APP to 'retire' 7,000ha of plantations to help Jakarta cut emissions
Singapore
IN the first such move worldwide, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) will "retire" 7,000 hectares of commercial plantations to protect carbon-rich peatlands.
The group of pulp and paper manufacturing companies said the move would help the Indonesian government reach its target of reducing 26 per cent of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020.
Said APP's managing director of sustainability, Aida Greenbury: "The retirement of active plantations is not an easy decision for any business to take, but we believe that taking urgent steps to protect remaining areas of peatland forest, as well as reducing and avoiding climate emissions from peatlands, must be a priority."
The land marked for retirement is spread across five individual acacia plantation areas in Riau and South Sumatra, which were previously identified as requiring "immediate rehabilitation" following recommendations of the Netherlands-based applied-research institute Deltares.
A free and prior informed consent process will be conducted for the affected areas beforehand.
APP said the land retirement is part of its commitment to "establish a science-based landscape approach for best-practice peatland management that can be used by the Indonesian government and plantation companies".
It comes after a self-imposed moratorium on all natural forests and new peatland development that began in February 2013, in line with APP's forest conservation policy. The group has also been working with Deltares to carry out the largest mapping ever carried out on tropical peatland areas using remote sensing technology, it said.
Upon completion, Deltares will be able to provide further recommendations to minimise the impact of peat landscape drainage, making significant contribution to reducing forest loss and greenhouse-gas emissions, it added.
