Greenpeace halts campaign as APP calls time on rainforest clearing

The paper giant said it has suspended natural forest clearance while independent assessments take place to identify areas of high conservation value.

APP managing director for sustainability, Aida Greenbury, said: "Our new Forest Conservation Policy sets our company on course to be a leading world-class paper company solely based on sustainable plantation sources."

According to Darragh Brennan, sustainability manager at APP's Australian affiliate, Solaris Paper, the decision spells a definitive end to APP's clearing of rainforests in Indonesia, a practice that had seen it become public enemy number one for conservation groups, particularly Greenpeace.

"There will be no clearance of natural forest in the future. As part of the Sustainability Roadmap Vision 2020, APP will be 100% plantation fibre dependent," said Brennan.

"With this new announcement, Australian customers should have confidence that the raw materials Solaris Paper and Paper Force source from APP are sustainable," he added.

[Related: Greenpeace versus APP – the story so far]

In the past, Greenpeace had been sceptical of APP's announcements on sustainability. But it seems the NGO has now called time on the feud.

In a blog post, Bustar Maitar, head of Greenpeace's Forest Campaign in Indonesia, said: "Greenpeace has, for now, taken the decision to suspend its campaign against APP. We will be reviewing progress by the company and reviewing this decision at regular intervals."

Greenpeace has spent years hounding the paper company over deforestation, and said this pressure had forced APP's hand.

"We could not have got to this point without many of you, around the world, who helped to persuade dozens of well-known brands to suspend contracts with APP," said Maitar.

"Other NGOs working on both environmental and social issues have also played a critical role in bringing about this important change, through their own campaigns both here in Indonesia and abroad."

Greenpeace qualified its approval by making the point that APP "has already cleared the majority of forests in its supply chain to make way for plantations. A lot of forest has been lost for that expansion, tens of thousands of hectares per year in recent years".

"So while I am hopeful that things are changing at APP and am happy about what this could mean in future for Indonesia's rainforests, we cannot forget that these are changes that ought to have come many years ago," said Maitar.

The independent assessments will be led by Loy Jones, managing director of Asia Pacific Certification Services and a senior auditor for FSC, and Neville Kemp, from environmental surveying company Ekologika.

[LinkedIn: What have you done to become more sustainable?]

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