In a poll of 8,000 people in 800 villages in Borneo, the majority of people said that heat was the biggest impact of deforestation on their health, well-being, and welfare. Read more below to find out how deforestation is raising the local temperature and why this heat negatively affects Malaysian and Indonesian...
A new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) found that REDD+, the UN program to reduce global carbon emissions, may be putting indigenous communities at risk, jeopardizing local land rights and laying the groundwork for large-scale “carbon grabs” by governments and private investors. Read more below to find out...
Safeway, the second biggest U.S. grocery chain, has become the latest company to establish a policy that excludes deforestation-linked palm oil from its products. Safeway will ask its suppliers to implement social and environmental criteria that ensure the palm oil it uses in branded products is ethical. Read more below to find...
One tropical tree from Central and South America has made itself at home in Borneo where it is crowding out local vegetation and interfering with forest recovery. Although this tree has been slow to spread through Borneo since its introduction in 1952, new logging roads appear to be driving the species...
On Monday, General Mills and Colgate-Palmolive both announced palm oil policies that go beyond standards set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in order to better protect the environment and wildlife surrounding their palm oil sources. Read more below to find out what these new policies are and how...
In the Palangkaraya Declaration on Deforestation and the Rights of Forest Peoples, indigenous and forest-dependent peoples from Asia, Africa and Latin America have called for increased recognition of customary land rights in order to limit deforestation and ensure the survival of their communities. Read more below to find out what the...
A new group called the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) has started to accept new members who commit to social and environmental safeguards that go beyond the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) eco-certification standard. Read more below to find out what these safeguards are and how POIG hopes to tip...
A new online tool called ForestDefender aims to help indigenous people understand and implement their rights in regard to forests. The database brings together vast amounts of legal information—both national and international—on over 50 countries. Read more below to find out this tool works and what its creators hope it will achieve....
A new analysis from Greenpeace says that new regulations aiming to protect peatlands is most likely going to fall short of its goals, failing to stop peat degradation, emissions, and fires that are driving the current haze crisis in Southeast Asia. Read more below to find out how Greenpeace made this...
An Indonesian police officer who was charged with laundering nearly $128 million in proceeds from illegal fuel and timber smuggling was sentenced to only two years in prison for illegal logging. Read more below to find out charges this officer was acquitted of and what this shocking case reveals about...
