A
new report about UPM-Kymmene's Indonesia-connection, APRIL, by Friends
of the Earth EWNI was published Feb. 11, 2002. The report reveals damaging impacts
of APRIL. Finnish institutions financing APRIL include Finnish Export Credit
Agency and Merita Bank (now Nordea).
Illegal
logging
Possibly
73% of all logging in Indonesia is coming from undocumented, presumably illegal,
sources. Indonesian pulp producers may have obtained as much 40 percent of the
wood they consumed between 1994 and 1999 from illegal sources. Also APRIL uses
wood from unclear sources. The Indonesian military and police are also deeply
involved in illegal logging.
Rainforest
destruction
APRIL's logging sites are the natural habitat of numerous
endangered species. The conversion of these rainforests into tree plantations
inevitably leads to the reduction of the area available to these species, thus
making extinction increasingly likely. So far APRIL's operations had lead to
the destruction of 220 000 hectares of rainforest. It will clear additional 147
000 hectares.
International financing
The exponential growth of Indonesia’s pulp and
paper industry has been fuelled by a massive USD 12-15 billion injection of capital
investment. International financial institutions have not ensured that the pulp
and paper companies receiving their investment had secured a legal and sustainable
raw material supply. The financial institutions responsible for funding Indonesia’s
pulp and paper sector must accept a large degree of responsibility for fuelling
the destruction of Indonesia’s forests, one of the richest wildlife habitats on
Earth.
