US RV brands linked to Borneo deforestation in NGO report
UK-based Earthsight and Indonesia's Auriga Nusantara published their findings late Tuesday. The report identifies the RV industry as the largest consumer of tropical wood in the United States.
Evidence indicates that tropical lauan plywood from Indonesia likely features in floors, walls and ceilings of RVs by major brands.
These brands include Jayco, Winnebago and Forest River. Earthsight director Sam Lawson expressed concern in a press release. 'Nature-loving RV owners will be horrified to learn that their hobby risks destroying rainforests,' Lawson stated.
He urged American RV manufacturers to adopt sustainability standards. 'America's RV giants need to get out of the 1980s and implement the kinds of minimum sustainability standards other US corporates have had in place for decades,' he added.
Indonesia faces high deforestation rates from mining, farming and logging. The country is accused of permitting firms to operate in Borneo with minimal oversight.
Borneo hosts one of the world's largest rainforest tracts and diverse wildlife. Orangutans, long-nosed monkeys, clouded leopards and pig-tailed macaques inhabit the island.
Flying fox-bats and the planet's smallest rhinos also reside there. NGOs reported large orangutan habitat areas cleared for fast-growing timber plantations.
Indonesian plywood company PT Kayu Lapis Asli Murni sources timber from visited rainforest areas. Half of this timber was exported to US firms MJB Wood and Tumac Lumber in 2024.
MJB Wood serves as the primary lauan plywood supplier to Jayco. Tumac Lumber supplies companies including RV parts maker Patrick Industries.
The report notes that Patrick Industries' customers include Thor Industries, Forest River and Winnebago. NGOs concluded it is 'almost certain' Indonesian tropical wood enters the US RV supply chain.
None of the mentioned companies responded to the report's authors for comment. Companies and Indonesia's environment ministry did not immediately reply to AFP requests. - AFP
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To make matters worse, Trump had recently announced to the world that he had managed to force many world leaders to 'kiss his ass' to negotiate for a lower tariff on exports from their countries to the US. These countries most certainly include Malaysia, which negotiated hard to reduce the tariff from 25 per cent to 19 per cent, whilst there were zero tariffs imposed on almost all US products exported to Malaysia. In addition, Malaysia agreed to invest in the US and purchase more American products, including additional orders of Boeing aircraft valued at tens of billions of dollars. There are differences in opinion on whether this deal benefits the US more than Malaysia since the US is Malaysia's third most important export destination, after China and Singapore. Moreover, the sectors that are involved – electrical and electronic products, palm oil and rubber employ a substantial number of workers. However, it can also be argued that the US, especially its consumers, will lose more by the imposition of high tariffs on Malaysian exports. Therefore, an alternative strategy is to call Trump's bluff, which was China's strategy. That could have imposed more pressure on Trump since his priority is to remain popular among American voters. In any case, what was more concerning was the reticence of the PM on whether he had raised the issue of Palestine with Trump during their telephone conversation. If the PM did not use the opportunity to pressure Trump to stop sending weapons to Israel, then that is indeed very saddening. All this while, the PM has been so vocal in saying that the world must do something to stop the genocide in Gaza. He should have used the opportunity to make Trump realise that Malaysians can never tolerate a leader who continues to be the leading enabler of the killings of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children. The whole world is now aware of what is happening in Gaza. Children are being deliberately shot by Israeli snipers, or blown to pieces by bombs and shredded into pieces of meat, either by being crushed by falling buildings or driven over by giant bulldozers. Now, Israel is deliberately making sure the Gazans will starve to death by blocking food from coming into Gaza. Hundreds are now dead due to starvation, and hundreds more are slowly dying of hunger, including babies. Based on the announcements made by Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, it is very clear that Israel plans to occupy Gaza completely and displace as many Palestinians as possible. Israel's ultimate plan at the end of the genocide is to carry out ethnic cleansing of the remaining Palestinian population, which is a crime under international law. Israel can do this with impunity because of the unwavering backing by the US. 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If you'd like your opinion shared on TRP, please send it via email at editorial@ with the title 'OPINION:' or through social media on TRP's Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
