, but PT RAPP sent the security to prevent the inspection.
see: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/07/rapp-accused-of-peatland-conversion.html
APRIL supplier SRL RAPP permit suspended
Secretary General of the Environment and Forestry, Dr Bambang Hendroyono, has confirmed that the operations of the pulpwood concession on Pulau Padang have been provisionally suspended. “The decision to provisionally suspend the operations of the PT RAPP pulpwood concession on Pulau Padang has been made. It will be in effect while we wait for the map on the distribution of protected peat areas in this concession,” he declared in a written statement received by foresthints.news.
http://aprilwatch.blogspot.de/2016/09/april-concession-permit-suspended.html
APRIL supplier SRL permits revoked
The Ministry of the Environment and Forestry started a procedure to definitively revoke the permits of a major APRIL supplier, PT SRL, because the company operated illegal while the permit was frozen due the concession involvement with forest fires
see: http://www.foresthints.news/ministry-begins-law-enforcement-phase-against-major-april-supplier
and: http://www.foresthints.news/major-april-supplier-reportedly-in-serious-breach-greenpeace-demands-legal-action
Cooperation agreement with APRIL cancelled due irregularities
Indonesia's Minister of the Environment and Forestry decided to cancel a cooperation agreement between the Ministry's Riau Conservation Agency and the APRIL company, the management of Zamrud National Park, due to irregularities
see http://www.foresthints.news/agreement-with-april-company-cancelled-by-forestry-minister-due-to-irregularities
Operations of another APRIL supplier suspended over forest fires
Indonesia's Minister of the Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, has suspended the operations of PT Rimba Lazuardi (RL), one of APRIL’s long-term suppliers located in Sumatra's Riau province, as the company was found to have committed a number of violations with respect to last year’s forest fires.
http://www.foresthints.news/operations-of-another-april-supplier-suspended-over-forest-fires