By Lucy Radford | Fundraising and Communications Officer
As you will know from our previous reports, the proposed development of a new hydro dam within the Batang Toru ecosystem - one of Sumatra's areas of precious primary forest - threatens the livelihoods of over 100,000 local people, as well as the survival of the recently discovered Tapanuli orangutan, the world's rarest great ape.
In March, the state administrative court in North Sumatra's capital, Medan, ruled that construction on the dam can continue, despite a large body of evidence that the environmental impact assessment for the dam was deeply flawed. This was devastating news, but the fight is not over. Walhi, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, will appeal the court's decision, and pressure against the project's funders continues to mount.
Along with other environmental groups and members of the public, SOS recently took part in an International Day of Action for the Tapanuli orangutan. We hand-delivered a letter to the Chairman of the Bank of China and led a protest outside one of the bank’s London branches, urging them to reconsider funding the construction of a dam in such a disastrous location. A few days after the International Day of Action, the Bank of China responded to the concerns expressed by environmental organisations and the global community. They released the following note:
Bank of China took note of the concerns expressed by some environmental organisations about the hydroelectric dam project in Batang Toru of Indonesia recently.
We attach great importance to corporate social responsibility in our global operations and ensure that our business activities abide by local laws and regulations. We are committed to supporting environmental protection globally and upholding the principles of green finance.
Bank of China will evaluate the project very carefully and make prudent decisions by duly considering the promotion of green finance, the fulfilment of social responsibility as well as the adherence to commercial principles.
We appreciate your kind attention to Bank of China.
This shows that everyone's voice matters, and everyone can make a difference in keeping forests standing and conserving the animals within them. Your donations to this project help us keep our work on situations like the Batang Toru dam going - you really are helping us to conserve intact forests. Thank you.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
