WWF asks U.S. importers to pressure Asia Pulp and Paper

WWF asks U.S. importers to pressure Asia Pulp and Paper The World Wildlife Fund has asked U.S. retailers of Asia Pulp and Paper products to demand that the company stop clearcutting Indonesia’s forests.
   Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) makes copier paper, student notebooks and other paper products, which are widely sold in retail stores throughout the world. WFF alleges that the paper company’s logging practices threaten the survival of Sumatran elephants and tigers that live in the Indonesian forests.
   “APP has failed to produce the kind of plan that the international community should expect from a responsible company,” said Tom Dillon, director of WWF’s Species Conservation Program. “We’re asking retail customers who buy from APP to consider how their purchasing affects the forest and the endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers that live there.”
   A six-month negotiation between WWF and APP ended Feb. 19 without an agreement on a sustainability action plan to provide added forest protection.
   Office Depot and Staples agreed with WWF that APP must get its logging practices under control.
   “We communicated our concerns directly to APP; specifically, that as of Jan. 19, Office Depot would no longer source product from APP until there was tangible evidence of a sustainable source,” said Tyler Elm, Office Depot’s director of environmental affairs, in a statement.