Kalimantan

PT Hatfield Indonesia (PTHI), contracted by FSC, was tasked with conducting both the Environmental Baseline Assessment (EBA) and Desktop Social Baseline Assessment (SBA) as to identify past social and environmental harm due to unacceptable activities covering Riau and Kalimantan impact areas.

Meetings with local NGOs were held in East Kalimantan (April) and North Kalimantan (June) to introduce PTHI as Independent Assessor and their roles, and to inform on remedy process especially baseline assessment process that was about to commence.

On environmental baseline assessment PTHI conducted document review complemented with spatial analysis to identify past land cover and condition of impact areas as well estimating potential past existence of high conservation values. In July 2024, PTHI held consultations with subject-matter experts as required by FSC Remedy Framework to determine any harms associated with unacceptable activities.

In September 2024, PTHI presented the EBA process to interested stakeholders via an online consultation, sharing the results of the baseline analysis prior to the final identification of past harms. Following this consultation, PTHI submitted the EBA report to FSC, marking the completion of the baseline assessment stage in Kalimantan.
Meanwhile for Desktop SBA, PTHI conducted document review of publicly available information following which data triangulations were undertaken to refine the analysis to determine potential harms and potential impacted rights holders. The identified affected stakeholders were then spatially mapped along with the impact areas.

In September 2024, PTHI presented the EBA process to stakeholders in an online consultation session, sharing details on baseline analysis prior to the final identification of past harms. This stakeholder consultation was arranged to ensure the process was thorough, transparent, and inclusive of all relevant perspectives. Following the consultation, PTHI submitted the EBA report to FSC, completing this stage of the assessment.

Building on the progress and groundwork already established by PTHI, Remark Asia was appointed by FSC to continue the work on the social baseline assessment in Kalimantan. In January 2025, Remark began with document review including PTHI desktop SBA analysis. Stakeholder consultations were held in North and East Kalimantan in February 2025 to provide update on the baseline assessment process, communicate the project plan and get initial input to complement information from document review. The consultations were attended by various parties including local governments, local NGOs, traditional institutions, and village communities.

In parallel with the formal remedy process, in April 2024, community preparedness activities were initiated by APRIL in Kalimantan impact areas, continuing efforts to build awareness and understanding of APRIL’s FSC Remedy Process. By May 2024, these preparedness activities were completed in 18 villages in East Kalimantan and 53 villages in North Kalimantan.

In August 2024, APRIL organized a Technical Expert Workshop in Jakarta, bringing together environmental and social experts—including academics, researchers, NGOs, and labor unions. This workshop sought to gather insights and recommendations to further strengthen APRIL Group’s FSC Remedy schemes.

• The Environmental Baseline Assessment is conducted using best available information and expert knowledge to determine environmental aspects associated with the unacceptable activities and any harm caused to these aspects.
• The assessment includes the condition of the impact area at the time immediately before commencement of the unacceptable activity and the current condition of the impact areas.
• The scope of the analysis covers 2 concessions located in Kalimantan covering an area of 344,837 Hectares (Ha).
• The baseline analysis is expected to determine the environmental harm caused by the unacceptable activity and specifies the size and quality of the area and ecosystem attributes lost.
• Environmental harm* determined by Independent Assessor:
  • Size of harmed area = 58,014 ha
    (inclusive of estimation of potential HCV damage and loss= 27,965 ha)

* Subject to third party verification of verifiable outcomes and processes