Pekanbaru, 1 Maret 2024 - Jikalahari menerbitkan rilis yang menyoroti indikasi deforestasi dan penebangan hutan alam yang dilakukan oleh Asia Pulp & Paper / Sinar Mas group melalui anak perusahaannya yakni PT Arara Abadi dan PT Riau Indo Agropalma pada Februari 2024 di Indragiri Hilir, Riau.

Persoalan perambahan sawit dalam kawasan hutan dan konservasi seperti yang terjadi di Taman Nasional Tesso Nilo (TNTN), sudah menjadi persoalan menahun. Masalah pada kawasan yang menjadi rumah bagi flora dan fauna endemik Indonesia di Pulau Sumatera ini di antaranya pembalakan liar, penguasaan sepihak yang berakibat munculnya konflik, karhutla, alih fungsi lahan, dan masalah lingkungan lainnya, jauh sebelum diresmikan sebagai Taman Nasional pada 19 Juli 2004.

PEKANBARU, INDONESIA, 3 JUNE 2021 -- A new report published by the Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition today reveals that only 14% (0.8 million ha) of oil palm plantations in Indonesia’s top palm oil producing province, Riau, can be considered legal. EoF advises buyers that the remaining 86% of Riau’s oil palm plantations must be considered illegal until detailed field verification has proven otherwise.

Pekanbaru, 1 May 2021--Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition condemns environmental permit granted to Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) group to expand pulp production capacity of Riau Complex PT RAPP and urged the Government for banning natural forest clearing by the company in their attempt to obtain mixed tropical hardwood (MTH) for their operation.

Rabu (9/9), Majelis Hakim Pengadilan Tindak Pidana Korupsi (PN Tipikor) Pekanbaru, memberikan vonis bebas kepada Legal Manager PT Duta Palma, Suheri Tirta, yang sebelumnya dituntut jaksa 4 tahun penjara dalam perkara suap alih fungsi hutan di Provinsi Riau.

In July 2020, Jikalahari NGOs network was informed by locals of Desa Dayun, Siak District, that Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) supplier, PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) sector Pelalawan, drained peat canal, conducted land clearing and replant Acacia mangium in the formerly burned area of 2015 and 2019 forest fires.

Mewabahnya virus Covid-19 ternyata tidak menyurutkan aktivitas penebangan hutan secara ilegal. Juni 2020, temuan Jikalahari di Desa Pulau Padang, Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi, mengindikasikan adanya rencana penebangan hutan alam seluas 1.565 hektar yang akan dilakukan oleh PT Nusa Prima Manunggal (NPM), anak perusahaan Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL).

Pekanbaru, 26 Agustus 2020—Di tengah Covid-19, APRIL Grup menebang hutan, merusak gambut, membuka kanal di areal bekas terbakar 2016 di Kabupaten Siak, bukan hanya itu, APRIL Grup juga hendak menebang hutan alam seluas 1.565 hektar di Kabupaten Kuansing.

Pengadilan Negeri Rengat menggelar sidang putusan kasus karhutla PT Teso Indah (PT TI) dengan terdakwa direktur PT Teso Indah, Halim Kusuma, Selasa (4/8/2020).

Kebakaran lahan PT Arara Abadi di Desa Merbau, Kabupaten Pelalawan yang terjadi pekan lalu menyita kemarahan pembela lingkungan hidup. PT Arara Abadi, pemasok bahan baku untuk Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), diduga sengaja melakukan pembakaran lahan seluas 83 hektar untuk ditanami kembali dengan akasia.

Tersangka kasus Karhutla PT Teso Indah yang terjadi pada tahun 2019 lalu akhirnya dijatuhi vonis di awal Juli 2020. Sutrisno dinyatakan bersalah melakukan tindak pidana kebakaran hutan dan lahan (karhutla) PT Teso Indah (TI), dan dihukum 16 bulan penjara.

Jikalahari said industrial timber plantations also drove forest and land burnings, not only palm oil plantations and minings.

PEKANBARU, 21 APRIL 2018 — Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Penyelamat Gambut Riau (Jikalahari, WWF Indonesia, Walhi Riau dan Yayasan Mitra Insani) mendesak aparat hukum mengusut tuntas pengrusakan tiga buah sekat kanal yang dilakukan oleh PT Surya Dumai Agrindo di Desa Buruk Bakul, Kecamatan Bukit Batu, Kabupaten Bengkalis.

Thirty Indonesian NGOs and coalitions have sent a letter to 20 banks in China and Europe last week in responding to “the current situation of PT RAPP cancellation, continuing PT RAPP (APRIL main supplier) poor adherence to Indonesia regulation regarding peat protection and management,” Jikalahari said on his website.

Pemerintahan Joko Widodo telah berkomitmen untuk mengurangi emisi gas rumah kaca, salah satunya melalui perlindungan lahan gambut sebagai upaya mencegah kebakaran hutan secara masif berulang. Namun, tampaknya hal ini tidak diindahkan oleh Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) melalui PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP).

