Although many might see these events occurring this year, 2013, in reality the policy has taken a number of years to plan and develop. Over the past five years, I have seen the desire for change within the Indonesian firm, but recognising the limitations of a rapidly developing economy based on extractive resource industries.  

The forestry sector in the nation is a large employer, which is important for a country of 250 million people. Perhaps the main reason why APP has failed in the past to stick to its environmental commitments has been because there was too little background work in setting goals. The recent forestry policy has a long internal planning history and, therefore, has a greater likelihood of success.

The Indonesian government has also been active in forest conservation over the past few years. The introduction of [environmental certification] SVLK is an example of the seriousness in the government’s efforts in combating the illegal logging trade.

APP currently has about 2.6 million hectares of land suitable for plantation forestry. This is more than enough for the company’s local pulp and paper requirements. The Indonesian plantation wood is all short fibre, and so the company will need to import a long fibre pulp from Northern hemisphere suppliers as it has done for some time.  

The big NGOs will be keeping a close eye on APP, as they should. Any transgression into old growth forests will be pounced on very quickly and will be incredibly damaging to APP’s shaky international reputation. I think they will be working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Phillip Lawrence is a PhD scholar, consultant and speaker who specialises in print and the environment. He used to consult to Asia Pulp & Paper

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