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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fpic/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:54:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on FPIC</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fpic/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Indonesia fast-tracks final permit for Papua rice megaproject without Indigenous consent</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-fast-tracks-final-permit-for-papua-rice-megaproject-without-indigenous-consent/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-fast-tracks-final-permit-for-papua-rice-megaproject-without-indigenous-consent/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jan 2026 08:43:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/19120029/GP0SU2V3B_Low-res-800px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313486</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Food, Food Vs Forests Debate, Forests, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Rice, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous rights activists have condemned the Indonesian government’s decision to grant 328,000 hectares (810,505 acres) of cultivation rights for a massive rice plantation project in Papua, warning that the final land permit was issued at unusually rapid speed, compared with the years-long process typically required for large-scale plantation permits. The process is also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous rights activists have condemned the Indonesian government’s decision to grant 328,000 hectares (810,505 acres) of cultivation rights for a massive rice plantation project in Papua, warning that the final land permit was issued at unusually rapid speed, compared with the years-long process typically required for large-scale plantation permits. The process is also criticized for taking place without the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous communities whose customary lands are affected. The permit — known as Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) — is the last and most decisive license required before large-scale agricultural operations can begin. Activists say its issuance reflects a pattern of fast-tracked regulatory changes under the government’s food estate program that sideline Indigenous land rights and environmental safeguards in the name of national food security. They warn that the project risks triggering large-scale deforestation, land dispossession and social conflict in southern Papua, echoing past food estate failures elsewhere in Indonesia. Map of area earmarked for the rice project in Merauke. Image courtesy of Pusaka. Since the government announced plans to establish vast rice fields in southern Papua in early 2024, the project has advanced rapidly. Civil society groups report the deployment of heavy machinery and security forces to support land clearing and infrastructure development in areas earmarked for the project. The legal groundwork has moved just as quickly. In September 2025, the government reclassified 486,939 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest estate into non-forest land (Areal Penggunaan Lain (APL), or ‘Area for Other Land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-fast-tracks-final-permit-for-papua-rice-megaproject-without-indigenous-consent/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313486</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Bank watchdog looks into Nepal cable car project amid Indigenous outcry</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2026 05:35:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/31141245/Plantation_PotoBy_Prabin-Seling-Sendow-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313239</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Development, Environment, FPIC, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, and Transparency]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A cable car line is being built to serve the mountaintop temple of Pathibhara Devi, a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus in eastern Nepal. But the area is also revered by the region’s Indigenous Yakthung (or Limbu) people, many of whom have objected to the clearing of trees that they say will weaken [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A cable car line is being built to serve the mountaintop temple of Pathibhara Devi, a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus in eastern Nepal. But the area is also revered by the region’s Indigenous Yakthung (or Limbu) people, many of whom have objected to the clearing of trees that they say will weaken the spiritual power that the site holds according to their beliefs. The World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) says it is looking into a complaint filed by the Yakthung people against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group — for providing advisory support to a controversial cable car project in their ancestral land. The CAO recently confirmed to Mongabay that it had received the complaint filed in August 2025 and it meets the ombudsman’s criteria for formal registration. “As the Nepal cable car complaint met these criteria, it is now in the assessment phase of the CAO process,” Emily Horgan, communications and outreach lead at CAO, told Mongabay via email referring to the ombudsman’s policy of accepting a complaint if it concerns an IFC or MIGA (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) project. Horgan said that the Pathibhara issue also falls within the CAO’s mandate to address potential environmental and social impacts of projects. The CAO’s registry states that the complaint was accepted for review on Dec. 12, 2025. Project developer Pathibhara Devi Darshan Cable Car Pvt. Ltd., part of the IME Group led by prominent Nepali tycoon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313239</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Malaysian companies dominate PNG forest-clearance permits: report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/malaysian-companies-dominate-png-forest-clearance-permits-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/malaysian-companies-dominate-png-forest-clearance-permits-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 05:54:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/25103418/tree-kangaroo-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310979</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, New Guinea, Oceania, Papua New Guinea, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Farming, Forests, FPIC, Indigenous Peoples, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Logging, Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Papua New Guinea’s rainforests, which span 28.2 million hectares (69.6 million acres), are among the most biodiverse in the world, hosting an estimated 5-8% of all species. The country also has one of the world’s highest rates of communal land ownership, with around 97% of land legally recognized as being customary tenure. Despite the ecological [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Papua New Guinea’s rainforests, which span 28.2 million hectares (69.6 million acres), are among the most biodiverse in the world, hosting an estimated 5-8% of all species. The country also has one of the world’s highest rates of communal land ownership, with around 97% of land legally recognized as being customary tenure. Despite the ecological significance of the country’s forests, and the existence of laws to ensure customary landowners retain control of what happens on their traditional lands, Papua New Guinea also hosts a major timber trade — frequently topping global lists of tropical log exporters — with the profits concentrated in the hands of foreign corporations. A recent report from RimbaWatch, a Kuala Lumpur-based research and advocacy organization, examined in detail how land-conversion permits facilitate the clearance of PNG’s forests, and what role the companies linked to Malaysia play in the ongoing timber trade. The report focused on Forest Clearing Authorities (FCAs), which are permits issued by the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) that allow large-scale conversions — exceeding 50 hectares (123 acres) — of natural forests for agricultural or other land-use development projects. The stated purpose of these licenses is to create sustainable jobs and income for the country’s people via development projects, but critics say that, in practice, these licenses  have been used to facilitate large-scale logging. As of 2024, one-third of the timber exported from the country came from companies operating on an FCA permit. RimbaWatch found that 65 out of 67 active FCAs are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/malaysian-companies-dominate-png-forest-clearance-permits-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310979</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What was achieved for Indigenous peoples at COP30?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/what-was-achieved-for-indigenous-peoples-at-cop30/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/what-was-achieved-for-indigenous-peoples-at-cop30/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2025 08:27:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/08133206/AP25100772908645-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310250</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Central Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Crime, Culture, Environment, Extreme Weather, Finance, FPIC, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Reform, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Rainforests, Social Justice, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After two weeks of negotiations in Belém, Brazil, the COP30 U.N. climate summit delivered mixed outcomes, Indigenous delegates say. The event saw the largest Indigenous participation in COP history and landmark pledges made, but also heated protests and last-minute disappointments. “The summit was historic for Indigenous peoples, and this is the result of the Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[After two weeks of negotiations in Belém, Brazil, the COP30 U.N. climate summit delivered mixed outcomes, Indigenous delegates say. The event saw the largest Indigenous participation in COP history and landmark pledges made, but also heated protests and last-minute disappointments. “The summit was historic for Indigenous peoples, and this is the result of the Indigenous struggle working to be at this COP not only in numbers but also in quality of participation,” said Kleber Karipuna, executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), one of the main Indigenous organizations in Brazil. “Not everything has been won as we expected — much more Indigenous lands [still need] to be demarcated.” Promises on securing land rights A major outcome of the summit was the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment (ILTC), a historic pledge to recognize Indigenous land tenure rights over 160 million hectares (395 million acres) — an area the size of Iran — across tropical forest countries, including Brazil, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, by 2030. “It is one of the most positive outcomes we hoped to achieve at COP30,” Kleber said. “In Brazil alone, 63 million hectares [156 million acres] of Indigenous lands are pledged for protection, management, and land ownership.” In addition, the Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG) announced a renewed pledge, totaling $1.8 billion, to support Indigenous peoples, local and Afro-descendant communities in securing land rights over the next five years. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also signed decrees for 28 quilombos&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/what-was-achieved-for-indigenous-peoples-at-cop30/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310250</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous delegates prepare for COP30 with focus on justice, land and finance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/indigenous-delegates-prepare-for-cop30-with-focus-on-justice-land-and-finance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/indigenous-delegates-prepare-for-cop30-with-focus-on-justice-land-and-finance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Nov 2025 00:51:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/01153722/53201636099_d14aa65731_c-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308941</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Crime, Culture, Environment, Extreme Weather, Finance, FPIC, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Land Reform, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Rainforests, Social Justice, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the Brazilian city of Belém prepares for this year’s U.N. climate conference, COP30, Indigenous leaders worldwide say they’re getting ready to have their demands addressed. Dubbed the “nature COP” by some delegates, the 2025 conference is set to see the largest participation of Indigenous leaders in the climate conference’s history, with more than 3,000 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[As the Brazilian city of Belém prepares for this year’s U.N. climate conference, COP30, Indigenous leaders worldwide say they’re getting ready to have their demands addressed. Dubbed the “nature COP” by some delegates, the 2025 conference is set to see the largest participation of Indigenous leaders in the climate conference’s history, with more than 3,000 Indigenous people registered. The conference will run from Nov. 10-21 in Belém, a city known as the “gateway” to the Amazon Rainforest. Mongabay spoke to Indigenous leaders from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Pacific to find out what they want from COP30. “Upholding Indigenous peoples&#8217; rights is only possible by placing them at the center of discussions, negotiations, and decision-making,” said Dinaman Tuxá, executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), one of the country&#8217;s main Indigenous advocacy groups. “We aim to demand Indigenous land demarcation and direct financing as climate mitigation tools for combating global warming.” At the COP30 World Leaders Summit on November 6, in the lead up to the conference, dozens of countries made major commitments to advance land rights and finance to Indigenous peoples, local and Afro-descendant communities, including recognizing 160 million hectares (395 million acres) of land and pledging $1.8 billion. Indigenous delegates also plan to tackle a range of other issues, including climate adaptation, a just energy transition, carbon markets, loss and damage funding, and the protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights as the world eyes their forests for climate solutions. Clouds above the rainforests in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/indigenous-delegates-prepare-for-cop30-with-focus-on-justice-land-and-finance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308941</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Development banks under fire for backing disputed Nepal hydropower project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2025 00:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/21145224/III-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Biodiversity, Conflict, Culture, Dams, Development, Environment, Forest Destruction, FPIC, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Rivers, Social Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal has long relied on hydropower projects to meet most of its energy needs, but recent complaints from Indigenous and local communities have cast a shadow over the development of some projects — particularly the Tanahu project. The project is being developed by Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Nepal has long relied on hydropower projects to meet most of its energy needs, but recent complaints from Indigenous and local communities have cast a shadow over the development of some projects — particularly the Tanahu project. The project is being developed by Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). It’s expected to be completed next year in Gandaki province. But for many members of communities in the affected area, “none of our demands have been fulfilled to this day,” says Til Bahadur Thapa Magar, chair of local campaign group the Tanahu Hydropower Project’s Struggle Committee. Local communities and Indigenous peoples say the project was implemented without proper consultation and failed to respect their rights to land, territory, and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). In 2023, U.S.-based human rights watchdog Accountability Counsel documented a series of 16 complaints against hydropower projects in Nepal, many with funding from international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB) and World Bank. These projects, including the Tanahu project, which is funded by the ADB and EIB, have been accused of failing to meet their due diligence requirements during the approval process. “Even though these projects have records of not fully adhering to environmental and social compliance and respecting Indigenous and community people’s rights and decisions, they [international development banks] keep supporting more and more projects,” said Sutharee Wannasiri, communities associate at the Accountability Counsel. A Magar local affected by the Tanahu Hydropower&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/development-banks-under-fire-for-backing-disputed-nepal-hydropower-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304531</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Nickel boom on an Indonesian island brings toxic seas, lost incomes, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nickel-boom-on-an-indonesian-island-brings-toxic-seas-lost-incomes-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nickel-boom-on-an-indonesian-island-brings-toxic-seas-lost-incomes-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2025 10:59:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23103932/Screenshot-2025-07-23-172451-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303014</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Southeast Sulawesi, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Electric Cars, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, FPIC, Health, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Islands, Just Transition, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Kasman Amir grew up in a fishing family in a small coastal village on Kabaena Island in eastern Indonesia. The family home sat on stilts above the water, and he recalled waking up to the sound of the boat engine. The village, home to the nomadic Bajau sea tribe — whose culture inspired [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Kasman Amir grew up in a fishing family in a small coastal village on Kabaena Island in eastern Indonesia. The family home sat on stilts above the water, and he recalled waking up to the sound of the boat engine. The village, home to the nomadic Bajau sea tribe — whose culture inspired the Hollywood movie Avatar: The Way of Water — was once surrounded by clear waters that allowed children to play freely. “As kids, we loved playing in the water—swimming, paddling canoes. That was our fun,” Kasman told reporters at a recent press conference in Jakarta. But since 2010, the sea has turned red, allegedly due to runoff from nickel mining, which has expanded across the island. “Now, I never see children swim in the sea. They’re afraid of contamination,” Kasman said. “After school, we’d go fishing right in front of our homes. We’d catch ikan baronang [rabbitfish, genus Siganus], and sell them for pocket money. Children today no longer experience that freedom.” Waters off Baliara Village, Kabaena Island, Southeast Sulawesi, polluted by nickel mining. Image courtesy of Satya Bumi. Kasman’s village is one of the many on the tiny island of Kabaena, at the southeastern tip of the larger island of Sulawesi, that have been severely impacted by nickel mining, according to a new report by environmental local NGOs Satya Bumi, Walhi and Sagori. The report follows a 2024 investigation that focused on the environmental and social impact of nickel mining in the northern part&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nickel-boom-on-an-indonesian-island-brings-toxic-seas-lost-incomes-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nickel-boom-on-an-indonesian-island-brings-toxic-seas-lost-incomes-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303014</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banks bet big on fossil fuels, boosting financing in 2024, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/banks-bet-big-on-fossil-fuels-boosting-financing-in-2024-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/banks-bet-big-on-fossil-fuels-boosting-financing-in-2024-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2025 14:50:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/30133937/Jacob-Balzani_Mayuriaga-Oil-Spill-2016-WampisNation_3500px_Extra_0073-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Global, North America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corporations, Economics, Energy, Environment, Forests, Fossil Fuels, FPIC, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Rainforests, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Financing for the fossil fuel sector from the world&#8217;s largest banks surged in 2024 to $869 billion, according to a recent report by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and other environmental groups. That figure represents an increase of nearly 23% compared to 2023. The $162.5 billion increase channeled to companies doing business in fossil fuels [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Financing for the fossil fuel sector from the world&#8217;s largest banks surged in 2024 to $869 billion, according to a recent report by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and other environmental groups. That figure represents an increase of nearly 23% compared to 2023. The $162.5 billion increase channeled to companies doing business in fossil fuels stands in stark opposition to the drops in financing recorded since 2022. Experts say banks&#8217; backing of the carbon-intensive industry threatens to stall progress on the transition to renewable energy and reveals the frailty of voluntary commitments to address climate change by banks. Authors used S&amp;P Global annual rankings for 2024 to identify the 65 largest banks in the world in producing the 16th annual installment of the “Banking on Climate Chaos” report. They then used finance data to connect the bonds, loans and stock issuances those financial institutions facilitated for more than 2,700 companies involved in some way in fossil fuels, ranging from extraction to storage. The team examined &#8220;every financing decision point that a bank faces about whether or not it&#8217;s going to re-up money&#8221; for fossil fuels, Allison Fajans-Turner, policy lead with RAN and a co-author of the report, told Mongabay. &#8220;Unfortunately, we are seeing that banks are still incredibly willing to lend and underwrite and invest in the fossil fuel industry.