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Hamburg, 18th December 2002 Resorts: News/Environment/Economics Papier Union insists on dealing with partners involved in over-exploitation ROBIN WOOD has produced new evidence on suppliers to Papier Union in Indonesia trading with illegally logged timber. Just over two weeks after ROBIN WOOD's protest action in front of the company's head office in Hamburg, Papier Union declared its insistence on purchasing products from the Indonesian combine APRIL despite its apparent destruction of tropical rainforests on Sumatra. The only concession Papier Union is willing to make is to stop processing paper supplied by the combine APP, an organisation which is equally as controversial as APRIL. Only after ROBIN WOOD's insistence did Paper Union admit stocking APP paper. With an annual turnover of 550 million euros Papier Union is one of Germany's leading enterprises in the paper industry. Amongst its customers are large companies, publishing houses, and retailers. ROBIN WOOD would like to take this opportunity to once again ask Papier Union to stop dealing with companies which are partly responsible for the destruction of tropical rainforests. ROBIN WOOD further asks Arndt Klippgen, CEO of Papier Union, in his capacity as Committee Member of the German Association of Paper Wholesalers to encourage all members to put a stop to purchasing paper gained from over-exploitation. In its only response to ROBIN WOOD's protests Papier Union's provided us with some brochures published by APRIL, which do not refute ROBIN WOOD's allegations. "The remaining fact is that APRIL has already destroyed 240,000 ha of tropical rainforests and is planning to clear another 150,000 ha within the next few years in order to transform the area into an ecological desert, a monoculture of acacias”, explains ROBIN WOOD's Expert on Tropical Rainforests Jens Wieting. 75% of resources processed by APRIL are still being gained by the immediate destruction of tropical rainforests – as APRIL wishes to use its fibre and paper factory to capacity. The World Bank predicts that the entire lowland rainforest on Sumatra will be decimated by 2005. Due to this dramatic destruction the Indonesian Minister of Forestry has proposed a moratorium on logging in the remaining areas of native forest, against the will of the paper and fibre industry. ROBIN WOOD has recently received further evidence from the WWF in Indonesia, which proves that both APP and APRIL process wood from the prohibited logging area of Tesso Nilo. Detailed observations from the region state that both these combines have received truckloads of timber from illegal logging operations. Tesso Nilo has been classed as one of the biological zones with the largest diversity of plants ever found in a forest. Moreover, the WWF has proposed Tesso Nilo to become a protected zone to save the Sumatran elephant from extinction. "It is unacceptable that the earth's natural resources are being exploited for the production of paper", Jens Wieting says. "Our aim is for those involved in the German paper industry to finally change their minds and to stop making profit from products gained by over-exploitation." Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us: Jens Wieting, Expert on Tropical Rainforests, tropenwald@robinwood.de, PH: +49 40 / 380 892 18 Ute Bertrand, Press Officer, presse@robinwood.de, PH +49 40 / 380 892 22 To view ROBIN WOOD's letter to Papier Union please contact the Press Centre. Click here for further information: http://www.robinwood.de/tropenwald ...auf deutsch