Pulp and paper giant APRIL: stop clearing orangutan habitat!
Indonesia: Rainforest Rescue and 22 Indonesian and international organizations demand that Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) stop buying timber from orangutan habitat. Paper, pulp and viscose must not spell the end of Borneo’s forests.
Mongabay: Pulp and paper giant APRIL adds major deforesters as suppliers after revising sustainability policy
Shocking news from the pulp industry: Asia Pacific International Resources Limited (APRIL) is once again buying timber from two of Borneo’s most notorious rainforest destroyers, PT Mayawana Persada and PT Industrial Forest Plantation.
Since 2020, these two companies have destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares of Borneo rainforest – including orangutan habitat.
APRIL is one of the world’s largest pulp companies, producing paper, pulp and viscose in Indonesia, China and Brazil for the global market. APRIL is owned by Royal Golden Eagle, the holding company of billionaire Sukanto Tanoto.
For decades, environmental organizations have fought massive deforestation, negotiated with APRIL, applied pressure and agreed on policies. In 2015, the company finally adopted a policy (SFMP 2.0) not to use timber harvested after May 15, 2015. This policy also has financial consequences: it opens access to loans and strengthens the confidence of business partners and customers.
APRIL has now changed this internal policy. The cutoff date for deforestation has been moved to December 2020.
It gets worse: APRIL is ignoring even this cutoff date. Its suppliers PT Mayawana Persada and PT Industrial Forest Plantation have clear-cut around 50,000 hectares in West and Central Kalimantan, Borneo, since 2020, and they are continuing to clear forest today.
Rainforest Rescue and 22 Indonesian and international organizations make the following demands in a letter:
- immediately reinstate SFMP 2.0 with the deforestation cut-off date of 2015;
- remove PT Industrial Forest Plantation and PT Mayawana Persada from the APRIL Group’s 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.
APRIL’s decision is devastating news for Borneo and a slap in the face for our partners on the ground and Indigenous Dayak people. Rainforest Rescue has long warned about this company, which bears primary responsibility for the destruction of Sumatra’s rainforests and is now extending its destructive practices to Borneo.
More than 70,000 people are calling on banks, business partners and investors through the petition: Stop APRIL, Indonesia’s ruthless paper and pulp giant!
APRIL lost its FSC certification, which promises ‘responsible’ timber harvesting, in 2013. Negotiations to restore it are currently blocked because of violence against Indigenous people by APRIL-linked company Toba Pulp Lestari.
Read more:
Earthsight: Indonesian pulp and paper giant buying from country’s worst deforesters
Forests Under Siege: The Hidden Cost of Timber Plantation Expansion in Central Kalimantan
Borneo: New clear-cutting in the orangutan forest – for paper
Indonesia: “We drink poisoned water” – paper industry destroys the river of life
Armed men raid village on Sumatra
Sign and share our petition: Stop APRIL, Indonesia’s ruthless paper and pulp giant!
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Stop APRIL, Indonesia’s ruthless paper and pulp giant!
The paper giant APRIL/RGE is destroying rainforests and the livelihoods of local communities. We call on banks and investors to end their business ties with APRIL/RGE!
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