Last month Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released a report, titled Corruption, Land Conflict and Forest Destruction, on the social impacts of the paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). And APP responded aggressively: according to the Vancouver Sun on June 6, 2011, "APP responded to the RAN report by sending speedboats and helicopters to the remote community in Sumatra to question villagers."

RAN's main concern is now for the communities and community members who have raised their voices to bring attention to the egregious actions of APP. RAN says that it will continue to monitor the safety and security of our allies as we pursue our campaign goals of challenging the destructive practices of APP.

APP paid to promote its claims on an international business wire, alleging the community leaders featured in RAN's report had disavowed their previous statements. But the evidence and conclusions presented in the case study tells a different story. APP is regarder as one of the world's most dangerous rainforest destroyers and leading companies such as Gucci, Simon & Schuster, International Paper, Tiffany & Co., Levi's, Penguin/Pearson, and over 20 others sever ties to APP and controversial Indonesian fiber.

By its intimidating response, APP is avoiding the important questions about its operations raised by the report that it doesn't want to answer. Is APP still clearing tiger habitat and other valuable natural forests and peatlands? Is APP respecting the free, prior and informed consent of communities to choose if their traditional lands become company controlled plantations? Are the people and environment better off than before the company came in? What are APP's expansion plans and where is the fiber and money coming from to fuel its expansion?
APP's response illustrates the company's newfound sophistication in corporate double speak and over-the-top greenwashing. The company has hired slick pr firm Cohn and Wolfe and launched a vigorous drive to clean up its image through flowery words and visionary statements that would be comical if they did not conceal such a dark truth beneath. But the reality on the ground tells a different story.