&#8221; The report also differentiates between project and corporate finance, finding that more than 94% of financing for fossil fuels goes to the more general corporate support rather than to specific&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/banks-bet-big-on-fossil-fuels-boosting-financing-in-2024-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/banks-bet-big-on-fossil-fuels-boosting-financing-in-2024-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN calls out Indonesia’s Merauke food estate for displacing Indigenous communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/un-calls-out-indonesias-merauke-food-estate-for-displacing-indigenous-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/un-calls-out-indonesias-merauke-food-estate-for-displacing-indigenous-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2025 14:37:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/26040457/2-Aksi-Menolak-PSN-Merauke-Jkt-161024-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301288</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Food, food security, Forests, FPIC, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Plantations, Rainforests, Social Conflict, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — United Nations rights officials have raised the alarm over alleged human rights abuses and environmental destruction linked to a massive plantation project in the Indonesian district of Merauke. Special rapporteurs to the U.N. human rights commission sent separate letters to the Indonesian government and a key project developer, PT Global Papua Abadi (GPA), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — United Nations rights officials have raised the alarm over alleged human rights abuses and environmental destruction linked to a massive plantation project in the Indonesian district of Merauke. Special rapporteurs to the U.N. human rights commission sent separate letters to the Indonesian government and a key project developer, PT Global Papua Abadi (GPA), dated March 7, 2025, over allegations that they had displaced Indigenous communities, cleared forests without consent, and deployed military forces to quash dissent. Under the so-called Merauke food estate project, agribusiness giants have secured vast concessions to clear 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land in Merauke, two-thirds of it for sugarcane plantations and the rest for rice fields. That amounts to an area 45 times the size of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. The current project builds on the earlier Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) program launched in 2010, which has been revived and expanded as a project of strategic national importance, or PSN. Crucially, PSN designation gives the government and approved developers eminent domain rights to evict communities from their land under the pretext of national interests. According to the letters, co-signed by nine U.N. special rapporteurs, the project has allegedly violated Indigenous peoples’ rights by not properly consulting them and thus failing to obtain their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). The rapporteurs warn that “more than 50,000 Indigenous people living in 40 villages around and within the project area will be directly affected by its implementation.” Vincent Kwipalo is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/un-calls-out-indonesias-merauke-food-estate-for-displacing-indigenous-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/un-calls-out-indonesias-merauke-food-estate-for-displacing-indigenous-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301288</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN accuses Indonesia’s No. 2 palm oil firm of rights &#038; environmental abuses</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/un-accuses-indonesias-no-2-palm-oil-firm-of-rights-environmental-abuses/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/un-accuses-indonesias-no-2-palm-oil-firm-of-rights-environmental-abuses/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2025 06:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/03053623/Screenshot-2025-03-03-123428-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295216</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Environment, Environmental Law, FPIC, Human Rights, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Plantations, Social Conflict, Supply Chain, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has called out Indonesia’s No. 2 palm oil company for alleged human rights and environmental abuses, the first time it has singled out a company rather than the industry. Various U.N. agencies and officials have long highlighted issues within the palm oil industry in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has called out Indonesia’s No. 2 palm oil company for alleged human rights and environmental abuses, the first time it has singled out a company rather than the industry. Various U.N. agencies and officials have long highlighted issues within the palm oil industry in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of the commodity, but this time the specific allegations are against PT Astra Agro Lestari (AAL), the second-largest palm oil company in the country. The allegations are laid out in letters sent in October 2024 by a group of U.N. special rapporteurs to AAL; its parent company, Astra International, one of Indonesia’s biggest conglomerates; Jardine Matheson, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate that’s Astra’s parent company; and representatives of the governments of Indonesia and China. The letters raise concerns about systemic human rights and environmental abuses linked to AAL’s palm oil production on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. For one, AAL and its subsidiaries allegedly operate without necessary permits on Indigenous ancestral lands and farming communities’ land, without the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the Indigenous residents and without meaningful consultation with the farming communities, the rapporteurs said. As a result, communities affected by AAL’s operations have repeatedly called on the company to return land taken without their consent over the past several years. But when affected communities peacefully protest against AAL, they’re often met with violence on the part of local police, military or private security forces hired by the company, the rapporteurs wrote. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/un-accuses-indonesias-no-2-palm-oil-firm-of-rights-environmental-abuses/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/un-accuses-indonesias-no-2-palm-oil-firm-of-rights-environmental-abuses/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295216</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plans for bauxite mine in Suriname reignite Indigenous land rights debate</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/plans-for-bauxite-mine-in-suriname-reignite-indigenous-land-rights-debate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/plans-for-bauxite-mine-in-suriname-reignite-indigenous-land-rights-debate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2025 18:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/16174856/Feature-13-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293049</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Future of Suriname’s Rainforests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, FPIC, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plans for a major mining project in western Suriname have sounded alarms in nearby Indigenous communities, who say that the project will destroy local ecosystems, violate their land rights and encroach on their traditional ways of life. A bauxite mine run by Chinese corporation Chinalco could begin operating in 2026, with first construction work planned [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plans for a major mining project in western Suriname have sounded alarms in nearby Indigenous communities, who say that the project will destroy local ecosystems, violate their land rights and encroach on their traditional ways of life. A bauxite mine run by Chinese corporation Chinalco could begin operating in 2026, with first construction work planned for the middle of this year. The scale of the project has worried activists, who say the government is prioritizing the economy over the rights of its citizens. “There’s nothing wrong with looking to improve infrastructure. There’s nothing wrong with looking to bring jobs — that’s absolutely great,” John Goedschalk, head of Climate Change Advisory Services, a climate and conservation consulting group, told Mongabay. “But let’s do it right. Let’s do it in a way that doesn’t take away the rights of people to live where they live.” If approved by parliament, the 30-year project will allow Chinalco to produce around 6 million tons of bauxite annually on a 280,000-hectare (691,895-acre) site. The mineral is used in the production of aluminum and has been a cornerstone of Suriname’s economy for decades. A Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) in Suriname. Photo by Tim Strater via Wikimedia. The mine, located near the village of Bakhuis, will require refurbishing and expanding infrastructure for a harbor and railroad built in the 1970s, and gives the company “priority right” to use the Corantijn river for dredging, a process involving the removal of riverbed sediment. The company also has first rights to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/plans-for-bauxite-mine-in-suriname-reignite-indigenous-land-rights-debate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/plans-for-bauxite-mine-in-suriname-reignite-indigenous-land-rights-debate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Most large banks failing to consider Indigenous rights</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2024 13:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/30102232/Jacob-Balzani_WampisNation_3500px_Extra_0307-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291999</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Business, Environment, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Major banks, including Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, are still failing to implement the full scope of U.N. human rights principles, a new report has found. The report by finance watchdog BankTrack evaluated the policies and practices of 50 major banks and found that most are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with the U.N. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Major banks, including Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, are still failing to implement the full scope of U.N. human rights principles, a new report has found. The report by finance watchdog BankTrack evaluated the policies and practices of 50 major banks and found that most are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is the fifth iteration of the international NGO’s benchmark series and, for the first time, banks were assessed against three new criteria from U.N. human rights declarations. These criteria consider policies and practices related to the rights of human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples’ rights to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the human right to a healthy environment. On human rights defenders, 82% of all banks fail to mention human rights defenders and their specific rights. While 66% of banks mention FPIC in their policies, none have processes in place to ensure that clients and investee companies respect it where it is required. Only three banks — Banco Santander, ING and Bank of America — explicitly acknowledge that environmental rights are human rights in their statements of policy. Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo stands next to an oil spill near Shushufindi, in the Sucumbíos province, Ecuadorian Amazon, on June 26, 2023. Image by Sophie Pinchetti (Amazon Frontlines). “Indigenous Peoples face disproportionate risks from the activities banks finance, yet banks are failing to implement adequate safeguards in line with their responsibilities,” Giulia Barbos, a human rights researcher and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/most-large-banks-failing-to-consider-indigenous-rights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291999</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Past failures can’t stop Indonesia from clearing forests, Indigenous lands for farms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/past-failures-cant-stop-indonesia-from-clearing-forests-indigenous-lands-for-farms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/past-failures-cant-stop-indonesia-from-clearing-forests-indigenous-lands-for-farms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Oct 2024 14:36:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/03143054/20240809_122233-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288151</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Food, food security, Forests, FPIC, Global Environmental Crisis, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rice, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous Papuans say they’ve been caught off guard by helicopters flying over their villages and excavators tearing down their forests in their area, all while accompanied by the Indonesian military. What they’re being subjected to is one of the largest deforestation projects in the world, which will see the development of 1 million [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous Papuans say they’ve been caught off guard by helicopters flying over their villages and excavators tearing down their forests in their area, all while accompanied by the Indonesian military. What they’re being subjected to is one of the largest deforestation projects in the world, which will see the development of 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of rice fields in Merauke, a district in Indonesia’s Papua region that borders Papua New Guinea. The military is involved in the project because it’s led by the Ministry of Defense and has been designated a project of national strategic importance. