“It’s time to stop the construction of new mills,” said Timer Manurung, director of the environmental NGO Auriga. Nine Dragons Paper obtains certification from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), but it’s unclear if the group has a zero deforestation policy or not, according to the Global Canopy’s “ Forest 500”. “We are still looking for the best location, so far no suitable land parcel is identified yet.” “We are still looking for the best location,” Nine Dragons Paper said in a statement to Mongabay. The group said nothing is set in stone yet. There’s also a plan by China’s largest pulp company, Nine Dragons Paper, to expand into Indonesia with a $1 billion investment, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry, with a view to producing 6 million tons of pulp a year.
In 2019, Indonesia’s total pulp production was 9 million tons, according to data from Trase.
Their combined output at full capacity will be 1 million tons of pulp per year. Two of the mills are already running at full capacity, three are slated to max out this year, and the sixth will ramp up to 85% capacity this year. It shows the average deforestation rate from 2017-2019 fell by 85% compared to the three-year average for 2010-2012.īut this decline might not last long, given that at least six new pulp mills have recently started operating, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, which points to an increase in demand for pulpwood and thus for new plantations to feed them. Trase’s new Indonesia wood pulp supply chain map can now track pulp exports back to the specific plantations that contributed most of the pulpwood.
This has contributed to a drop in forest-clearing for the industry in Indonesia, according to analysis of data from Trase, a supply chain transparency initiative. JAKARTA - Plans for expansion by the pulp and paper industry in Indonesia threaten to reverse a declining rate of deforestation for pulpwood plantations, according to a NGO analysis.Īn increasing number of producers and buyers of wood pulp and paper have adopted zero-deforestation commitments in recent years.
According to a new NGO report, this could reverse a declining trend of pulpwood-related deforestation in recent years, with producers seen as likely to clear more forests for plantations in order to meet the demand from the new mills.Pulp and paper companies are expanding in Indonesia by building new mills, putting more pressure on existing pulpwood plantations to increase their production.