By Hans Nicholas Jong
JAKARTA — Activists allege that two of the world’s biggest pulp and paper companies have violated their zero-deforestation pledge by clearing natural forests and peatlands in Indonesia.
An investigation by a coalition of Indonesian NGOs found deforestation within and around the concessions of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd. (APRIL) on the island of Sumatra.
In the case of APRIL, the coalition alleged that two of its concessions had cleared natural forests and destroyed peatlands, with some of their activities suspected to have been carried out without legal permits.
The first concession is operated by PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Sungai Mandau region, Siak district, Riau province.
Using satellite imagery analysis and on-the-ground investigation, the coalition found 9 hectares (22 acres) of deforestation within RAPP’s concession since June 2023, and beginning in August 2023, new clearance of 83 hectares (205 acres) has been detected around the concession.
Satellite image showing deforestation in PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Sungai Mandau region, Siak district, Riau province. Image courtesy of Jikalahari.
What once had been native trees was replaced with newly planted acacia trees, a fast-growing pulpwood tree species, the coalition found.
The forest clearance was still detected as of April 2024.
According to the investigation, the forest clearance was done by the same workers using the same equipment, indicating that RAPP is not only behind the deforestation within its concession, but also outside it.
This, the coalition said, might be illegal, since RAPP would need to acquire a permit before it could start clearing outside its concession.
Since the newly planted pulpwood trees are in an area zoned for non-forestry activities, or APL, then the type of license that RAPP needs to obtain is a community forest title, said Made Ali, executive director of Riau-based environmental NGO and member of the coalition, Jikalahari.
Using the community forest title, RAPP would be able to manage the pulpwood plantation outside its concession together with the local community in the area, he said.
The community forest title, or Hutan Rakyat in Indonesian language, is part of the government social forestry program, and it allows companies together with village cooperatives to manage forests and carry out non-logging activities as well as restricted logging for a period of 35 years.
But the coalition couldn’t find any legal permits for the pulpwood plantation, including those under the social forestry scheme, Made said.
“RAPP’s action to plant acacia outside its concession is illegal, because in order to plant acacia in APL areas, ones [companies] have to use the community forest scheme,” he said. “[A company] can’t plant acacia on its own outside its concession, unless it’s working together with a village or a third party [cooperative] in the form of community forest.”
An excavator on cleared land in PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Sungai Mandau region, Siak district, Riau province in March 2024. Image courtesy of Jikalahari.
This is a potential violation of the 1999 forestry law, which forbids the extraction of forest products without approval from the authority, said Difa Shafira, head of the forestry department at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).
Another indication that RAPP has broken the law is the construction of new canals on deep carbon-rich peatlands that have protected status in the newly deforested areas.
If RAPP is behind the construction of the canals, then it has violated the 2016 government regulation on peatland management and protection, Difa said.
Instead of constructing new canals and clearing protected peatlands, a concession owner should’ve restored peatlands in its concession as required by the regulation, she said.
“If the restoration [mandate] is ignored, then the government could force the company [to do so]. If it’s still not obeyed, the business permit can be frozen and eventually revoked,” Difa said.
Responding to the findings, APRIL said it had verified them and found that the clearance occurred on land managed by a local community cooperative right outside RAPP’s concession boundaries.
Furthermore, APRIL also identified a small area, less than 10 hectares (25 acres), of encroachment into RAPP’s concession by the cooperative.
This cooperative is not a supplier to RAPP and has no contractual agreements with RAPP for supplying it or for any operational activities, APRIL said.
APRIL then reiterated its commitment to its zero-deforestation policy.
“As you would be aware, in any case, APRIL does not use or permit any mixed hardwoods to enter our supply chain and only plantation fiber that meets our sustainability policy is used,” the company told Mongabay. “Adherence with this policy is regularly audited, including by third parties.”
New canal on peatland in PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Sungai Mandau region, Siak district, Riau province, in March 2024. Image courtesy of Jikalahari.
SAU concession
The coalition also found deforestation linked to another concession managed by an open market supplier to APRIL, PT Selaras Abadi Utama (SAU), in Pelalawan district, Riau province.
The deforestation, which spans 50 hectares (124 acres), occurred within SAU’s concession in September 2023, the coalition said.
Satellite images showing deforestation in an open market supplier to APRIL, PT Selaras Abadi Utama (SAU), in Pelalawan district, Riau province. Image courtesy of Jikalahari.
According to locals interviewed by the coalition, the clearing was done using three excavators.
In place of natural forests, the coalition found newly planted acacia trees and new canals in the cleared lands.
“Even if the company’s working plans allow for such deforestation … when peat forests are cleared, it means there has been deforestation and forest degradation,” Made said. “Once again, this is not in line with their commitment, which is to stop clearing natural forest and stop destroying peatlands.”
These findings should be considered by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world’s leading sustainable forestry certifier, he said.
The FSC is undertaking a “remedy process” for APRIL, which is seeking reassociation with the FSC after it was disassociated in August 2013 for destructive forestry practices.
