U.K. Firms Attacked on Indonesian Pulp Mill
11/29/99
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Title: U.K. Firms Attacked on INDONESIAN Pulp Mill
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 29, 1999
LONDON, UK, November 29, 1999 (ENS) - Friends of the Earth and
campaigners from Indonesia are challenging insurance companies
Norwich Union and Legal & General over investments that are fuelling
what the group claims is rainforest destruction and the violation of
human rights in Indonesia.
Both U.K. insurance giants invest in UPM-Kymmene, a Finnish pulp &
paper company that has channelled millions of dollars into a
controversial pulp mill in Riau, Sumatra belonging to Asia Pacific
Resources International (APRIL). UPM has also helped to sell
rainforest paper from this mill in Europe.
The core of the opposition revolves around APRIL's Riau Andalan Pulp
and Paper operations in Riau province, mid-Sumatra. The Riau pulp
mill is the world's largest single-line chemical pulp mill, with a
capacity of 750,000 tons a year. It produced almost 669,000 tons of
pulp in 1998 and there are plans to increase capacity to two million
tons per year.
APRIL has two concessions totalling 286,950 hectares. They are made
up of logged-over rainforest which will eventually be replaced by
monoculture acacia plantations. Friends of the Earth said in a
statement that "replacing natural stands with monoculture plantations
is one of the greatest current threats to forest ecosystems worldwide
and a major cause of social dislocation and local conflict."
The group maintains that these rainforests are currently extremely
valuable for their non-timber forest products and are a likely
habitat for endangered but highly-secretive species such as Sumatran
tigers and elephants.
Large parts of the Riau Andalan concessions are also forest lands
traditionally a resource for local people. Although APRIL has agreed
compensation terms with some communities, there have been numerous
and sometimes violent conflicts where local communities have lost
their land to APRIL concessions.
Pak Anwar from the Indonesian NGOs Network for Forest Conservation
said, "By coming to the U.K. to meet institutional investors, we hope
that they will see how their investment decisions can impact upon
communities and wildlife on the other side of the world. We are
battling with a huge company who has no regard for our land rights
and environment. We are sure that customers of Norwich Union and
Legal & General would not want their insurance premiums to fuel such
a travesty."
Sarah Tyack from Friends of the Earth said, "The insurance sector
potentially has a lot of leverage in promoting environmental
responsibility. This is one of many examples of U.K. investments
being linked to environmental destruction."
The insurance companies have not commented on the issue.