APRIL Group lauded at Indonesia Green Awards

APRIL Group received plaudits at the Indonesia Green Awards on May 21, 2016 for its commitment to the Restorasi Ekosistem Riau project and implementation of the Fire-Free Village Programme.

Its Indonesia operations PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (PT RAPP) received two awards for biodiversity development and fire prevention.

Indonesia Green Awards 2016

PT RAPP Fire Prevention Manager Sailal Arimi receives the award from Mr La Tofi, Chairman of The La Tofi School of CSR. (Image source: Tribun Pekanbaru)

PT RAPP Fire Prevention Manager Sailal Arimi receives the award from Mr La Tofi, Chairman of The La Tofi School of CSR. (Image source: Tribun Pekanbaru)

Organised by The La Tofi School of CSR, the Indonesia Green Awards celebrates efforts and achievements in environmental stewardship in Indonesia.

Now into its seventh edition, this year’s Awards at Taman Tebet, Jakarta, shone the spotlight on policies, measures and grassroots initiatives for fire prevention. This follows last year’s widespread forest fires, but government, NGO, community and corporate stakeholders have since stepped up efforts to prevent similar environmental catastrophes from occurring again.

RER Honoured at Awards

APRIL Group Corporate Affairs Deputy Director Dian Novarina received the award for biodiversity development on the company’s behalf for the Restorasai Ekosistem Riau (RER) project. Late last year, APRIL Group announced it would more than double its restoration efforts under the RER project to 150,000 hectares. This move takes APRIL Group another step closer to its one-for-one conservation and restoration goal, in which one hectare of forest is conserved for every hectare of plantation.

Fire-Free Village Programme

Following a 2014 pilot with four villages, APRIL Group launched the Fire-Free Village Programme with nine Riau villages in 2015 to holistically and systematically prevent fires. The collaborative community-focused programme showed promise, and was expanded to 20 villages in 2016. 

APRIL Group’s fire prevention campaign kicked into the next gear when it became one of four founding corporate members of the Fire-Free Alliance, which scales up the implementation of the Fire-Free Village Programme across a larger number of communities.

As the implementation of the Fire-Free Village Programme is very grassroots-focused, PT RAPP deployed a dedicated team of specialists and community engagement officers to orientate and onboard the participating villages. The 2015 programme saw a significant reduction in burnt areas by over 90% from 2014 to 2015.

Find out more on the Fire-Free Alliance in the video below:

Stakeholders’ Support

APRIL Group's Sailal Arimi and Sustainability Head Dian Novarina with their awards.

APRIL Group’s Sailal Arimi and Corporate Affairs Deputy Director Dian Novarina with their awards. (Image source: HalloRiau)

“We are honoured to receive this award. We are also grateful for the support the company, government, military, police, NGOs and communities have given to the Fire-Free Village Programme,” said PT RAPP Fire Prevention Manager Sailal Arimi, who joined APRIL Group Sustainability Head Dian Novarina in receiving the awards at Taman Tebet, Jakarta.

Mr Sailal added, “This award is very encouraging, and supports companies that are committed to preventing land and forest fires.”

Good for Community, Country, Climate and Company

Along with the RER project, the Fire-Free Village Programme very fittingly reflects RGE Founder and Chairman Sukanto Tanoto 4 C’s business philosophy. The programme has delivered promising and meaningful results that have been – and will hopefully continue to be – beneficial to Communities, the Country and the Climate. The support, awards and recognition received for this endeavour help validate the Company’s continuous demonstration of sustainable business leadership.

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