TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
WWF praises APRIL's commitments on forestry
The leading organization in wildlife conservation and endangered species, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has positively welcomed the sustainable forest management policy issued by Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL)
Change Size
T
he leading organization in wildlife conservation and endangered species, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has positively welcomed the sustainable forest management policy issued by Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL).
The policy includes the company's commitment to supporting conservation activities set in forest areas similar in size to industrial forest (HTI) areas.
'The WWF warmly welcomes APRIL's sustainable forest management policy (SFMP) in its industrial forest areas. The SFMP is a new standard for the pulp and paper industry in Indonesia,' said WWF-Indonesia CEO Efransjah on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Efransjah said the issuance of the SFMP showed APRIL's strong wish to transform its operating procedures by fulfilling all of its commitments as part of the paper industry in Indonesia.
He said the policy would give quite a positive contribution to the conservation of forests and their biodiversity, the reduction of carbon emissions, and Indonesian people's prosperity as it would impose a moratorium on land concessions where conservation values had not yet been assessed independently.
APRIL and its supplying partners will complete the opening of their industrial forest areas by the end of 2014. They will support a pilot project aimed at developing a method needed by the industry in evaluating and protecting forest and peat land areas with high carbon storage potentials.
Under the SFMP, however, APRIL -- which operates PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) in Pelalawan, Riau -- will still allow the use of timber from tropical forests for raw factory materials until the end of 2019.
'The WWF is calling upon APRIL to use 100 percent pulp fiber materials from industrial forests as raw materials for its factory,' said Efransjah.
Earlier, APRIL president Praveen Singhavi said that, to monitor the implementation of APRIL commitments, an advisory committee comprising independent stakeholders would be established. The committee would involve key stakeholders, including the WWF.
'The committee will appoint an auditor that will verify and report on the progress of APRIL commitments.' (ebf)
