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KFC, Walmart contributing to destruction of Indonesia's rainforests, endangering orangutans
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
July 05, 2010
Major U.S. companies are contributing to the destruction of Indonesia's rainforests by sourcing paper from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a subsidiary of Indonesia-based conglomerate Sinar Mas, alleges a new report from Greenpeace.
Investigating two sites on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the activist group documented destruction of rainforests and carbon-dense peatlands by APP, a company that has lost several major contacts in recent years due to its poor environmental record. The company has since launched a public relations-campaign and new brands in an attempt to win back business in Western markets. Nevertheless Greenpeace reports that Carrefour, Tesco, and Kraft are phasing out APP products, while "Kimberly-Clark, Nestle and Unilever are implementing new policies that will also rule out supplies from APP, unless the company and its suppliers make substantial changes."
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Forest Destruction in Sinar Mas pulpwood concession, Bukit Tiga Puluh Landscape, Sumatra. Bukit Tigapuluh. Spanning over half a million hectares, the Bukit Tigapuluh Forest Landscape in Central Sumatra is one of the last refuges for the critically endangered Sumatran tiger. It has been designated one of the 20 highest global priority landscapes for conserving tigers. Of this landscape, 144,000 hectares are designated as the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. Bukit Tigapuluh is the island’s largest lowland rainforest region, hosting incredible biodiversity: 660 plant species, 200 species of birds and 60 mammal species, including the highly endangered clouded leopard (Neofelic nebulosa), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) and elephant (Elephas maximus). Date: 26 April 2010. Image and caption courtesy Greenpeace.
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Greenpeace called out Walmart, Auchan, and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as companies that continue to buy from APP despite its role in deforestation and peatlands degradation.
"This investigation shows how major international companies like Walmart and KFC are causing Indonesia's peatland and forests to be slashed and burned for every day paper products," said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner, in a statement. "Some of the world’s best known brands are pulping the planet."
Maitar added that any company that buys from APP's parent company Sinar Mas, which is also the world's second largest supplier of palm oil, is complicit in the destruction of Indonesia's rainforests, which support critically endangered species like Sumatran rhinos, Sumatran tigers, and Sumatran orangutans, as well as local people who depend on small-scale community forestry for their livelihoods.
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Forest clearing in Mato Grosso. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.
A Greenpeace report in June 2009 linked major consumer brands to deforestation in the Amazon. Shortly thereafter Wal-Mart implemented new beef and leather sourcing policies in Brazil.
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"Sinar Mas is not only guilty of environmental abuses but is a repeat offender - its 'sustainability commitments' are not worth the paper they are written on. Greenpeace is calling on all companies like Walmart and KFC to stop doing business with Sinar Mas immediately," said Maitar.
The report, titled 'How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet' [PDF] alleges that APP is draining peatlands deeper than 3 meters, a direct violation of Indonesian law.
Indonesia ranks as the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter primarily the result of carbon dioxide produced from forest fires and drainage of swampy peatlands. In May, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a $1 billion conservation deal with Norway to protect the southeast Asian nation's remaining forests. The plan includes a two-year moratorium on new logging and plantation concessions on peatlands and primary forest lands starting next year. The initiative has been fiercely contested by the powerful forestry lobby.
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CITATION:
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com (July 05, 2010). KFC, Walmart contributing to destruction of Indonesia's rainforests, endangering orangutans. http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0705-indonesia_app_greenpeace.html
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Tags:
corporate role in conservation deforestation indonesia rainforests peatlands southeast asia logging plantations palm oil asia forestry environmental activism activism orangutans rainforest destruction green environment
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