Report unmasks links between “independent” suppliers and Sinar Mas in Indonesia

In 2015, following Indonesia’s disastrous forest and peatland fires, Asia Pulp & Paper  (APP) – Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper producer – denied owning or controlling two forest plantation companies in Sumatra that had experienced some of the worst burning. While acknowledging that PT Bumi Mekar Hijau and PT Sebangun Bumi Andalas Wood Industries are suppliers of wood fiber to the group’s pulp mills, APP claimed the companies are “independently owned and operated.” Yet a detailed analysis of those firms’ corporate registry documents show apparent close links with the Sinar Mas Group, APP’s parent conglomerate.

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Greenpeace ends all engagement with APP/Sinar Mas over links to deforestation

Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper company, is still linked to forest destruction, according to new mapping analysis completed by Greenpeace International. Almost 8,000 hectares of forest and peatland has been cleared since 2013 in two concessions which are linked to APP and its parent company the Sinar Mas Group.

Greenpeace International put these allegations to APP/Sinar Mas, and the group failed to provide a credible response or to take meaningful action. As a result, Greenpeace has ended all further engagement with APP/Sinar Mas.

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Asia Pulp & Paper subsidiary PT BMH expanding acacia plantations on peat in South Sumatra

According to the website Foresthints.news, Asia Pulp and Paper subsidiary PT BMH has expanded its acacia plantations in South Sumatra on an area equivalent to around 500 soccer fields, including areas targeted by the Peat Restoration Agency for peat recovery, following the fires of 2015. Foresthints conducted spatial calculations, based on time-series data sourced from USGS Landsat 8 and ESA Sentinel-2 images, and found the company has also built more than 37 kilometers of new drainage canals.

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