In November 2023, APRIL and the FSC signed an agreement that initiated the implementation of APRIL’s remedy process, bringing the company one step closer to reentering the association and having its products endorsed with the FSC logo.
The FSC logo, a green checkmark and tree, is widely recognized as assurance to consumers that certified wood products have been tracked throughout their supply chains and are guaranteed to come from responsibly managed forests independently monitored by credible third-party auditors.
However, the FSC has also been criticized in the past for allowing certified companies to continue engaging in deforestation and human rights abuses.
This is why it’s important for the FSC to take the findings into consideration in the remedy process, Made said.
“Even if the FSC will go into the field and engage in dialogue with the locals, these findings should still be considered,” he said. “It’s nearly impossible for APRIL to get FSC certification considering the FSC’s strict criteria, but we know that it [APRIL] is a big company. It can do anything it wants if the public doesn’t monitor it.”
Using best available satellite imagery, APRIL said it found out that the deforestation in the cleared area took place in 2013, not last year.
This was before the company’s 2015 cutoff date for land development, APRIL said.
New canal on peatland in PT Selaras Abadi Utama (SAU), in Pelalawan district, Riau province. Image taken in March 2024 by Jikalahari.
APP
Besides APRIL, Jikalahari also detected deforestation indicated to be illegal linked to APP.
In February 2024, there were 376.80 hectares (930 acres) of clearance of natural forests on a block of land in Riau managed by a local cooperative in Belantara village, which has a working agreement with APP’s subsidiary, PT Arara Abadi (AA), according to spatial analysis by Jikalahari.
Some 60 hectares (148 acres) of this deforestation had occurred within forest area, and acacia trees were starting to grow on the cleared land when Jikahalari visited the area earlier this year.
Map of deforestation on a block of land in Riau managed by a local cooperative in Belantara village, which has a working agreement with APP’s subsidiary, PT Arara Abadi (AA). Image courtesy of Jikalahari.
This indicated that the forest clearing was illegal because a cooperative is not allowed to cut down trees in forest areas, Made said.
And since the cooperative has an agreement with AA, it is likely that the illegal timber from the deforested land enters APP’s supply chain, with AA supplying to the company’s mill in Riau, PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper (IKPP), he added.
“This is modus [operandi] by a company so that it doesn’t have to take responsibility if there’s a crime,” Made said.
In early March 2024, Jikalahari and ICEL reported the deforestation to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Newly planted acacia trees on a block of land in Riau managed by a local cooperative in Belantara village, which has a working agreement with APP’s subsidiary, PT Arara Abadi (AA). Image taken in February by Jikalahari.
In a statement early March, APP said it had launched an investigation and found that all the allegations are false.
While it’s true that AA has a standing memorandum of understanding with the Belantara village cooperative, the agreement is only to explore potential cooperation, and not yet as a formal supplier contract, APP said.
Therefore, to date, there have been no operational activities by either parties at this location since the signing of the MOU, the company added.
This means that no illegally sourced wood entered the supply chain of the company’s mills since February 2013, APP said.
APP acknowledged that deforestation did happen in the area, but it was done by one of its supplier partners, PT Riau Indo Agropalma (RIA), not AA.
APP said RIA cleared 57 hectares (141 acres) of area that has been identified as high conservation value (HCV).
APP said it had issued a firm warning and demanded that RIA restore areas with HCV within two weeks since it made the statement in early March.
Should RIA fail to do so, APP said it could suspend wood purchase from the company.
Jikalahari, meanwhile, found that the deforestation was actually located outside RIA’s concession.
Before 2016, RIA’s concession spanned a larger area, one that included the deforested area, according to Arpiyan Sargita, a campaign manager at Jikalahari.
“But in 2017, RIA had its concession decreased [in size],” he told Mongabay. As a result, the deforested area is no longer in RIA’s concession.
“This means that APP is using old data,” Arpiyan said.
The deforestation indicated that AA had violated the 2013 law on protection against forest encroachment, which is a crime, Difa of ICEL said.
And if the illegal timber entered IKPP’s mill in Riau, then IKPP had violated a 2021 government regulation on forest management that forbids any forestry businesses from accepting illegal timber, she said.
“If proven [guilty], IKPP could immediately receive administrative sanctions in the form of permit revocation,” Difa said.
Besides enforcing the law in the two cases of deforestation linked to APP and APRIL, the government also needs to increase its monitoring efforts to make sure no illegal clearance of natural forests occurs again in the future, according to Hariadi Kartodihardjo, a forestry professor at the Bogor Agricultural Institute.
If the government’s monitoring system works well, then the deforestation should’ve been detected during evaluation of the companies, he said.
“These findings show that [the government] forest protection instrument is not adequate,” Hariadi said during a press conference two days before he passed away on June 2.
Banner image: A tree trunk on cleared area in PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Sungai Mandau region, Siak district, Riau province. Image taken by Jikalahari in March 2024.
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This article was originally published on Mongabay
