News release: Sinar Mas? paper arm covers up rainforest destruction in flawed audit (Matilda Bradshaw)

Greenpeace exposes Sinar Mas‚ paper arm for covering up rainforest

destruction in flawed audit

Major PR Firm Weber Shandwick walks away from company

Jakarta, 30 September 2010 ˆ Today, in response to the an audit conducted for the Sinar Mas Group‚s paper arm, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), Greenpeace International has revealed basic errors by the auditors, used to distract attention from the fact that APP continues to source timber from rainforest destruction. (1)

The audit, produced by ITS GLOBAL‚s Alan Oxley, attempted to discredit evidence published by Greenpeace International in July, which showed that APP suppliers are actively clearing rainforest and peatland in Indonesia. (2) Oxley is well known as an industry apologist. (3)

"Sinar Mas is getting increasingly desperate as it tries to cover up its continued role in rainforest destruction. By hiring Oxley as an auditor, it is now really scraping the bottom of the barrel ˆ it seems anyone with any level of credibility is no longer willing to work with the group.

If Sinar Mas was serious about sustainability, it would commit to no further deforestation and not hire industry apologists to cover its tracks," said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner.

In its response, Greenpeace shows that the ITS GLOBAL audit: Used outdated concession maps that do not contain the latest Sinar Mas concessions;

Failed to use the correct documents which explain the company expansion plans;

Did not point out that the data sources Greenpeace relied upon were also used by the Indonesian Government as part of the basis for its climate change abatement scenario planning.

Nowhere in the 89 page audit did Oxley challenge the validity and accuracy of the photographic evidence of rainforest and peatland destruction which forms the heart of the Greenpeace report, and shows that APP is destroying habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger.

The environmental group has since released further aerial photographs which show ongoing clearance of deep peat by Sinar Mas in Kerumutan in Riau, Sumatra from August. (4) These destructive practices undermine the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono‚s, commitment to reduce the country‚s greenhouse gas emissions and to protect its rainforests.

As a result of Greenpeace‚s evidence of Sinar Mas‚ illegal and destructive environmental practices in Indonesia, several leading companies have cancelled contracts with the palm oil and paper giant.  Kraft has confirmed that it is phasing out APP paper and packaging, whilst Nestlé, Unilever and retailers such as Tesco and Metro group are implementing new policies that will also rule out supplies from APP, unless the company and its suppliers make substantial changes. It has also been reported this week (5) that New York based PR firm, Weber Shandwick, has walked away from its contract with APP.

Maitar continued: „We are calling on all companies to drop their contracts with Sinar Mas until the group publicly announces and implements a policy to stop further deforestation and peatland destruction. We are also urging the Indonesian Government to protect all peatlands, as well as expand its upcoming moratorium on rainforest destruction in new concessions to cover the vast areas that have already been slated for destruction in existing concessions.

Contacts:

In Jakarta, Indonesia:

Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest Team Leader, tel: +62

813 446 66 135

In the EU:

Andy Tait, Senior Campaign Advisor Greenpeace UK tel: +44 (0)20 7865 8215 or

+ 44 (0)7801 212 980

Notes to Editors:

(1) APP‚s audit is available at: http://www.scribd.com/asiapulppaper.

Greenpeace‚s response is available at:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Greenpeace-reponse-Sinar-Mas-APPOxley-/

(2) Greenpeace‚s report ŒHow Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet‚ is available

at:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/Palm-oil-reports/

.

(3) For further reading on Oxley, his consultancies, publications and other

work, see

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alan_Oxley

(4) Aerial images of APP suppliers' peatland destruction in Kerumutan (5

August 2010) are available on request.

(5) Asia Pulp & Paper calls in new PR support after Weber Shandwick resigns,

Arun Sudhaman, The Holmes Report, 28 September 2010

http://www.holmesreport.com/story.cfm?edit_id=11896&typeid=1&goto=story

-- 

Matilda Bradshaw

Communications Manager

Greenpeace International

+31 (0) 6 2900 1131 (mobile)

Skype: matildabradshaw

Greenpeace 24h media hotline

+31 (0)20 718 2470

pressdesk@greenpeace.org

Please see also previous posts on rainforest destruction...

The Black Fish cuts nets to free dolphins in Taiji, Japan

September 28, 2010, 10:43, by The Black Fish Media

Divers from the European conservation organisation The Black Fish have last night cut the nets of six holding pens in Taiji, Japan, that were holding dolphins caught during a dolphin drive hunt a few days earlier. During this hunt a number of dolphins were selected for the international dolphinarium trade and transferred to these holding pens. In rough weather conditions the divers swam out and cut the nets of six of these holding pens, allowing a number of dolphins to swim back out to sea. No arrests were made.

