Responsible Virgin Fibre - Environmental Paper Network

Stolen land and fading forests in Chile

A new report from the Environmental Paper Network reveals another case of “Conflict Plantations,” this time in Chile. Since May 7th the military police have been sent again to garrison Araucania, Southern-central Chile, where the pulp & paper industry is embroiled in a longstanding conflict with the Mapuche indigenous people. This is not a good […]

Korean Paper Company Plunders the Last Rainforests While Continuing to Claim Operations are Eco-Friendly

Year long Investigation Reveals Deforestation Throughout Pulp & Paper Supply Chain Merauke, Papua, Indonesia (15 March, 2022) — A new investigation released today by Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Mighty Earth, Pusaka, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) and Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL) details the devastation of pristine forests […]

Domtar Deal, Deforestation and Abuses: Whose Side are Banks On?

Last July, Andrea Paul received a letter containing a drawing of an Indigenous person and a Black person hanging from a tree. The caption said, “This is what I think of Natives and Blacks. You think you rule the world.” Miss Paul is the traditional Chief of the First Nation of Pictou Landing, who just […]

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 […]

Activists protest first eucalyptus shipment from Mozambique to Portugal and ask World Bank to stop funding ‘afforestation’/operating company

Conversion of forests and land to plantations doesn’t solve climate change The first delivery of eucalyptus trees to Aveiro in Portugal from the port of Beira in Mozambique has been received with strong criticism by Mozambican and Portuguese groups and two international coalitions. The wood is from eucalyptus plantations operated by Portucel Moçambique, a subsidiary of The […]

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, […]

The Cost of Industrial Logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest

photo copyright River Jordan NRDC With global wood demand expected to triple by 2050, it’s becoming increasingly vital that the world’s last intact forests are responsibly managed. The creation of pulp and paper — which makes up an estimated 40 percent of all industrial wood traded globally — plays a critical part in driving forest […]