Barbie wrapped in rainforest destruction scandal

Barbie, the most famous toy in the world, is involved in rainforest destruction, a Greenpeace International investigation has revealed.

The doll’s packaging comes from the rainforests of Indonesia, home to endangered species like the Sumatran tiger.

Greenpeace activists, dressed in tuxedos to mimic Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, last week scaled Mattel’s Los Angeles HQ with a giant banner that read: “Barbie: It’s Over. I Don’t Date Girls That Are Into Deforestation.”

The activity in Los Angeles marked the start of a worldwide Greenpeace campaign to end toy companies’ involvement in deforestation in Indonesia.

Greenpeace investigators used forensic testing to reveal that Barbie’s packaging comes from Indonesia’s rainforests. A combination of ‘in country’ investigation, mapping data, and work in tracing company certificates was used, to show that Mattel, the makers of Barbie, are using packaging produced by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a company which has been exposed a number of times for its involvement in the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests to make throw-away packaging.

One hundred and eighty new Barbies are sold every minute around the world.
Greenpeace New Zealand is calling on New Zealanders to join the campaign to get Mattel to drop APP from its supply chain, by writing to the company’s CEO. Details on how to do that are below.

“Barbie is trashing rainforests which is then pushing critically-endangered wildlife, like tigers, towards extinction, says Nathan Argent, Greenpeace NZ Climate Campaigner.

“Mattel, which makes Barbie, must stop wrapping the world’s most famous toy in rainforest destruction, supplied by APP.

“APP is bad news for Indonesia’s forests. It treats Indonesia as nothing more than a vast disposable asset, grabbing rainforests that are vital to forest communities. Mattel must stop buying packaging from APP and instead support responsible Indonesian producers.

“Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of forest destruction in the world. The Indonesian government estimates that more than one million hectares of rainforests are being cleared every year. This loss not only threatens the survival of some of the world’s rarest animals, but is also a major contributor to climate change,” Argent says.