News
Bringing orangutans home
‘One Health Approach’ encourages wider conservation efforts and community collaboration on World Orangutan Day.
19 August 2023
Mighty Earth has launched a new campaign calling on the RV industry in the USA, largely headquartered in Indiana, to adopt strong sustainable wood sourcing policies.
It follows an investigation by Mighty Earth, which found an area of rainforest the size of Los Angeles had been cleared in a timber concession in Indonesian Borneo, threatening the lives of Indigenous communities and critically endangered Bornean orangutans.
As a result of habitat loss, the population of this species has declined by more than 50% over the last 60 years.
For several years, Mighty Earth has been monitoring the operations of Alas Kusama, a notoriously secretive company, which it dubbed ‘one of the last big deforesters’.
In November 2023 Mighty Earth lodged a complaint with the Forest Stewardship Council, highlighting one of the worst cases of deforestation by a former subsidiary of Alas Kusama called PT Mayawana Persada. That complaint has been accepted and is currently being investigated.
Mighty Earth found that members of the Indigenous Dayak communities had been driven from their ancestral lands and their huts burned in violation of their human and traditional rights.
The destruction of pristine forest and carbon-rich peatlands also threatens endangered species such as Bornean orangutans, sun bears and helmeted hornbills.
Elkhart, Indiana – widely recognised as the ‘RV capital of the world’ – is home to leading manufacturers and suppliers, including Thor Industries and Forest River Inc.
The state manufactures 86% of all RVs sold in the United States and Canada, with Elkhart driving much of that output.
The production is meeting a strong appetite for RV travel— 44 million people said they planned to travel by RV in the summer of 2025.
‘The use of meranti plywood is the RV industry’s dirty secret. Unwitting, nature-loving van owners in the US would be horrified to learn that the wood in their vehicles can be traced to deforestation threatening the lives of people and critically endangered Bornean orangutans in Indonesian’s rainforests.
‘It doesn’t have to be this way – the RV industry in Indiana and beyond can stop using timber tied to deforestation and adopt responsible sourcing policies. We’re urging the big RV manufacturers to follow the lead of major American retailers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot who buy only sustainable timber.’
AMANDA HUROWITZ
Forest Commodities Lead at Mighty Earth
Meranti plywood is the timber of choice for RV manufacturers. It’s cheap and can be cut thinly for the interior walls, floors and ceilings of camper van interiors.
Working with partners, Mighty Earth was able to trace meranti plywood from West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo to the Amercian RV sector.
In its investigation, Earthsight confirmed that the wood from the Mayawana Persada concession was being shipped to the United States and likely into the supply chains of Winnebago, Thor and Forest River.
‘One Health Approach’ encourages wider conservation efforts and community collaboration on World Orangutan Day.
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