Rainforest destruction in Borneo documented
Indonesia: Thanks to analyses by our partner Save Our Borneo, the paper and pulp industry can no longer deny that it is destroying orangutan habitat and peat forests in Central Kalimantan. The findings conclude that the companies are neither complying with laws to protect biodiversity and forests nor with their voluntary commitments.
Save Our Borneo’s tireless work shows why monitoring rainforest regions is so important. The organization analyzed two companies’ concession areas, which cover more than 100,000 hectares along the Kapuas River. Its findings are alarming:
Timber, paper, and pulp from Indonesia are high-risk products
According to the study, the companies PT Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) and PT Bumi Hijau Prima (BHP) have destroyed 26,608 hectares of rainforest and peat forest over the past five years, including orangutan habitat. Part of this area has been planted with acacia, sengon, eucalyptus, and balsa trees, even though the government classifies the Kapuas River region as ecologically valuable because of its orangutans and threatened peat ecosystems.
Companies are destroying forests and the habitats of threatened species such as orangutans. The clearing must stop!”
-Habibi, director of Save Our Borneo
Forests Under Siege – The Hidden Cost of Timber Plantation Expansion in Central Kalimantan including many photos, satellite data, and tables (abridged version, 22 pages)
The study Monitoring deforestation by PT Industrial Forest Plantation and PT Bumi Hijau Prima includes numerous photos, satellite data, and tables (Indonesian, 52 pages)
Save Our Borneo’s team collected data and analyzed the policy for reducing emissions, FOLU Net Sink 2023–2030, as well as maps and documents on the concessions, watersheds, peat deposits, deforestation, and orangutan habitat.
Our analysis shows that government measures and companies’ voluntary commitments against deforestation are not working.”
The findings from the monitoring and analysis matter to the government, industry, and trade. From the end of 2026, only timber and timber products for which no forest has been damaged since 2021 may be imported into the European Union. The 26,608 hectares of deforestation documented by Save Our Borneo along the Kapuas River show that timber, paper, and pulp from Indonesia are high-risk products!
Only genuine reforms and compliance with global standards can help Indonesia escape the trap of political hypocrisy.”
Sumatra’s paper and pulp industry – the APP and APRIL groups and their subsidiaries – is under pressure, especially since several suppliers shut down after Cyclone Senyar struck in November 2025. Borneo now supplies the raw materials for paper, pulp, and viscose.
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