National Geographic Society (NGS) has
publicly broken ties with Asian Pulp and Paper (APP) after a Greenpeace report
revealed that the company was using endangered Indonesian ramin trees in its
production line.
APP, a
goliath in the paper industry, has been targeted by numerous environmental
groups over the years for relying on rainforest and peat land destruction for
its paper products. This practice likely endangers wildlife such as tigers and
orangutans and emits significant amounts of carbon into the environment.
Evidence
of such activities is slowly surfacing – WWF recently revealed that APP claims
that its operations were independently certified as sustainable were not backed
up by any of the standard setting or certifying companies it mentioned.
Greenpeace’s
yearlong investigation found that APP and suppliers were cutting and pulping
ramin trees, which are legally protected under Indonesian law as well as the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The
protected tree species were allegedly being illegally logged and pulped at an
APP mill in Sumatra. Greenpeace has since handed over its evidence to
Indonesian police who told the group there would be an investigation.
The
Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which in the past
has received criticism for its certification of APP, has called for an
investigation into the APP’s illegal logging allegations.
In
response to the discovery of APP fiber in one of its coffee-table books, a NGS
spokesperson said:
“We do
not use APP products in our current books. While there may be a few books in
our inventory that were printed on APP paper, we no longer use materials
supplied by this company and have not for several years.”
Shortly
after the initial exposé, APP, which is part of the Sinar Mars Group, began a
new project with the Man and Biosphere Program (MAB) Indonesia – LIPI to
provide clean and safe water to communities in Indonesia.
Rebecca
Lim
AsianScientist
Source:
WWF; Photo: © WWF-Indonesia/Riau Project.
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