Losing forest certification: In 2010 APRIL lost its certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The certification was suspended by SmartWood, an independent forest management certifier, after the paper giant was found to have violated FSC’s controlled wood standard, including prohibitions against conversion of rainforests to create paper plantations, destruction of High Conservation Value Forests, including peatlands and conflicts with communities.
Tricking legality certification: In 2011 APRIL’s subsidiary PT. Sumatera Riang Lestari applied to obtain the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) certification for around 220,000 hectares in Riau and North Sumatra. The auditor (Sarbi International Certification) found irregularities and reported them to APRIL. Instead of addressing the problem in order to obtain the certification, the company simply applied again omitting the block where the irregularity was found - and surprisingly, it got the certification.
In February 2013, the Forestry Monitoring Network (JPIK) which is officially monitoring the legality process in Indonesia, demanded the revocation of APP and APRIL Group’s SVLK Certificate, because some of their concessions were released involving corruption.
Losing customers: Leading companies such as Fuji Xerox and UPM-Kymmene cancelled their contracts with APRIL when its impacts on Indonesian rain forests and peatland became public.