Indonesia: Deutsche Bank Finances Deforestation
A message form the Rainforest Alliance:
Dear friends of the rainforests,
The Indonesian palm oil producer Bumitama Agri apparently considers itself to be above the law. The company operates two illegal plantations, is clearing forest for more, and has broken promises to put an end to its illicit practices.
Bumitama Agri has been under considerable pressure since Friends of the Earth (FOE) exposed the company’s illegal practices in the detailed study “Commodity Crimes”, an account of irregular permits, illegal deforestation and threatened orangutans. Bumitama Agri had pledged to stop clearing forest for its Ladang Sawit Mas (LSM) plantation in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan on Borneo. It does not appear to have changed its practices, however. FOE used satellite images to document the deforestation of a further 500 hectares for the LSM plantation between May and September 2013. The forest was still being cleared as of February 2014.
Numerous banks – including Deutsche Bank – finance Bumitama Agri. Call on Deutsche Bank’s CEOs to stop financing plantations.