Grievance Mechanism

Grievance 1.2 on APRIL's wood and fibre sourcing policy. The policy states 'Building on our Sustainable Forest Management Policy 2.0 (2015),' but does not clearly state the deforestation cut-off date that APRIL will adhere to in its operations, or require its suppliers to adhere to after the effective date of this new policy.

The grievance is outside of scope of the Remedy Process.
It relates to the policies of the Corporate Group, not exclusive to the FSC Remedy Framework. The RGE sustainability policy is an overarching framework for the sustainability policies and commitments of the RGE Business Groups (BGs). This commitment is implemented through relevant Business Group policies.

APRIL remains committed to eliminating deforestation from our operations and our supply chain in line with our SFMP 2.0 policy.

• APRIL conducted review of the scope of the grievance by looking at requirements in FSC Remedy Framework.
• Scope assessment and notification of the result have been shared with the Complainant via email on 6 May 2024

Grievance 2.2 on a failure of PT. Toba Pulp Lestari to respect the rights of Indigenous communities to say no to development on their lands and to excise contested customary forests from its concession areas in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

FSC Remedy Framework for which the objective is to define permanent and effective measures required for remedy of harm caused by unacceptable activities as defined by the Policy for the Association of Organizations with FSC V2-0 between 1 December 1994 and 31 December 2020.

The independent assessor undertakes the baseline assessment and analysis to identify environmental harm. Thereafter verification is undertaken as part of the remedy planning phase.

• APRIL conducted review of grievance scope assessment against relevance to the remedy process and remedy framework and concluded the grievance is within scope of the remedy process
• Scope assessment result was notified to the Complainant on 6 May 2024. APRIL then proceed to share the grievance with TPL for their action and response. TPL informed APRIL that the same grievance has been shared with TPL and a statement has been published as a response
• Notification with TPL statement on RAN report sent to the Complainant on 14 May 2024. TPL provided a statement in response to RAN report dated 21 March 2024, the actions conducted by TPL are the following:

TPL conducted an analysis using the same spatial data (coordinates and satellite imagery) provided by RAN.
i. TPL undertook analysis for each site to determine actual land cover change based on the indicative maps and coordinates shared by RAN
ii. Based on the analysis:
a. Aek Raja Estate, North Tapanuli Regency: based on the coordinates provided by RAN, TPL does not have any plantations operations in this area. Noted that there has been land cover change however it was detected by routine patrols in 2023 and is associated with illegal encroachment and illegal logging within TPL concession. These incidents have been reported to the relevant authorities in 2023.
b. Habinsaran Estate, North Tapanuli Regency: Based on the coordinates provided by RAN, our records show that this area was first cleared in 1995 and is currently in its fifth plantation rotation.
c. Dolok Parmonangan village, Simalungun Regency: Based on the analysis of the available maps shared by RAN, this area is located in Aek Nauli Estate and was first planted in 2001, currently in sixth rotation plantation area.

iii. TPL responded to Complainant and published a statement in response.

Related to Earthworm work, actions that TPL has taken to :
i. Participatory Mapping in 2 villages, namely Sionom Hudon Timur Village and the Pargamanan Bintang Maria Community in Simataniari Village, attended by 471 participants
ii. Transparent engagement – sharing of Minutes of Meetings
iii. Inclusive engagement – use of Bahasa Indonesia
iv. Capacity building – training of TPL staff and conflict mapping in TPL’s work areas
v. Review of Standard Operating Procedures - Earthworm Foundation independently reviews TPL's community engagement, conflict resolution and land dispute.

Progress reports of their work with Earthworm Foundation are made available on the TPL website.

This analysis found 424 hectares of natural forest were cleared within PT. TPL’s concessions after the introduction of RGE’s ‘no deforestation’ policy in 2015. At least 306 hectares of this forest loss occurred after December 2020, the deforestation cut-off date for FSC Full Forest Management certification. RAN submits this evidence––which is presented in this publication from July 2024––as supportive evidence to APRIL and the FSC.

The publication also refers to PT TPL's denial of the allegations of cases of intimidation of members of Indigenous communities that have spoken out against its presence on their customary lands, and their failure to provide details of efforts to ensure the excision of remaining areas of natural forests that are allocated for conservation within their concession areas that overlap with customary forests of Indigenous communities, such as the Pargamanan-Bintang Maria community in the district of Humbang Hasundutan.

Regarding the response sent to RAN on May 6th on "The FSC appointed an Independent Assessor". RAN is asking the FSC and APRIL to clarify the name of the independent assessor that has been appointed, the TOR for the "assessment using Best Available Information and in consultation with stakeholders to determine environmental aspects associated with unacceptable activities and any harm caused to these aspects" and the progress made by the assessor to review the evidence submitted by RAN in the grievance we raised on March 19th, 2024.

i. 67 ha of forest conversion in PT. TPL concession between 2016 – 2020. this comprised of 40 ha land cover change or forest conversion to plantation forest, and 27 ha of land cover change that occurred due to encroachment and other activities.
ii. 241 ha of land cover change and forest degradation between 2020 – 2023. This comprised of 13 ha of land cover change or forest conversion to plantation forest, and 228 ha of land cover change and forest degradation that occurred due to encroachment and other activities .

