Paper giant illegally destroying orangutan habitat in Indonesia says WWF

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Paper giant illegally destroying orangutan habitat in Indonesia says WWF
mongabay.com
January 9, 2008

In a report released Monday, environmental group WWF has accused forestry giant Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) of illegally logging endangered orangutan habitat on the island of Sumatra.

Led by WWF, a coalition of five environmental groups say that APP and affiliates are clearing land and building an access road outside their legal concessions in the Bukit Tigapuluh area of Sumatra's Jambi province. The groups note that November 2007 satellite images showed 20,000 hectares (49,200 acres) had already been cleared without legal permits.

"APP is one of the world's largest paper companies and we believe its global customers expect it to act like a responsible corporate citizen," said WWF in a statement. "The company should commission independent assessments of the conservation values of these areas in a publicly transparent manner before any conversion takes place, and commit to protect and manage conservation values identified in these areas."

Orangutan in Borneo

"We urge APP and its partners to stop clearing any more natural forest whose ecological, environmental and cultural conservation values have not been determined and to stop sourcing any of its purchased wood from such forests," added Ian Kosasih of WWF. "We also call on the government to ensure an end to all forms of forest clearance found to violate national Indonesian laws and regulations."

The investigation report was released in Indonesia in January by WWF Indonesia and partners, KKI WARSI, Zoological Society of London, Frankfurt Zoological Society and Yayasan Program Konservasi Harimau Sumatera (PKHS).

APP saw its certification for sustainable logging operations revoked last fall by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), after a Wall Street Journal investigation under covered allegations of gross environmental misconduct by the paper firm.

Report of investigation into APP linked logging activities on Sumatra [pdf, 9.85 MB]

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