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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/palm-oil/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 15:59:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Palm Oil</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/palm-oil/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Palm oil expansion reignites decade-old Indigenous land conflict in Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/palm-oil-expansion-reignites-decade-old-indigenous-land-conflict-in-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/palm-oil-expansion-reignites-decade-old-indigenous-land-conflict-in-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 03:49:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas JongNiken D. Sitoningrum]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31032649/image-32-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325017</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Palm Oil, Rainforest Destruction, Social Conflict, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two palm oil companies embroiled in a long-running land dispute with an Indigenous community in Indonesian Borneo have resumed the clearing of rainforest and other land to expand their plantations for the first time in more than a decade. In June 2025, the Indigenous Dayak Benuaq community of Muara Tae reported that the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two palm oil companies embroiled in a long-running land dispute with an Indigenous community in Indonesian Borneo have resumed the clearing of rainforest and other land to expand their plantations for the first time in more than a decade. In June 2025, the Indigenous Dayak Benuaq community of Muara Tae reported that the two companies — PT Borneo Surya Mining Jaya (BSMJ), owned by Singapore-listed First Resources, and PT Munte Waniq Jaya Perkasa (MWJP), a subsidiary of Malaysia-owned TSH Resources — had restarted land clearing and evictions in what the community says is its ancestral territory. The latest activities mark a new chapter in one of Indonesia&#8217;s highest-profile land conflicts involving the palm oil industry, which Mongabay covered in an in-depth report in 2015. Eviction activity using heavy equipment by PT BSMJ as of 2 June 2026 (c) Kaoem Telapak The dispute dates back to 2011-2012, when BSMJ and MWJP began bulldozing rainforest in an area claimed by Muara Tae, a village in West Kutai district, East Kalimantan province. The companies say they bought leasehold rights from residents of Muara Ponaq, a village next to Muara Tae. But Muara Tae has contended the companies colluded with individuals in Muara Ponaq who fraudulently signed away hundreds of hectares of Muara Tae’s communally held land, in exchange for hundreds of millions of rupiah. The district government facilitated the transactions by redrawing the Tae-Ponaq border, increasing the latter’s territory at the expense of the former. The district chief at the time,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/palm-oil-expansion-reignites-decade-old-indigenous-land-conflict-in-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/palm-oil-expansion-reignites-decade-old-indigenous-land-conflict-in-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325017</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Loopholes undermine palm oil industry’s antideforestation pledges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 21:51:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/02173520/sabah_1209-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320195</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Certification, Commodity agriculture, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, EUDR, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Governance, International Trade, Monitoring, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Satellite Imagery, and Supply Chain]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — More than a decade after the palm oil industry embraced a pledge to not deforest, clear tropical peatlands, or use exploitative practices, policies to that end now cover most of the global palm oil trade, as major traders, refiners and consumer brands have pledged to keep deforestation-linked palm oil out of their supply [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — More than a decade after the palm oil industry embraced a pledge to not deforest, clear tropical peatlands, or use exploitative practices, policies to that end now cover most of the global palm oil trade, as major traders, refiners and consumer brands have pledged to keep deforestation-linked palm oil out of their supply chains. However, deforestation linked to palm oil continues, particularly in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of the commodity. Satellite analysis by forest-mapping initiative TheTreeMap shows 31,073 hectares (76,783 acres) of forest were cleared for palm oil in Indonesia in 2025, slightly higher than the 30,956 hectares (76,494 acres) recorded in 2024 — highlighting persistent gaps in how the industry enforces its zero-deforestation pledges. In some cases, palm oil from newly cleared land still enters supply chains that companies describe as deforestation-free. “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policies aim to eliminate three major sources of harm in palm oil production: clearing natural forests, developing plantations on carbon-rich peatlands, and exploiting workers or local communities. By 2020, these commitments covered roughly 83% of palm oil refinery capacity in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s main producing region. In recent years, companies have also built systems to enforce these pledges. Many now publish grievance mechanisms where violations can be reported, while third-party monitoring groups use satellite imagery to track forest loss and flag suspicious activity. Large-scale corporate deforestation in Indonesia has fallen compared to the mid-2010s, when some plantation companies were clearing vast areas of rainforest. Deforestation for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320195</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia braces for possible ‘Godzilla El Niño’ as fire season escalates early</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 04:12:41 +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/20/2023/10/05111107/student-in-haze-kalimantan-indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, El Nino, Fires, Forests, Health, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Pollution, Public Health, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, 20 times higher than the same period last year — even before the dry season has fully