Greenpeace activists block barge carrying timber in Kampar Peninsula

Antara 17 Jul 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Greenpeace activists blocked a barge carrying thousands of cubic meters of timber from the rainforests of the Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra, Friday (July 16).

The activists unfurled a banner reading "APRIL stop trashing our future" and urged pulp and paper company APRIL and the Indonesian government to stop forest destruction, Greenpeace Southeast Asia wrote on its website.

Around 25 activists stopped the loading of a barge carrying logs from Kampar`s carbon-rich peatland forests destined for APRIL` s pulp mill in Pangkalan Kerinci.

This is the second time Greenpeace activists have taken action to stop APRIL destroying the natural forest of Kampar. After a Greenpeace action in October 2009, the Minister for Forests ordered the temporary suspension of APRIL operations. The order was delivered in front of the Teluk Meranti community, and the Minister also promised to resolve this matter within two weeks by forming an independent team to conduct a review of the permit.

"However in March this year, the Ministry of Forestry issued Rencana Kerja Tahunan (RKT - Cutting Permits) to convert 22 thousand hectares in Kampar Peninsula without conducting the promised legal and legislative review of APRIL`s existing permits. The Minister also broke his promise to resolve conflicts between the company and the community," said Zulfahmi, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest Campaigner.

Greenpeace released a report last week exposing the role that Sinar Mas`s APP, another pulp and paper giant, is playing in driving massive deforestation, tiger habitat loss and peatland destruction also in the island of Sumatra.(*)