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14th October 2004 Deutsche Version... Resorts: Economics/Environment Paper made of Tropical Timber Banned from Regional Offices ROBIN WOOD ask local authorities to change to recycled paper The authorities of the German Federal State of Saarland are planning to stop using paper gained from the destruction of rainforests. Until recently, the Saarland Ministry of Finance had been using copy paper of the label "Excellent Copy". Following ROBIN WOOD's initiative this type of paper has now been crossed off the list. This paper is produced by the company APRIL, which has driven the aborigines of Sumatra off their lands and cleared large areas of rainforest. The Saarland Ministry of the Environment explained that it would like to promote the use of recycled paper certified with the “blue angel” within the regional administration. This sets an example for the other Federal States to think about where their paper comes from and to change to recycled paper. ROBIN WOOD had the paper named "Excellent Copy", which the Ministry of Finance was using at that time, analysed in a laboratory and found that it contained pulp from tropical timber sourced from rainforests. The paper producer APRIL has already logged some 300,000 ha of rainforest for pulp milling – an area larger than the entire Saarland. Deforestation in Indonesia also means that more and more people are affected by floods and land slides. ROBIN WOOD confronted the Ministry of Finance with these findings and received the following reply: "the central material purchase department at the Ministry of Finance has informed the departments of the regional authorities of Saarland that the copy paper labelled “Excellent Copy“ has been deleted from the list of available products. The departments are in charge of ensuring that the supplier does not supply any more copy paper of the label “Excellent Copy” in the future". The paper supplier, "Bürohaus Schneider" in Offenbach, has also agreed not to purchase any more paper from companies which destroy the rainforest on Sumatra. ROBIN WOOD also informed the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry replied with reference to a draft recently submitted to the Council of Ministers on the "use of recycled paper in the regional administration of Saarland". No date for the implementation of this draft has been fixed yet. "The taxpayers certainly wouldn't agree with the vast amounts of paper being used in the administration driving people off their land and destroying native forests", comments Jens Wieting, ROBIN WOOD's Expert on Tropical Forests. "A socially and ecologically sound alternative is recycled paper." ROBIN WOOD has asked the Federal Government, Federal States and communities strictly not to purchase any products which have been sourced from destructive forestry and to demand that their suppliers stop offering such products. Particular attention must be paid to the supplier PAPIER UNION, one of the leading paper wholesalers in Germany, which also provides many regional authorities with paper and is still selling paper by the company APRIL – despite worldwide protests. Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us at any time. Jens Wieting Expert on Tropical Forests, 040 / 380892 15, tropenwald@robinwood.de Ute Bertrand ROBIN WOOD Press Spokesperson, Ph. +49 40 / 380 892 22, presse@robinwood.de You can find further background information on the web under: http://www.robinwood.de/urwaldpapier