Dua lobi industri sektor kehutanan dan perkebunan mencabut uji materi Undang-Undang Nomor 32/2009 tentang Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup di Mahkamah Konstitusi (MK), sebuah langkah yang tetap menyisakan keraguan publik terhadap komitmen kelestarian oleh perusahaan.

Jikalahari melaporkan 49 konsesi korporasi yang terbakar sepanjang 2015 – 2016 di Riau kepada Direktorat Jenderal Penegakan Hukum Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan.

APRIL menghalangi investigasi Pemerintah terkait kegiatan pembukaan lahan gambut baru di Sumatera. --Siaran Pers EoF

Environmentalist group urged the Indonesian Police Chief to review performance of Riau Police Chief for closing 11 of 18 cases of companies investigated for alleged intentional burnings last year

Civil society organizations in Riau entered a key moment as civilian lawsuit against government officials was tried in Pekanbaru district court on 30 March 2016

Eyes on the Forest (EoF) supports Riau police to name 16 out of 18 timber plantation suppliers and palm oil plantations suspects of forest and land burning in 2015.

Sinar Mas Group (SMG) and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) last week denied publicly that their companies are involved in ongoing forest and land fires. Eyes on the Forest coalition said that media stunt by the giant company is ridiculous and hard to trust.

APRIL published an audit report by its consultant Hatfield which confirmed an Eyes on the Forest report that APRIL’s wood supplier, PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, had breached APRIL’s forest and peatland clearance moratorium starting 15 May 2015.

Commitment on Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0 that recently launched by Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) on 3 June 2015 is not a blank cheque nor a public relation stunt as usual to business world and public in whole.

PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP), major concession of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), was found clearing natural forest in its concession of district/sector Ukui, Tesso Nilo landscape, Riau province.

Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) likely broke its promise not to clear natural forest despite it has pledged not to do so in its sustainable forest management policy, a satellite images analysis detected.

Indra Pelani (23) of Lubuk Mandarsah was killed by security guards hired by APP’s sister company PT. Wirakarya Sakti (WKS) in Bukit Tigapuluh landscape, Jambi Province, Sumatra. The village has been in conflict with WKS for a long time over their land tenure for 3,000 ha.

On the first anniversary of APRIL’s “Sustainable Forest Management Policy”, Eyes on the Forest, Gapeta Borneo and RPHK call on APRIL to stop natural forest clearance and peat canal development immediately.

A local environmental organization accused Asia Pulp & Paper (APP/Sinar Mas) breached its Forest Conservation Policy and forestry law following a new finding on its pulpwood supplier’s concession that found operating excavator draining peat canal and construct road.

A coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations lodged corruption cases involving 27 forestry companies in Riau to anti-corruption commission (KPK) in Jakarta Tuesday, media reports said.

Three green groups working in Kalimantan launched an investigative report this week depicting deep peat forest clearance by a timber supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), PT Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL), in Sesayap sector, North Kalimantan province.

Field investigator team set up by Ministry of Environment (MoE) found strong evidences of the involvement of 23 plantations and industrial timber plantation (HTI) companies of a total of 43 firms investigated in forest and land fires case which had caused severe haze in the beginning of this year, media reported.

Eyes on the Forest coalition publishes latest investigative report as a consistency in monitoring deforestation in Sumatra, Riau in particular, as this edition highlights natural forest clearing in high conservation value forest (HCVF) by PT Triomas Forestry Development Indonesia, a supplier to Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL).

Joint military operation in Giam Siak Kecil (GSK) Biosphere Reserve, Bukit Batu, Bengkalis Riau, in late last month revealed the involvement of two former police chiefs, a high-ranking TNI-AU (air force), as well as a number of police and military service members and government officials on the encroachement of the internationally recognized protected area. The area is always burnt annually then converted to plantations, media reported.

A civil code trial on alleged pollution and environmental damage that involved one supplier of Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) belonging to tycoon Sukanto Tanoto’s Royal Golden Eagle group took place at the Pekanbaru Court in January, media reported.

Jikalahari and Walhi (Friends of the Earth) Riau suspect the launch of Sustainable Forest Management Policy by APRIL today (Tuesday, 28 January 2014) in Jakarta, as a trick to destroy the remaining natural forest embedded with their illegal and problematic permits in Riau province.

Riau Forest Rescue Network (Jikalahari) reveals massive deforestation by industrial plantation companies during 2013 that also includes the green group’s doubts on paper giant company’s commitment to save Riau’s natural forest and peatlands seriously.

As their villages are affected by the climate change, eight suburbans of Pelalawan district and Rohil along with Forest Rescue Network Riau (Jikalahari) and Indonesia Centre of Environmental Law (ICEL) officially lay their protest toward the President of RI, Minister of Forestry, Minister of the Environment and Riau Governor at the State Court of Central Jakarta today which is located at Gajah Mada street No 17, Central Jakarta.

