APP claims to halt deforestation WWF is positive but cautious

Actually, APP has already ceased completely. "All machines were switched" off on Thursday of last week when I arrived in the country but I was under strict instructions not to release the news, so that information could go out simultaneously worldwide. Basically, along with the complete suspension of natural forest clearance, the company has also announced programs for the protection of all forests, including those on peatlands, High Carbon Stock assessments and adoption of international best practice for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. It has also committed to independent monitoring by NGOs – an important move. The announcement was made as part of APP's new Forest Conservation policy during the quarterly update to its 'Vision 2020' Sustainability Roadmap.

And if importance is to be defined by people; then this was up there with any of the events that I have attended in my 15 years of reporting in the pulp and paper industry. The speakers included Teguh Wijaya, chairman of the APP Group, and a man not often seen in the glare of the world's press (who were there in droves) and Indonesia's ministers of Forestry and ministers of Trade. Chairman Wijaya gave the welcome speech to an audience that included most of the big NGO names, including most notably Greenpeace senior campaigners who have given a cautious, but very warm welcome to the announcement, and indicating clearly that APP has made great strides. Clearly it's an indication that something very significant has changed.

"APP today committed to most of WWF's calls. If the company follows through on this, it could be great news for Indonesia's forests, biodiversity and citizens," said Nazir Foead, Conservation Director of WWF-Indonesia.

"Unfortunately, APP has a long history of making commitments to WWF, customers and other stakeholders that it has failed to live up to. We hope this time the company does what it promised. WWF plans to independently monitor APP's wood sourcing and forestry activities for compliance with its commitments and regularly update stakeholders on the findings," Foead added.

APP runs two of the world's largest pulp mills on Sumatra, where it produces the pulp for the toilet paper, tissue, copy paper and packaging that it sells worldwide. The company and its wood suppliers are responsible for clearing more than 2 million hectares of rain forest on the island since beginning operations in 1984, an analysis by the NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest found.

"WWF hopes that APP's new commitments will do more than just stop its own bulldozers, including protecting the natural forests in its concessions from all illegal activities and mitigating the long-term negative impacts its practices have had on all the peat lands, forests, biodiversity and local people in Sumatra and Borneo for which these commitments have come too late," Foead added.

"WWF has long called on responsible businesses to avoid sourcing from APP and until there is truly independent confirmation that APP has stopped draining peat soils and pulping tropical forests with high conservation value, we continue to urge paper buyers to adopt a wait for proof stance," said Aditya Bayunanda, GFTN and pulp & paper manager of WWF Indonesia.

Mr Teguh Widjaya, the patriarch of the family's pulp and paper business, oversaw the announcement today that no member of his APP group operating in Indonesia or China will accept any tropical timber felled in Indonesia after 31 January 2013 until company consultants have completed a full 'high conservation value' and a 'high carbon stock' assessment of their forest concessions.

However, the company inserted a loophole in the commitment saying that for an indefinite period of time APP mills would accept trees felled before 31 January.

As a sign of good faith and the first demonstrable milestone, WWF calls on APP to have moved the supply of already-cut tropical timber its suppliers cleared before the self-imposed 31 January 2013 moratorium by 5 May 2013, the due date of its next quarterly forest policy report.