NewPage Corporation, North America's largest coated paper producer, announced today the release of a new On Paper podcast featuring Project POTICO. In this episode of On Paper, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and NewPage discuss the benefits of a corporate and non-profit partnership to drive real change in the global environment.

Craig Hanson, director of people & ecosystems of WRI and Rick Willett, president and chief executive officer of NewPage, explain their landmark initiative for Indonesia called Project POTICO. The goal of Project POTICO (Palm Oil, Timber, Carbon Offsets) is to prevent deforestation by diverting planned oil palm plantations away from virgin rainforests and instead have them established on already logged-over or degraded areas. Virgin forests slated for conversion to oil palm plantations will be "swapped" with non-forested lands that are suitable for oil palm. This strategy will ensure that oil palm can expand to meet demand, generating local revenue and jobs, while halting the destruction of pristine rainforests.

The standing forestland then will be sustainably managed to generate revenue from low impact uses of the forest, such as timber production according to Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) guidelines. The concession swap may also be eligible to generate carbon offsets.

"The goal for the next year is to get several deals done," adds Hanson. "Getting the oil palm concession that was slated to go in a virgin forest retired; the concession actually established on degraded land; the certification process in place for the oil palm to become certified; the certification system in place for timber extraction; and all the analysis readied for carbon offsets - basically getting the three elements of POTICO in place."

A long-term advocate of responsibly managing North America's natural resources, NewPage recognized the need to bring awareness to the way forests were being managed in other parts of the world. Inspired by WRI's focus on data and research, NewPage became a partner to drive positive change for Indonesian forests and the people and species that live there through responsible forest management.

"We are really supportive of long-term forest management," Willett explains. "We have very good forestry practices in North America where the forests are well managed and are growing faster than they are being harvested. However, there are still issues internationally, and playing a role in having the world subscribe to a global standard for well managed forests is very important to our company, customers and employees."

To download this podcast free of charge, visit www.OnPaperSeries.com or www.iTunes.com. To learn more about Project POTICO visit www.ProjectPOTICO.org.

About On Paper Podcast Series
The On Paper Podcast Series, presented by NewPage Corporation, is an ongoing solutions-based dialogue that provides a platform for professionals to share how their organizations implement sustainable practices. With dozens of episodes featuring representatives from the most innovative of corporate America, across a variety of industries, On Paper has garnered more than one million downloads. Visit www.onpaperseries.com to listen to individual episodes and subscribe to receive notices of new episode releases.

About NewPage Corporation
Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $4.4 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2008. The company's product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper.

NewPage Corporation

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