Indonesia-based APP launches support for community-led biofuel initiative

Indonesia-based paper and packaging firm Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has announced its support for a new community-led biofuel pilot initiative.

The initiative aims to help reduce the use of fossil fuels in Indonesia, increase the availability of renewable biofuels, provide incomes for local communities and help to reduce the vulnerability of Indonesia’s forest to fire, degradation and deforestation.

The pilot, the result of the jurisdictionally-based partnership to support green growth between APP, the Governor of West Kalimantan and the Belantara Foundation will find suitable land to be planted with Kemiri Sunan (a flowering plant), as a community plantation or as a restoration area.

The pilot will find suitable land to be planted with Kemiri Sunan, a rapidly emerging potential source of biofuel, to supply Indonesia’s B15 / B20 (biodiesel blend) biodiesel programme and key export markets for biofuels. This pilot will initially focus upon its development as a community crop through smallholder farmer co-operatives.

Kemiri Sunan’s high yield of up to 10 tonnes of oil per hectare, make it an attractive source of biofuel, with waste used to produce fertiliser, animal feed and biogas.

The trees can be intercropped with perennial crops and the projects will be run by smallholder farmer co-operatives, providing a new source of income to farmers in the region.

The trees develop broad canopies and deep root systems, helping to reduce soil erosion and water evaporation, whilst promoting water retention. By planting in degraded areas, the project is anticipated to improve local incomes whilst at the same time reducing GHG emissions and the vulnerability of the landscape to forest fire.

"Green development that benefits both the environment and society has always been a goal under our Forest Conservation Policy commitment," said Aida Greenbury, APP's managing director of Sustainability.

She added:  "We are committed to continuing our support and cooperation with the Government of the West Kalimantan province to support the realisation of a green and prosperous West Kalimantan Province.”

‘Sustainable landscape’

Agus P. Sari, CEO of the Belantara Foundation stated: "The development of Kemiri Sunan in the context of the management of a sustainable landscape, will address several goals – improved productivity of land, income generation, community and environmental sustainability, including the supply of renewable energy."

The pilot builds on wider initiatives by APP to promote sustainable development across Indonesia. This work includes a partnership with IDH, the Belantara Foundation, other NGOs and three forestry companies to promote landscape management across the Kebu-Ketapang landscape in West Kalimantan.

It also supports work by APP to reduce the fire vulnerability of the landscapes where it operates, which has involved the construction of more than 5,000 water-retaining dams across APP's supply chain in Indonesia.

The pilot is part of APP’s landscape commitment through the Belantara Foundation and its wider $10 million commitment to 500 villages to fund an Integrated Forestry & Farming System (IFFS) that focuses on raising the incomes of local communities whilst reducing the pressure to open up new areas of forest for development. 

"We need to embrace our community, the guardian of our forests, in our green growth programs," added the Governor of West Kalimantan, Cornelis M.H.