Fishermen transfer selected dolphins caught at the drive hunt to sea pen for the dolfinarium trade by The Black Fish

Every year, between September and April, the sea around the fishing village of Taiji on the east coast of Japan turns red as it becomes the scene of one of the biggest mass slaughters of marine wildlife in the world. The dolphin drive hunt, which recently made global headlines through the Oscar winning documentary 'The Cove', is responsible for capturing and killing over 2,000 dolphins of Japan's annual quota of 20,000. Fishermen drive the dolphins from sea into a cove, where some animals are selected for dolphinariums while the others are killed for their meat.

The Black Fish and other marine conservation and animal welfare organisations run ongoing campaigns to push for the closure of the remaining dolphinariums in Europe, where some of the dolphins caught at Taiji inevitably end up. Dolphinariums are already banned in United Kingdom. The Black Fish believes that it is unacceptable to keep dolphins, orca's and other marine wildlife in captivity, given the vast areas which these animals normally inhabit, the miserable and squalid conditions under which they are often kept and the stress that public performances put on them.

Co-founder of The Black Fish, Wietse van der Werf, explains about their decision to intervene: "The connection between the dolphin entertainment industry and this annual drive hunt can no longer be denied. To be successful in our campaigns in Europe we need to get to the root of this illegal trade, which is right at Taiji."

The Black Fish is aware of the sensitivity surrounding the hunt at Taiji this year. With an international media spotlight on the Japanese dolphin hunts, tensions within the country have heated up and Japanese nationalists have seized the opportunity to defend this 'traditional' activity. While we acknowledge that change also needs to come from within Japanese society, we vow to continue to work for the protection of these defenceless dolphins and push to make dolphinariums and the drive hunts which supply them history.

What does a day of peace achieve?

Founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley has spent the last 13 years trying to ensure there is an annual global ceasefire on the 21 September.

Jeremy Paxman speaks to Mr Gilley and Daily Mail journalist Dame Anne Lesley about what the project achieves.

Check out the video 

Broadcast Tuesday 21 September 2010.

Whale of a Time at Peace Awards 2010!

We are so excited that Whale of a Time has been shortlisted for a Peace Award in recognition of our outstanding contribution to making London a better City.

Irene Schleining, founder of Whale of a Time has been nominated and duly recognised for her valuable contribution to peace and justice in London.

 

enlarge
The prestigious awards are a celebration and recognition of individuals and organisations who, through various initiatives and projects, have positively contributed to the peace and safety of London and are taking place as part of the London Week of Peace.
The Annual Week of Peace Awards Ceremony was hosted by Reverend Nims Obunge MBE DL with the Mayor Boris Johnson as the guest of honour at City Hall on 22 September 2010.

On behalf of the whales we'd like to thank everyone who has, is and will be supportingWhale of a Time creating sustainable and environmental change for the London community.

We would like to wish everyone a whale of a time and may all of you live in peace and harmony with our planet!

Stay tuned with the Whale Mail 

Whale of a Time Workshops - August / September 2010

Whale of a Time Workshops - August / September 2010

Plastic Garbage in the Ocean

Hear Jeremy Irons narrate this spoof video of the journey of a plastic bag from supermarket checkout and being thrown away on a city street to the North Pacific Gyre, an area of the Pacific Ocean with more plastic than plankton. Watch “Plastic Bag: a Mockumentary” produced by Heal the Bay:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw  and www.healthebay.org

The Pacific Gyre is twice the size of the USA. It is a vortex that collects debris including plastic waste, which breaks down into smaller and smaller particles, until it is ingested by fish and sea mammals. A trawl sample found 6 times more plastic by weight than plankton. Watch “Synthetic Sea: Plastic in the Ocean”. Find out more about the world’s biggest garbage dump:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNqzAHGXvs

In 2010, David de Rothschild (founder of Adventure Ecology) sailed the Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney on a raft  built 12,000 plastic bottles from called Plastiki (an obvious reference to Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 Kon Tiki expedition on a balsa raft to prove migration form South America to Polynesia) journeying for 129 days and 8,300 nautical miles to see and report on the evidence or marine pollution. www.theplastiki.com See the videos at: www.flickr.com/photos/plastiki/sets/72157623691316656

Do this:

1.    Try to give up plastic bags when shopping. Ask them not to put individual items in bags. Take your own reusable bags to put your shopping in.

