German Head Office Langemarckstr. 210 28199 Bremen Germany PH: ++49 (0)421 / 598 28 8 Fax.: ++49 (0)421 / 598 28 72

Press Office Nernstweg 32 22765 Hamburg Germany PH: ++49 (0)40 / 380 892 0 Fax.: ++49 (0)40 / 380 892 14

Hamburg, 11/19/2002 Current Affairs / Environment / Industry and Commerce Papier Union profits from destruction of tropical forests ROBIN WOOD demands: paper traders have to do without paper from predatory exploitation of forests Activists of ROBIN WOOD protested against trade with paper from overexploited forests in front of the Papier Union head office in Hamburg today. With banners held up, the screeching of chainsaws and leaflets, the environmentalists accused the paper company of buying products from the APRIL concern, which is about destroying the few remaining tropical forests of Sumatra. In a letter to the managing director of Papier Union, Arndt Klippgen, ROBIN WOOD demanded that the company should no longer sell such paper. Additionally, the wholesale trader was to make sure not to deal with paper products from primary forests in general. With a year's turnover of € 550 million, Papier Union is one of Germany's leading paper trading companies, supplying large concerns, publishing companies and retailers. Papier Union had stated in writing to ROBIN WOOD that APRIL were doing sustainable forestry. The truth is however that the concern has destroyed some 2,400 km² of tropical forest on Sumatra in order to keep its pulp and paper plant in the province of Riau working to capacity – one of the world's largest factory of this kind. According to World Bank estimates, the forests of Sumatra will be fully exploited within three years' time already. Furthermore, there is proof that APRIL has driven natives out of their lands and polluted rivers. "It has been well known to the paper trade for years, that pulp and paper industry in Indonesia has turned into an ecological catastrophe,” says Jens Wieting, Tropical Forest Expert of ROBIN WOOD. "If Papier Union are interested in preserving the natural inheritance of mankind, they should no longer accept overexploitation-goods from concerns like APRIL.” Industry cuts down woods for the pulp production also in non-tropical regions. Especially in Canada, Northern Russia and Scandinavia the last remaining natural woodlands are being sacrificed for the sake of wood- and paper-processing. "Customers in Germany do not want to buy paper from destroyed forests. This is why Papier Union and the whole German paper trade have to examine their goods closely and to remove such paper from their range of products,” demands ROBIN WOOD Forest Expert Rudolf Fenner. The environmentalists' pressure has already lead to some success. After protests in March, the Karstadt-Group have committed themselves to stop selling tropical forest paper of the Asia Pulp and Paper company (APP). In addition, Karstadt demanded from their suppliers to check their sources of wood, in order to rule out paper from overexploitation. Contact: Jens Wieting Tropical Forest Expert, tel. +49 (0)40 - 380 892 18, tropenwald@robinwood.de Dr. Rudolf Fenner Forest Expert, tel. +49 (0)40 - 380 892 11, wald@robinwood.de Ute Bertrand Press Office, tel. +49 (0)40 - 380 892 22, presse@robinwood.de For further information: www.robinwood.de/urwaldpapier.