Esther Fung, Today Online 26 Dec 07;
In Thailand's Prachinburi province, eucalyptus trees are grown on sides of rice fields for paper pulp
PLANTING rice is not exactly a lucrative profession, but rice farmers in Thailand have found another source of income planting trees on their unused farmland for the paper industry.
And for 18 years now, a paper mill — Advance Agro Public Company, more commonly known as Double A — has been harvesting these eucalyptus trees planted along the sides of farmers' rice fields.
"The reason why we went into farmed trees is not out of the goodness of our hearts," said Mr Thirawit Leetavorn, senior executive vice-president of Double A. "It just makes economic sense to do this."
Located in Prachinburi province, 134km from Bangkok, Double A gets its raw material for its paper and pulp production from the eucalyptus trees planted by some 1 million Thai farmers. These trees, which take three to five years to mature, are chopped and sold at the farmers' discretion.
"The most difficult thing was getting the 1 million farmers to cooperate and work with us," said Mr Leetavorn, adding that the company initially faced some problems from farmers, who make up 40 per cent of the country's population.
Mr Leetavorn recalled the farmers' initial reluctance to plant the trees: "They said: 'How am I going to take care of this, do I have to water it all the time? What is it? Three years? Four years? Who's going to cut them down?'
"Fortunately, we have 20 years' experience in doing that, so we understand what needs to be done to get the farmers' cooperation," he said.
Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1995, the company maximises its profit by generating its own electricity from biofuel left after the manufacturing process, and by using water from its own man-made reservoir in its paper mill.
The global pulp and paper industry has been criticised as having a detrimental impact on the environment, not just because of deforestation, but also because the mills consume a lot of energy and cause water pollution through the disposal of poorly- treated chemical waste.
"The public perception is that we should reduce paper consumption to protect the forests, but in fact, it boils down to the production method, not just the quantity of paper you consume," said market researcher Leon Perera from Spire Research and Consulting. "You can produce and consume a lot of paper if it's sustainable, as in Scandinavia."
Sustainability and profits can go hand-in-hand, said Mr Leetavorn, adding that Double A tries to "minimise environmental impact through things like farmed trees and the use of biomass fuel that is self-sustaining for our mill".
Australian consulting firm Access Economics released a global report in June analysing the environmental cost of paper manufacturing. The report concluded that the complexity of measuring the industry's environmental costs resulted in less vigilant standards for protecting the environment.
Other paper mills in the region are also looking into cleaning up their production methods to get accreditation from independent arbitrators like non-profit organisations, such as the Forestry Research Council, said Mr Perera.
He added: "These seals of approval make the product more sellable in Britain and other markets."
"In the longer term, for Double A and other manufacturers, it will come down to who is able to get those accreditation and keep them current," Mr Perera said.
