Indonesia: APP Pledges to Stop Clearing Rainforest

B. McPherson

Orangutans are losing their homes to forestry and palm oil plantations.
Asia Pulp and Paper(APP) has announced that they will declare a moratorium on further forest clearing in the Indonesian rainforest. APP is a major world supplier of paper and packaging materials. Greenpeace has conducted a lengthy campaign to educate customers about the harm being done to tropical rainforests to supply fibre for packaging and toilet paper. As part of their campaign they have urged the boycott of products made by APP.

The campaign has paid off with the announcement on February 5th.

“From February 1st 2013, suspension of natural forest clearance which applies to all suppliers while HCVF and HCS assessment are completed, ending all cutting of natural forest
Protection of all forests, including those on peatland
High Carbon Stock assessments to be implemented
Adoption of international best practice for rights of indigenous peoples and local communities Independent monitoring by NGOs”Asia Pulp and Paper

The implementation of this new policy comes two years sooner than the corporation had earlier planned. In light of this new announcement, Greenpeace is suspending its campaign against APP and its sister corporation Golden Agri Resources. GAR is the second largest producer of palm oil and has nearly half a million hectares in cultivation.

Wildlife in Indonesia has been under extreme stress in modern times as industrial scale logging and clearing for palm oil plantations have clear cut great swaths of rainforest.

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