April, one of the world’s largest pulp and paper producers and controls a million hectares of forests in Indonesia, announced that it had stopped clearing forests as part of its operations. Last year, it also launched its sustainable policy, including a pledge to halt forest clearing in 2010. Now the company is called a “champion” by the environmental group, Greenpeace, which used to be a fierce critic of the company. Also Greenpeace vowed to monitor April’s implementation of new policy closely. Activists said that battle is still far from won.

The think tank Innovation Forum held a two-day conference in Washington DC entitled “How business can tackle deforestation” attended by 160 representatives from companies, NGOs and investors. Whilst multiple major consumer goods companies have declared their commitments to achieving zero deforestation in their supply chains many others have raised concerns over the term and what the policy actually means in practice.
Rainforest Alliances’ recent position paper, ‘Halting Deforestation and Achieving Sustainability’ warned that zero deforestation commitments may not be enough to protect the world’s forests, due to two reasons. Firstly, though many major companies have signed up for these commitments, many other producers and buyers will not. These companies will continue to rely on deforestation to produce their goods, unless a way is found to address underlying issues, such as growing worldwide demand for forest products. Secondly, focusing solely on deforestation risks drawing attention away from other business practices within the commodities supply chain which may deserve equally urgent attention e.g. water scarcity and labour laws. In addition, the use of ‘zero deforestation’ as a catchphrase is problematic because there remains no clear agreement over what the term means. Rainforest Alliance emphasises the need for greater education, auditing and transparency so that consumers know the impact of what they are buying and are able to trust companies’ sustainability claims. Though a commendable step in the right direction, ‘zero deforestation’ commitments need to be backed up with comprehensive action plans if they are to deliver credible results.

A study published in the journal Science, led by Holly Gibbs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that the moratorium on forest conversion established by Brazilian soy giants in 2006 dramatically reduce deforestation for soy expansion in the Amazon, and have been more effective in cutting forest destruction than the government's land use policy in the region. The study is based on spatial analysis across thousands of farm in the Brazilian Amazon and cerrado, a woody grassland, and researchers compared forest loss before and after the moratorium was established.

• 2014 was the ‘year of the zero deforestation commitment’, particularly in the palm oil sector but also for agribusinesses like Cargill.
• Plantation forestry, in all of its various forms, is still seen as one of the biggest drivers of deforestation.
• APP continues to see praise for their work implementing the Forest Conservation Policy.
• APRIL continues to be criticised for their weak policy and poor performance.
• Global Forest Watch was lauded as a significant leap forward for open source forest monitoring.
• Drones made their first foray into forest conservation and are being used by Cargill, and imminently by Brazilian forest agencies, for monitoring and enforcement.
• The mood in Indonesia is quietly optimistic, with a new government in place departments have merged (Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Environment merging), and there was a widespread crackdown on corruption.
• NGOs have turned their attention to a new aspect of the pulp and paper sector: dissolving pulp, which is used in a diverse range of products including clothing and toiletries.

APP are set to start communicating the work that they have done on their zero deforestation policy, which came into force in early 2013. They want to communicate to a wider audience all that they have to say around high conservation values and high carbon stock, but in a manner that everyone can understand. APP’s zero deforestation policy has had a positive impact on the company’s bottom line, and companies such as Nestle and Staples have started working with APP again.

Pulp and paper giant APRIL (Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd) has been found to be violating its own sustainability policy by continuing to source fibre from peatlands in Riau, Indonesia. The investigation, from Eyes on the Forest, shows that APRIL affiliate Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) is operating in breach of APRIL’s pledge not to clear potential high conservation value (HCV) areas. Dramatic photographs released by Greenpeace-Indonesia in June clearly showed natural forest clearance on deep peat areas, and ongoing preparations to turn the land in to plantations. APRIL says this activity doesn’t violate its policy commitments and clearing is only taking place in non-HCV areas. APRIL is under mounting pressure to clean up its supply chain since its largest competitor, APP, signed a comprehensive zero deforestation policy in 2013. APP’s subsequent commitment to support conservation and restoration of forests equal in size to its own operations was also applauded by environmental groups. APRIL has since said that it will match APP on this commitment – see APRIL’s letter responding to the Greenpeace photographs in June 2014.

Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a long-time target of environmental campaigners, committed in February 2013 to protect and restore a million hectares of forest across Indonesia under its Forest Conservation Policy. This video presented by Tony Juniper, an advisor to APP, highlights key aspects of the policy. The policy requires its suppliers to not only protect natural forest resources, but also biodiversity and human rights. APP has worked with The Forest Trust (TFT) to help develop and implement the policy. And the company has adopted the High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment, developed by the Forest Stewardship Council, to ensure the values of natural forest are fully understood. APP is also adopting High Carbon Stock (HCS) survey to understand the location of big stocks of carbon. The restoration commitment of APP targets nine “landscape” across Sumatra and Kalimantan, regions where the company sources its fibre.

