Green Peace
Green Peace is a NGO that mainly focuses on the environmental problems that are occurring in Southeast Asia.
After pressure from NGO Green Peace, Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil trader, has announced a No Deforestation Policy in December 2013. As Wilmar International accounts for more than a third of global trade of palm oil, this would greatly improve the current deforestation crisis.
In February 2013, Greenpeace campaigned against Asia Pulp & Paper’s (APP) and it was followed by an announcement of its Forest Conservation Policy and an immediate moratorium on all further forest clearance by all of its Indonesian suppliers while independent assessments are conducted to establish areas for protection. In response, Greenpeace suspended its active campaign work to allow APP the time and space to deliver upon these new ‘No Deforestation’ Commitments.
In addition, Greenpeace also placed political pressure on the government by calling for permanent and full protection of forest and peatland. This includes reviewing concessions permits, governance and law enforcement regarding deforestation, as well as the implementation of a responsible and just land-use planning system. This led to the introduction of a two-year moratorium on permits for new concessions in primary forests and peatlands in May 2011.
Hence, this proves the effectiveness of the pressure exerted by NGOs in changing the environmentally destruction behaviors into more environmentally sustainable.
WWF
As 47% to 61% of Indonesia’s timber is illegally harvested, WWF aims to elevate the situation by working with partners to enable responsible forestry and to restore the local communities.
WWF also co-founded the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in 2003, a collaborative group working to bring sustainable palm oil to the marketplace and reform land use practices. They also co-founded Eyes on the Forests (EoF), an alliance that includes WWF, Friends of the Earth and the Forest Rescue Network Riau — to monitor the status of the remaining natural forests in Sumatra’s province of Riau and share information worldwide to empower those working to protect critical habitat.
On top of that, WWF also kick started the Natural Capital Project, which is the development of a reliable way to assess the true value of the services that ecosystems provide. By doing so, it provides inputs to the Indonesian government to aid in land-use planning, allowing the government to understand the value of the lands, in order to stop the degradation of the remaining important forests.