The “vast majority” of East Kalimantan forest concessions held by some Korindo suppliers is orangutan habitat, according to the complaint.
Orangutan populations in East Kalimantan have plunged as deforestation advances. An estimated 80% of the apes now live outside protected areas, making them highly vulnerable to logging, plantation and mining operations.
A spokesperson for Tokyo 2020 told the Guardian: “Only timber meeting the sustainability criteria specified in our sustainable sourcing code is used in construction work for the Tokyo 2020 Games.”
Organisers were currently in discussions to review the standard with businesses, NGOs and certification scheme owners, the official added.
The committee’s code requires contractors to “strive” to avoid illegally logged timber, and to ensure nature conservation. But plywood suppliers do not currently have to ensure full traceability of their timber, even if it comes from deforestation hotspots. Requirements to protect forests of high conservation value or carbon stock are also absent.
Heineken said: “The current policy is unacceptably weak and efforts to strengthen it are welcome. But the current proposals up for revision fail to address the inherent problems in Japan’s consumption of tropical plywood, which is driving deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia.”
Globally, tropical forests covering an area the size of Bangladesh – 158,000 square km – disappeared last year, the second highest rate of deforestation since 2001.
