Bukit Tigapuluh being clear cut by Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group
December 2010. A forest named by international scientists as one of the top 20 priority landscapes globally for the survival of the tiger is being systematically targeted for pulp production by Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group (APP/SMG), one of the world's largest paper suppliers. This is in breach of the company's claims that it doesn't target high quality and high conservation value forest for clearing and that its carbon footprint is close to neutral.
Wildlife and tribes being driven out
An investigation by local NGOs working in central Sumatra found that since 2004, APP-affiliated companies have systematically sought out inactive selective logging concessions on land with dense natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape. The companies obtained government licenses to switch their status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clear cutting and replacing the natural forest with commercial plantations. Such conversion leaves the elephants, tigers, orangutans and forest-dwelling indigenous tribes who have been living here for centuries all homeless.