1. APP is slow in resolving land conflicts with communities despite having its Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) in place. What are your comments?
Social and land conflicts are very complex issues and they do require a large amount of time to resolve amicably. APP has categorised eight types of conflicts, of which only four do we have a large influence in resolving. So far, APP has resolved 49% of all identified conflicts. Resolution to conflicts must be thorough and sustainable and these processes cannot be rushed.
2. What is Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC)?
Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC), developed by the NGO Forest Peoples Programme, is the principle that a community has the right to give or withhold its consent to proposed projects that may affect the lands they customarily own, occupy or otherwise use. More information can be found at: http://www.forestpeoples.org/guiding-principles/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic
3. How will APP identify social conflict?
Resolving social conflict in and around concession areas covering over 2.6m ha of land is a long and complex process. The first step is to review the current social conflict resolution protocols and procedures and revise them or develop additional ones. The next step is to improve the capacity of APP and APP Forestry Managers to handle social conflict, starting with training on how to better map and categorise conflicts in the supply chain. Only once all social conflict has been mapped and prioritised using a systematic approach and methodology, are we in a position to make informed decisions about where to allocate management resources in order to resolve conflicts.