APP Signs Partnership to Support Green Development in West Kalimantan

Pontianak, June 29, 2016 – Since 2015, the Governor of West Kalimantan, Drs. Cornelis MH, assumed the responsibility as Coordinator of the Governor's Climate and Forest (GCF) Task Force Indonesia. GCF is a global sub-national collaboration involving the provincial government from 29 countries, which aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. In support of the GCF Indonesia Task Force, the Governor of West Kalimantan today hosted a public meeting of GCF Indonesia in the Governor's Office. This event was attended by the Governor of GCF member provinces in Indonesia and also the related stakeholders in West Kalimantan.

 During the event the Governor of West Kalimantan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) and the Belantara Foundation as partners to help strengthen its commitment in sustainable landscape development, further realizing their vision of green growth in West Kalimantan.  This memorandum of understanding is focused on the prevention of forest fires, protection of forests and peat ecosystems, as well as the efforts of improving the well-being of local communities in an effort to reduce the local community's dependency on forest land.

Programs have been started by APP in the province of West Kalimantan in cooperation with the Belantara Foundation and IDH Sustainable Trade Initiatives, also involving several forest plantation companies on multi-stakeholder-based, responsible landscape management on the production forest in the Kubu-Ketapang landscape. In addition, in an effort to prevent peatland forest fires, APP and its suppliers have built more than 5,000 dams on the perimeter canals around its suppliers' plantation area in Indonesia.  Of these, 500 dams which were built in West Kalimantan.

In addition to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, APP outlined its support for an initiative by the Governor of West Kalimantan in developing renewable energy using the Kemiri Sunan plant (Reutealis trisperma (Blanco) Airy Shaw). Kemiri Sunan crop can be used as biodiesel and is a key part of the Government's efforts to reduce the dependence of Indonesia against imports of fuel.  This pilot project will take the form of collaboration between West Kalimantan Forestry, APP, Tanjungpura University, and Belantara Foundation. West Kalimantan province has great potential in the cultivation of Kemiri Sunan. At the moment, approximately 5,000 hectares of area in the production forest areas of Landak, Mempawah and Kubu Raya regencies, is planned to be planted with Kemiri Sunan crops. This area will be developed under lisence for special-purpose forest area, managed by the University of Tanjungpura.  It is anticipated that 5,000 hectares of Kemiri Sunan will be able to produce up to 30,000 – 40,000 tons of biodiesel per year.

"Green development that benefits both the environment and the society has always been a goal under our Forest Conservation Policy commitment," says Aida Greenbury, APP's Managing Director of Sustainability. "To achieve this, there needs to be a strong cooperation and collaboration between stakeholders. This is the reason we continue to encourage landscape approach management. We are committed to continuing our support and cooperation with the Government of the West Kalimantan province to support the realization of a green and prosperous West Kalimantan Province.”

Agus P. Sari, CEO of Belantara Foundation stated: "The development of the Kemiri Sunan plant in the context of the management of sustainable landscape, will address several goals – improved productivity of land, income generation, community and environmental sustainability, including the supply of renewable energy."

APP also understands the importance of the role of local communities in realizing sustainable landscape management. For that reason, APP and its suppliers are implementing an Integrated Forestry & Farming System (IFFS) that focuses on improving the well-being of agroforestry local communities and reducing their dependence on forest.  APP has committed USD 10 million to implement the IFFS program in 500 villages in 5 years.

-End-

About Asia Pulp and Paper

Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) is a trade name for a group of pulp and paper manufacturing companies. APP is responsible for delivering quality products to meet the growing global demand for tissue, packaging and paper. On any given day, our products find their way into the hands of consumers in various branded forms all over the world.

Maintaining the integrity of our supply chain is crucial to APP’s operations. APP launched its Sustainability Roadmap Vision 2020 in June 2012 and its Forest Conservation Policy in February 2013, to further improve its environmental performance, biodiversity conservation, and protection of community rights. Key objectives of this roadmap are to ensure that its pulpwood suppliers adopt High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) protection, peatland protection, and be 100% Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certified by 2020.

In April 2014, APP launched its commitment to support the protection and restoration of one million hectares of forest in Indonesia. In line with that commitment, by 2015 APP and its suppliers have allocated approximately 600,000 hectares for conservation within its suppliers’ concessions and for ecosystem restoration.

Learn more about APP’s path to operational excellence by reading our Sustainability Reports and Forest Conservation Policy on: www.asiapulppaper.com  

About the Belantara Foundation

The Belantara Foundation has been formed by Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) to secure and manage funding to support wide-ranging landscape scale conservation projects in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia. It aims to help ensure a careful balance is found in the region between sustainable economic developments, the livelihoods of people in local communities and environmental conservation. This involves overseeing natural forest restoration and endangered species protection, protecting endangered animals, and studies to strengthen sustainable landscape management, as well as engaging in community empowerment and local economic development, especially for those that rely heavily on natural resources.