KOALISI ANTI MAFIA HUTAN PRESS STATEMENT: KPMG “ASSURANCE REPORTS” CALLED INTO QUESTION BY NEW FINDINGS -- A coalition of civil society organizations on Tuesday published a report about deforestation and peatlands degradation on the rainforest-rich island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Based on analysis using satellite imagery, the report documents significant deforestation, including clearance of forests on peatlands, in the concession area of PT Adindo Hutani Lestari (Adindo), one of global pulp and paper producer APRIL Group’s
largest suppliers of wood to its pulp mill in Indonesia.
APRIL published an audit report by its consultant Hatfield which confirmed an Eyes on the Forest report that APRIL’s wood supplier, PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, had breached APRIL’s forest and peatland clearance moratorium starting 15 May 2015.
Eyes on the Forest says APRIL unable to provide evidence that PT Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) in North Kalimantan, an APRIL timber supplier, did not clear natural forest after 15 May, the day when APRIL pledged to halt its forest clearing in its modified Sustainable Forest Management Policy. EoF had reported this moratorium violation on 22 June.
On the first anniversary of APRIL’s “Sustainable Forest Management Policy”, Eyes on the Forest, Gapeta Borneo and RPHK call on APRIL to stop natural forest clearance and peat canal development immediately.