Bundesgeschäftsstelle Langemarckstr. 210 28199 Bremen Tel.: 0421 / 598 28 8 Fax.: 0421 / 598 28 72

Pressestelle Nernstweg 32 22765 Hamburg Tel.: 040 / 380 892 0 Fax.: 040 / 380 892 14

deutsche Version: Luxus-Shopping zerstört Tropenwälder - Bekleidungskonzern Escada packt seine Waren in Einkaufstüten aus Tropenwaldpapier additional comment, March 12th In the press release as of 23rd January ROBIN WOOD has stated that PAK 2000 is one of Ecada's suppliers of shopping bags. ROBIN WOOD can not exclude that Escada has also some further suppliers of shopping bags. Therefore, it is in no way prooved that the analysed shopping bag was produced by PAK 2000. Hamburg, 1/23/2009 Luxury Shopping Destroys Tropical Forests Clothing company Escada uses tropical forest shopping bags Rainforests have to die for luxury shopping bags made of paper. In a pulp analysis, the environmental organisation ROBIN WOOD managed to prove that the paper bags of the Munich-based Escada Group are made of “Mixed Tropical Hardwood” from Asia, i.e. tropical wood from natural forests. ROBIN WOOD asked Escada in writing today to immediately discontinue dealing with their supplier of tropical forest paper bags. One of Escada's bag suppliers is the PAK 2000 Group, which specialises in deluxe packaging. PAK 2000 is a subsidiary of the Indonesian paper producer and tropical forest destroyer APP (Asia Pulp & Paper). It also obtains pulp for its bag production from APP's pulp companies. APP have already destroyed hundreds and thousands of hectares of tropical forests in Indonesia for their paper production. In addition, they have been criticised for violating human rights. As recently as December 2008, excessive violence was employed against villagers in a concession area of the Sinar Mas Group, of which APP is a subsidiary. According to the Indonesian environmental organisation WALHI, hundreds of houses were burned down. Two toddlers lost their lives. Hardly any producer of luxury and lifestyle goods can do without classy shopping bags these days to underline the high quality image of their brand name. People carrying such bags are part of the daily scene in our pedestrian zones and shopping malls. ROBIN WOOD doubts that this is a very future-oriented trend: The production of bags wastes timber, which is a valuable resource, and has a negative impact on the climate. ROBIN WOOD advises all customers to leave these luxury bags in the shop. The damage done to the climate and the environment by the paper industry is not to be overlooked. According to the OECD this industry is one of the worst for polluting the atmosphere with the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide; it is also the largest water consumer worldwide. PAK 2000 is a supplier to renowned brand names such as Palmers, Salamander and WMF. These companies, too, will have to think about whether they would like to be associated with the destruction of rainforest in Indonesia. “We are asking producers and distributors to make sure when purchasing packaging material that paper is used scarcely and that only recycled paper is used,” says Peter Gerhardt, ROBIN WOOD's Expert for Tropical Forests. For any queries, please contact: Peter Gerhardt, Expert for Tropical Forests, phone +49 40 / 380 892-18, tropenwald@robinwood.de Ute Bertrand, Press Spokesperson, phone +49 40 / 380 892-22, presse@robinwood.de