The total 308 ha of forest conversion after 2016 is included as environmental harm in North Sumatra to be remedied by APRIL Group.

Regarding allegations on intimidation of Indigenous community members:
• TPL is working with Earthworm Foundation to assess TPL’s social engagement systems and processes. This covers work with Simataniari community, including representatives from the Pargamanan Bintang Maria hamlet, through providing technical support, outreach, and the facilitation of mapping training
• TPL also has engaged third party to undertake Human Rights Impact Assessment. This is still ongoing and will be completed in Q4 2025
• As part of FSC remedy process, Social Baseline Assessment to identify past social harms including violations of human rights has been completed. A case related with PBM community is one of the identified social harms to be remedied by TPL
• TPL also in the process of reviewing its human rights and sustainability policy to align with best practices.

that RAN commissioned which demonstrates that deforestation has persisted inside the palm oil concessions of PT. Asian Agri––a company under the common control of the Royal Golden Eagle group––since the deforestation cut-off date in the 2015 RGE Forestry, Fibre, Pulp & Paper Sustainability Framework, and the December 31, 2020 cut off date in FSC's Policy to Address Conversion.

RAN commissioned satellite analysis of natural forest loss within 16 palm oil concessions connected to Asian Agri from 2016-2023.

The following actions were undertaken:
i. Asian Agri has undertaken a land cover analysis of the entities allegedly linked to deforestation using imagery that RAN provided.
ii. The analysis was conducted for both the time periods of 2016-2023 and 2021-2023. An analysis was done to determine if there is indeed land cover change and whether it lies within the concession boundaries.
iii. Some indicative areas where found to be outside of the concession boundaries as in the case of PT Dasa Anugerah Sejati and PT Inti Indosawit Subur.
iv. Those that occurred within concession boundaries, further analysis was conducted to determine the driver of any land cover change. Some areas were occupied and cleared by local communities which has already been declared in RSPO certification audits as in the case of PT Mitra Unggul Pasaka and PT Rigunas Agri Utama.
v. Since the initial identification of these encroachment activities, PT Mitra Unggul Pasaka (MUP) and PT Rigunas Agri Utama (RAU) have engaged with the communities to discuss and agree on constructive solutions, following FPIC principles. This engagement is ongoing, and PT MUP and PT RAU are committed to continuing the discussions with the local communities until the encroachment is resolved.
vi. Apical conducting land cover change analysis on the other two entities noted in the RAN report, PT Pusaka Megah Bumi Nusantara (PMBN) and PT Sawit Jambi Lestari (SJL) which are suppliers to Apical.

• PT PMBN – Apical’s conducted analysis and found that the indicated area is a flood-prone area. Furthermore, there was no change in land cover from wet land to oil palm.
• PT SJL - Based on Apical’s analysis which includes multiple GIS data sets, there was no secondary dryland forest or other indicative High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas at the coordinates mentioned by RAN. The land covering 2014/2015 was old oil palm trees which were neglected by the previous ownership. Therefore, the indicative area of 556 ha in PT SJL concessions occurred in 1993/1994, long before the 31 December 2015 cut-off date of Apical’s Sustainability Policy.

Rainforest Action Network has published a report called “Orangutan Capital Under Siege” which presents new evidence showing RGE’s palm oil company Apical has once again been caught sourcing palm oil from a mill that is accepting oil palm fruits that have been produced illegally within a protected area in Indonesia called the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve.

RAN’s field investigations in September - October 2024 again found evidence that palm oil grown illegally inside the protected Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is being supplied to PT. Global Sawit Semesta (PT. GSS)–– a mill repeatedly exposed for sourcing and supplying illegal palm oil that continues to be listed as a supplier to RGE's Apical. Apical has confirmed its sourcing relationship with PT. Global Sawit Semesta.

APICAL has provided a response to the issues raised in this grievance in the APICAL’s Case Tracker.

Apical initiated an investigation along with engagement with PT Global Sawit Semesta (GSS) for clarification. PT GSS suspended UD Iqbal Jaya as of 25 October 2024, and any crops delivered from this supplier have been rejected through PT GSS’ weighbridge system until investigations are concluded.

The PT. GSS FFB sourcing team have confirmed that UD Daya is not a supplier of FFB to PT GSS but is supplying to another mill by the name of PT. Aceh Trumon Anugerah Kita (PT. ATAK). Apical does not source from PT. ATAK.

Apical continued to engage with PT.GSS for a complete investigation and to identify systemic changes that need to be improved for their traceability, NDPE compliance and adherence to Apical’s Sustainability and Sourcing Policies.

Apical management has decided to stop sourcing from PT. GSS as of end of November 2024.

This grievance has been forwarded to the APRIL Operational Grievance channel.

• The APRIL operational grievance administrator has began discussions with the Complainant, including consultations with a hydrology expert as per government guidelines – 16-31 January 2025
• Based on the consultation with expert it is found that APRIL landfill contributes to less than 2% of the impact experienced by community while there are other significant factors played a role such as drainage and the land topography

This grievance has been forwarded to the APRIL Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to PT. IHM.

This grievance has been forwarded to the APRIL Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to the TPL Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to the APRIL Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to the PT. SRL’s Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to the APRIL Operational Grievance channel.

This grievance has been forwarded to the PT. SRL’s Operational Grievance channel.