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PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PT PNMP) plantation Indonesia
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By: Environmental Paper Network
Created on: 2022-03-21 16:04:04
Last update: 2022-06-14 00:00:00

Contact:

Sergio Baffoni, +49 162 3812528; Environmental Paper Network (EPN)


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Flooded plantation. Photo: Pusaka
Sector Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Mills
Location
Status
Planning
Design
Agreement
Construction
Operation
Closure
Decommission
Website https://www.moorim.co.kr:13002/eng/companyinfo/pnp_outline.php

About PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PT PNMP) plantation

PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PT PNMP) operates a tree plantation near the village of Buepe, in Okaba and Kaptel, Merauke regency, Papua Province, Indonesia. At the plantation, the company clears natural vegetation and plants Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus pelita to produce wood-fibre for pulp and paper products. The plantation concession stretches over 64,050 hectares and includes natural forests, some primary forests, seasonal alluvial wetlands and other biomes. PT PNMP is owned by Moorim P&P (99.74%) and Moorim Paper (0.26%).

Why this profile?

This plantation is located in a key biodiversity hotspot, where forests, swamps and savannas merge in a unique and fragile ecosystem. The area is home to 40 mammals, 30 reptiles and 130 fishes featured on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. These forests are also traditionally owned by indigenous clans, and provide them livelihoods (food, fibres, medicines), while the sacred groves are essential for their spiritual life. This area is being devastated to produce wood chips for papermaking, which must be halted immediately.

What must happen

Financiers of Moorim must ensure that PT PNMP publicly commits to a moratorium on further clearing, pending a serious analysis of the environmental and social impacts of its activities, and of protective measures that must be put in place. The company must also commit to restoring the area that it has already deforested. Indigenous clans’ rights must be respected, and any use of the traditional land must be subject to their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). Existing damage must be fairly remedied.

For more information see Environmental Paper Network, March 2022, p. 44 "Demands to Moorim Paper".

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

The information provided in this profile is based on the Environmental Paper Network report "Trashing the Last Rainforest: How Papua Treasures are being Dumped into the Wastepaper Bin”, March 2022.

Loss of livelihoods and sacred sites The pulpwood concession held by PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PT PNMP) is located on land traditionally inhabited and owned by the Malind Indigenous People (Malind-anim), yet PT PNMP has repeatedly failed to respect the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Land-grabbing and deforestation take away not only local peoples’ livelihoods, they also strip them of their social and spiritual values. Buepe villagers once had many sacred sites in their customary forests: old traditional villages, ancestral graves, sacred sago groves, old wells, places of traditional music (Dema), and sites of traditional rituals. The company has not spared these sacred sites, which were bulldozed alongside the surrounding forests. Without the forests, the location of some of these sacred sites has now been lost. Local people cannot recognize their places anymore, as their ‘coordinates’ are based on the forest: a tall tree, a turn of the river, a sago bush.

Lack of Free, Prior and Informed Consent Although PT PNMP has been aware since 2014 that the land was traditionally owned by the clans, no evidence suggests that the company implemented proper FPIC methodology before entering the concession and starting to convert the land. In 2014 the company held certain meetings with local residents regarding a few hectares for a nursery, but it did not seek consensus for over 60 years of operations to come on the rest of the concession. No indication is given of clear Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) concerning FPIC, nor of a public grievance procedure, nor did PT PNMP carry out inclusive social conflict mapping. Sporadic and piecemeal compensation was agreed after protests, which eventually involved local authorities, but no comprehensive plan addresses previous failures.

Severe working conditions Most of the workers hired directly by PT PNMP come from outside Papua, some from the City of Merauke, some from Java. Since PT PNMP does not directly employ most of its workforce, most villagers are hired as subcontractors. Working conditions are harsh, and forest field workers often suffer from illnesses such as chronic cough, flu, malaria, and poisoning. No agreed working time exists; rather each worker is expected to complete a target, regardless of the time required. 

Intimidation National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) maintains a unit at the concession and as well as two military personnel from the nearby Okaba Koramil garrison. When company officers meet the villagers, they are often accompanied by army officials or by Brimob personnel. The imposing presence of these officials already represents indirect intimidation, and villagers interviewed by our team report that they also directly interfere in company discussions with the villagers.