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who will be sworn in as Indonesia’s next president on Oct. 20, has appointed the hugely controversial Jhonlin Group to help administer the project. The military’s involvement, coupled with the lack of free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) from Indigenous communities living in the area, have fueled concerns that the project will create new conflicts in the region. Indonesia has maintained a heavy military presence in the Papua region since annexing it in 1963, with security forces frequently accused of committing human rights violations under the justification of cracking down on a low-level independence movement. The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture disseminate information regarding the food estate program at the Uli-Uli village in Ilwayab sub-district, Merauke, South Papua, Indonesia, in August 2024. Image courtesy of JhonlinMagz. ‘A war zone’ In the early months of the rice project, Indigenous Papuans living in the project area&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/past-failures-cant-stop-indonesia-from-clearing-forests-indigenous-lands-for-farms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288151</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>SE Asia renewables firms fall short on policies to protect environmental defenders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/se-asia-renewables-firms-fall-short-on-policies-to-protect-environmental-defenders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/se-asia-renewables-firms-fall-short-on-policies-to-protect-environmental-defenders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2024 14:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/25094805/Banner_wind-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287824</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Business, Conflict, Conservation, Development, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, FPIC, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Infrastructure, Law, Mining, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Widely regarded as a solution for climate change, renewable energy projects are booming in Southeast Asia. Installed solar and wind energy capacity across the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged by 20% in 2023 to account for 9% of the region’s total energy mix. But while renewables have the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Widely regarded as a solution for climate change, renewable energy projects are booming in Southeast Asia. Installed solar and wind energy capacity across the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged by 20% in 2023 to account for 9% of the region’s total energy mix. But while renewables have the potential to stem the demand for fossil fuels, a new report shows that wind and solar companies operating in Southeast Asia could be doing more to ensure they aren’t having unintended impacts on people’s rights and lives. The integrity of wind and solar companies’ human rights policies and practices was the topic of a recent investigation by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), a U.K.-based private sector watchdog. Researchers scrutinized the guiding principles of 12 energy companies operating in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, finding all companies lacked policies to protect the human rights of environmental defenders. Many also fell short on commitments to respect the human rights of communities affected by their operations. “Southeast Asia has shown a clear commitment to the green energy transition,” said Pochoy Labog, BHRRC’s Southeast Asia researcher. “However, these efforts risk being undermined by the serious human rights risks associated with these operations, which have not been prioritised by renewable energy companies.” Solar panels require transition minerals, such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, copper and rare earths, which are distributed across many of the world’s Indigenous territories. Image by Asurnipal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/se-asia-renewables-firms-fall-short-on-policies-to-protect-environmental-defenders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/se-asia-renewables-firms-fall-short-on-policies-to-protect-environmental-defenders/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287824</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s top timber companies are dropping the ball on ESG reporting: Analysis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 02:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/09023816/RESIZED-Preah-Roka_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-19-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286738</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, FPIC, International Trade, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, timber trade, Trade, Transparency, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An analysis of eight years’ worth of data by the international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) reveals a troubling decline in transparency and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting of the world’s 100 leading tropical timber and pulp companies. Since 2014, ZSL has been assessing ESG policies of these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An analysis of eight years’ worth of data by the international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) reveals a troubling decline in transparency and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting of the world’s 100 leading tropical timber and pulp companies. Since 2014, ZSL has been assessing ESG policies of these 100 most-significant timber and pulp companies through its corporate transparency initiative called the Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT). “Together, these top 100 companies manage forests almost the size of France — so their actions impact a significant area of the world’s forests,” said Sam Ross, ZSL’s sustainable business project analyst, who led the assessment. In 2024, the average score for these companies dropped from 37.1% in 2017 to 24.1%, indicating a significant lack of transparency and accountability in their ESG practices. This is despite most of the assessed companies having committed to responsible and sustainable production on the back of growing pressure to halt deforestation worldwide by 2030. Halting deforestation is a key element of combating climate change as cutting down trees, particularly those in tropical forests, release vast amounts of the warming gas CO2. “We have seen small signs of progress, but the overwhelming story has been one of inertia,” Ross said. “Despite years of pressure and attempted engagement, our data shows many tropical forestry companies continue to fail in reporting even basic ESG data.” This decline in average score indicates systemic issues in the industry, which could undermine efforts to achieve sustainable forestry and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286738</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Allegations widen against Indonesian palm oil giant Astra Agro Lestari</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/allegations-widen-against-indonesian-palm-oil-giant-astra-agro-lestari/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/allegations-widen-against-indonesian-palm-oil-giant-astra-agro-lestari/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2024 04:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/09033819/AAL-palm-oil-report_LUMIX-83-2048x1365-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284138</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Conflict, Consumer Action, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Environment, Finance, Forests, FPIC, Human Rights, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law, Palm Oil, Plantations, Social Conflict, and Supply Chain]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Allegations of illegal activity and land-grabbing against Indonesia’s second-largest palm oil company continue to mount as a new report reveals the firm’s violations appear to be more extensive than initially documented. The report alleges that subsidiaries of PT Astra Agro Lestari (AAL) are cultivating oil palms illegally inside forest areas; intimidating and criminalizing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Allegations of illegal activity and land-grabbing against Indonesia’s second-largest palm oil company continue to mount as a new report reveals the firm’s violations appear to be more extensive than initially documented. The report alleges that subsidiaries of PT Astra Agro Lestari (AAL) are cultivating oil palms illegally inside forest areas; intimidating and criminalizing local community members; and operating without the required permits. The report by Friends of the Earth U.S. and its Indonesian and Dutch counterparts, Walhi and Milieudefensie, respectively, is a follow-up to a previous report issued in 2022. That earlier report looked at three AAL subsidiaries operating on the island of Sulawesi and found them to be engaging in land grabbing, environmental degradation, and the criminal persecution of environmental and human rights defenders. The new report expands the scope by analyzing all of AAL’s known subsidiaries, whose operations span across Indonesia. It found more alleged violations, including operating plantations without permits and within areas that should be off-limits under Indonesian law. On the back of the 2022 allegations of environmental and human rights violations, at least 10 consumer brands suspended their sourcing of palm oil from AAL, with the latest to do so being U.S. food giant Kellogg’s. The cereal maker joined the likes of Hershey’s, PepsiCo and Oreo maker Mondelēz in distancing itself from AAL. In addition to backlash from buyers, AAL also faces pressure from shareholders and financiers. In February, the Norwegian state pension fund cut ties with AAL’s parent companies, Singapore-based Jardine Matheson&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/allegations-widen-against-indonesian-palm-oil-giant-astra-agro-lestari/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/allegations-widen-against-indonesian-palm-oil-giant-astra-agro-lestari/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284138</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>International hesitancy to adopt environmental regulations threatens Indigenous rights</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/international-hesitancy-to-adopt-environmental-regulations-threatens-indigenous-rights/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/international-hesitancy-to-adopt-environmental-regulations-threatens-indigenous-rights/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2024 15:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/17133121/Untitled-2-Recovered-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281043</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, FPIC, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Mining, Politics, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The mood is tense. After months of delays, the EU will soon vote on a long-awaited piece of legislation that will require European companies to integrate environmental and human rights due diligence into their corporate policies and risk management systems. This directive, known as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), is one among various [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The mood is tense. After months of delays, the EU will soon vote on a long-awaited piece of legislation that will require European companies to integrate environmental and human rights due diligence into their corporate policies and risk management systems. This directive, known as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), is one among various regulatory frameworks that state and corporate actors have been hesitant to adopt in recent years to reach climate and biodiversity goals. According to industry experts, this is due to standards being “impractical” or too difficult to achieve. For the CSDDD, voting faced constant delays because of reluctance on the part of some EU states, including Germany, France and Italy, to support it. The text, now watered down and missing protection for Indigenous rights, is seen by critics as not going far enough to protect the environment and human rights. Even for voluntary regulatory initiatives, which the private sector willingly adopts to track and take responsibility for their supply chains, some companies are pulling back. For example, earlier this year, major corporations and financial institutions pulled out of Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) and Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). These frameworks, whether enforced or voluntary, are designed to ensure the state and private sector are actually implementing the necessary measures to meet global climate and biodiversity goals. Climate goals largely focus on meeting the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit average global temperatures to 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by reducing fossil fuel use. Biodiversity goals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/international-hesitancy-to-adopt-environmental-regulations-threatens-indigenous-rights/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/international-hesitancy-to-adopt-environmental-regulations-threatens-indigenous-rights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281043</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/new-fpic-guide-gives-indigenous-peoples-menu-of-options-for-the-green-transition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/new-fpic-guide-gives-indigenous-peoples-menu-of-options-for-the-green-transition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2024 13:24:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/23232540/2_ACASCIO_LiberoCopper_Stone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280695</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, FPIC, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Mining, Protected Areas, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than eight years after the Mariana dam disaster, Indigenous Krenak people remain scarred by the memories of one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. Living on the banks of the Doce River for generations, the Krenak peoples were among the most impacted by the rupture of the Fundão iron mine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than eight years after the Mariana dam disaster, Indigenous Krenak people remain scarred by the memories of one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. Living on the banks of the Doce River for generations, the Krenak peoples were among the most impacted by the rupture of the Fundão iron mine tailings dam that poured 50 million tons of ore and toxic waste into the river. The terrific force of the toxic mud wave killed 19 people and contaminated croplands. Communities remain frustrated over delayed compensation and repairs from the mining companies. “The impacts are still acutely felt, which underscores the urgent need for a more responsive and just legal system,” says Edson Krenak, an Indigenous writer and advocacy coordinator at Cultural Survival. Facing the potential impacts and rights violations of future investment projects — and to make sure they have a seat at the discussion table and reap benefits — the Krenak peoples developed their own protocols for investors visiting their lands: their own self-determined protocol to implement their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). FPIC is a right in the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in which Indigenous people give or withhold consent on any activities impacting their lands, resources, livelihoods and health. Implementing FPIC is often complex, bureaucratic and sometimes fraught. To keep things simple and reflect their systems of governance and values, the Krenak peoples created a tailor-made FPIC protocol. And as mining for minerals to feed the green&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/new-fpic-guide-gives-indigenous-peoples-menu-of-options-for-the-green-transition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/new-fpic-guide-gives-indigenous-peoples-menu-of-options-for-the-green-transition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280695</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>This year’s ranking of EV carmakers from most to least ‘clean’: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/this-years-ranking-of-ev-carmakers-from-most-to-least-clean-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/this-years-ranking-of-ev-carmakers-from-most-to-least-clean-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2024 18:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ian Morse]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/28171251/carsharing-4382651_1920-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280417</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Circular economy and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Air Pollution, Business, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Electric Cars, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, FPIC, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Land Rights, Mitigation, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Supply Chain, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ford and Mercedes-Benz lead the automotive world in working to clean up their supply chains, according to a new report with rankings endorsed by a labor and environmental civil society coalition. But the car industry is far from achieving a “truly clean car” and progress is “lackluster,” the scorecard notes. Car companies are increasingly embracing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ford and Mercedes-Benz lead the automotive world in working to clean up their supply chains, according to a new report with rankings endorsed by a labor and environmental civil society coalition. But the car industry is far from achieving a “truly clean car” and progress is “lackluster,” the scorecard notes. Car companies are increasingly embracing electric vehicles as a new market opportunity exposed by worsening climate and biodiversity crises. But, while electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions, there are a lot more factors involved in producing a car: steel, tires, batteries and people affected along the supply chain. The mining and manufacturing of these metal-dense machines puts heavy burdens on landscapes, Indigenous peoples and workers. It’s not enough for a car to be EV to be considered truly “clean,” the report says. The Lead the Charge coalition assembled 80 measures of what a clean car supply chain would look like, ranking the top 18 automakers against it. The indicators include policies and actions to promote using recycled materials, sustainable mining practices, unions and efforts to reduce emissions. The intention, the coalition says, is to encourage competition among firms pushing their suppliers to achieve responsible practices. The ranking is in its second year, but car companies still have large blind spots, the authors say, especially related to the rights of Indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) on mining projects. “What the scorecard shows me is that the automotive industry is really not ready to participate in the supply&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/this-years-ranking-of-ev-carmakers-from-most-to-least-clean-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/this-years-ranking-of-ev-carmakers-from-most-to-least-clean-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280417</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rechargeable battery industry needs better mining regulations, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/rechargeable-battery-industry-needs-better-mining-regulations-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/rechargeable-battery-industry-needs-better-mining-regulations-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2023 20:35:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maxradwin]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/29200646/Feature-23-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273753</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Electric Cars, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, FPIC, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Renewable Energy, Research, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rechargeable batteries have an important role to play in the fight against climate change, especially when it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to electric vehicles. It’s one reason the rechargeable battery market is expected to grow to over $180 billion by 2030. But the transition minerals that go into those batteries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rechargeable batteries have an important role to play in the fight against climate change, especially when it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to electric vehicles. It’s one reason the rechargeable battery market is expected to grow to over $180 billion by 2030. But the transition minerals that go into those batteries — cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium and nickel — have to be mined from somewhere, which can create its own problems. Most of them are found in or around Indigenous communities that oppose mining because of public health concerns and impacts on the environment. Many of the companies leading renewable energy development are also overlooking those issues, according to a new report from Oxfam. They haven’t developed adequate standards for protecting Indigenous communities and environmental defenders. “While large-scale mining has the potential to provide economic benefits in the form of taxes and jobs, the sector remains linked to major human rights abuses, gender-based violence, environmental harm, corruption and political capture,” the report said. A symbol for a renewable charging station. (Photo courtesy of Nicola Sznajder/Flickr) The main problem has to do with flawed or lacking standards for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), a human rights principle in which Indigenous and local people should not only be given the details about how development will impact their land and way of life, but also have the power to approve or reject a project. Of the 43 companies working on “transition minerals” reviewed in the report, 16 make&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/rechargeable-battery-industry-needs-better-mining-regulations-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273753</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservationists decry palm oil giants’ exit from HCSA forest protection group</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/conservationists-decry-palm-oil-giants-exit-from-hcsa-forest-protection-group/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/conservationists-decry-palm-oil-giants-exit-from-hcsa-forest-protection-group/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Mar 2023 15:27:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/09234259/jambi_220676-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266210</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forests, FPIC, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Transparency, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two major palm oil companies recently exited a committee that helps identify forest areas for protection, bringing the total number of firms quitting the framework since 2000 to four. The committee, called the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), is a widely supported mechanism to distinguish forest areas that should be protected from degraded [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two major palm oil companies recently exited a committee that helps identify forest areas for protection, bringing the total number of firms quitting the framework since 2000 to four. The committee, called the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), is a widely supported mechanism to distinguish forest areas that should be protected from degraded areas that can be developed. This, environmentalists say, points to a startling industry trend in which industry giants are shirking responsibility for