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Sumatra's Last Primary Forests Sold as Copy Paper in Japan (posted: 2005-3-14)
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is one of the world's largest paper manufacturing companies and has attracted a huge amount of controversy in the last decade. As well as being Asia's largest bankruptcy, with over 10 billion USD of debts including to leading Western financial institutions, the company's forestry practices have attracted almost universal criticism from NGOs. WWF, an NGO which positions itself as one which can work with industry to solve issues, admits that its negotiations with APP had largely failed and it is reverting back to advising customers to boycott or pressure APP to change. Friends of the Earth UK and others have launched a campaign against APP which highlights what they claim is out-of-control logging of Indonesia's remaining low land primary forests. The net result is that a large portion of APP's European paper business has vanished, due to customer boycotts. The majority of APP's paper/pulp exports are now destined for Japan and China. The Indonesian Minister of Forestry last year estimated USD500mn of APP's sales were to Japan. Another key Japanese customer of APP is Askul, Japan's leading office supply retailer who sells APP-branded paper via their Web site and throughout stores in Japan. Leading trading firm Itochu has been also named as a key business partner of APP in Japan. 
Japan's leading office supply retailer Askul re-sells paper made by Asia Pulp and Paper, widely accused of unsustainable and destructive forestry in Indonesia (image taken from www.askul.co.jp) Forest Alert.org's research shows that about 30% of Japan's import of forest products from Indonesia is used by its paper industry. APP (Asia Pulp and Paper) and APRIL (Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited) are Indonesia's largest pulp and paper companies. More than a third of APP's wood raw materials are deemed to be illegal (almost half of the pulpwood for APP's Indah Kiat pulp mill is illegal), and the company plans to abandon consumption of plantation pulpwood from 2004. ?APP distributes directly in Japan through its subsidiary APP Japan, which is partially owned by Itochu Corporation.? Meanwhile, the remnants of Sumatra important lowland forests are ending up as copy paper for consumption in Japan. ForestAlert urges you to contact?Itochu to demand an immediate end to procurement from APP and other High Value Conservation forest areas. Vague promises of phasing out such procurement "as soon as possible" are not enough and are characteristic of corporate stalling tactics on this issue.
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