Since 2008, NewPage has supported WRI’s Project POTICO, a project designed to divert oil palm development in Indonesia
onto low-carbon, already-cleared lands and thereby avoid deforestation.
Though NewPage sources fiber for its operations exclusively in North America
under rigorous environmental and social criteria, NewPage believes
strongly in supporting initiatives like Project POTICO that are working
to improve forest product procurement practices across the globe.

Project POTICO’s Forest Cover Analyzer tool allows users to identify and assess forest conditions in Indonesian Borneo,
including the extent of forests, forest cover change, where oil palm
and other concessions are located, and the suitability of land for
sustainable palm oil development. Given the increased focus many
corporations are placing on responsible procurement of forest and
agricultural products, the Forest Cover Analyzer is designed to
be an extremely valuable tool for corporate buyers, suppliers, and
investors looking to avoid risks associated with deforestation concern
and to locate plantations not associated with forest clearing.

The second tool, the Suitability Mapper, is
an online mapping system designed for use by palm oil producers and
spatial planners, allowing them to locate low-carbon degraded lands on
Indonesian Borneo that are potentially suitable for sustainable palm oil
production.

As Indonesia
is one of the world’s deforestation hotspots, developing tools that
support responsible forest management, commodity production, and
investment in this region is crucial. Now that these tools have been
piloted and launched for Indonesian Borneo, WRI plans to apply this
knowledge to developing similar web-based tools to inspire and enable
responsible forest management on a global scale.

“These online systems bring the world another step closer to having its commodities and its forests too,” stated Craig Hanson,
director of WRI’s People & Ecosystems Program. “And our long-term
partnership with NewPage, the pioneer supporter of POTICO, helped make
it happen.”

“NewPage
has always been committed to sustainability in its own operations,
through responsible fiber sourcing, achievement of third-party
certifications, running efficient manufacturing operations, and looking
for ways to continually lower the environmental footprint of our
products,” stated David Bonistall, vice
president, Environmental, Health and Safety for NewPage. “Since 2008, we
have been proud to support WRI’s work on global forestry issues, and
congratulate them on the release of these groundbreaking forest
monitoring tools. These tools will provide the necessary resources to
improve sustainable oil palm production, reduce pressure on virgin
rainforests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forest clearance
and conversion.”

By providing public access to up-to-date information on forestry activity in Indonesia,
Project POTICO’s new web tools mark a major step toward improving
global forestry conditions. Information on Project POTICO, and links to
access these two new web applications, are available at www.ProjectPOTICO.org.