Nature Alert: Groups Say APP's Green Claims `Misleading'

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Groups Say APP's Green Claims `Misleading'

Groups Say APP's Green Claims `Misleading'

Source: The Jakarta Post – March 12, 2010

JAKARTA - A group of Indonesian environmental NGOs published a letter, calling on investors and buyers to reject Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) "misinformation" on its environmental policies, following the company's claim at the 12th Annual RISI Pulp and Paper Conference in Amsterdam on Thursday that it had environmentally friendly operations and had several community programs.

"For example, APP continues to clear large areas of natural forests in Kerumutan's deep peat and Bukit Tigapuluh in Sumatra, despite protests from local communities and NGOs," the NGOs said. "We're trying to set the record straight for APP's customers and investors who may have been taken in by APP's misleading advertisements and glossy brochures," said Teguh Surya, the campaign director for the Indonesia Environment Forum (Walhi).

The NGO group includes WWF Indonesia, Walhi, the Community Alliance for Pulp and Paper Advocacy (CAPPA), and Riau's environmental group Jikalahari. APP has been operating in Riau in Sumatra since 1984. - JP

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.