According to a letter signed by signed by Huma, Forest Peoples Program, Rainforest Action Network, Wahana Bumi Hijau, Scale Up, Jaringan Masyarakat Gambut Jambi, Jaringan Masyarakat Gambut Riau, and Pusaka, APRIL’s new forest policy allows the company to continue destroying rainforests and peatlands for industrial plantations. The letter highlights a dozen concerns over APRIL's policy, including a lack of a moratorium on natural forest conversion, failure to identify and protect high carbon stock (HCS) areas, and unclear commitments on resolving social conflicts and embracing the concept of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from affected local communities. It also says that the policy appears to not apply to APRIL’s sister companies or suppliers. The letter comes days after Greenpeace documented APRIL-owned PT. Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper destroying peat forest on Pulau Padang, an island off Sumatra. In response to the report, APRIL said the clearing was in line with its forest conservation policy.

Johnson & Johnson have revealed a comprehensive palm oil sourcing policy to eliminate deforestation and social conflict from its global palm oil supply chain.
The current use of palm oil by Johnson & Johnson stands at 0.2% of global palm oil production, the equivalent of 75,000 tons per annum. By working with The Forest Trust, they plan to set up sourcing systems that deliver fully traceable palm oil.

By declaring its intention to restore and support conservation of one million hectares of natural forest and other ecosystems in Sumatra and Kalimantan, APP has substantially strengthened the Forest Conservation Policy it announced in February 2013. WWF Indonesia said “we remain cautious of these new developments but we are encouraged with the level of ambition, which is unprecedented.” WWF’s tacit support of the restoration pledge reveals the extent of this engagement. It was only last month that WWF issued a brief to paper buyers warning them to wait to resume business with APP.

The second largest US grocery chain, Safeway, has established a policy that excludes deforestation-linked palm oil from its products. Safeway is asking its suppliers to implement social and environmental criteria that ensure the palm oil it uses in branded products is “free of deforestation, free of expansion on carbon-rich peat lands…” Safeway’s move was immediately welcomed by the Rainforest Action Network, which has been campaigning to push American companies to demand greener palm oil.

The stationary giant Staples is the first company to have rekindled its relationship with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) just over a year after APP announced the implementation of its forest conservation policy (FCP). Staples has agreed to sell two paper products manufactured by APP and produced at APP’s Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper mill in Indonesia. The move from Staples has been met with criticism from some eNGO’s who have accused it of “jumping the gun.” Campaigners from the Rainforest Action Network staged a demonstration outside a branch of Staples.

Over half the world's palm oil traded internationally is now bound by zero deforestation commitments after Singapore-based Golden-Agri Resources (GAR) extended its forest conservation policy across all palm oil it produces, sources and trades.
The stepped-up policy matches the commitment made by Wilmar, the world's largest palm oil company, last December and means that over half the world's palm oil is now covered by zero deforestation pledges.

The Rainforest Alliance has agreed to conduct an audit of Asia Pulp and Paper’s progress in implementing the the zero deforestation policy the forest giant signed last year. The organisation will evaluate APP’s progress in meeting four commitments in its forest conservation policy including protecting high conservation value areas and high carbon stock forests, managing peatlands to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and obtaining free, prior informed consent from local communities before developing new plantations.

Greenpeace has reported that Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) faces expulsion from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) if it fails to stop clearing rainforests and peatlands on the island of Sumatra. APRIL has twelve months to comply or face expulsion from the WBCSD. APRIL is one of the largest deforesters in Sumatra, with 60% of its wood coming from natural forests. Campaigns against APRIL have been stepped up a notch since its biggest competitor – Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) – signed a comprehensive forest conservation policy last February.

Central Government Departments and related agencies in Denmark are now required to buy sustainable timber for buildings, furniture and paper. This is the result of a new procurement strategy, recently published by the Danish Ministry of Environment.

Communities living alongside the world's tropical forests can estimate an area's carbon stocks as effectively as hi-tech systems, according to findings published in the journal Ecology and Society. The study found that community members in four South-East Asian countries using sticks and ropes were able to gather the same results as satellites. The research team aim to convince policy makers of the vital role local communities can play under the UN’s Redd+ programme which aims to curb GHG emissions from deforestation and land-use change.

A new decree signed by the Indonesian president to create a national agency aimed at combating greenhouse gas emissions signals progress in the country’s efforts to tackle global warming, said a scientist with the Center for International Research.
The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Forest Degradation) agency, which will report directly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, fulfills one among several criteria detailed in a climate change partnership agreed in 2010 with Norway. Under the terms of the agreement outlined in a letter of intent, the two countries opened the door to developing policy on REDD+, a U.N.-backed framework for reducing emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation.

APP has announced two breaches of its forest moratorium on natural forest clearance. The first small-scale clearance for a pre-planned community project had already been reported. The second case appears to be an outright breach of the policy in Sumatra by three companies which cleared 69 hectares of high carbon stock forest in a "No Go" zone. APP called the violation "unacceptable" and says it will improve sign-off procedures to address the breach.

APRIL still holds chain-of-custody certificates granted through the industry-led PEFC forest certification scheme.

Unlike FSC, PEFC does not have a policy of association or a process to dissociate itself from companies engaging in large scale deforestation.