Barclays Destroying Indonesian Rainforests
On Saturday 16th March, myself, a few other campaigners and a naked six foot
businessman set up stall outside the High Street Barclays. We were there to draw
people's attention to Barclay's funding of Asian Pulp & Paper, a more than usually
heinous Indonesian logging and paper manufacturer. Although a slight miscalculation
on my part meant that the branch in question was closed (not only do they wreck
the rainforest; they don't open on Saturdays!), most of the people queuing for
the cash machine were receptive, and passers by were suitably startled by our
'exposed' poster, a businessman naked except for his socks and garters, briefcase
protecting his modesty. Some even signed our prepared protest letters.
You may remember that (national) Friends of the Earth released an expose of APP
a few months back, called Paper Tiger, Hidden Dragons. The company is one of
the 10 biggest logging companies in the world, and has destroyed an estimated
287,000 hectares of Indonesian rain forest, getting on for 15 times the area
of Birmingham, with less than 15% of that coming from sustainable plantations;
upwards of 75% has come from direct deforestation. This rainforest is one of
the most biologically diverse on the planet, and is home to several endangered
species, including orangutangs and tigers, as well as hundreds of thousands of
indigenous peoples. So great is the depradation that the Indonesian Forestry
minister has estimated that the islands of Borneo and Sumatra could be effectively
forestless by 2010.
Barclays' role in this is as creditors. APP is indebted to them to the tune of
a38 million. Currently, APP, who has largely financed its growth with loans rather
than actual profit, is seeking to restructure its debt burden. It is a perfect
opportunity to enforce more environmentally sound policies - sustainable logging
based on plantations - as a condition of continued credit. However, Barclays,
along with NatWest and HSBC, don't feel that they need to take responsibility
for the uses their customers' money is put to. Our job is to persuade them otherwise,
and insist they force APP to adopt better environmental policies, and that in
future they take a much more rigorous approach to the environmental impact of
companies asking for loans.
Take Action!
National Friends of the Earth are running an e-mail campaign against the banks
financing APP. Visit http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/case_studies/app/barclays/index.html
for a one-click message to Sir Peter Middleton, Barclays Chairman. If you don't
use email, then contact me at the Warehouse for a paper copy of the standard
letter. We'll also be protesting outside a (hopefully open) Barclays again soon.
Jeremy Beacock