Asia Pulp and Paper Group (APP) has announced a plan to restore and support the conservation of one million hectares of rainforest across Indonesia. This ground-breaking initiative has been developed with input from many stakeholders, including WWF, Greenpeace and NGO members of APP’s Solutions Working Group. It will have a significant impact on the landscapes both in and around the plantation concessions in APP’s supply chain.

The commitment, which takes the company well beyond its legal  conservation requirements, is approximately equivalent to the total area of plantation from which the company sourced pulp fiber in 2013.

This announcement comes just over a year after APP launched its sector-leading Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), which saw an immediate and permanent cessation of natural forest clearance across its supply chain. Since then, the company has been working closely with stakeholders to implement the policy, with support from The Forest Trust. The company has also been carrying out consultation on how it should prioritize restoration of important areas, following the wide ranging biodiversity assessments in its concessions.

Aida Greenbury, APP’s managing director of sustainability, said: “After over a year of implementing our FCP, it has become clear that the key to success of any efforts to halt deforestation in Indonesia is a landscape level approach to forest restoration and conservation.

“Land cannot be conserved or restored in isolation, the sustainability of the entire landscape must be taken into account and many stakeholders must be involved. We hope that by working with Indonesian and international stakeholders, as well as organizations such as WWF, The Forest Trust and Ekologika, our efforts will be much more effective.

“We believe that by assessing entire landscapes and creating clear tailor made objectives and strategies, the maximum possible level of conservation will be achieved, not just for natural forest in our concessions, but for areas around them as well.”