*[Enwl-eng] [press-release] Global sustainability forum tellsIndonesian paper giant: end deforestation or else

[ENWLine]

Jakarta, 12 April 2013: The World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD), which claims to be the "world’s foremost business
association dedicated to sustainable development", today warned Asia Pacific
Resources International (APRIL), Indonesia’s second largest pulp and paper
producer, to clean up its act. The move is a result of APRIL’s ongoing
large-scale destruction of Indonesia’s rainforest.

“Being put on probation by this organisation is a humiliating blow to APRIL’s
claims to practice sustainable forest management,” said Zul Fahmi, Forest
Campaigner at Greenpeace South East Asia.

“The reality is that APRIL is now the largest driver of deforestation for
pulp and paper in Indonesia. If it wants to stay in the WBCSD and needs to
clean up the destruction we have documented time and time again.”

Such a move to crack down on its members is a first for the WBCSD, which
this week prominently profiled Nestle zero deforestation policy and guides
to help other companies avoid deforestation in their commodity sourcing on
its home page.

Greenpeace investigations have shown that APRIL is clearing many thousands
of hectares of peatland forests. These carbon-rich rainforests are vital not
just for climate stability, but also as habitat for critically endangered
Sumatran tigers and an internationally protected tree species, ramin. APRIL
also has a long history of social conflicts with local communities.

Recent government data reveal that 60% of fibre supply to APRIL's Riau
Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) pulp mill in Indonesia – one of the largest
mills in the world – is rainforest wood. In 2012, APRIL planned to feed its
Sumatran pulp mill by clearing another 60,000 hectares of rainforest – an
area nearly the size of Singapore.

“Earlier this year APP, the largest pulp and paper company in Indonesia,
committed to end its role in deforestation in Indonesia. It’s time for APRIL
to recognise how out of step it is with the rest of the global business
community and immediately join APP to end its involvement in deforestation,”
said Zul.

Greenpeace International approached WBCSD in February with findings from
investigations exposing the conflict between APRIL’s deforestation and WBCSD’s
environmental principles. This is in addition to requests from a significant
number of peer companies in the WBCSD and from NGO groups who pushed for a
review of APRIL.

Media contact:

Tristan Tremschnig, Indonesia Forests Communications Coordinator, Greenpeace
International, email: tristan.t...@greenpeace.org, phone: +31 6 43 78
7393

--


From: <tristan.t...@greenpeace.org>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 10:31 AM
Subject: [press-release] Global sustainability forum tells Indonesian paper
giant: end deforestation or else


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