The industrial tree operations of the Nusantara Fiber group

A recent report by Aidenvironment sheds light on one of Indonesia’s largest deforesting companies. Since 2016, the Nusantara Fiber group has converted 26,000 hectares of forest, an area larger than Amsterdam, into industrial tree plantations. It has been found that the group is connected to the large palm oil and pulp and paper company Royal Golden Eagle (RGE). Immediate collective action is needed to stop the Nusantara Fiber group from clearing the remaining 50,000 hectares of forest. 

 View a short film documenting the deforestation by the Nusantara Fibre group here

Nusantara Fiber’s land clearing resulted in approximately 6,500 hectares of forest cleared in 2020. This deforestation impacted and destroyed the habitat of the Critically Endangered Bornean orangutan. Approximately 50,000 hectares of forest remain in Nusantara Fiber’s concessions, which is at significant risk of being cleared.

The Nusantara Fiber group has undisclosed owners, hidden through an offshore secrecy jurisdiction. However, historical ownership records and documents on the incorporation of Nusantara Fiber connect the group to RGE. The group’s directors are also linked to 27 palm oil businesses, all of which supply to RGE.

When Aidenvironment contacted RGE, the company denied any connection to Nusantara Fiber. However, the new report finds the reported case, and two other identified cases of deforestation, are connected to RGE. This discovery indicates significant gaps in RGE’s implementation of its no-deforestation commitments. RGE and other large palm oil refiners in Indonesia are failing to hold Nusantara Fiber to account, hiding under the cover of their own sustainability commitments.

Aidenvironment’s new “Corporate Transformation in Indonesia’s Pulp and Paper Sector” project argues that the establishment of cross-commodity policies is essential to avert climate and business risks linked to deforestation and other unsustainable business practices.

More information on the project can be found here.

The report can be downloaded in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

For more information, please contact Chris Wiggs