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ekanbaru: Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) claims of independent sustainability certification for its operations are not supported by the certification schemes and assessors it has nominated, a WWF survey has found.

None of these certifications cover the most controversial operations of APP’s wood suppliers — the mass clearing of native forests that are home to critically endangered tigers, elephants, orangutans and clearing and drainage of peat areas, which result in massive greenhouse gas emissions.

The certification schemes cited by APP cover some, but far from all, supplier timber plantations, but none considered whether plantation establishments involved the clearing of high conservation value forest or whether traditional forest owners had given their “free, prior and informed consent” to forest clearance or plantation establishments.