set in. Scientists say this early surge could signal the start of a more intense fire season, especially as climate forecasts point to the possible return of El Niño. Some global forecasts suggest the event could become one of the strongest in at least a decade, raising the risk of prolonged drought and widespread fires, although significant uncertainty remains over how intense it will ultimately be. A strong El Niño would also likely reshape global weather patterns and could push global temperatures to record levels in 2027, due to the lagged warming effect the phenomenon has on the climate system. El Niño refers to a warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can disrupt weather patterns worldwide. In Indonesia, it is typically associated with drier conditions and heightened fire risk. Indonesian agencies have at times referred to the potential event as a Godzilla El Niño, a nonscientific term used to describe an unusually strong episode that could significantly intensify drought and fire risk. Indonesia’s meteorological agency, BMKG, says there is a 50-80% chance of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317563</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EUDR is starting to steer company actions, despite slow progress: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 20:46:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/11180020/AP23291581278710-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317553</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[European Union and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Beef, Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Forest Loss, Illegal Logging, Law, Law Enforcement, leather, Palm Oil, Soy, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Timber, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some companies have made headway toward removing deforestation from their supply chains in the last year, in preparation for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a new report by the NGO Global Canopy. This shows that the upcoming regulation is driving some progress despite an unfavorable global climate for environmental commitments. The Forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some companies have made headway toward removing deforestation from their supply chains in the last year, in preparation for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a new report by the NGO Global Canopy. This shows that the upcoming regulation is driving some progress despite an unfavorable global climate for environmental commitments. The Forest 500 Report 2026 examined the corporate commitments on deforestation, land conversion and human rights of the 500 companies with most influence over nine commodities linked to deforestation and covered by the EUDR: beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm, pulp and paper, rubber, soy and timber. It found that more than a quarter of companies reported new forms of implementation action in 2025, and 14% specifically mentioned the EUDR in documents about deforestation commitments. Forest 500 is based on public documents, and more companies could be making decisions based on the EUDR in private, the report notes. The EUDR is due to take effect Dec. 30 this year after several delays. “The EUDR is the main focus of this report. The key takeaway is that it’s working, it’s appearing in lots of company reporting, with 68 companies in our assessment citing it in regard to deforestation commitments, especially with traceability,” said Chloe Rollscane, a research associate at Global Canopy. “Even though [the EUDR] is not in place yet, it’s obvious that companies are getting ready for it.” These companies include producers and processors in source countries, as well as traders and retailers in the EU, Rollscane told&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317553</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s deforestation surges 66% in 2025, reversing years of decline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 03:50:22 +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/20/2025/10/10103728/Nickel-Mining-on-Manuran-Island-Auriga-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critical Minerals, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Energy, Food, food security, Forest Loss, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Pulp And Paper, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s deforestation surged in 2025, rising 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline, according to new data from the NGO Auriga Nusantara. Based on satellite analysis, Auriga estimates that 433,751 hectares (1.1 million acres) of forest, an area more than twice the size of London, were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s deforestation surged in 2025, rising 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline, according to new data from the NGO Auriga Nusantara. Based on satellite analysis, Auriga estimates that 433,751 hectares (1.1 million acres) of forest, an area more than twice the size of London, were lost in 2025, the highest level in eight years. Forest loss had previously fallen to a historic low in 2021, following five consecutive years of decline since 2017, driven in part by a series of forest protection policies under former President Joko Widodo. But since 2022, the trend has reversed, with deforestation rising again before spiking in 2025 across all of Indonesia’s major islands. “The surge in deforestation in 2025 is truly distressing, taking Indonesia back to a time when it was at its highest,” said Auriga executive director Timer Manurung. The trend stands in contrast to developments in the Amazon, where deforestation has declined for three consecutive years following renewed enforcement and federal efforts under Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2025, deforestation in the biome fell 11.1% to 579,600 hectares (1.4 million acres), the lowest level in more than a decade. “Brazil’s deforestation, concentrated in the Amazon, is declining. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s is increasing. So it’s possible Indonesia could become the world’s top deforester among tropical countries in 2025,” Timer said. Auriga’s findings are broadly consistent with early signals from official data. While the government has yet to release full-year figures for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oil surge sharpens calls for Indonesia to shift away from fossil fuels</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2026 03:23:28 +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/20/2026/04/01031350/5A269589-C332-4BC2-B240-4088D4141843-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316691</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Carbon Tax, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Coal, Conflict, El Nino, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Just Transition, Oil, Palm Oil, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As the U.S.