Despite a restoration program organized by a company affiliated to pulp giant in Kampar Peninsula, Riau province, launched and endorsed by the Ministry of Forestry, environmentalists criticized it as a manuoevre by wo-faced company which merely seek benefit from credit carbon scheme.

At least eleven social and environmental civil society groups and networks sent a joint letter to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) on 24 April 2013, explaining the substantial social and conservation issues APP has failed to address adequately in its Forest Conservation Policy and associated documents.

Despite promising to its customers that they would only use plantation fiber to feed its pulp mill by 2009. Wood supply to global pulp giant Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), has resulted natural forest loss double the size of Singapore, in Riau Province since that deadline.

At least sixty environmental and social non-governmental organizations sent joint letters to banks and financial institutions not to invest in increasing pulp mill capacity of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) or other companies associated with Sinar Mas Group until “reforms have been achieved,” a press release issued last week said.

Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) timber suppliers are protested by communities in several pulpwood concessions in Riau Province, Sumatra, early this month, over long-standing conflicts between villagers and companies.

Non governmental organizations and civil society group network to rescue natural forest in Riau, Jikalahari, denounced Pelalawan District Head for ignoring community’s proposal to manage communal forest in Kampar Peninsula and critized his favoritism to pulp giant’s “greenwashing” project.

A powerful new mapping tool from Indonesian NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) allows the public to visualize Sumatra’s forests and wildlife such as rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutan, providing vital information in the race to protect forests, save some of the world’s most important biodiversity and help local communities.

Non-governmental organization coalition called Anti-Forest Mafia Coalition lodged a petition to Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Tuesday to urge it name those involved in graft cases suspects.

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has been accused of a “double default” on international creditors, after an investigation revealed that the company has decimated tropical forests it promised to conserve under “legally binding” debt restructuring agreements.

Civil society groups in Riau Province condemned violence shown by PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP), a subsidiary and timber supplier of Asian Pacific Resource International Limited (APRIL) who violently dispersed Gunung Sahilan community’s land dispute protest on 6 March by hitting motorbikes and assaulted the locals.

PEKANBARU (EoF News)—Jikalahari, environmental organization’s network to save natural forest in Riau, sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week to order the police and prosecutors office to prosecute 14 timber companies which allegedly committing environmental destruction.

Walhi Riau, Scale Up, JIKALAHARI, Greenpeace and Forum Komunikasi Pemuka Masyarakat Riau (FKPMR/Riau Community Leaders Forum) ) paid condolences and strongly denounced the violent incident claiming one casualty and another one was hospitalized with heavy wounded in Kenegerian Pucuk Rantau village, Kuantan Singingi district, Riau province on Tuesday.

International consultants Tropenbos will facilitate a public consultation for a High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment for the APRIL pulp and paper operations in the Kampar Peninsula, Riau, Sumatra. This follows a similar consultation in Riau in February that was not attended by Riau based NGOs. For the same - and following - reasons, Greenpeace will not participate in this public consultation.

Civil society organizations in Riau Province: Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Riau, Transparansi Internasional Indonesia (TII), Kantor Bantuan Hukum (KBH) Riau and Hakiki urge the Government of Indonesia to revoke concession license of PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Kampar Peninsula due to it threatens unique ecosystem in the world.

PEKANBARU (EoF News)— House of Representatives’ Commission III members visiting Riau Province today to verify for motive behind closure of huge illegal logging cases by the Riau Police in December last year. Tribun Pekanbaru daily reported today (06/02/2009) that at least 13 parliamentarians from Commission III handling legal issues would meet new chief of Riau Police Brig.- Gen. Adjie Rustam Ramdja here.

PEKANBARU (EoF News)—Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban blamed detained Pelalawan District Head Azmun Jaafar over allegedly issuing 15 logging licenses to companies and insisted his decision to grant verification for pulp and paper companies in Riau, media reported yesterday (8/4/2008).

Pekanbaru (EoF News)-- Pelalawan District Government and Siak District Government have signed an agreement with Jikalahari, Riau NGOs network, to conserve peat swamp forest of Kampar Peninsula.

Riau NGOs Network for Forest Rescue (Jikalahari), University of Riau and representatives of 3 sub-districts in Kampar Peninsula today call for a halt to conversion of peatland-rich forests in the region to avoid escalating carbon (CO2) release.

Several NGOs are calling on the Government to stop granting concessions for conversion and land clearing on peatlands, citing data that shows the major factor inciting this year's forest fires is forest conversion, mainly on peat soil sites.

Today Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of Sumatran environmental NGOs, called on all companies who are clearcutting natural forests based on Industrial Timber Plantation Licenses (IUPHHK-HT) issued by Governors or Heads of Districts to immediately issue a moratorium on all such operations.