their harmful business practices. The two companies that recently withdrew from HCSA are Singapore-based Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), the main palm oil arm of the vast Sinar Mas conglomerate, which is owned by the billionaire Widjaja family; and IOI Corporation Berhad (IOI), one of Malaysia’s biggest conglomerates. GAR played a major role in developing the HCSA No Deforestation methodology and was a founding HSCA member. GAR chief sustainability and communications officer Anita Neville said that being a member of the HCSA is no longer necessary for the company. This is because the HCSA toolkit has been embedded into industry standards including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification, which is the world’s largest association for ethical palm oil production, she said. The HCSA toolkit is a guidebook that provides standardized, scientifically robust and cost-effective methods for distinguishing and protecting viable forest areas. “The decision not to renew our membership was not taken lightly,” Neville told Mongabay. “However, as the HCSA evolved beyond creation and rollout of its toolkit, we saw increasing overlap with other industry bodies including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/conservationists-decry-palm-oil-giants-exit-from-hcsa-forest-protection-group/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/conservationists-decry-palm-oil-giants-exit-from-hcsa-forest-protection-group/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266210</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.N., rights groups flag potential violations in $3b Indonesian tourism project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2022 14:37:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/25140036/foto-A-3-2048x1423-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256330</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Nusa Tenggara]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Banking, Conflict, Environment, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Social Conflict, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has reiterated its concerns over allegations of human rights violations in a mega infrastructure tourism development project on the Indonesian island of Lombok. In light of this, various environmental and human rights organizations have called on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to stop financing the project. The $3 billion [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The United Nations has reiterated its concerns over allegations of human rights violations in a mega infrastructure tourism development project on the Indonesian island of Lombok. In light of this, various environmental and human rights organizations have called on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to stop financing the project. The $3 billion project is located in the Mandalika coastal region in southern Lombok, an island next to the better-known tourism hotspot of Bali. The project aims to turn Mandalika into what the government calls a “New Bali” with the construction of parks, resorts, hotels, and a racetrack that earlier this year hosted the first MotoGP series bike race in Indonesia. The government and project proponents, including its main funder, the AIIB, say the project will promote the development of ecotourism in Mandalika and contribute to poverty alleviation on the island. U.N. rights experts, however, last year highlighted the project’s impact, citing instances of local communities being evicted, and houses, fields, water sources, cultural and religious sites being destroyed to make way for the project. Since then, the government and others have responded to the concerns, saying that they had conducted a verification and settlement process to resolve land disputes. They say these settlement efforts were conducted in a transparent manner and were made under the voluntary and genuine approval of the affected communities. The government said the local communities affected by the project have been properly compensated and that the land settlement process has been resolved. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/u-n-rights-groups-flag-potential-violations-in-3b-indonesian-tourism-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256330</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>FSC-certified Moorim Paper linked to massive forest clearing in Indonesia’s Papua</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/fsc-certified-moorim-paper-linked-to-massive-forest-clearing-in-indonesias-papua/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/fsc-certified-moorim-paper-linked-to-massive-forest-clearing-in-indonesias-papua/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2022 10:22:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/28101021/Escavators-of-State-Road-Project-Bordering-PNMP-2021-06%40Okto-min-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254194</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Certification, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, FPIC, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Plantations, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Social Conflict, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An area of natural forest a tenth the size of Seoul has been cleared by a subsidiary of South Korean paper giant Moorim in Indonesia’s Papua region, a new report shows. The land in question, in the district of Merauke, is part of a concession licensed to PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An area of natural forest a tenth the size of Seoul has been cleared by a subsidiary of South Korean paper giant Moorim in Indonesia’s Papua region, a new report shows. The land in question, in the district of Merauke, is part of a concession licensed to PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), a Moorim Paper subsidiary that grows pulpwood for making paper. Between 2015 and 2021, PNMP cleared more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) of forest for its plantation, according to the report by NGOs including the Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Mighty Earth, Pusaka, and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM). Prior to the start of the clearing, PNMP’s concession was rich in forests. According to Global Forest Watch data, the concession held 54,800 hectares (135,400 acres) of natural forest, including some primary forest, and a further 9,610 hectares (23,700 acres) of other habitats, including savanna and seasonal alluvial wetland. Together, these forests, swamps and savannas comprise a key biodiversity hotspot, home to 40 species of mammals, 30 reptiles and 130 fishes on the IUCN Red List. Among them are tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus spp.), white cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), pig-nosed turtles (Carettochelys insculpta) and southern cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius), according to the report. Moorim, whose paper products sold around the world have Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, said in a written response to the findings of the report that there were no primary forests or peatlands in PNMP’s concession. Instead, it said PNMP’s concession consists of mainly secondary&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/fsc-certified-moorim-paper-linked-to-massive-forest-clearing-in-indonesias-papua/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/fsc-certified-moorim-paper-linked-to-massive-forest-clearing-in-indonesias-papua/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254194</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Is colonial history repeating itself with Sabah forest carbon deal? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/is-colonial-history-repeating-itself-with-sabah-forest-carbon-deals-big-reveal-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/is-colonial-history-repeating-itself-with-sabah-forest-carbon-deals-big-reveal-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2021 00:01:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cynthia Clare Ong Gaik Suan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/09191558/20170408-181529-3-2-768x480.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250062</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, Sabah, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Avoided Deforestation, Business, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Market, Climate Change, climate finance, Commentary, Conservation, Corporations, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, FPIC, Global Warming, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Law, Marketing, Mitigation, NGOs, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Bornean communities locked into 2-million-hectare carbon deal they don’t know about” &#8211; 9 Nov 2021, Mongabay This was the headline Sabah woke up to on the morning of November 10th. Before the Mongabay story broke, I heard from Australian friends and allies as early as July that something was afoot. Forests, carbon, climate and communities [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Bornean communities locked into 2-million-hectare carbon deal they don’t know about” &#8211; 9 Nov 2021, Mongabay This was the headline Sabah woke up to on the morning of November 10th. Before the Mongabay story broke, I heard from Australian friends and allies as early as July that something was afoot. Forests, carbon, climate and communities are core to our collaborative work between civil society and government. I asked colleagues in government if they had any information but did not hear a clear response. Over the weeks, I heard increasingly ominous whisperings. On 28 October, I received an email from international partners who had seen a Sabah deal – claimed to be signed in August – mentioned by external corporate entities in presentation materials. They were curious if I knew anything about it. The materials were presented by Tierra Australia, Hoch Standard and Global Natural Capital (GNC) – seemingly Australian, Singaporean and Malaysian entities. Here are two slides from the 43 pages I received: Screenshot of slide 11 of 14 slides presented by the three companies. A month later, I’m still struggling to understand why and how this happened – and why we had to learn about it from outside Sabah. Much has been revealed since then. We’ve now read numerous press articles, social media posts and reposts. We’ve seen online videos of the home offices of our new partners and footage of Hoch Standard’s Corporate Advisor Stan Golokin representing Sabah at COP26 in Glasgow, explaining carbon. We’ve read fact sheets&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/is-colonial-history-repeating-itself-with-sabah-forest-carbon-deals-big-reveal-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/is-colonial-history-repeating-itself-with-sabah-forest-carbon-deals-big-reveal-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250062</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Details emerge around closed-door carbon deal in Malaysian Borneo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/details-emerge-around-closed-door-carbon-deal-in-malaysian-borneo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/details-emerge-around-closed-door-carbon-deal-in-malaysian-borneo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Nov 2021 11:23:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/24075625/proboscis-monkey-Nasalis-larvatus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249839</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Offset Markets and Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Malaysia, Sabah, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Avoided Deforestation, Business, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Market, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Corporations, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, FPIC, Global Warming, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Law, Marketing, Mitigation, NGOs, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Update Feb. 10, 2022: Sabah&#8217;s attorney general says the consent of Indigenous communities is required for this agreement to move forward. Read the update here. Leaders in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo have begun to share more about a murky arrangement in which the