5 June 2025
Dear colleagues, advisors, partners and members of our sustainability community,
Today, marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of APRIL’s landmark Sustainable Forest Management Policy 2.0. A decade on, the policy and the actions it has fostered stand tall as APRIL’s lasting and serious example of how sustainability has enabled business transformation.
To mark the policy’s anniversary, we are pleased to share A Decade of Action — APRIL’s Sustainable Forest Management Policy 2.0 — our reflection on the influence and impact that the policy and its implementation have achieved over the past decade. As a company that’s always striving to move forward, it’s important to reflect on where we’ve come from, what’s been achieved, and where we still have more work to do.
At the time of its launch in 2015, a few companies had already made no deforestation pledges. SMFP 2.0 was differentiated by going beyond no deforestation in our operations and supply chain. The policy also set in stone what remains to date as an unprecedented commitment to conserve a hectare of natural forest for every hectare of plantation that we have established (1-for-1), and to define and implement a science-based approach to responsible peatland management. It also clearly established adherence to the principles of Free Prior and Informed Consent in engaging with the local communities, as well as our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions footprint, and more.
The actions it demanded, and the independent governance structures it created, remain as relevant today as they were then, providing the foundation to support the development of our APRIL2030 agenda and its implementation.
Ultimately, what differentiated our policy is not just the pledges that we made but the seriousness with which the operationalization of the policy was undertaken. As the steward of the policy, our team witnessed its endorsement at the highest level of the organization, particularly in terms of aligning our business strategy and operations, making the required financial and human capital investments, and willingness to tackle hard conversations internally, with the Stakeholder Advisory Committee and with other stakeholders.
We are also grateful for the central role played by our stakeholder community — particularly our Stakeholder Advisory Committee — for their support in ensuring the transparency and integrity of our actions. Trust-building was a fundamental component of SFMP 2.0 implementation and the SAC helped to bridge any deficit in this regard. The SAC encouraged and helped us to get better at listening to stakeholders, including the critical voices. There is no doubt that these inputs have made APRIL a better company and will continue to bolster our ambition.
On behalf of our senior leadership and our entire organization, I want to thank you collectively for your support — whether as an advisor, partner, colleague or critical observer — in staying the course with us.
We remain resolute in our commitment to building on the foundation that SFMP 2.0 has set and continuing to deliver meaningful and measurable progress to create a sustainable future for all.
I invite you to review this report which encapsulates a decade of learning-by-doing and the credibility earned through diligent external verification.
