Unique orangutan reintroduction project under imminent threat
World Wildlife Fund EurekAlert 14 Dec 10;
JAMBI, Indonesia – A Sumatran rainforest named a global priority for tigers and home to a unique orangutan rescue project is targeted for clearcutting by one of the world's largest paper suppliers.
An investigation found that since 2004, companies affiliated with Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group have sought out selective logging concessions with dense natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape.
The companies obtained government licenses to switch the forest status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clearcutting and planting of commercial plantations, making homeless the indigenous forest-dwelling tribes and endangered species. This is in breach of the company's claims that it doesn't clear high-quality forest.
"Our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this landscape alone contributed to loss of about 60,000 hectares of forest without appropriate professional assessments or stakeholder consultation," said Susanto Kurniawan of Eyes on the Forest. "This is one of very few remaining rainforests in central Sumatra; therefore we urge the Government not to give it away to APP/SMG, who will mercilessly eliminate it and devastate local communities and biodiversity."
Bukit Tigapuluh harbors close to 320,000 hectares of natural forest, with around 30 tigers, 150 elephants and 130 rescued orangutans that were released here. "These great apes are the survivors of the illegal pet trade who were confiscated and are finally getting a chance to live and breed again in the wild," said Julius Paolo Siregar of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. "Forest conversion plans mean certain death for many of them."
It is also home to two forest-dwelling tribes -- the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak – who are "being driven off their ancestral land by APP and other companies," said Diki Kurniawan from WARSI. "Many must now beg for rice handouts to survive."
Bukit Tigapuluh has been deemed one of 20 landscapes critical to the long-term survival of tigers by international scientists. In November, Indonesia pledged at a global tiger summit to make it a focal area for tiger conservation.
"The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is a major test of Indonesia's $1 billion climate agreement with the Kingdom of Norway," said Aditya Bayunanda of WWF-Indonesia. "We stand ready to help the Government find ways to protect the forest and Indonesia's natural heritage."
Pulp and Paper industry still damaging key tiger territory, investigation finds
WWF 15 Dec 10;
One of the world’s largest paper suppliers is still clearcutting the rainforest of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, a habitat critical to the survival of the tiger, an investigation by local NGOs found.
The enquiry found that in the dense natural forests of the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape companies affiliated the Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group (APP/SMG) have sought out selective logging concessions..
The companies obtained government licenses to switch the forest status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clearcutting and planting of commercial plantations, destroying the home of local tigers and other endangered species. It is also in breach of the company’s claims that it doesn’t clear high-quality forest.
“Our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this landscape alone contributed to the loss of about 60,000 hectares of forest without appropriate professional assessments or stakeholder consultation,” said Susanto Kurniawan of the environmental conservation group Eyes on the Forest.
“Bukit Tigapuluh is one of very few remaining rainforests in central Sumatra; therefore we urge the Government not to give it away to APP/SMG, who will mercilessly eliminate it and devastate local communities and biodiversity.”
Bukit Tigapuluh has about 320,000 hectares of natural forest, and harbors about 30 of the 300 Sumatran tigers which still survive on the island. It has been deemed one of 20 landscapes critical to the long-term survival of tigers by international scientists. In November, Indonesia pledged at the Global Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia to make it a focal area for tiger conservation.
Approximately 150 elephants and 130 highly endangered Sumatran orangutans also live in the area.
The area is also home to two indigenous forest-dwelling tribes -- the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak – who are “being driven off their ancestral land by APP and other companies,” said Diki Kurniawan from WARSI, an Indonesian community conservation organization. “Many must now beg for rice handouts to survive.”
After a $1 billion pledge from Norway, Indonesia announced this year a moratorium starting in 2011 on all new forest and peatland concessions. The moratorium includes Sumatra.
“The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is a major test of Indonesia’s $1 billion climate agreement with the Kingdom of Norway,” said Aditya Bayunanda of WWF-Indonesia “We stand ready to help the Government find ways to protect the forest and Indonesia’s natural heritage.”
Green Groups Accuse Pulp Giants of Illegal Logging in Indonesia's Sumatra National Park
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 16 Dec 10;
Jakarta. Environmental groups on Wednesday accused one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper companies of logging in national parks and threatening both indigenous people and wildlife.
An investigation by nongovernmental groups based in Sumatra found that since 2004, companies affiliated with Asia Pulp and Paper and its parent company, the Sinar Mas Group, had systematically sought out inactive selective logging concessions on densely forested land in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, straddling the provinces of Riau and Jambi.
“Despite APP’s claims that it doesn’t pulp high-quality forest, our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this [area] alone contributed to the loss of about 60,000 hectares of high-carbon and high-value conservation forest without appropriate professional assessment or stakeholder consultation,” said Susanto Kurniawan of Eyes of the Forests, a coalition of green groups based in Riau.
The coalition’s study shows the companies obtained government licenses to switch the land status to industrial timber plantation concessions, which allows for clear-cutting and replacing the natural forest with commercial plantations.
The NGOs also claim that two firms linked to APP/SMG — Artelindo Wiratama and Tebo Multiagro Corporation — continued to clear Bukit Tigapuluh’s natural forest in 2010, while SMG’s Rimba Hutani Mas was planning to clear close to 43,000 hectares of natural forest.
They add that Lestari Asri Jaya, owned by the Barito Pacific Group, could soon begin clearing 36,000 hectares of dense natural forest in its newest industrial timber plantation concessions to supply wood to APP/SMG.
Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability at the APP Group, said the company would review the reports in detail to determine if there was any evidence that an APP pulpwood supplier was operating outside of areas defined by Indonesian spatial planning for pulpwood concessions.
“At this point we strongly believe the allegations are completely baseless,” she said.
“All concessions managed by APP pulpwood suppliers are developed in full compliance with Indonesian spatial planning and permit requirements.”
Funding for such programs, she said, came from public-private partnerships, community stakeholders and NGOs closest to the people.
Bukit Tigapuluh spans almost 320,000 hectares of natural forest and is home to two indigenous tribes, the Orang Rimba and the Talang Mamak, who number less than a thousand combined.
The forest also houses an estimated 30 critically endangered Sumatran tigers, as well as 150 Sumutran elephants and 130 orangutans that had been released back into the wild.
Aditya Bayunanda of WWF Indonesia said the protection of Bukit Tigapuluh would be a major test of Indonesia’s climate change mitigation agreement with Norway.
