The footprint of a tiger adorns the advertising photo of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). The Indonesian paper manufacturer has been advertising for some time in the US and Europe, including the Netherlands. The slogan 'APP cares' tells us that the paper giant regards conservation and sustainability as being of paramount importance. But this is correct?

Conservation organisations don't think so. They hold APP responsible for the destruction of natural forests and the habitat of endangered species like the tiger and the orangutan.

Conservationists
Kees Kodde of Greenpeace is surprised at APP's campaign. "They pose as a conservation organization. But they are certainly not." He says the company is one of the largest paper and pulp companies in the world.

For paper production by APP, large portions of Sumatra have been deforested. This has implications not only for nature, but also for the climate. Primarily through the exploitation of the wetland peat forests, too much CO2 is produced.

In a 2010 report, Greenpeace exposed the practices of APP. According to Mr Kodde, the investments that APP makes in sanctuaries for endangered animals and nature are a palliative.

"What we are concerned about is that these little greenwash initiatives actually serve the company's interests by delivering a good image. But you can see that their large-scale operations cause damage to the habitat of tigers, elephants, orangutans and rhinos. And then they have some small-scale projects to polish ther image."

Balance
Aditya Bayunanda of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Indonesia also believes that the practices of APP stand in sharp contrast to the image the company presents of itself. He says the paper manufacturer controls several million hectares of forest. This forest is being cut down every day to feed the paper mills.

Just the last ten years it would have involved more than a half a million hectares of rainforest. Of the released land, only 50 percent is used for the construction of new timber plantations.

Frans Bongers, a professor of ecology of tropical forests, welcomes the fact that environmental groups are continuing to exert pressure on companies like APP, especially when they operate internationally. But he also believes that initiatives for a sustainable business should not simply be dismissed. It's a matter of finding the right balance.

"It may be that in some areas there are very good activities for the protection of that particular forest and the animals that belong in it. While at the same time, in other areas it may be less optimal. And I think the case is basically to see if you can encourage the first category as much as possible, and discourage the poor management  practice in other areas."

The customers
The Indonesian government is to blame for some of this. "The country is in the top 5 countries where the largest amount of forest is cut down," says Mr Bongers. Mr Bayunanda of the WWF laments the fact that the authorities are doing little or nothing to stop the practice of APP.

Indonesia has 133 million hectares of forest. 35 million of this total are designated for conservation. The rest are for sale through concessions. Mr Bayunanda:

"The other areas are areas where production can happen, where conversion of natural forest into plantation forest can also happen. What's interesting is that, in the definition of the government, conversion of natural forest into plantation forest is not considered as deforestation."

According to Mr Kodde of Greenpeace, the further destruction of natural forest can only be stopped by warning customers of APP:

"We've done that in the past with the palm oil branch of Sinar Mas, of which APP is a part. That's ultimately proved successful when that part of the company lost some customers. After that, the palm oil company really began to improve its practices. Meanwhile, they've become a trend-setter in that sector. And we hope we can achieve the same result with APP. Greenpeace has therefore started a campaign focused on toy manufacturers."

(as)