Responsible Virgin Fibre - Environmental Paper Network

The buyers of the Amazar Pulp Mill acknowledged that they misinformed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Originally published by Rivers without Boundaries Civil society attempts to prevent the worst environmental and social impacts from Chinese-owned pulp-mill development in Zabaikalsky province scored a new important tactical victory at Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The KHI toy-manufacturing company, which previously claimed that it wants to take over management of the “highly profitable Polaris Company” […]

Massive forest fires and haze in Indonesia create public health and climate crisis

The world’s tropical rainforests and the people who live in them are suffering continued tragedy from forest fires that are driven by the demand for agricultural commodities, including timber for pulp to make viscose, paper and packaging. In Indonesia, massive forest fires have been burning for weeks, and drained peatlands having been smoldering, causing a […]

Tree plantation wildfires in Spain are a warning sign

Temperatures have peaked at record highs in many parts of Europe this week, and the consequences are being felt severely in Europe’s forests. As highlighted in a discussion document published by the EPN earlier this year, there is an increasingly clear link between climate change, large-scale industrial tree plantations and forest fires. In Northern Spain, […]

Uruguayan citizens opposing UPM’s new pulp mill appeal to the Finnish government

In Uruguay, the citizen opposition to a new pulp mill planned by the Finnish paper giant UPM continues to grow. Last Friday, a citizen movement calling itself as the “national coordination of social organisations against UPM”, representing more than 40 organisations and campaigning under #UPM2NO, went to the Consulate of Finland in Uruguay. They handed […]

UPM’s Paso de los Toros mill poses financial and reputational risks

In Uruguay, protests are rising against the installation of UPM’s planned new pulp mill project in Paso de los Toros. There has been strong social criticism on the conditions of the contract that the government signed with UPM, on the expected impacts of the pulp mill as well as on the impacts of the associate […]

Chilean pulp mill’s major expansion could fuel conflicts

In Chile, Arauco, the country’s second largest pulp producer, has started building a new 1.56 million tonnes/year pulp line at its Horcones mill, in the Biobío region. This project, called MAPA, is problematic as it is likely to fuel land conflicts, especially with the indigenous Mapuche people. It is also expected to lead to an […]

Asia Pulp and Paper is planning a massive expansion of production in India. Where will the timber come from?

The growing demand for paper products in India has attracted the attention of the major Indonesian paper company, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) which is now planning to build new pulp & paper mill with the capacity of 5 million tons per year in Andhra Pradesh, India. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding […]

Asia Pulp and Paper admits links to controversial suppliers, but still fails to be transparent

A coalition of Indonesian and international NGOs released a report today bringing to light that Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has acknowledged links to controversial suppliers but continues to fail to be transparent. The Indonesian paper giant recently released a document (APP Assessment on its Links with Industrial Forest Plantations in Indonesia) aimed to dispel […]

NGOs raise serious concerns six years into Asia Pulp and Paper’s commitment to reforms

Today, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) celebrates the sixth anniversary of APP’s Forest Conservation Policy (FCP). For six years NGOs have been monitoring the FCP implementation and providing suggestions for improvement of the policy as well as its implementation. With NGOs’ intervention, APP made an additional commitment, to conserve and restore 1 million hectares of […]