Our Innovation
Our R&D commitment helps us boost yields from plantations without expanding our plantation footprint. We run three specialised labs at our R&D Centre in Pangkalan Kerinci, staffed by over 250 experts.
APPROACH
Boosting Our Fibre Yields
Dedicated Research and Development (R&D) has unlocked improved productivity for us—in 2025, we achieved 23.1 tonnes of fibre yield per hectare compared to 20.3 in 2019. This increase is measured by looking at the average wood volume delivered to our mill versus the size of our planted area.
We boosted these yields by focusing on three approaches: advanced plant genetics, precision silviculture, and integrated pest and disease management.
R&D ADVANCES
Groundbreaking Genetic Improvements
After nearly two decades of dedicated R&D, we reached a forestry milestone in 2023 by establishing the world’s first clonal acacia plantation. Alongside traditional plant breeding techniques, we have also established “clonal” lines of trees that are genetically identical.
This uniformity is useful for matching the trees with the best genetic traits to the right sites which will then grow in a predictable way. We also apply this ground breaking technique to our Eucalyptus plantations. The enhanced trees are grown at our Kerinci Tissue Culture (KTC) lab, producing 50 million Eucalyptus and Acacia plantlets a year.
RESEARCH
Sharing the Science Behind Sustainability
Research advances the global sustainability agenda, which is exactly what we did when contributing to scientific discussions around tropical peatlands. We wanted insights into how land use changes can impact greenhouse gas emissions in Sumatra’s tropical peatlands and undertook multi-year, multi-site data collection and research.
Our peatland science team collaborates with hundreds of scientists around the work, resulting in 14 peer-reviewed papers, including a 5-year study published in the journal Nature, which advanced understanding of the region’s forest ecosystems and their impact on climate change.
