Pekanbaru, Sumatra –
The Senepis Tiger Sanctuary – a prominent
feature of the massive international greenwash
campaign of paper giant Asia Pulp &
Paper (APP) – is being subject to clear
cutting operations by one of the company’s
wood suppliers, an investigation by WWF
and partners finds.
“The truth behind APP’s Greenwash”, a new
report released today by Sumatra-based NGO
coalition Eyes on the Forest, estimates
that APP, part of the Sinar Mas Group, has
pulped more than two million hectares of
Indonesia’s tropical forests since it started
paper production there in 1984.
According to the report, APP’s continued
clear-cutting of forests including elephant,
tiger and orang-utan habitat and the immense
climate change impacts of draining deep
peats to establish high turnover plantations
is completely contrary to the image of environmental
responsibility it is pushing through front
groups and media advertising.
The truth behind APP's greenwash
The truth behind APP’s greenwash details
how the company made the same promise on
moving to 100% plantation sourcing of timber
for major pulp mills four times – missing
self-imposed deadlines to stop using native
forest timber in 2004, 2007 and 2009.
APP is now announcing it will meet its commitment
on timber sourcing by 2015 – a deadline
Eyes on the Forest says it expects APP to
also miss.
Through field investigations
in June and October 2011 and historical
satellite image analysis up to June 2011,
Eyes on the Forest found that the APP supplier,
PT Ruas Utama Jaya has been clear cutting
tropical forest inside the Senepis Tiger
Sanctuary.
“This is clear proof that the global advertising
claims of APP that it actively protects
Sumatran tiger are highly exaggerated”,
said Anwar Purwoto of WWF.
The investigation shows
a tiger sanctuary reality vastly different
from the picture being pushed to the world
media and through various front groups by
APP.
After apparently trying
to halt a government-proposed Senepis National
Park that would have protected tiger habitat
targeted by APP for pulping, the company
switched to advertising a leading role in
creating the “Senepis Tiger Sanctuary” in
2006, according to The truth behind APP’s
greenwash.
The report alleges a very minor additional
APP conservation contribution for Sumatra’s
critically endandgered tigers - some 86%
of the sanctuary is located on the already-protected
forests of a Forest Stewardship Council-certified
logging concession held by unrelated company
PT Diamond Raya Timber.
Now, according to the
report, at least one APP supplier is engaged
in clear cutting and drainage of the small
areas that were APP’s only real contribution
to the sanctuary.
"Misleading customers
about the brutal reality on the ground"
“It’s appalling that APP is pulping even
the small blocks of forest it had told the
world it would protect as tiger habitat,”
Hariansyah Usman of WALHI Riau said. “This
report shows a different picture to this
and other, much-touted APP 'conservation
projects' ".
“We would like the Sinar
Mas Group’s buyers and investors who read
this report to realize how APP’s media campaigns
are exploiting their lack of knowledge or
inexperience about Indonesia and how they
mislead their customers about the brutal
reality on the ground.”
“APP is interested only
in feeding its giant mills with as much
tropical forest wood as possible, and hoping
that customers and investors will continue
to believe conservation commitments and
advertisements which past experience shows
to be unrealistic.”
In the Netherlands, APP’s print and television
advertisements have been judged misleading
to the public by the country’s Advertising
Codes Commission. Many global buyers, including
some of the biggest paper users in the world,
have ceased purchasing from APP. However,
APP sells office paper, paper-based packaging
and other paper products and is increasingly
expanding globally into tissue products
like toilet paper, including the brand names
Paseo and LIVI.
“We urge global buyers and investors to
no longer support Asia Pulp & Paper’s
continuing shameless destruction of Indonesia’s
tropical forests and the homes of Sumatra’s
last surviving tigers,” says Muslim Rasyid
of Jikalahari, NGOs network. “Join the growing
list of other responsible companies that
have cut all ties with SMG/APP.”
+ More
Official report confirms
massive misuse of EU fisheries funds
Brussels, Belgium -
The EU Court of Auditors today published
a report damning costly failures to eliminate
overfishing in Europe. The report found
that the multi-billion euro European Fisheries
Fund designed to balance fishing activities
at sustainable levels is actually doing
the reverse.
Loopholes mean that
fleet owners are receiving subsidies to
increase the capacity and fishing power
of their vessels, adding to fleet overcapacity.
A small fraction of the money available
for scrapping is being used as intended,
with most being spent on vessels that are
old or no longer active.
The court did not stop
at criticising the misspending of taxpayers’
money, but highlighted fundamental flaws
in the existing fleet adjustment rules.
The report warns that
fleet overcapacity is driving the depletion
of fish stocks, threatening marine life
and the viability of fishing sector and
coastal communities. The result is that
three out of four European fish stocks are
overfished.
Birdlife Europe, Greenpeace, OCEAN2012,
Seas At Risk and WWF are urging the European
Parliament and Council of Ministers to follow
the court’s recommendations. The report
shows that the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
reform will be meaningless unless measures
are based on a full assessment of the fishing
capacity coupled with deadlines for fleet
reductions, the groups argue.
The European Commission’s
reform proposals are not up to the task:
European Maritime &
Fisheries Fund (replacing the European Fisheries
Fund) - Unless safeguards are put in place,
there is little evidence that subsidies
will stop fuelling overcapacity let alone
reverse it. For instance, the recent Commission
proposal does not require member states
to assess the balance between fishing capacity
and stocks before receiving modernisation
funds.
CFP reform – Clear timelines
and targets for fleet reductions should
be introduced in the revised proposals.
Moreover, the text should be amended to
create a wider range of options for allocating
fishing rights, introducing preferential
access for those that fish in the most sustainable
and responsible way.
Fisheries ministers
will meet on 16 December to set fishing
quotas for 2012. These should be set in
line with the scientific advice, and consistent
with the goal to recover fish stocks to
above levels that can produce maximum sustainable
yields by 2015, the groups say.
Notes to the editor:
The court investigated spending in the field
of fisheries in seven member states (Denmark,
France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and
the UK) and found that member states have
not fulfilled their obligation under the
CFP of putting in place effective measures
to match fishing capacity to fishing opportunities.
Four of the seven member states examined
in the audit had set inadequate targets
for reducing capacity.
A similar report, recently published by
the EU Commission, identifies Spain, France,
Ireland, Cyprus, Poland, and Portugal as
not providing an assessment of fleet capacity
in relation to fishing opportunities and
Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom as
not describing their fleets in relation
to fisheries. (COM(2011) 354 final.)
