Despite a restoration program organized by a company affiliated to pulp giant in Kampar Peninsula, Riau province, launched and endorsed by the Ministry of Forestry, environmentalists criticized it as a manuoevre by wo-faced company which merely seek benefit from credit carbon scheme. In the first week of May, Minister of Forestry, Zulkifli Hasan, in Jakarta inaugurated the million-dollar ecosystem restoration program initiated by PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP), a subsidiary of Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL). The restoration program of around 20 thousand hectares of deep peat Kampar Peninsula forest in Riau is planned to overcome forest degradation and deforestation, said APRIL management as reported by media.

In a historic ruling, Indonesia's Constitutional Court has invalidated the 1999 forestry law and potentially recognizing the indigenous rights to the traditional lands. The Indonesian government has control over the country's vast forest estate, and for years it refuse to recognize indigenous rights. For years traditional forests were stolen to the local communities to be given to private companies for logging or conversion into plantations. Community forests, small scale plantations and gardens were bulldozed to create palm oil or pulp plantations,the reaction of local pople was often cracked down by by the police, creating a long wave of land tenure conflicts. According to the National Forestry Council, conflicts over forest management currently involve nearly 20,000 villages in 33 provinces throughout Indonesia. The rights to more than 1.2 million hectares is in dispute.

According to the Indonesian coalition Eyes on the Forest (EoF), Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is not complying with the moratorium on natural forest logging announced by the company last February. In a report released yesterday, EoF exposed natural forest clearing in concession of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) supplier, PT Riau Indo Agropalma (RIA), in Kerumutan forest block, an important Sumatran tiger habitat in Riau province.

After being criticized by environmental organizations for its poor forest practices, Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) is now facing protest by local communities. The students association of Pelalawan district protested at the main office of APRI's sublidy and main supplier, PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) for failing in bringing  employment for locals as well as for the lack of transparency industrial waste the management.

Eleven social and environmental civil society groups and networks sent a joint letter to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) on 24 April 2013, explaining the substantial social and conservation issues APP has failed to address adequately in its Forest Conservation Policy and associated documents. On 5 February 2013, the Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) published a new “Forest Conservation Policy” (FCP). Since then, SMG/APP organized several “focus group discussion” meetings with various Indonesian NGOs to socialize their policy and the “Standard Operational Procedures (SOP)” or Protocols it developed to implement it.