If you're interested in learning about the Boreal Forest we always refer to when discussing Kimberly-Clark, there is a new music video featuring the Boreal and current threats to the ecosystem.  Put together by three high school students for a class project over a year ago, the musicians will be presented with an award for their work on December 1st.  Please take a moment to view the music video. 

- Lindsey 

As most folks know we've been working for the past couple years to get Kimberly-Clark, makers of Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva, to commit to using more recycled and FSC certified content in their disposable paper products.

In an age of increased environmental concern we are seeing a parallel increase in corporate greenwashing efforts.  This week it was a relief to see Kimberly-Clark’s faux greenness outed in the Ethical Corporation magazine.  Here's an excerpt, you can read the full article or subscribe to their emails.

According to Dave Challis, Kimberly-Clark’s “sustainability manager” for Europe: “Working with the Carbon Trust is a perfect fit with our overall sustainability policies. We have long held objectives to reduce carbon emissions through our ‘Vision’ global environmental programme and this is an extension of that work. For Kimberly-Clark, exploring how the entire retail industry reaches a common measurement for carbon emissions is vital and we are delighted to be involved at this early stage.”

Sounds marvellous, doesn’t it? Is this the same Kimberly-Clark that has been widely condemned for its indiscriminate pillaging of the ancient North American Boreal Forest? According to environmentalists, Kimberly-Clark has gobbled wood from forests in Ontario for more than 70 years, driving massive clearcutting and environmental degradation.

The company stands accused of turning endangered forests in Ontario’s largest forest management unit – the Kenogami – into disposable products to be flushed down the drain or dumped into landfills. Without a break in this chain of forest destruction, wildlife such as the woodland caribou may disappear from the Kenogami altogether. Presumably one way for Kimberly-Clark to reduce its carbon footprint would be to stop this climate-busting practice with immediate effect.

In other news Kimberly-Clark's Cottonelle brand strikes out in a Grist magazine toilet paper review.  As they put it "While this one felt quite easy on the arse, some staffers reported feeling only guilt, as they suspected it wasn't so easy on the earth."  You can read the full article and compare some of the leading recycled toilet paper brands here.

- Lindsey  

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

I spent this morning at one of the dam construction sites as one of the standby medics.  I was the only one who got hurt this morning though.  I was climbing down the face of one of the dams when I used a piece of wood that hadn't been nailed in as an anchor (always test your anchors!).  I came tumbling down into the water, along with my camera. My camera appears like it will recover.  And I escaped with only a small scrape.

I departed the work site with about 15 hugs (turns out Indonesians are huggers - either that or they assumed that Americans are) - I even got a hug from our stoic Finnish action coordinator, Petteri.

I'm really going to miss many people here.  I've made a lot of new friendships with people from all over the world.  And it's been an awesome experience to be a part of this camp, where people converge from all over the world for the same purpose:  to save the remaining peatland forest (and all the stored carbon it contains.)

Right now Rob is stapling up all the articles that we're featured in. There are stories in many different languages from newspapers all over the world.  There's actually not enough room on the wall for all of them.  To see the articles is a great reminder that what we're doing here is making a difference.

Although I'm leaving, the the work of the camp is continuing.  Many more journalists are arriving next week, and interest is continuing to pick up.  It's almost a good thing that the dam construction is taking so long, as it gives more opportunities for the press to witness what is happening here.

I want to thank Rici, Rob, Geoff, Coang, John, Yudi, Hapsoro, David, Frode, JJ, Cedar, Yifang, Titis, Ranga, Oka, Imam, the U.S. Consulate in Medan, and everyone else who has helped make the camp work  (and that's a lot of people, at least 200 others, not including all of our generous donors).

As I was leaving the dam site today, someone yelled "don't forget us!" - I'm sure that I will never forget this experience.

Hayden 

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

Constructing the dams in the peatland canals over the last few days has been extremely challenging.  Getting materials ontime, extremely hot weather, and today we had probably our most interesting challenge.

We showed up to the building site of dam number three only to find a pompong (boat) stuck behind our half constructed dam.  In it was a mother and father with five children, and all of their possessions.  It turns out that they had just been evicted by Duta Palma from their house they were building.  The company told them they were squatting illegally and had to leave.  So they left the way they got there, using one of the canals at high tide.  Except this time their way was blocked.

We worked all morning as the tide rose with the family hanging out in their boat right behind the dam.  They even had a rooster they had tied to a tree nearby.

Finally at high tide we had to deal with moving a huge boat with a diesel engine over our dam.  None of us were looking forward to it, and many of us thought it might be impossible with the tools and people power we had available to us.

We used wooden poles as a ramp up over the dam, and used two lengths of rope wrapped under the boat to help lift and push it, inch by inch, over the dam.  Fortunately it worked.

Afterward I asked Petteri, the Finnish action coordinator who is helping coordinate the dam building, if he was taught how to deal with that situation in action planning school.  He replied with his usual finnish chuckle.

We now have two dams completed, and another one about halfway done.  But today is my last day.  I'm off tomorrow, as I've been here nearly a month.  In fact, I have the current record for the person who has been here at camp the longest.  People say they can notice, as apparently I appear very comfortable here.  In fact, I sleep very well every night now.  And I've acclimated to the heat - I watch the new arrivals drip with sweat after being in the sun for only 2 minutes.  I also get some enjoyment in watching them squirm every evening as the bugs swarm around them.  Maybe it is time for me to leave...

 - Hayden

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

I wanted to write a quick web log entry about our major means of transportation here in this corner of Sumatra: the pompong

The pompong is THE means of transport on the rivers here.  In fact, it's the only type of boat that I've seen on the Cinaku and Indragiri rivers.

The pompong is a custom made boat that is long and narrow, and comes in a variety of sizes.  What they all have in common is an old school inboard diesel engine that can be heard from over a mile away.  The engines have no electrics.  It is started with a crank, just like the old cars.  And being a diesel there are no spark plugs involved. The engine is then connected to a shaft that runs through the hull at a very shallow angle and sits just behind the middle of the boat.  This protects the prop from river debris, which is important since the rivers here are almost swamps.   It also allows the boat to go in very shallow waters, which is important for the work of the pompong.  They use these boats for transport, fishing, and shipping.

The steering system is very basic, like everything on the boat.  It uses two ropes that wrap around the steering column that then run back to the rudder.  While the potential for steering failure is high, any problems can be fixed while on the water.  I've been witness to this, as we lost steering through a narrow canal, but they merely retied the ropes and we were off again.

On Cedar and JJ's trip back to Rengat yesterday they actually lost the rudder.  Luckily they were close to the village of Kuala Cinaku.  The driver of the boat disembarked and disappeared in the bushes and reappeared about 30 minutes later with a new rudder.  Having a standardized vessel for the entire region makes finding spare parts easier.

The name of the boat is derived from the sound that they make: pompongpompongpompong...

They are so loud it sounds like a helicopter approaching, and I'm sure some of the pompong drivers have long term hearing loss, as the sound can be deafening.

And the last feature of the ponpong is that anything goes; anything can be towed, no lifejackets required, smoking is allowed, even if you're sitting on the gas tank, and the capacity of the boat is as many people as can fit. This morning, on our way to the damming site, we fit about 15 people on the boat, and then towed two canoes full of people. We managed to get a crew of about 30 to the work site in one trip.

The pompong is what keeps things moving (incluging Greenpeace) here in Riau.

- Hayden