Indonesian pulp and paper businesses are not known for the green credentials. The Guinness Book of Records will list Indonesia as the country with the world's fastest rate of deforestation in its 2008 edition, due out this September, after the South-East Asian nation was nominated by Greenpeace. The country is continually fighting illegal logging and deforestation.
However April was invited to join the Council for its work with sustainable plantations. James Griffiths, managing director of WBCSD's sustainable forestry and ecosystems projects, welcomed April as a member at a ceremony in Jakarta today. He said, "The decision to invite April to the Council is a recognition of the commitment of the company, and the country as a whole, to transforming Indonesia's forestry management industry."
"Globally, the industry faces real challenges to meet the increasing demand for wood, paper and other forest-based products. In a historically contentious industry where illegal logging, deforestation and carbon emissions are major issues, April has adopted a sophisticated and responsible approach to its forestry management system and emerged as an industry leader, locally and internationally."
He added that he hoped other companies would follow APRIL's lead and also join the council, which has 200 members from Asia Pacific, Europe, Oceania and the Americas.
April president AJ Devanesan, who accepted the invitation on behalf of the company, said the company had been working towards membership for five years. He said, "We have worked hard to make our business sustainable, but our approach has always been very simple: growing the resources to produce pulp and paper must be done in a sustainable, socially and environmentally progressive manner.
"We have strict measures in place to eradicate illegal logging and all aspects of our operation ensure that we manage our resources effectively and responsibly. We design plantations to protect high conservation value forests and offer a solution to Indonesia's deforestation. Sustainability is the key to long-term viability."
The South-East Asian state is the ninth largest pulp producer and the 11th largest paper producer in the world, but demand far outstrips what is possible to supply through sustainable production.
Deforestation each year between 2000 and 2005 averaged 2 million hectares – an area almost the size of Wales. It is estimated the Indian Ocean archipelago has lost 72% of its ancient forest cover in total, with half of the remaining forest threatened by legal and illegal logging, forest fires and land clearances for palm plantations.
April, which also has manufacturing operations in China, has one of the world's largest pulp mills with an annual designed capacity of more than two million tonnes in Indonesia.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter