Despite Indonesian - Norwegian Forest Pact, Massive Pulp Clearcutting & Fraud Go On And On

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While the Indonesian government basks in a recent agreement with Norway to slow deforestation to the tune of a billion US dollars, a new report by Eyes on the Forest shows photographic evidence of largely government sanctioned deforestation that flouts several Indonesia laws. Potentially embarrassing, the report and photos reveal that two companies, Asian Pulp and Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resource International (APRIL), have destroyed 5 percent of Riau province's forests since 2009, including deep peatlands, high conservation value forests (HCVF), Critically Endangered Sumatran tiger habitat, and forest within the Giam Siak Kecil- Bukit Batu UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In total, over 130,000 hectares (an area larger than Hong Kong) of mostly peat forest were destroyed for pulp.

"APP and APRIL are undermining our President’s commitment to reduce the country’s emissions by up to 41 percent. We call on APP and APRIL to immediately stop using any timber associated with the conversion of tropical rainforest and draining of peatlands,” said Ian Kosasih of WWF Indonesia in a press release. Under the agreement with Norway, the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, committed to a two year moratorium on all new forest and peatland concessions beginning in January 2011. However, the announcement of the moratorium may have spurred the government to quickly grant new forest licenses for APP and APRIL: according to Media Indonesia, 17 new licenses to cut natural forest have been issued in Riau, providing up to 29 percent of APP's and 50 percent of APRIL's raw material for mills in Riau.

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Both companies had pledged that by 2009 they would stop pulping natural forests for their paper and pulp products. However, Eyes on the Forest estimates that destroyed natural forests in Riau represented 40 percent of APP's and 84 percent of APRIL's raw material needs from last year. While forests were being felled and peatlands drained, APP has been pushing green PR, according to Eyes on the Forest. APP has advertised its commitment to Riau's Giam Siak Kecil- Bukit Batu UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on CNN, while it was simultaneously clearing natural forest in the reserve. In addition at a time when it was advertising its commitment to tiger conservation, the company has been clearing habitat for the Critically Endangered Sumatran tiger. Around 500 Sumatran tigers survive on the island.

"Customers should take the intensive green washing campaigns by both companies exactly for what they are, expensive PR stunts designed to fool the world," said Santo Kurniawan, coordinator of Jikalahari, an NGO network in Riau. Adding obfuscation to the problem of greenwashing and deforestation, APP is made up of 13 subsidiary companies and APRIL is made up of 12.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0713-hance_app_april.html