Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Indonesian rhino foundation Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI) have signed an agreement for a joint initiative to protect the Javan rhino and its habitat.

The project will focus on the development of the Javan Rhino Sanctuary in Ujung Kulon National Park – a 76,000-hectare reserve in West Java, Indonesia.

It aims to conserve the rhino and widen its habitat, protecting it from domestic animals and ensuring population growth.

Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability and stakeholder engagement at APP, said: "This effort is in line with our policy to continuously strive to identify, save and protect high conservation value natural forests and endangered animals.

"This extraordinary project, outside our operations, which we are very optimistic about, complements our other conservation efforts within our and our suppliers' operations in Sumatra and Kalimantan."

Over the past two decades, the Javan rhino's population has stagnated and it is under threat from illegal encroachment, disease outbreaks, unhealthy competition among species, natural disasters and climate change.

It is estimated that a mere 40-60 Javan rhinos exist globally, meaning the species is categorised as critically endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

The Javan Rhino Sanctuary Project was approved in April 2010 and it will support the government of Indonesia in reaching its national rhino conservation goals.

Widodo Ramono, executive director of YABI, said the organisation was happy to be working with APP.

"Together, we are confident of achieving our goals to expand the Javan rhino's habitat, halt human negative intervention and set the founding stone for our future breeding sanctuary," he added.