rights to carbon and other ecosystem services [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Update Feb. 10, 2022: Sabah&#8217;s attorney general says the consent of Indigenous communities is required for this agreement to move forward. Read the update here. Leaders in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo have begun to share more about a murky arrangement in which the rights to carbon and other ecosystem services from the state’s forests were sold to a foreign company. On Oct. 28, state authorities signed a “nature conservation agreement” with a Singaporean firm, Hoch Standard Pte. Ltd., and involving an Australian management consultancy called Tierra Australia. The deal ostensibly gave Hoch Standard the right to sell credits for carbon and other natural capital, such as clean water, from “over 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres)” of forested land for the next 100-200 years, according to Peter Burgess, Tierra Australia’s CEO. Mongabay learned of the agreement from several anonymously shared documents and first reported its signing on Nov. 9. A micro-hydropower catchment system used by forest communities to generate electricity in Sabah’s Crocker Range. Image by John C. Cannon/Mongabay. The news arrived in Sabah against the backdrop of the U.N. climate conference held in early November in Glasgow, Scotland. Governments and companies at the conference, known as COP26, announced their intentions to funnel billions of dollars toward ending deforestation, boosting forest restoration, and supporting Indigenous-led land management to offset carbon emissions. Burgess also said his business partner, Stan Golokin, a Sabahan, was at the conference raising funds for the agreement. At the same time, rights&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/details-emerge-around-closed-door-carbon-deal-in-malaysian-borneo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/details-emerge-around-closed-door-carbon-deal-in-malaysian-borneo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249839</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation would be more effective with more Indigenous leadership, says Patrick Gonzales-Rogers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/conservation-would-be-more-effective-with-more-indigenous-leadership-says-patrick-gonzales-rogers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/conservation-would-be-more-effective-with-more-indigenous-leadership-says-patrick-gonzales-rogers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2021 14:54:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/03173040/37o19_-109o8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240132</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Finding Common Ground and Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Policy, FPIC, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Land Rights, philanthropy, Politics, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the past year there&#8217;s been a lot more talk about stakeholder inclusivity in the conservation sector. The combination of the social justice movement arising out of George Floyd&#8217;s killing in May 2020 and exposés of discriminatory practices has put a brighter spotlight on conservation&#8217;s legacies of colonialism and treatment of local and Indigenous communities [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the past year there&#8217;s been a lot more talk about stakeholder inclusivity in the conservation sector. The combination of the social justice movement arising out of George Floyd&#8217;s killing in May 2020 and exposés of discriminatory practices has put a brighter spotlight on conservation&#8217;s legacies of colonialism and treatment of local and Indigenous communities in and around protected areas, among other issues. But how would conservation actually transform its practices? Patrick Gonzales-Rogers, the Executive Director of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, says increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples in the leadership of conservation institutions would be a good place to start addressing structural issues around rights, race, and consent in the conservation sector. &#8220;If you were to go through the executive staff and the board of directors for seven largest conservation groups, you would find a serious lack of inclusion,&#8221; Gonzales-Rogers told Mongabay. &#8220;I did a manual count among these groups and found there are over 200 such positions in the seven largest conservation groups. You know many tribal members of the 200 something board members are there? There are six; two of them are mentioned twice.&#8221; &#8220;There is a vast dearth of people of color represented on these boards and executive leadership roles. This is important because of corporate governance: this is where objectives are created, assets are aligned, and deliverables are prioritized. So, the more you can get people of color, the more the assets and resources can be realigned to these communities.&#8221; Executive Director Patrick Gonzales-Rogers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/conservation-would-be-more-effective-with-more-indigenous-leadership-says-patrick-gonzales-rogers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/conservation-would-be-more-effective-with-more-indigenous-leadership-says-patrick-gonzales-rogers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240132</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>“Securing Indigenous guardianship of vital ecosystems”: Q&#038;A with Nia Tero CEO Peter Seligmann</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/securing-indigenous-guardianship-of-vital-ecosystems-qa-with-nia-tero-ceo-peter-seligmann/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/securing-indigenous-guardianship-of-vital-ecosystems-qa-with-nia-tero-ceo-peter-seligmann/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2021 15:04:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/20200149/CGM_Kayapo_2010_00106-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239665</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Finding Common Ground and Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, COVID-19, Forests, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, NGOs, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, transforming conservation, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the dominant trends in conservation over the past 20 years has been growing recognition of the contributions Indigenous peoples have made toward conservationists&#8217; goals of protecting biodiversity, wild places, and ecosystem functions. Lands stewarded by Indigenous peoples and local communities sequester at least a sixth of forest carbon and house 80% of terrestrial [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the dominant trends in conservation over the past 20 years has been growing recognition of the contributions Indigenous peoples have made toward conservationists&#8217; goals of protecting biodiversity, wild places, and ecosystem functions. Lands stewarded by Indigenous peoples and local communities sequester at least a sixth of forest carbon and house 80% of terrestrial species. Most of the world&#8217;s largest intact landscapes — from the Amazon rainforest to the island of New Guinea — have a long history of human inhabitation and today have substantial Indigenous populations. This view is a departure from historical conservation approaches, which have tended to marginalize, undervalue, or even criminalize Indigenous peoples, whose traditional homelands were at the same time being bulldozed for plantations and ranches; torn up for ore, minerals, and oil; poisoned by industrial waste and pollution; and invaded by speculators. Historically, Indigenous peoples&#8217; contributions haven&#8217;t been compensated by the outside world; in fact, there are many documented cases where in the name of establishing strict protected areas they have been forced from the lands they&#8217;ve traditionally stewarded or had the activities they&#8217;ve practiced for generations restricted. The transition unfolding across conservation is an important development for the sector, but going from talking about change to actually implementing meaningful reforms will be a challenge. It requires earnestly listening to criticism, engaging and empowering stakeholders who’ve been traditionally ignored or marginalized, reevaluating legacy relationships, and upending power structures, among other measures. For these reasons, Peter Seligmann is an important figure to watch. Seligmann&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/securing-indigenous-guardianship-of-vital-ecosystems-qa-with-nia-tero-ceo-peter-seligmann/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/securing-indigenous-guardianship-of-vital-ecosystems-qa-with-nia-tero-ceo-peter-seligmann/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peruvian Indigenous groups thwart oil drilling in their territory — for now</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/peruvian-indigenous-groups-thwart-oil-drilling-in-their-territory-for-now/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/peruvian-indigenous-groups-thwart-oil-drilling-in-their-territory-for-now/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2020 10:40:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/30055541/Jorge-Camacho_MG_2162-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236376</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corporations, COVID-19, Culture, Economics, Energy, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Forests, Fossil Fuels, FPIC, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Rainforests, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, Tropics, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Peruvian Amazon, two Indigenous groups have been battling the government and oil companies for decades to prevent an incursion they believe would forever alter their homeland. An immense oil concession known as Lot 64 overlaps with much of the Achuar Nation’s 8,020-square-kilometer (3,100-square-mile) homeland, as well as a portion of the neighboring territory [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Peruvian Amazon, two Indigenous groups have been battling the government and oil companies for decades to prevent an incursion they believe would forever alter their homeland. An immense oil concession known as Lot 64 overlaps with much of the Achuar Nation’s 8,020-square-kilometer (3,100-square-mile) homeland, as well as a portion of the neighboring territory of the Wampis people. The Achuar Nation is home to around 12,000 people living in 45 communities along tributaries of the Pastaza and Morona rivers. Some 15,000 people live in 85 communities in the Morona and Santiago river basins of the Wampis territory. But Lot 64 could also produce 10,000 barrels of oil a day, according to GeoPark, a private oil company based in Chile, and its partner, state-owned Petroperu. That would be a significant proportion of the roughly 35,000 to 70,000 barrels of Peru’s daily oil production between 2014 and 2020, based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy and the website Trading Economics. GeoPark is the latest in a succession of foreign companies, including U.S.