-Israel war on Iran drives oil prices above $100 a barrel and disrupts global supply routes, Indonesia is once again confronting the costs of its dependence on fossil fuels — with growing calls not only to accelerate its renewable energy adoption, but also to make oil and gas companies help pay [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As the U.S.-Israel war on Iran drives oil prices above $100 a barrel and disrupts global supply routes, Indonesia is once again confronting the costs of its dependence on fossil fuels — with growing calls not only to accelerate its renewable energy adoption, but also to make oil and gas companies help pay for the transition. The crisis is already testing the country’s energy system. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil flows, have constrained supply, sending prices sharply higher from around $70 a barrel before the war began at the end of February. For Indonesia, the impact has been immediate. The country of 280 million people has been a net oil importer since 2003, and its economy remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels to power transport, industry and electricity. That dependence is now translating into rising fiscal pressure, currency risks and broader economic vulnerability. Yet the same shock is also sharpening calls to speed up the transition to renewable energy, even as policymakers move to secure more fossil fuel supplies and ramp up coal output at home. The ongoing global energy crisis, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) describes as the worst in recorded history, has laid bare the risks of Indonesia’s energy mix. The country consumes around 1.5 million barrels of oil per day but produces less than 700,000 barrels, leaving it highly reliant on imports. That exposure carries a direct cost. An analysis by the Institute for Development of Economics and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316691</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil clearing advances in Bornean orangutan habitat despite red flags</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/palm-oil-clearing-advances-in-bornean-orangutan-habitat-despite-red-flags/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/palm-oil-clearing-advances-in-bornean-orangutan-habitat-despite-red-flags/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2026 01:50:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/03/30124058/sabah_3937-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316314</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Forests, Mammals, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A palm oil company is ramping up its destruction of forests that are home to critically endangered orangutans in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the island of Borneo, according to satellite imagery and government sources. In October 2025, Mongabay reported that PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR) had clear-cut 1,376 hectares (3,400 acres) of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A palm oil company is ramping up its destruction of forests that are home to critically endangered orangutans in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the island of Borneo, according to satellite imagery and government sources. In October 2025, Mongabay reported that PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR) had clear-cut 1,376 hectares (3,400 acres) of forest between January and August 2025, based on satellite image analysis by Satya Bumi, an Indonesian environmental nonprofit. Prior to that, ESR had cleared no more than 195 hectares (482 acres) of forest. The company is operating within a 15,000-hectare (37,000-acre) oil palm plantation concession in Kapuas Hulu, a district in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province. Now, an updated analysis by Satya Bumi shows that ESR further accelerated its rainforest clearing in the final quarter of 2025, razing an additional 1,492 hectares (3,687 acres) of forest from October to December. It has now cleared a total of 3,063 hectares (7,569 acres) of forest within its concession, according to Satya Bumi. Map that shows deforestation in palm oil company PT Equator Sumber Rezeki&#8217;s concession in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. ESR’s concession overlaps with part of the Labian–Leboyan watershed, a wildlife corridor connecting Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum national parks — two of the last strongholds for the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). The corridor and parks form part of the UNESCO-designated Betung Kerihun–Danau Sentarum Biosphere Reserve, whose forests sustain hundreds of species of wildlife, including sun bears, hornbills and giant rafflesia flowers. They also provide&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/palm-oil-clearing-advances-in-bornean-orangutan-habitat-despite-red-flags/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/palm-oil-clearing-advances-in-bornean-orangutan-habitat-despite-red-flags/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316314</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘We do not have time’: Interview with MEP Delara Burkhardt on the EUDR’s second delay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 22:01:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11214717/Still-2026-03-01-174516_2.3.1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315607</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, EUDR, Forest Destruction, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Logging, Logging, Palm Oil, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Soy, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2023, when the European Parliament passed a law meant to keep products linked to deforestation out of the EU single market, environmentalists were riding high. The landmark piece of legislation, called the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation, or EUDR, had won the support of an overwhelming majority of lawmakers as part of the EU’s Green [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2023, when the European Parliament passed a law meant to keep products linked to deforestation out of the EU single market, environmentalists were riding high. The landmark piece of legislation, called the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation, or EUDR, had won the support of an overwhelming majority of lawmakers as part of the EU’s