Pulping Borneo

Deforestation in the RGE Group’s supply chain and RGE’s hidden links to a new mega-scale pulp mill in North Kalimantan, Indonesia

May 2023

Citation

Environmental Paper Network et al. 2023. Pulping Borneo: Deforestation in the RGE Group’s supply chain and RGE’s hidden links to a new mega-scale pulp mill in North Kalimantan, Indonesia. May 2023.

Environmental Paper Network et al. 2023. Babat Kalimantan: Deforestasi di rantai pasok Royal Golden Eagle (RGE Group) dan kaitan RGE dengan pabrik pulp baru di Kalimantan Utara. Mei 2023.

Acknowledgment

The organizations publishing this report would like to thank TheTreeMap for providing imagery based on the Nusantara Atlas data that clearly distinguishes between pre- and post-2016 deforestation.

Disclaimer

This report has been prepared based on publicly available information and data obtained from numerous sources as cited. No independent verification of the sources cited has been undertaken, and where the authors express any opinion, it is the authors’ opinion only and is not intended as specific advice to any particular party or person. This report does not allege, and should not be construed to allege, that any of the companies or individuals named in this report have committed legal or regulatory violations in Indonesia or any other jurisdiction.

Eleven parties – The Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, Asia Symbol, APRIL, APRIL’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee, KPMG, the Forest Stewardship Council, PT Phoenix Resources International, PT Balikpapan Chip Lestari, PT Adindo Hutani Lestari, PT Industrial Forest Plantation, and PT Fajar Surya Swadaya – were delivered the findings of this report prior to the report’s publication. Their responses, if received, are summarized in the report’s text and published, in full, in the report’s appendices.

The organizations publishing this report are Yayasan Auriga Nusantara, Environmental Paper Network, Greenpeace International, Woods & Wayside International, and Rainforest Action Network.

Front and back cover photos are of recent deforestation in PT Industrial Forest Plantation’s concession area that were taken in October 2022. Source: Fajar Sandhika/Auriga Nusantara.