The tree-planting program serves as a follow-up to a similar initiative carried out at several plantations owned by Sinar Mas APP, following the company’s stated commitment to contribute to the conservation and restoration of Indonesia’s forests in 2014. The commitment prioritizes 10 areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan, including the now-degraded Giam Siak Kecil forest in Siak and Bengkalis regencies, Riau. The company has also planted 50 Meranti seeds across the 10 prioritized areas.

According to Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency head Suharyono, approximately 1 million hectares of the country’s 27 million ha of conservation areas have been degraded because of human activity and natural factors.

With the program, Sinar Mas APP aims to conserve its resources spread across multiple regions, as well as restore natural ecosystems in degraded areas. In addition to involving business partners, the company also welcomed the assistance of local residents in the tree-planting program.

From 2016 to 2017, the Environment and Forestry Ministry investigated nine industrial timber estates (HTIs) of more than 1.1 million ha in size in South Sumatra and Riau after they were scorched in 2015. The ministry found that all nine companies had violated prevailing regulations by replanting acacia trees on the burned concessions, which were on peatland.

One of the companies, pulp producer PT Bumi Andalas Permai (BAP), holds an HTI of 192,700 ha in Ogan Komering Ilir regency in Riau. The company, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, had more than 80,000 ha of its concession burned in 2015, 60 percent of which were peat domes.

The chairman of Sinar Mas APP’s Japanese subsidiary, Tan Ui Sian, said the tree-planting program was also part of an effort to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) mandated by the United Nations.

“We wish to contribute to three SDGs: climate change mitigation, biological diversity conservation and public support,” he said on the sidelines of the tree-planting event on Friday.

Sinar Mas APP has committed to environment-first principles since its issuance of the Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), according to Sian. The policy comprises four main commitments: the conservation of natural forests, the proper management of peatland, engagement in public partnerships and the implementation of a sustainable supply chain.

“In the last five years, APP has invested about US$300 million in forest conservation and restoration efforts, including scientific research on peatland and public development programs,” he said.

Sinar Mas APP had also been consistent in its commitment to the sustainable production of paper products, including those that could be degraded naturally, he added.

“Besides copy paper, Sinar Mas APP is also well-known in Japan for tissue and HVS paper products. We aim to keep expanding our Japanese market for specialty-grade paper products,” Sian said.

The company has controlled 20 percent of the Japanese copy paper market since its expansion to the country in the early 1990s.

During the same event, Japan Agency for Environmental Business chairman Mitsunori Kamiya said the tree-planting initiative would boost the confidence of the Japanese market, which had prioritized sustainable development.

“Everyone around the world, including the private sector in Indonesia and Japan, needs to work hand in hand to implement sustainable business principles to achieve SDGs in 2030,” Kamiya said. (rfa/dwa)

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