Greenpeace and APP. Maybe someday they’ll even be friends!

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team March 14, 2012

The long-running battle between Greenpeace and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a giant Indonesian paper company, is heating up again. But this time, there’s a new wrinkle: The two sides are being surprisingly nice to each other – at least for now. As reported by Shibani Mahtani in the South East Asia version of the Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2012

In a report issued Thursday, Greenpeace accused the company of illegally logging a protected species of trees, ramin (Gonystylus),
for pulp. The report, which was the product of what Greenpeace says is a
year-long undercover investigation, detailed allegations that the
global firm — owned by one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates, the
Sinar Mas group — is using ramin logs, an expensive hardwood species
protected under local law.

The company’s actions, Greenpeace says, are also driving the Sumatran
tiger, protected under international conservation programs, closer to
extinction. Both ramin trees and the Sumatran tiger are listed under the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora
and Fauna (CITES), an international agreement signed by 175 countries,
including Indonesia, that aims to protect wildlife.

In response, APP thanked Greenpeace for its trouble, and promised to look into the matter.

“APP is grateful to Greenpeace for bringing this report to our
attention,” said a statement issued by APP on Thursday. “We take very
seriously any evidence of violation of the regulations concerning the
protection of endangered tree species. APP will now study the
allegations very closely.”

The statement added that the company would be sending its own team to
the Indah Kiat mill, one of Indonesia’s largest pulp mills, where
Greenpeace said numerous ramin logs were identified mixed in with other
rainforest species.

The civil tone was in sharp contrast to past years, when the two sides locked horns over a variety of allegations.

Among other things, Greenpeace has accused APP of killing tigers and
orangutans, which are under threat of extinction, and clearing large
chunks of forest in unsustainable ways, with reports carrying titles
like “How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet” and “How Sinar Mas is
Expanding its Empires of Destruction.”

Their campaigns have pushed companies like Mattel Inc., maker of the
Barbie Doll, and British-based supermarket giant Tesco to stop sourcing
their paper and packaging materials from the company. In 2009,
Greenpeace demonstrators clashed with security guards after they held a
rally at the entrance of Sinar Mas’ headquarters. In
another episode, Greenpeace activists dressed in tuxedos – like Ken
dolls — climbed the side of Mattel’s California headquarters with a
banner that said “Barbie: It’s Over. I Don’t Date Girls That Are Into
Deforestation.”

The Sinar Mas conglomerate, for its part, has also come out swinging
in years past, vigorously denying the charges leveled at it and saying
it is committed to sustainability is both its Indonesia and China
operations, where it also practices forest logging for paper. At one
point, APP touted a 2010 report by an outside auditor that accused
Greenpeace of fabricating datato slam the company; Greenpeace
challenged the validity of the report. APP alsoblasted the
environmental group for targeting toy makers, saying it was
“irresponsible to play on the emotions of children and their parents to
rehash old, discredited allegations.”

None of that rhetoric was heardinthe aftermath of the latest
report, though. Apress conference held by Greenpeace’s Indonesia branch
Thursday to explain out the report was calm and civil, without any
banner-hanging or dramatic stunts. Cameramen from the organization stood
by filming Indonesian-based officials, who focused on scientific
evidence and findings from their investigation in a briefing.

So why is everyone being so civil now? Greenpeace, at least, says it
has toned down its rhetoric because it is confident in its research.

“We’re best known for our dramatic actions, but much of our work
these days involves painstaking research and investigation,” said James
Turner, a spokesperson for the organization. “This was a year-long
investigation and we are absolutely confident in our evidence – hence
the desire to present it in a calm and unfussy way.”

APP, meanwhile, is working hard to improve its imageamid the
ongoingdeforestation debates, and may feel it’s better to take a more
measuredtone. It has stocked its website with reports on its “community
empowerment” and “sustainable growth” programs, and says it is
expanding conservation projects.

Whether the allegations are confirmed by the company’s own
investigations remains to be seen. Until then, Greenpeace has also
lodged a complaint with Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry, and called for
the Sinar Mas group to ban the clearance of peat swamp forest, which is
primarily where ramin thrives.

The tree, native to Southeast Asia is medium-sized and branchless,
and was in the past used to make furniture and hardwood floors before
being labeled a protected species. Permits are needed to log ramin in
Indonesia.

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