Plans for a new pulp mill in South Sumatra are supported by new study findings that Asia Pulp and Paper Group plantations can support it.

As part of its Forest Conservation Policy 18 month update, App has announced that an independent study has confirmed that it has “sufficient plantation resource” to meet the pulp requirements of its existing mills as well as its future mill in Oki.

Launch of the Forest Conservation Policy in February last year, saw the company commit to producing pulp and paper that is free from fibre or activity linked to deforestation. The Forest Trust and Ata Marie were asked to conduct an independent study to assess existing plantation areas.

TFT executive director Scott Poynton says one minor gap has been identified in 2020 “but this can be easily filled by increasing the productivity of the plantation operations between now and then”.

APP managing director of sustainability Aida Greenbury says the FCP is “central to our business model” and the study proves that the model works: “We can continue our operations and expand profitably without having a detrimental impact on forests in Indonesia or anywhere else in the world.”

He says a harvesting rotation of around five years and “improvements made now” can bridge the 2020 gap by increasing productivity of supplier plantations through improved yield, better tree stock and reduction of waste.

The report also provides an update on APP’s commitment to support the protection and restoration of one million hectares of forest in Indonesia, announced last April. Since then the company has been engaged in a planning phase of activity with a variety of key stakeholders including NGOs and governments. As part of this, initial mapping has been completed for the ten landscapes selected for conservation activities. The mapping process also identified conservation opportunities, key threats, and stakeholders with land rights in each of the landscapes.