Jakarta (dpa) – An Indonesian paper company has been logging protected trees in forests that are home the endangered Sumatran tiger, Greenpeace said Thursday. Greenpeace said a year-long investigation showed that ramin, an internationally protected tree species, was regularly mixed in with other wood at the largest mill operated by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in Riau on Sumatra island. Tests on samples by an independent laboratory in Germany confirmed that the trees were ramin, the environmental group said. Peat swamp forests, from which ramin trees come, are also home to the endangered Sumatran tiger, Greenpeace said. “Our latest mapping analysis shows that since 2001, at least 180,000 hectares of peat swamp forest – an area twice the size of New York City – have been cleared in concessions now controlled by APP,” said Bustar Maitar, a Greenpeace South-East Asian campaigner. “Is it any wonder there are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild?” he said. Indonesia banned the logging and trade in ramin in 2001 but since then, more than one quarter of the ramin habitat has been cleared, Greenpeace said. Greenpeace said APP sold its products to major companies such as Xerox, Danone, and National Geographic. “To tackle this problem, action is needed by government and industry to protect peat swamp forests and to stamp out the illegal logging and trade of ramin,” Maitar said. An APP managing director could not be reached for comment by telephone. The company denied wrongdoing in a statement published by the Guardian newspaper. “Asia Pulp & Paper group maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy for illegal wood entering the supply chain and has comprehensive chain of custody systems to ensure that only legal wood enters its pulp mill operations,” the statement said. “A recent independent report confirmed that no protected tree species are entering our supply chain,” the company added. “However, APP accepts that no system in the world, no matter how rigorous, is 100 percent failsafe.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Mg66P Tags: Forests, Greenpeace, Indonesia, Tiger Section: Animals, East Asia, Environment, Going Green, Latest News
