Indonesia - Environmental Paper Network

Pulp mill in Sumatra connected to fires and respiratory illness plans to triple production

For Immediate Release Palembang – Today, over 30 civil society organisations sent a letter to investors of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), part of the Sinar Mas Group, explaining why the expansion of APP’s OKI Pulp and Paper Mill in Sumatra, Indonesia would risk the respiratory health of millions of people in Southeast Asia and […]

Walking for forests: local communities’ weeks long march to protest their land destruction

Togu Simorangkir lives in North Sumatra. A postgraduate from Oxford University, he is an author and environmental activist. Over the past weeks, he marched for 42 days, walking with friends across Sumatra for approximately 1500 km, and reaching Jakarta a few days ago. He did not do it for sport but as a call for […]

Indonesian paper giant APP takes over North American Domtar, putting the company’s credibility at risk

For the pulp and paper industry, it is the take-over of the decade. Domtar shareholders decided today to sell their shares to Paper Excellence and delivered the major North American uncoated freesheet paper producer (with 21 manufacturing facilities around the world, 6,400 employees, and customers in 50 countries) to one of the most controversial paper […]

Social and environmental organizations worldwide urge Domtar stakeholders to reject US$2.8 billion Paper Excellence Deal, stressing social and environmental concerns

June 24, 2021 – More than 65 organizations from North America, Indonesia and all over the world joined together today in an open letter urging Domtar shareholders, financiers, and customers to oppose the proposed acquisition of the company by rival Paper Excellence. The open letter details why the acquisition represents a grave reputational and financial […]

New violence by an Asia Pulp and Paper controlled company against indigenous women in Sumatra

What started as a normal, quiet day in the country village of Suluk Bongkal (in Sumatra), turned into a horrific afternoon and evening. On December 18th 2008, a small army of policemen, private security and paramilitary groups attacked the village, and suddenly, all hell broke loose: tear gas grenades exploding in grey puffs, women screaming, […]

Featured Member: Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands)

Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) works towards a fair and sustainable world in bringing people together to urge governments and companies to make better choices.

‘Food estate’ projects eating up Indonesia’s forests: cascading threats on global environment and communities unveiled

Indonesia’s government recently announced plans for several new ‘food estate’ projects in Central Kalimantan, Papua and North Sumatra Provinces. Despite their name, these developments are not about securing ‘food’: a new report reveals that, once in place, they would wipe out hundreds of thousands of hectares of land, including some of the world’s last remaining […]

Featured Member: Forum Ökologie Papier (FÖP)

Forum Ökologie Papier (FÖP) is based in Germany and a proud member of the Environmental Paper Network (EPN). This non-governmental organisation (NGO) is an association of paper experts which are committed to achieve a significant reduction in paper consumption. EPN reached out to FÖPs Evelyn Schönheit and Jupp Traut Tell us how you got started […]

Paper giant APP evades voluntary forest protection pledges, binding safeguards by banks and buyers needed

Jakarta/Berlin, 3 December 2020 – New evidence indicates that buyers and banks’ ineffective due diligence systems have allowed Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a global market paper supplier, to ignore its own forest conservation and human rights pledges, with the result that conflicts and violence continue unabated in the Indonesian regions where the company produces and […]