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Asia Pulp and Paper Group, one of the largest paper producers in the world, is serious about its pledge to end the clearing of natural forests, according to a progress review of the company's Forest Conservation Policy.Greenpeace International, a long-time critic of APP and the organization that conducted the progress review, is cautiously optimistic and warns that the company's commitments are likely to stand or fall by the quality of conservation and management recommendations to the company's senior management.

Threatened with expulsion from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Indonesian pulp and paper company Asia Pacific Resources International re-committed to an earlier pledge to stop clearing forests for new plantations by the end of 2014. The company also pledged to double its forest restoration program to 40,000 hectares and use 100% plantation fiber by the end of 2019.

Asia Pulp and Paper will restore and conserve 1 million hectares of Indonesian rainforest, targeting threatened species like orangutans, elephants, and tigers. The plan was developed with input from Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and other environmental groups.

Greenpeace has ended a five-year truce with one of the world's largest paper companies, accusing it of cutting down tropical forests in Indonesia during the entire time the two were cooperating on conservation.

The Rainforest Alliance will evaluate the progress of Asia Pulp and Paper's forest conservation policy and commitments, including its pledge last year to stop clearing natural forests across it supply chains in Indonesia, the company announced in its one-year report.

Rainforest Alliance today released its first independent evaluation of Asia Pulp and Paper's progress on implementing its Forest Conservation Policy, launched in 2013. RA's SVP of Forestry, Richard Donovan, and APP's managing director of sustainability, Aida Greenbury, discussed the company's progress - which RA described as 'moderate' - in a webinar on Wednesday.

Forest product company Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) hired KPMG to audit the company's performance on its Sustainable Forest Management Policy. The policy calls for APRIL to conserve over 450,000 hectares of forests and to stop producing pulp from areas where conservation assessments have not been completed.