Anderson Tanoto Speaks on Strengthening Partnerships and Fire Prevention

RGE Director Anderson Tanoto spoke at a panel on sustainable land use at the April 15, 2016 Third Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources.

He was joined by fellow panelists Head of Indonesia’s National Peat Restoration Body (Badan Restorasi Gambut) Nazir Foead and Vice President of Double A Thirawit Leetavorn. Singapore Institute of International Affairs Chairman Associate Professor Simon Tay moderated the panel.

APRIL’s Approach to Sustainable Land Use

Scaling the Fire-Free Village Programme and getting some more stakeholders aligned with the common goal of fire prevention.

Mr Tanoto touched on fire prevention at the first panel of the day, themed “Sustainable Land Use: What Governments and Companies Can Do”.

While RGE companies are fully committed to supporting Badan Restorasi Gambut’s programme, Mr Tanoto shared that the companies continue to build momentum on fire prevention efforts.

He later spoke on the growth of the Fire-Free Village Programme (FFVP) and the recently established Fire-Free Alliance to scale up FFVP implementation across Indonesia through cooperation with other agricultural and forestry companies.

Protection-Production and Public-Private-People Partnerships

From public-private to public-private-people partnerships. From suppression to fire prevention – RGE Director Anderson Tanoto spoke on the importance of shifting the focus and conversation to achieve meaningful results.

Emphasising the cultivation and intensification of meaningful public-private-people partnerships, Mr Tanoto identified community engagement and involvement as critical to ending slash-and-burn practices.

He also said, “We have to change the conversation to prevention.”

Mr Tanoto then shared APRIL Group’s progress in its one-for-one commitment, a pledge in which one hectare of natural forest is conserved for every hectare of plantation forest. He spoke on how APRIL continues to strengthen the protection-production compact through sustainable development and management practices.

Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources

Organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, the Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources brings together policymakers, industry delegates, NGO representatives, academics and members of the media for discussions on sustainable and equitable growth in Asia.

You may view Anderson Tanoto’s speech at 06:09 and 07:45 of the video below: