West Kalimantan government signs a memorandum of understanding with pulp and paper company Asia Pulp and Paper and its affiliate organization of Belantara Foundation for a sustainable landscape development project. (Photo courtesy of APP)
Phoebe Sudargo Jakarta Globe 1 Jul 16;
Jakarta. The West Kalimantan government signed a memorandum of understanding with pulp and paper company Asia Pulp and Paper and its affiliate organization Belantara Foundation for a sustainable landscape development project, APP said in a statement on Wednesday (29/6).
The MoU involves a series of projects focusing on prevention of forest fires, protection of forest and peatlands, as well as local social welfare development in the province.
One such projects includes a sustainable energy development made of Philippine Tung’s (Reutealis trisperma (Blanco) Airy Shaw), locally known as Kemiri Sunan’s fruit.
The biodiesel pilot project, as initiated by the West Kalimantan government, will involve West Kalimantan Forestry Office, APP, Belantara Foundation and Tanjungpura University.
“The development of Philippine Tung plantation has multiple goals: to increase land productivity, local people’s income, environmental sustainability and renewable energy supply,” Agus P. Sari, chief executive of Belantara Foundation, a foundation established by APP to seek and manage funding to support a number of landscape scale conservation projects in Indonesia's Sumatera and Kalimantan islands, said in the statement.
The project will turn 5,000 hectares of land within Production Forest in Landak, Mempawah and Kubu Raya districts into a Philippine Tung plantation, and would fall under Tanjungpura University’s care. The project is expected to produce 30,000 to 40,000 tons of diesel annually.
APP has been involved in several environmental projects in West Kalimantan, including Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA), a forest fire prevention project.
“Sustainable development that is both beneficial for the environment and local people always been the goal of our Forest Conservation Policy [FCP]” Aida Greenbury, APP’s managing director of sustainability, said.
APP pledges to donate $10 million to the forest fire prevention project over the course of fiver years and commit to creating 500 sustainable villages that are less dependent on agroforestry economic.
APP has also built more than 5,000 dams for further forest fire prevention.
