APP was founded in 1984 and is the largest pulp and paper producer in Indonesia, mainly for export. It has a pulp mill in Sumatra (Indah Kiat mill) that has a capacity of 2 million tons per year. Italy is the largest European importer of Indonesian paper (2009). WWF calculated that timber concessions of April included 570,000 ha of forest. It has several expansion plans, now one is on South Sumatra with acacia plantations for new pulp mill project (PT Oki Pulp Paper), involving wetlands area with peasant communities depending on production of rice and vegetables, with the potential of provoking more conflicts. APP on Sumatra has been long story of conflicts with communities; it has been reported that about 60,000 ha of lands occupied by APP is being claimed by communities, and the company continues nevertheless expanding. Main impacts reported have been - Violation land rights of local communities; Destruction territory and livelihoods of indigenous peoples; - Destruction biodiversity (forests and peat forests), about 1 million hectares since the beginning of its operations; Destruction peat forests would have led to release of up to 300 tons of carbon into the atmosphere. |