Green Deal. Opposition from commodity-producing countries like Brazil and Malaysia hadn’t derailed the law, which looked like it would promptly cruise into force. And then the winds changed. The 2024 EU elections sent parliament into a sharp rightward turn, partly caused by a “greenlash” against the cost of bold environmental and climate policies. Afterward, the new parliament amended the EUDR to weaken its requirements and decided to delay its implementation for a year, with a spokesperson for the ascendant center-right voting bloc calling it a “bureaucratic monster.” Late last year, the law was delayed for a second time — raising concerns over whether it will now be implemented at all. To get a better understanding of the politics behind the repeated delays and what they say about the EU’s environmental agenda, Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo caught up with Germany’s Delara Burkhardt at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. One of the youngest members of parliament, Burkhardt has been the lead negotiator on the EUDR for the Socialists and Democrats Group. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: I wanted to start by asking you: what is the EUDR and why is it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315607</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous communities oppose Papua forest rezoning for palm oil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-communities-oppose-papua-forest-rezoning-for-palm-oil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-communities-oppose-papua-forest-rezoning-for-palm-oil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2026 08:09:07 +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/20/2024/06/07094358/GP0SU0TGD_Medium-res-1200px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314751</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Bioenergy, Conflict, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Food, food security, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous communities in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua accuse the government of underhanded zoning changes to expand the so-called food estate program there to include large-scale oil palm plantations. Indigenous representatives have filed a formal objection to two decrees issued by the Ministry of Forestry that reclassify 486,939 hectares (1.2 million acres) of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indigenous communities in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua accuse the government of underhanded zoning changes to expand the so-called food estate program there to include large-scale oil palm plantations. Indigenous representatives have filed a formal objection to two decrees issued by the Ministry of Forestry that reclassify 486,939 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest in Merauke, Boven Digoel and Mappi districts, in South Papua province, as nonforest land. This new designation means these forests are now eligible to be cleared for oil palm plantations. The communities say these decrees were issued without consulting them and overlap with areas they’ve long proposed as customary forests, or hutan adat. They allege that the process is being bulldozed through without their knowledge or consent, and that it threatens their customary territories. “This [rezoning] harms communities because they are the owners of those forests, yet they are not recognized as customary owners,” Tigor Hutapea, a lawyer from the NGO Pusaka Bentala Rakyat working with the communities, told Mongabay. He said at least four Indigenous clans in Boven Digoel district are affected by the rezoning as the areas covered by the decrees overlap onto their customary lands. Papuan Indigenous people and activists hold a protest against Merauke Food Estate in front of the Defense Ministry office in Jakarta in 2024. Image © Afriadi Hikmal / Greenpeace. Next-day approval The rezoning follows a proposal to expand the food estate program into a broader agricultural and energy project in South Papua. On Sept. 17, 2025,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-communities-oppose-papua-forest-rezoning-for-palm-oil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-communities-oppose-papua-forest-rezoning-for-palm-oil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314751</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia faces scrutiny over permit revocations following deadly floods and landslides</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-faces-scrutiny-over-permit-revocations-following-deadly-floods-and-landslides/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-faces-scrutiny-over-permit-revocations-following-deadly-floods-and-landslides/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Feb 2026 03:55:53 +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/20/2025/12/18164313/Permukiman-hancur-akibat-banjir6-2048x1366-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314513</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and West Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The Indonesian government’s revocation of 28 forestry, plantation and mining permits after the deadly Sumatra floods is facing new scrutiny after researchers found that several of the concessions cited in the announcement had already expired, been revoked years earlier or are located outside the disaster-hit watersheds. The revocations, announced after Cyclone Senyar triggered [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The Indonesian government’s revocation of 28 forestry, plantation and mining permits after the deadly Sumatra floods is facing new scrutiny after researchers found that several of the concessions cited in the announcement had already expired, been revoked years earlier or are located outside the disaster-hit watersheds. The revocations, announced after Cyclone Senyar triggered landslides and flash floods that killed about 1,200 people, mark a shift in enforcement. Instead of focusing on court-led environmental cases and restoration orders, officials say the land will be managed by state-owned enterprises under the sovereign wealth fund Danantara. Civil society groups say that risks turning a disaster response into a restructuring of control over forest and resource assets. Officials have said the 28 companies violated environmental and forestry regulations through their activities such as forest clearing and thus contributed to ecological damage linked to the disasters. However, an analysis by the NGO Auriga Nusantara found that some of the permits cited in the announcement had already been revoked years earlier, while others had expired before the floods occurred. The discrepancies add to growing confusion over how the