Until recently one of the bête noires of environmental NGO's, APP started its rehabilitation in July 2013 with the publication of a Forest Conservation Policy designed to end deforestation in Indonesia.

The four core commitments outlined in the FCP were: that APP and its suppliers will only develop areas that are not forested; to ensure that forested peatland is protected; to improve community and stakeholder engagement; and to ensure that all APP fibre sources support responsible forest management.

In the period from the FCP's launch on 5 February to the 15 August 2014, APP made "moderate progress" against these commitments and 10 other forest conservation related statements made by the company, according to an independent evaluation published today (5 February) by the Rainforest Alliance.

This progress included: halting new canal development on peatland; stopping all transport to mills of Mixed Tropical Hardwood (MTH) for its own pulp supply; improved transparency and stakeholder outreach; and halted natural forest clearance by its supplier companies, although natural forest clearance by third parties continued.

Richard Donovan, Rainforest Alliance senior vice-president, Forestry, said: "In 2013 APP set out an ambitious programme for change. The Rainforest Alliance found that many building blocks essential for change – policies and standard operating procedures, training and outreach, for example – are in place.

"There is still work to be done in implementing some of those policies and procedures in the field. This is a gap APP must address as it continues to implement its FCP."

He added: "I don’t think there’s much question that the targets were ambitious and I think that when [APP] revisit it today in the light of what the performance evaluation means I think that they’re fully realising that.

"I think that they always knew it was going to be a journey. I think that in an Indonesian context it’s ambitious; I’m sure they would have liked higher ratings on certain things in the evaluations, so be it, that’s okay, but we based that on what we saw in the field."

APP managing director, sustainability, Aida Greenbury, was equally candid in her assessment of the scale of the task. "When we created this policy with Greenpeace and The Forest Trust, I thought we had lost our mind," she said. "It’s very ambitious, it’s very radical and we have to walk the talk, which is very difficult.

"It's not simply switching off the chainsaw; we have to also help protect the forest from illegal encroachers and other sources. But somebody’s got to do it; somebody’s got to impose a moratorium on natural forest clearance in Indonesia; somebody’s got to deploy LiDAR [and] geospatial mapping in Indonesia; because you can't have responsible forest management at the landscape level without having those two implemented by someone.

"The government is not going to do that. Other sectors in the pulp wood industry are not interested in doing that. So we have to do it. Yes, it’s dirty work [and] we are scrutinised and everything but we take that."

Greenbury added that APP was "pleased that the Rainforest Alliance has recognised the progress we are making" and that APP believed the report showed it was "on the right track" in its unprecedented bid to achieve zero deforestation in Indonesia.

APP has updated its FCP implementation plan for 2015 and beyond in light of the Rainforest Alliance's most significant findings, relating to: third-party forest clearance; peatland best management practices; and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and social conflict resolution.

The Rainforest Alliance progress report can be viewed here and APP's revised FCP Implementation Plan can be viewed here.