Activists protest at KFC outlet in Semarang

SEMARANG. Two activists wearing Sumatran tiger costumes along with several members of Greenpeace visited a KFC fast food restaurant on Jl. Pandanaran, Semarang, Central Java on Saturday, calling on KFC to stop using food-wrapping paper produced by a company allegedly responsible for deforestation in Indonesia.

“They should use other more environmentally-friendly wrapping paper,” Greenpeace activist and researcher Iqbal Agus Saputra said on Saturday.

In its latest report, “How KFC was involved in deforestation”, Greenpeace described the alleged involvement of numerous companies, including KFC, in deforestation in Indonesia. Independent testing showed that paper-based products the company used in China, the UK and Indonesia contained fibers from Indonesian tropical hardwood trees. The group claimed that the deforestation had affected the lives of some 400 surviving Sumatran tigers.

Fast Food Indonesia director Justinus Dalimin Juwono told The Jakarta Post that the company would ask for clarification from Asia Pulp and Paper, the company that supplies paper for many of KFC’s packaging requirements. (Ainur Rohmah/ The Jakarta Post)