We conserve, protect and restore forest areas within our concessions and are expanding our work with conservation partners and communities beyond our concession boundaries.
We continuously and actively protect conservation and restoration areas within our concessions and are expanding our work with conservation partners and communities beyond our operational boundaries. We protect and conserve 465,886 hectares of natural forest and peatland areas, representing 32.7% of our total managed area.
In 2015, we adopted a bold 1-for-1 commitment that directly links our fibre supply to funding of our conservation efforts. It’s brought to life through a unique internal tariff: for every tonne of plantation wood delivered to our mill, we assign a dollar to conservation work. The large conservation fund we’ve generated illustrates the success of our Production-Protection approach, which supports both economic and environmental interests. Commercial plantations that are sustainably managed become more productive, delivering more money for conservation through our internal tariff.
This initiative does more than offer funding certainty for our own conservation initiatives. It enables us to support conservation partnerships beyond our operational boundaries, serving as a working example of how the private sector can finance and implement conservation projects within and beyond its value chain.
By 2030, we aim to have invested up to USD 100 million through our internal tariff and are on track for doing so, already reaching many milestones:
Peatlands comprise 597,593 hectares of the total plantation and conservation areas we manage, with 326,328 hectares (54.6%) dedicated to conservation and 271,265 hectares (45.4%) belonging to existing plantations. About 70% of our total conservation area is tropical peatland, with a significant portion within the RER programme, a carbon-storing peat swamp forest twice the size of Singapore. Restorasi Ekosistem Riau (RER) in Riau Province protects and restores degraded peat swamp forest in a concession spanning 150,000 hectares. Pursuing our landscape work allows us to contribute to advances in tropical peatland science, which we share with the national and global scientific communities and other stakeholders. We regularly participate in scientific conferences and dialogues on peatland, and publish scientific papers that advanced tropical peatland science. Our research activities are part of our APRIL2030 commitments.
Biodiversity is declining at an average rate of 73% since 1970, with 85% of endangered and threatened species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List facing habitat loss. Businesses need to actively and responsibly manage and protect natural capital, both within their operations and beyond.
At APRIL, w observe wildlife biodiversity in our concessions using remote camera traps. These are fixed cameras that are triggered when they detect movement. They do not constrain or impact the wellbeing of the animals in any way. Recently, we deployed a new Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) to collect, compile and analyse field data that helps us prevent illegal wildlife trade. This task is carried out in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). We rely on satellite imagery and drones for aerial views of concessions run by our teams or our suppliers, so we can take immediate action on any deforestation activity. All remediation efforts are documented and independently assured each year so we can remain transparent about how we manage and protect our land bank.
Fires can derail our biodiversity and conservation efforts, and endanger the health and lives of staff and local communities. To prevent them, we have a strict No-Burn policy in place for our own and our suppliers’ land management. We also run an educational Fire Free Village Programme (FFVP) for local community members to raise awareness about sustainable forestry management practices.
Established in 2014, the FFVP helps to promote a deep understanding of the environmental and social consequences of fire, empowering communities to become active participants in fire prevention efforts. A total of 42 villages in five districts in Riau Province are participating in the program, covering a total area of more than 900,000 ha.
Again, technology plays a pivotal role. We’ve made substantial investments in fire detection and suppression technology, including satellite imaging and CCTV towers at our forest plantations. No fires were reported in or around our concessions in 2023 because of these education and fire suppression efforts.