policy is being implemented, which companies are actually linked to the November 2025 floods and landslides and what will happen to the former concession areas now slated for transfer to state-owned enterprises under Danantara. “We found that several companies’ concessions are not located in the disaster-affected areas — they are quite far from the disaster zones,” Auriga legal director Roni Saputra told Mongabay. A woman stands&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-faces-scrutiny-over-permit-revocations-following-deadly-floods-and-landslides/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-faces-scrutiny-over-permit-revocations-following-deadly-floods-and-landslides/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314513</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia says intervention in notorious Sumatran national park part of new ‘model’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-says-intervention-in-notorious-sumatran-national-park-part-of-new-model/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-says-intervention-in-notorious-sumatran-national-park-part-of-new-model/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Feb 2026 09:44:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/17090357/sumatran-elephant-and-mahout-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314327</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Elephants, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Forestry, Forests, Governance, National Parks, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PELALAWAN, Indonesia — A radical new policy to relocate people living in a notoriously deforested national park on Sumatra has moved hundreds of families to date, with Indonesian officials presenting the controversial program as a blueprint for other protected areas across Asia’s largest remaining tropical forests. “This activity will serve as a model for other [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PELALAWAN, Indonesia — A radical new policy to relocate people living in a notoriously deforested national park on Sumatra has moved hundreds of families to date, with Indonesian officials presenting the controversial program as a blueprint for other protected areas across Asia’s largest remaining tropical forests. “This activity will serve as a model for other locations in restoring national parks,” Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said in a statement. Tesso Nilo is one of the few remaining habitats of the critically endangered Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) and Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). The forest is also home to thousands of plant species. The lowland national park in Sumatra’s Riau province has suffered extensive deforestation, however, despite being granted the highest level of state protection two decades ago. Tesso Nilo was designated a national park in 2004 on a former logging timber concession. Following a subsequent expansion in 2009, Tesso Nilo National Park now spans 81,793 hectares (202,115 acres) — an area larger than New York City. Data from Global Forest Watch, a satellite platform managed by the World Resources Institute, showed Tesso Nilo National Park lost 78% of its old-growth forest between the expansion in 2009 and end-2023. Fieldworkers in Riau say the extraordinary level of destruction in Tesso Nilo reflects complex challenges to the rule of law on the ground, from community encroachment and migration to corruption and organized criminality, which successive local and national governments have failed to control. In an attempt to halt the crisis,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesia-says-intervention-in-notorious-sumatran-national-park-part-of-new-model/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314327</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia sues 6 companies over alleged links to deadly floods &#038; landslides</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-sues-6-companies-over-alleged-links-to-deadly-floods-landslides/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-sues-6-companies-over-alleged-links-to-deadly-floods-landslides/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jan 2026 06:21:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03233535/AP25336560227612-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313083</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Disasters, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Gold Mining, Great Apes, Hydroelectric Power, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Mining, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In the wake of the deadly floods and landslides that struck Indonesia in late 2025, the nation’s environment ministry has sued six companies, seeking 4.8 trillion rupiah ($284 million) in environmental damages linked to the disasters. Following devastating floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Senyar in November, which killed more than 1,100 people [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In the wake of the deadly floods and landslides that struck Indonesia in late 2025, the nation’s environment ministry has sued six companies, seeking 4.8 trillion rupiah ($284 million) in environmental damages linked to the disasters. Following devastating floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Senyar in November, which killed more than 1,100 people across Indonesia’s main western island of Sumatra, the ministry launched an investigation into 70 companies operating in the region to examine possible links between corporate activities and the disasters. This week, the environment ministry’s law enforcement department announced the preliminary results of its investigation. Six companies, it said, were responsible for alleged damage to watersheds in North Sumatra province, involving the clearing of 2,516 hectares (6,217 acres) of rainforest, particularly in and around the Batang Toru and Garoga watersheds. “The reason these companies are being sued is that, based on expert studies, alleged environmental damage was found around the Garoga watershed and the Batang Toru watershed,” said Dodi Kurniawan, the director of environmental dispute resolution at the ministry, during a press conference in Jakarta on Jan. 15. Sentinel-2 imagery (natural colors, 10-meter spatial resolution) over the rainforest of Batang Toru, home to the Tapanuli orangutan, taken before and after the extreme rainfall event that caused havoc in Sumatra in late November 2025. The before image was taken on Oct. 27, 2025; the after image on Dec. 3, 2025, showing patches of bare soil suddenly appearing. Image courtesy of TheTreeMap. The steep rainforest hills of