Open letter raises concerns over deforestation and Indigenous Peoples rights' violations in pulp and paper company's supply chain in Indonesia

APRIL - one of the largest pulp and paper companies operating in Indonesia - needs to uphold its sustainability commitments and reject suppliers linked to deforestation, say Forest Peoples Programme and 22 other civil society organisations from Indonesia, Europe, and North America working on the protection of natural forests, peatlands and Indigenous rights. 

The signatories to the open letter express their alarm and disappointment at the APRIL Group adding to their supplier list new timber plantation companies (PT Industrial Forest Plantation and PT Mayawana Persada) that together have cleared more natural forest than any other in Indonesia's industrial plantation sector this decade. In addition, the Group earlier suspended their Sustainable Forest Management Policy 2.0 (SFMP 2.0), and subsequently changed their statement to refer to a review of the policy, casting serious doubt on the APRIL Group's commitment to sustainable supply chains. The open letter also raises concerns that the APRIL Group has changed the cut-off date for deforestation under SFMP 2.0 from 2015 to 31 December 2020, opening the door to companies involved in highly damaging clearance of natural forest after SFMP 2.0 was adopted. 

The APRIL Group could play a valuable role in the remediation of forest ecosystems and remediation of social conflicts, especially as it is trying to remedy its previous harms to regain membership in the Forest Stewardship Council. However, public reports and media - incuding a front-page story in the New York Times - have shown that deforestation carried out by both PT Mayawana Persada and PT Industrial Forest Plantation has destroyed the habitat of the critically endangered Bornean orangutan and sparked conflict with communities. By sourcing raw material from these suppliers, the APRIL Group is allowing human rights violations and ecosystem destruction to continue, in addition to disregarding the rights of Indigenous and forest peoples to their lands, livelihoods and cultural survival.

The open letter calls on APRIL to:

• immediately reinstate of APRIL Group’s Sustainable Forest Management Policy 2.0 (SFMP 2.0) with the deforestation cut-off date of 2015.
• remove PT Industrial Forest Plantation and PT Mayawana Persada from its list of approved suppliers.
• commit to not purchasing any further material from PT Industrial Forest Plantation.
• commit to not buying from any other company that has cleared natural forest since 2015

 

Read the open letter now.

 

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