PEFC

Another blow has been delivered to the credibility of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), thanks to some excellent work by WWF. In a survey of the certification bodies that APP regularly references to prop up its flimsy claims of sustainability, none of them would support APP's assertions about its environmental performance.

The news from Indonesia today that Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has moved a tiger from one part of South Sumatra province to another in order to protect it. This is supposed to prove that company has green stripes. But, as with anything emanating from the APP publicity machine, scratch beneath the surface and you'll find an altogether different tale.

In July 2000 the UK government introduced a policy requiring all of its departments and agencies to 'actively seek' to buy timber from legal and sustainable sources. Given that central government procurement accounts for approximately 15 per cent of timber used in the UK (and that the broader public sector may account for as much as 40 per cent), this was seen as a positive move to push the wider UK timber market towards environmentally and socially responsible sources.