Controversy over rainforest logging in Indonesia

Investigations conducted by Agence France-Presse and The Gecko project revealed that vast areas of the Indonesian rainforest, which is home to endangered orangutans, have had their trees cleared to create plantations that supply a company manufacturing “zero carbon” packaging.

Asia Symbol, which specializes in the pulp and paper industry, follows a policy that prevents deforestation and supplies major companies such as Halion, the British pharmaceutical giant that produces famous brands such as Panadol and Sensodyne.

But wood from plantations, where tens of thousands of forest trees, including orangutan habitats, have been cut down, is processed at an Indonesian plant that supplies Asia Symbol.

Asia Symbol had previously pledged to stop using wood from industrial forest plantations “indefinitely,” but the investigation showed that wood from industrial and other farms was arriving at the Phoenix Resources International factory, which was sending pulp to Asia Symbol in China.

The company there makes the “zero carbon” packaging used by Halion. However, the company says it is committed to a zero-deforestation policy, which pledges not to use wood from natural forests or those that have been converted to plantations. It said it is working to strengthen oversight, but the complexity of its supply chain “creates real due diligence challenges.”

In contrast, deforestation is not illegal, and the farms that supply the factories have government permits.

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