2.    Pick up plastic litter you find in the street. Bin it.

3.    Join the Litter Movement and pledge to do this daily: www.roskapaivassa.net/littermovement.htm

4.    Pinpoint litter on a map and report it to your local council: www.fixmystreet.com

Recommended by Michael Norton www.365act.com

Michael Norton in Prison for Linda Carty

This was me at 6.00 pm locked up, but still smiling. By 7.00 pm it felt a bit claustrophobic, and I was glad to get out. Linda Carty has spent 8 years in a cell like this on death row awaiting execution after an unfair trial for a crime she almost certainly did not commit.

Michael Norton is a Whale of a Time Artist. Read more about Michael at www.whaleofatime.org/michaelnorton.php

How Sinar Mas is expanding its empires of rainforest destruction

UNDER FIRE RAINFOREST DESTROYER CAUGHT BREAKING PROMISES

      (Greg McNevin)

New investigation shows Indonesia's largest palm and pulp group still destroying critical habitats

29 July 2010, Jakarta, Indonesia -- A new Greenpeace investigation into the operations of Sinar Mas, one the most notorious destroyers of Indonesia‚s rainforests, reveals how it is continuing to break its own environmental commitments on protecting forests and peatland.

Publishing new photographic evidence, aerial monitoring and field analysis [1], Greenpeace International today details how the Sinar Mas group continues to clear rainforest containing priceless biodiversity such as orang-utan habitat - and carbon-rich peatlands, despite public promises it has made to clean up its act.

The revelations also highlight Sinar Mas‚ ambitions to expand its pulp and palm oil empire into millions more hectares across Indonesia, including large tracts of rainforest and peatland in the province of Papua. These ambitions are outlined in confidential Sinar Mas documents obtained by Greenpeace. Last week, the head of Sinar Mas‚ palm oil division confirmed the company‚s intentions to expand its empire by an additional 1 million hectares. [2]

Sinar Mas claims not to develop on peatland and to protect forests of Œhigh conservation value‚. Earlier Greenpeace investigations repeatedly documented cases where Sinar Mas operations actively cleared rainforest and peatland areas, including tiger and orang-utan habitats. Now today‚s report exposes current rainforest destruction by Sinar Mas in two of its concessions on the island of Borneo.

In the first case, a confidential Sinar Mas document shows that nearly one-third of the concession area is peatland, almost all of which is deep peat that would be illegal to develop under Indonesian law.

Greenpeace photographs show plant operators engaged in active rainforest clearance in the peatland area. In the second case, Greenpeace photographs document recent clearance of rainforest areas of orang-utan habitat, identified by a United Nations Environment

Programme study. [3]

In both cases the photographs were taken by a Greenpeace photographer accompanied by journalists from respected news operations Reuters, AFP and Kompas.

Following the latest revelations Greenpeace is calling on Sinar Mas to come clean and make public its maps detailing all its landholdings, to enable analysis of which areas are critically important for biodiversity and climate protection, and what it is doing in those areas.

„We've caught Sinar Mas red-handed destroying valuable rainforests, and breaching the limited promises it has made to clean up its act.

This is typical of a group that has an appalling record of

environmental destruction. Sinar Mas has to be reigned in if there isto be a future for what‚s left of Indonesia‚s rainforests. Until this group changes course, other businesses should have nothing to do with Sinar Mas,‰ said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace forest campaigner.

The disclosures come on the day Sinar Mas had planned to publish an audit it commissioned into its own activities in a small number of its palm oil operations, in response to revelations made in earlier Greenpeace reports. The company‚s audit was not designed to assess its practices across all of its operations, but instead to examine allegations made by Greenpeace in recent years.  The evidence released by Greenpeace today includes photographs of peat and forest clearance in a concession due to feature in the Sinar Mas audit. PR company Bell Pottinger (which Sinar Mas has hired to run the publicity around the audit) was this week forced to announce it was postponing its publication.

Bell Pottinger also represents disgraced oil trading company Trafigura, which was convicted last week of illegally exporting toxic waste to Africa. [4]

In recent months several leading multinationals ˆ including Unilever, Kraft and Nestle - have responded to Greenpeace‚s evidence by ending their contracts with Sinar Mas.  However, Greenpeace is calling on others, including trading giant Cargill, to take immediate action to remove rainforest destruction from their supply chain.

New Greenpeace investigation, published today, can be found here:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/sinar-mas-empires-of-destruction

Download full report at Download Full Report here