REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BALIKPAPAN - Crude palm oil producer, PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia (WINA) has violated a deforestation agreement made by its parent company, Wilmar International.
The company has built a crude palm oil port and CPO processing plant in a natural conservation area in Balikpapan bay and damage mangrove forest in the area. WINA has destroyed 27.1 hectares of forests around Berenga Kanan River which causes water cycle's disruption.
"Wilmar's zero deforestation policy signed on December 5, 2013, which positively boost the company's image as a green company," a natural environmental researcher from Life Sciences University in Prague Stanislav Lhota, said in Balikpapan recently.
According to Lotha, Wilmar's export to some developed countries including US and European countries will be halted as those countries have adopted eco-labeling and zero-deforestation policies. He said that some animals including bekantan (Nasalis larvatus) living in Balikpapan Bay would only survive less than 10 years in the area.