Responsible Virgin Fibre - 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 […]

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 […]

Featured Member: Canopy

Canopy works with the forest industry’s biggest customers and their suppliers to develop business solutions that protect the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests. The not-for-profit is a founding member of the Environmental Paper Network. EPN reached out to Lee-Ann Unger – Senior Corporate Campaigner at Canopy. EPN: Hi Lee-Ann, would you explain how you got […]

‘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 […]

It’s Time for Companies and Lawmakers to Act on the Packaging Crisis

Shortly after the road turned to dirt, a sign greeted us, painted in the timeless yellow and brown style of so many erected by the U.S. Forest Service throughout the national forest system. “First Tract of National Forest,” it announced. It’s a woods I know well, full of conservation history, wild water, tall trees, big, […]