APRIL Says Greenpeace USA Claims Untrue
Greenpeace USA claims on its website that APRIL is cutting down the last remaining natural forests in Indonesia. That is simply not true and is misleading for any consumer considering using APRIL’s products.
High conservation value forest area protected in APRIL’s concession in Riau Province
Indonesia has vast forest estates. Almost 53 million hectares of those estates have been designated as conservation by the Indonesian Government. Land licensed to APRIL for growing its plantations is separate to the conservation areas.
APRIL and its supply partners have conserved and protected over 200,000 hectares of high conservation value forest and indigenous tree species inside their concessions. In fact, over 40% of APRIL’s concessions are set aside for conservation, community farming and other community purposes.
The reality in Indonesia is that land not responsibly managed usually gets degraded by illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming and human encroachment. That would be the fate of the areas APRIL and its supply partners currently conserve and protect if they were not there.
The Greenpeace USA campaign is trying to shame people who buy APRIL’s PaperOne products, claiming they are subsidizing rainforest destruction. The opposite is true. People who buy PaperOne are helping to protect over 200,000 hectares of conservation forest and encourage ongoing responsible forestry practices in Indonesia.
