Immediately after the release of the report, the company said it would temporarily halt the conversion, but the NGO coalition insisted on a public commitment to an immediate moratorium to further clearing. After a year, Moorim Paper announced that its local subsidiary in Indonesia PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua has declared “zero deforestation” and that it is committed to sustainably conserving forest resources.
The Papua rainforests are a biodiversity paradise, hosting unique flora and fauna. In particular, the TransFly region, with its exceedingly biodiverse mosaic of wetlands, savannas and forests, is considered as the environmental jewel of the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately this remote region, one of the last intact rainforest areas in the planet, became target of a wave of industrial plantations which are already carving up pockets of the region, clearcutting entire forests to supply the global market with products, such as paper packaging, destined to then up in the garbage.
The concession held by Moorim Paper’s subsidiary belongs to the traditional clans, whose rainforest have been largely bulldozed, including fishing ponds, hunting areas, sago hamlets and even their sacred sites, where the traditional clan lands harbour their social and spiritual values. Now, according to the NGO coalition, the forest needs to be restored, and the land returned to the traditional clans to support their livelihoods and their spiritual life. The respect of the rights of indigenous peoples should become the pillar of forest conservation in the whole region.
Read more about the commitment here.