Barbie toy includes packaging from Indonesia deforestation

|
barbie
Greenpeace claim packaging for the barbie doll is produced using timber from critically endangered Indonesian rainforest
 

The world's largest toy company has been accused of using wood from Indonesian rainforests by Greenpeace.

Greenpeace used a combination of ‘in country’ investigation, mapping data and traced company certificates to show that Mattel, the makers of Barbie, along with other toy companies including Disney, are using packaging produced by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

APP has been accused of greenwashing, claiming it wanted to source all its wood from sustainable plantations by 2015. However, it has not made clear where the current shortfall in wood supplies would come from in the meantime.

'APP is bad news for Indonesia’s forests. It treats Indonesia as nothing more than a vast disposable asset, grabbing rainforests that are vital to forest communities. Mattel, and other toy companies like Disney, have a responsibility to support clean, low carbon development. They should drop APP right now and instead support responsible Indonesian producers,' says Greenpeace campaigner Bustar Maitar.

Mattel themselves have promised to investigate the claims. But APP themselves say the allegations are 'meaningless'.

An APP spokesperson said: 'Indonesia’s pulpwood land concessions, legally provided by the Government of Indonesia, include some degraded forests, which are required by law to be developed into plantations. Rather than burn the wood residues, increase carbon emissions or create disease outbreaks in the forests, the government requires that they be used to produce paper pulp. Despite this, as publicly stated, we have set the goal of 100 per cent sustainable plantation pulpwood by 2015. There is absolutely no illegal wood tolerated, nor is high conservation forest (HCV) harvested for pulpwood production.'

Useful links

Greenpeace campaign

 

Add to StumbleUpon
READ MORE...
NEWS
Greenpeace hits back at 'notorious forest destroyer' Asia Pulp and Paper
Campaigners urge retailers to follow example of Tesco and Adidas in cutting links with the controversial paper and packaging supplier after latest allegations of greenwashing
COMMENT
Asia Pulp and Paper: why activists are wrong
The paper giant has been accused by Greenpeace of destructive logging and green-washing. But campaigners are mistaken, says APP boss Aida Greenbury - the company is supporting REDD projects and putting sustainability at the centre of operations
NEWS
Palm oil giant Sinar Mas admits breaking law by clearing peatland
Indonesia's largest palm oil and pulp company started clearing land for palm oil plantations before it had received permits or made conservation assessments
NEWS
Norway accused of 'hypocrisy' over ethical investment
The Norwegian government has sold its investment in one Malaysian logging and palm oil company but remains a big shareholder in another accused of destroying rainforest and orang-utan habitats
NEWS ANALYSIS
Lack of forest definition ‘major obstacle’ in fight to protect rainforests
In the second in our series examining REDD we report how ambiguous forest definitions are putting the future success of forest protection schemes in doubt and allowing logging companies to destroy biodiverse habitats

More from this author