-based ARCO, that have tried to tap into the lot’s oil since the mid-1990s. Any development of the block, the Achuar and the Wampis say, would almost certainly contaminate rivers vital to their existence in this corner of the Amazon. A map showing the location of Lot 64 adjacent to the Wampis Indigenous territory in northern Peru. Image courtesy of GTANW. Leaders of the two nations have fought for a permanent cancellation of Lot 64. Then, in July&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/peruvian-indigenous-groups-thwart-oil-drilling-in-their-territory-for-now/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/peruvian-indigenous-groups-thwart-oil-drilling-in-their-territory-for-now/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236376</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land grab, logging, mining threaten biodiversity haven of Woodlark Island</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/land-grab-logging-mining-threaten-biodiversity-haven-of-woodlark-island/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/land-grab-logging-mining-threaten-biodiversity-haven-of-woodlark-island/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2020 16:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gianluca Cerullo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/01164814/Woodlark-mine-infrastructure-geopacific-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=235415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, FPIC, Frogs, Gold Mining, Green, Habitat Loss, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Lizards, Mammals, Marsupials, Mining, Old Growth Forests, Pollution, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Reptiles, Tropical Forests, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A unique rainforest island lying 270 kilometers (168 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once again at the center of a tug-of-war between multiple extractive industries vying for its rich natural resources. Woodlark Island is home to dozens of species found nowhere else on Earth, but faces numerous overlapping threats from gold mining expansion and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A unique rainforest island lying 270 kilometers (168 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once again at the center of a tug-of-war between multiple extractive industries vying for its rich natural resources. Woodlark Island is home to dozens of species found nowhere else on Earth, but faces numerous overlapping threats from gold mining expansion and looming potential agricultural and logging projects. After a hard-won battle to regain customary land ownership over their New York City-sized island, Woodlark islanders recently faced a major land rights setback. A court has effectively revoked the islanders’ customary ownership over some 70% of Woodlark, returning the mostly forested area as a lease to Carter Holdings Limited. The company, formerly known as Vitroplant Limited, was the driving force behind a thwarted attempt to establish a large-scale biofuel project on Woodlark in 2007. Meanwhile, Woodlark still faces ambiguous threats from Malaysian-owned logging company Kulawood Limited, which has submitted a forest clearance application to the Papua New Guinean Forest Authority. Woodlark Island, also called Muyua Island, lies about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of the Papua New Guinea mainland. The forest clearance application covers 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) — around 40% of the island’s forest — but its status is unclear. This is despite an ongoing petition signed by more than 184,000 people calling on the Forest Authority to halt the deforestation. A similar petition launched earlier this year garnered some 228,000 signatures. An Australian mining company has also started expanding infrastructure on Woodlark. Geopacific Resources Limited, however,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/land-grab-logging-mining-threaten-biodiversity-haven-of-woodlark-island/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/land-grab-logging-mining-threaten-biodiversity-haven-of-woodlark-island/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-235415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Solomon Islands environmental defender faces life sentence for arson charge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/solomon-islands-environmental-defender-faces-life-sentence-for-arson-charge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/solomon-islands-environmental-defender-faces-life-sentence-for-arson-charge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2020 14:54:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Louise Hunt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/18174836/vanikoro-sat2-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234997</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Solomon Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Forests, FPIC, Governance, Green, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In June, three environmental defenders from the remote island of Nende celebrated their acquittal from arson charges, along with the many supporters who had attended their trial. But the later convictions of two co-defendants mean their fights for justice are far from over. The Nende Five, as they became known, were accused of burning logging [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In June, three environmental defenders from the remote island of Nende celebrated their acquittal from arson charges, along with the many supporters who had attended their trial. But the later convictions of two co-defendants mean their fights for justice are far from over. The Nende Five, as they became known, were accused of burning logging machinery belonging to Malaysia-based firm Xiang Lin SI Ltd. When Mongabay met some of the accused last year in the capital Honiara they had already spent half a year in the state prison in 2018, and were experiencing many hardships separated from their families as they waited on bail for their trial to begin. After two fraught years since their arrest and multiple court adjournments, the magistrate in the provincial capital Lata ruled that “there was no case to answer” as there was no evidence to link three of the accused to the charges. “There were no witnesses to the burning of the machines, it was all just hearsay evidence,” said Philix Nina, who was acquitted on conspiracy charges, alongside co-defendants Titus Godfrey Meoblir and Simon Meabir. Titus Godfrey Meoblir and Maggy Godfrey in Honaira in 2019. Photo by Louise Hunt for Mongabay. “The charge of arson carries a maximum penalty of life, it’s just like murder, so we welcome the decision to acquit the defendants,” Lily Ramo, a lawyer who represented them, told Mongabay in August. The verdict marked a rare victory for Solomon Islanders who try to stand up for their ancestral land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/solomon-islands-environmental-defender-faces-life-sentence-for-arson-charge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/solomon-islands-environmental-defender-faces-life-sentence-for-arson-charge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234997</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging, mining companies lock eyes on a biodiverse island like no other</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/logging-mining-companies-lock-eyes-on-a-biodiverse-island-like-no-other/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/logging-mining-companies-lock-eyes-on-a-biodiverse-island-like-no-other/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2019 21:39:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gianluca Cerullo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/01111224/woodlark-forests1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220941</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Amphibians, Animals, Cacao, Corruption, Deforestation, Forests, FPIC, Gold Mining, Habitat Loss, Herps, Land Grabbing, Logging, Mining, Pollution, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Reptiles, Tropical Forests, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[4759]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A unique island ecosystem and culture lying 270 kilometers (170 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once more in the crosshairs. Over the past decade, Woodlark Islanders have defended their forests — home to dozens of endemic species found nowhere else on Earth — from a slew of threats from loggers, miners and plantation developers. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A unique island ecosystem and culture lying 270 kilometers (170 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once more in the crosshairs. Over the past decade, Woodlark Islanders have defended their forests — home to dozens of endemic species found nowhere else on Earth — from a slew of threats from loggers, miners and plantation developers. Their latest challenge comes from a foreign-owned company, Kulawood Limited, which has applied for a permit to log and clear 30,000 hectares (74,100 acres) of land. If carried out, this will lead to the destruction of some 40 percent of the island’s forest. The company says the logging will be followed by the planting of trees and rubber and cocoa plantations, and that it is part of a wider integrated agriculture and forest plantation project. Yet an in-depth, four-part series published by investigative outlet PNGi casts doubt on this claim. It throws into question whether the promise of agricultural development is being dangled over Woodlark as a ploy for green-lighting industrial logging. It also reveals how the application process through which Kulawood has sought approval for large-scale forest conversion is “riddled with errors, inconsistencies and false information.” David Mitchell, director of Eco Custodian Advocates, a community-focused conservation charity in Papua New Guinea (PNG), has worked for many years in the region and says he believes logging is an immediate threat to the island. “There is something going on on Woodlark to try [and] get logging still. It is remote and difficult to monitor [the situation]&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/logging-mining-companies-lock-eyes-on-a-biodiverse-island-like-no-other/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/logging-mining-companies-lock-eyes-on-a-biodiverse-island-like-no-other/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220941</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Solomon Islanders imprisoned for trying to stop the logging of their forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/solomon-islanders-tried-to-stop-the-logging-of-their-forest-and-may-pay-the-price/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/solomon-islanders-tried-to-stop-the-logging-of-their-forest-and-may-pay-the-price/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 May 2019 15:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Louise Hunt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/05/17134623/002_SITE1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=218710</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Solomon Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Forests, FPIC, Governance, Green, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[4759]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second story in a two-part series on logging in the Solomon Islands. The first article, which focuses on the country at large and how its governance is affecting its forests, can be read here. HONIARA, Solomon Islands — Sitting in a primary school classroom that had become his makeshift home in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second story in a two-part series on logging in the Solomon Islands. The first article, which focuses on the country at large and how its governance is affecting its forests, can be read here. HONIARA, Solomon Islands — Sitting in a primary school classroom that had become his makeshift home in the Solomon Islands’ capital of Honiara, self-appointed forest ranger Titus Godfrey Meoblir told Mongabay how he and four others had wound up in the state jail for six months after they were accused of burning logging machines on their home island of Nende. It was just over a month since he had been released on bail in December. “We have become like the environmental Nelson Mandelas of the Solomon Islands for standing up for our rights,” said the affable 43-year-old father of six with a chuckle. But his wife, Maggy Godfrey, a teacher, didn’t see the funny side. She was desperate to return to their young children who had been left in the care of relatives. The couple were stuck in the garbage-choked, ramshackle port town where Titus and the other protesters had to report to the police twice a week until the final trial hearing that began on May 13. “We have had many hardships, we have been separated from our children for a long time, and I am sorry for that,” Titus said. Titus Godfrey Meoblir and Maggy Godfrey in Honaira. Photo by Louise Hunt for Mongabay. The “Nende Five” case, as it’s become&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/solomon-islanders-tried-to-stop-the-logging-of-their-forest-and-may-pay-the-price/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/solomon-islanders-tried-to-stop-the-logging-of-their-forest-and-may-pay-the-price/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-218710</doi>				</item>
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