An international forest protection agency has delayed a decision on whether to cut ties with a company involved in large-scale deforestation in West Papua.
Korindo, a South Korean-Indonesian joint venture, is accused of destroying vast areas of precious rainforests.
The border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea is in a heavily forested region where illegal logging operations have persisted for years. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
Last year Korindo announced a moratorium on forest clearing in its oil palm concessions in Indonesia's Papua province.
This followed international pressure against its practice of burning local rainforests.
But the environmental NGO Mighty Earth claims Korindo has since been violating the spirit of the moratorium by proceeding with rampant forest clearance on an adjacent logging concession.
The Forest Stewardship Council, which oversees certification of sustainable forestry globally, has delayed its decision on whether to disassociate from Korindo until March 2019.
The Council's panel looking into Mighty Earth's complaint against Korindo has requested additional analysis on the case.
A worker stands on palm oil seeds in the back of a truck at a plantation area in Pelalawan, Riau province in Indonesia's Sumatra island. Photo: AFP
The panel report's findings were presented to the Council's board last month, according to Phil Aikman, Mighty Earth's Campaign Director.
"Despite indisputable evidence that Korindo is guilty of clearing over 30,000 hectares of Indonesian rainforests, the FSC Board has failed to prevent Korindo from misusing its association with the FSC brand," he said.
"This case couldn't be any clearer: satellite images, videos, aerial photos, eyewitness interviews and other evidence showed that Korindo has destroyed vast areas of precious rainforests and abused rights of indigenous people."
Mighty Earth's report about Korindo was titled 'Burning Paradise' and portrays the way rainforest clearance has alienated the rights of indigenous Papuans
The Council's Board has now requested supplementary analysis around two out of three aspects of the original complaint, specifically the 'destruction of high conservation values' and the 'violation of traditional and human rights' in the forest areas cleared or logged.
Mr Aikman said that the delay by the Council in censuring Korindo is a win for deforestation and puts the fundamental credibility of the FSC in serious jeopardy.