Dear Editor,

We are concerned that your article on 9 January, 2012, regarding APRIL’s operations in Pulau Padang, Indonesia did not provide your readers with important and relevant facts about the real situation on the ground and we would like to provide those facts in response.

The reporting in the article about protestors may give readers the impression that there is widespread opposition to APRIL's (or RAPP as we are known in Indonesia) operations on Pulau Padang. As in any diverse community of interest, engagement is a complex process and we accept that not every individual within every community will be supportive of us. Equally however, the rights of those communities to form overall views that lead to agreements being reached with RAPP should be respected by outside third parties.

RAPP operates on concessions that are located on land zoned for fiber plantation development by national, provincial and local governments.

In Pulau Padang, RAPP spent well over a year consulting widely with local villagers after being awarded concessions by the Indonesian government to develop sustainable fiber plantations on the island in June 2009. The open consultation process comprised over 60 rounds of negotiations and discussions at community and individual levels, including numerous public sessions involving local government, NGOs and local communities, attended by local media.

Significantly, through transparent and constructive dialogue with village-elected representatives, we have reached community development agreements with 11 out of the 14 villages involved, which reflect the development aspirations and requirements of their respective communities. We have a long-term interest in building a positive relationship with these communities, hence our engagement efforts are focused on dialogue to understand and address ongoing concerns.

Readers may also may have been led to infer that our operations in Pulau Padang are being unilaterally determined by RAPP. This is not so. The development of Pulau Padang is being collectively determined by a multi-stakeholder taskforce led by local government and comprising several Members of Parliament, representatives of the various local communities, NGOs and RAPP.

The above facts have all been widely reported by local media.

Recently, leaders of the 11 villages that have agreements with RAPP formally appealed to the local government on behalf of their people to ensure responsible development proceeds because of the long-term benefits this will deliver to their communities.

We are aware that some who oppose awarding of concessions for forestry industries in Pulau Padang have resorted to violence and intimidation to pursue their agenda. We will never condone the use of violence by any party. We especially condemn actions by certain parties that have resulted in several arson attacks on our property and the tragic fatality of one of our contract workers.

Violent actions to create a climate of fear and intimidation amongst local communities are unacceptable, particularly given that peaceful avenues for resolution of differences exist.

For our part, RAPP remains firmly committed to resolving any concerns and differences of opinion lawfully and through multi-stakeholder engagement.

The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry has called for a multistakeholder assessment of the situation which is currently being carried out. RAPP has halted its operations at the Ministry’s request and is cooperating fully to enable this assessment to be completed.

Lastly, APRIL has publicly responded to the Greenomics report referenced in the article. The response can be viewed here:

http://www.aprilasia.com/images/pdfs/APRIL%20Response%20to%20Greenomics%20report%20of%204%20Jan%202012.pdf

Thank you.

Jamie Menon
APRIL

Jamie: mongabay reached out to APRIL on these matters and received no response.

Jamie: mongabay reached out to APRIL on these matters and received no response.