Environmental and climate impacts

The concession held by PT PNMP was rich in forests, with 54,800 hectares (ha) of natural forests (including some primary forest), and a further 9,610 ha of other habitats of conservation value, such as savannahs and seasonal alluvial wetlands. The landscape where the concession is located is home to precious, endangered biodiversity. In recent years, a significant part of primary forest has been destroyed and operations are now moving towards the remaining block of primary forests. From the start of work in 2015 until the end of 2021, 6,194 ha of land has been cleared in the PT PNMP concession. The deforestation took place in an area that is a habitat to 40 mammals, 30 reptiles and 130 fishes featured on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Wetlands have been converted too, and others risk being drained. Furthermore, local people reported the conversion of peatlands which can further expand the climate emissions already caused by deforestation.

Other impacts

It is not known what agrochemicals the company is using and their eventual impacts on local communities' food and water, as well as biodiversity. This also means a lack of transparency towards the local communities, who should be informed when and which chemicals are used. 

 

Governance

Bank policies

The following bank investment policies apply to this project:
KB Financial Group
csr policies
2021-11-04 00:00:00

Human rights policy

2021-11-04 00:00:00 | KB Financial Group
Wells Fargo
csr policies
2020-07-15 00:00:00

Indigenous Peoples Statement

2020-07-15 00:00:00 | Wells Fargo
Shinhan Financial Group
csr policies
2020-11-19 00:00:00

Human rights policy

Date listed represents date as accessed on website
2020-11-19 00:00:00 | Shinhan Financial Group

Applicable norms and standards

FSC Principles and Criteria
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Financiers

Below are listed the shareholders and bond issuers of Moorim Paper. For more information on financiers, see Environmental Paper Network, March 2022 p. 43.

Related companies

Project sponsor

Moorim Paper South Korea

News

| |
Type:
Year:
blog
external news
our news

Moorim Paper accused of devastating Indonesian forests

2022-04-04 | The Korea Times
blog
external news
our news

Korean Paper Company Plunders the Last Rainforests While Continuing to Claim Operations are Eco-Friendly

Year long Investigation Reveals Deforestation Throughout Pulp & Paper Supply Chain
2022-04-04 | Sergio Baffoni - Environmental Paper Network
blog
external news
our news

Spike in deforestation detected in Papua concession linked to South Korea’s Moorim

2022-04-04 | Mongabay
blog
external news
our news

Korean Paper Company Plunders the Last Rainforests While Continuing to Claim Operations are Eco-Friendly

Year long Investigation Reveals Deforestation Throughout Pulp & Paper Supply Chain
2022-04-04 | Apil

Documents

Type:
Year:
ngo documents
2022-04-04 00:00:00

Trashing the last rainforest

How Papua treasures are being dumped into the wastepaper bin
2022-04-04 00:00:00 | Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Mighty Earth, Pusaka, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM), Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL)

Media

Moorim operations in Papua

Traditional clans in Merauke blocks the access to the forest to PT. Papua Nutfah Marind Papua Member of Gebze Clan Road bordering PNMP Workers family Flooded Plantation Deforestation at the project site

Brief history

The information provided in this profile is based on the Environmental Paper Network report "Trashing the Last Rainforest: How Papua Treasures are being Dumped into the Wastepaper Bin”, March 2022.

In 2008 PT PNMP first expressed interest in investing in the Merauke Regency in Papua, Indonesia to develop a timber plantation over an area of more than 60,000 ha in the districts of Ngguti, Okaba, and Kaptel. In July 2009 an Environment Impact Assessment (AMDAL) was produced by a consultant and was approved in 2010. In 2011, the Minister of Forestry issued a decree granting the timber plantation concession for 60 years over an area of 64,056 ha to PT PNMP in Kaptel District and Okaba District. In 2012 a controversial middleman tried to buy consent for the plantation from local communities. Still today, many residents from the local communities are unaware of the outcome of that meeting. Moorim Paper signed a contract to acquire PT PNMP in 2013 and PT PNMP negotiated with locals consent over 20 ha including a port, nursery and demonstrative garden. In 2014 the PT PNMP take-over by Moorim Paper was finalised. Local communities have been organising protests against land-grabbing by PT PNMP since 2014 and company managers consequently meet with the clan representatives. Many promises have been made but according to the villagers, many of them have not been implemented.

In 2015  the logging started and PT PNMP deforested one thousand hectares and converted more than 1,500 ha of forests into plantations in that year alone. This was accompanied by peaceful protest organised by the clans against the company. Deforestation and peaceful protests have continued each year since. In 2019,  a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with clans’ leaders, under pressure, but there remained disagreements.

 

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