An environmental NGO says the Forestry Stewardship Council's reputation is at stake over a case of deforestation in Indonesia's Papua province.
The international forest protection agency has been considering a complaint laid by the NGO Mighty Earth over a Korean company, Korindo, which is involved in large-scale deforestation and oil palm operations in Papua.
The Council, which oversees certification of sustainable forestry globally, has delayed its decision on whether to disassociate from Korindo until March 2019.
Mighty Earth's Campaign Director, Phil Aikman, told Johnny Blades the Council has clear evidence that its own standards have been breached.
A worker stands on palm oil seeds in the back of a truck at a plantation area in Pelalawan, Riau province in Indonesia's Sumatra island.
Photo: AFP
Transcript
PHIL AIKMAN: The scale was pretty huge. We obviously reported on the issue. We started talking to some of their key customers. Some key customers dropped Korindo, and then we decided to file complaint with Forestry Stewardship Council which we basically believe that this clearance was in breach of the FSC standards, and that was part of our campaign to put pressure on Korindo to stop clearing.
JOHNNY BLADES: So the council's complaints panel has had some time to look at your NGO's complaint, and it's seeking some more analysis. You're not happy about that?
PA: Well it's pretty indefensible that they definitely cleared over thirty thousand hectares (of forest). There's no dispute about that. Because they're in breach of FSC standards they should be scrutinised and probably disassociated from the FSC and using their license. That evidence has been around for quite some time, and the FSC has had that evidence. But the FSC wants some additional information regarding issues of violation of traditional and human rights and whether or not they destroyed what they call "high conservation values", which is basically certain biodiversity aspects, in their operations. But in doing so (delaying the judgement) they're allowing Korindo to continue to use the FSC brand. But the whole reason behind the policy which the FSC created was to prevent such companies using the FSC brand if they're engaged in deforestation. So we think they could have made a decision already.
JB: How much of an impact on local communities and biodiversity has Korindo's operations had?
PA: A lot of the clearance was in an area of primary forest. So these are not areas that have been heavily logged or anything else, so it's pretty clear that they've impacted those forests and that biodiversity. We believe that they are violating the rights of local communities and indigenous people. That is part of the FSC complaint. It's quite common in these circumstances that companies try to do deals with local communities, and they don't give them true value for their land etc. So this is part of the FSC investigation panel, they will need to look at that closer. But we believe that they have violated the rights of local indigenous people.
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