Our new journalist
pal Michael Bachelard, who visited JMD’s projects in April, traveled back to
Indonesia in May with Greenpeace to witness yet more destruction in other areas
of Indonesia, this time at the hands of pulp companies pledging to stop
deforestation by 2020, leaving them 6 years to completely gut Indonesia of any
forest plant or animal before their “promise” kicks in.
PaperOne's environmental pledge sparks race to clear
Sumatran forest
Michael
Bachelard, The Age, May 30, 2014
The big cut: clearing of peatland forests on Padang Island. Photo:
Greenpeace/Ulet Ifansasti
The website of PaperOne features pictures of tropical forests
and a claim that the copy paper company is "protecting high conservation
values".
On the ground in Sumatra, though, the chainsaws and excavators are rushing to mow
down tropical forest on delicate peat swamp to feed fibre to its mills.
As consumer pressure built on companies to improve their
environmental credentials, PaperOne's maker, Indonesian company Asia Pacific
Resources International Limited (APRIL), announced in January a commitment to
stop logging "high conservation value" areas and peat swamp, to stop
establishing plantations by the end of this year and to get all its fibre from
plantations by 2020.
It formed a partnership with environmental group WWF and
announced the endorsement of the Norwegian ambassador (whose country has
pledged $1 billion towards ending deforestation in Indonesia).
On the fragile environment of Padang Island, off the east
coast of Sumatra, though, the deadline has prompted a new effort to clear what
is left.
"APRIL's commitments mean nothing," says Zul
Fahmi, Greenpeace's forest campaign leader for Indonesia. "It's just
confirmation that they
still intend to destroy forests until 2019."
The company's big competitor, Asia Pulp and Paper, won
plaudits last year for stopping the use of natural timber in its mills.
In January, APRIL, owned by Chinese-Indonesian businessman
Sukanto Tanoto, responded with a new "sustainable forest management
policy". But, under the policy, it can keep cutting forest inside its
concessions until the end of the year and still use mixed tropical hardwood
– taken from natural forest – until 2020. APRIL has not said where it
will source that wood except from "limited-term suppliers vetted by
APRIL" to ensure compliance with their policy.
Campaigners fear that, by 2020, too much of the Sumatran forest, with its
endangered orangutans, tigers, rhinoceros and elephants, will be gone.
Late in May, this reporter saw from the air a dozen or more
heavy machines at work on peat swamp on the low-lying island off Sumatra's fire
and haze ravaged Riau region.
Canals, which are dug to drain the swamp, speared deep into
forest, dividing the island into geometrical agricultural segments. Between the canals, every plant
except individual ramin trees (which are protected) are cut to the ground,
dragged into piles and loaded on barges.
Villagers say monkeys and wild pigs are starving and seeking
food on their land, and that chemicals sprayed to kill weeds have also killed
the fish in the river.
Hectares of uniform acacia plantation will replace the
tropical rainforest.
Indonesian law is
supposed to protect carbon-rich peat, but it does not. The
peat on this island – 15 metres deep in some places and laid down over
thousands of years – will drain, dry and decompose, releasing its millions
of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Dry peat is also susceptible
to the burning that releases the toxic haze that has coated Singapore and
Malaysia in recent years.
In nearby APRIL concessions in Riau, it is clear from the
air that extensive areas have been recently burnt, though there is no
suggestion the company lit the fires.
Scientists believe it is also a medium-term investment, at
best. As the peat on Padang Island decays, the land subsides, meaning that, in 50 years, the island is
likely to be at or under sea level and useless for cultivation.
According to APRIL's spokesman, all this work is legal and
fully in accord with the company's own commitments.
"We are currently developing our last new plantation in
an area of Pulau Padang licensed by the Indonesian government," the
spokesman said. "Our policy mandates that the work will be completed by
December . . . So if one of your questions is 'are you violating your own
policy?', the answer is 'no'."
Trees and animals,
though, are not the only thing at stake. Padang Island contains 13 villages,
some of whose inhabitants have protested for years about the destruction of
their forests and, with it, their livelihoods.
In 2011, residents went to Jakarta to protest against the
politicians who issued the concessions – 28 villagers sewed their lips
shut.
Until recently, APRIL observed a moratorium on
levelling the trees in parts of their concession area because of local
concerns. The company
spokesman said, however, that had recently ended because "the government
subsequently gave the go-ahead to proceed".
This was news to Budi Wardhana, the director of
sustainability at WWF, which has joined the company's stakeholder advisory
committee to guide its new policy. Budi says APRIL's policy is good, but
"the implementation is different from the policy as it’s written".
WWF has already drawn attention to what it sees as a breach
in a high conservation value area in Borneo. It also intends to investigate the
work on Padang Island, Budi said. The company, according to him, is
"still in the phase of learning by doing".
On May 17, a group of locals went into the concession area
to protest against that a disputed area of forest was being razed when there
was supposed to have been more discussion. One villager, Ares Fadila, was
punched in the head by police.
"The villagers asked [the concession holder] to stop
their canal construction works, but the contractor said they couldn't because
they have a deadline to meet," Zul said.
The deadline, obviously, is when the company will start
living up to the pledge PaperOne spruiks on its green-tinged website.
But, for the forest inside its concession on Padang Island,
that will already be too late.
Michael Bachelard flew over Padang Island and other
concession areas on a trip organised by Greenpeace.
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