Batang&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-sues-6-companies-over-alleged-links-to-deadly-floods-landslides/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313083</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia says 4 million hectares of plantation, mining lands reclaimed in crackdown</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-says-4-million-hectares-of-plantation-mining-lands-reclaimed-in-crackdown/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-says-4-million-hectares-of-plantation-mining-lands-reclaimed-in-crackdown/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jan 2026 11:43:35 +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/20/2021/04/14165901/indonesia_20152253-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312938</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Land Conflict, Landscape Restoration, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Rehabilitation, Restoration, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has reclaimed more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres, about the size of Switzerland) of land nationwide that had been used for plantations, mining or other activities inside areas officially designated as forest, according to the government. The ongoing crackdown — the country’s most sweeping enforcement drive to date against illegal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has reclaimed more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres, about the size of Switzerland) of land nationwide that had been used for plantations, mining or other activities inside areas officially designated as forest, according to the government. The ongoing crackdown — the country’s most sweeping enforcement drive to date against illegal activities in forest areas — is being carried out by a task force established by President Prabowo Subianto in January 2025, involving the military, police, prosecutors and multiple ministries. Officials say the task force initially targeted 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land to seize in 2025, and thus it has exceeded its initial target by more than 400% within its first 10 months of operation. But the unprecedented scale of the seizures has also exposed unresolved questions about the data underpinning the campaign, how much of the land involved is actually oil palm, and what will happen to seized plantations and mines after enforcement. The reclaimed areas span mostly oil palm plantations as well as mining concessions — primarily nickel and coal — and conservation zones such as national parks and protected forests. Enforcement actions cited by authorities include oil palm plantations operating without proper forest-area permits, mining operations lacking approval for forest-area use, unlicensed gold mining, illegal tourism structures inside conservation areas and oil palm encroachment inside national parks. Burned land inside Tesso Nilo National Park in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Questions about the numbers The scale of the government’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-says-4-million-hectares-of-plantation-mining-lands-reclaimed-in-crackdown/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312938</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia closes 2025 with rising disasters and stalled environmental reform</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indonesia-closes-2025-with-rising-disasters-and-stalled-environmental-reform/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indonesia-closes-2025-with-rising-disasters-and-stalled-environmental-reform/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2025 22:23:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/30140712/indonesia-floods-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312279</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Development, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Flooding, Forests, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Mining, Palm Oil, Plantations, Politics, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia closed 2025 facing an uncomfortable reality: climate disasters are escalating while policy direction has remained largely unchanged during President Prabowo Subianto’s first year in office, with the country still heavily dependent on fossil fuels and extractive industries such as palm oil and mining. One of the deadliest disasters in Indonesia in recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia closed 2025 facing an uncomfortable reality: climate disasters are escalating while policy direction has remained largely unchanged during President Prabowo Subianto’s first year in office, with the country still heavily dependent on fossil fuels and extractive industries such as palm oil and mining. One of the deadliest disasters in Indonesia in recent years struck in November 2025, when days of intense rainfall triggered flooding and landslides across three provinces on the island of Sumatra: Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. Scientists and environmental groups say the destruction should not be treated as an isolated natural event. Instead, they point to long-standing problems in land use, energy planning and governance that have left large parts of the island more vulnerable to extreme weather. They argue that forest loss, industrial expansion and weak controls on permits and spatial planning have worsened the impact of heavy rain. River catchments, upstream forests and steep slopes that play a key role in absorbing water are still allowed to be legally deforested under current land-use rules. Disasters as warning signs, not anomalies For Leonard Simanjuntak, the Indonesia country director for Greenpeace, the disasters were a “hard warning” that the country’s environmental carrying capacity has reached a critical point — a warning that, he said, has largely gone unheeded. “I think the Sumatra disaster was a very strong warning,” he told Mongabay. “But over the past year, there have been many other warnings too, and they seem not to have been taken seriously.” Leonard&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indonesia-closes-2025-with-rising-disasters-and-stalled-environmental-reform/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indonesia-closes-2025-with-rising-disasters-and-stalled-environmental-reform/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312279</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>SE Asia’s smallholders struggling to meet EUDR: Interview with RECOFTC’s Martin Greijmans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/se-asias-smallholders-struggling-to-meet-eudr-interview-with-recoftcs-martin-greijmans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/se-asias-smallholders-struggling-to-meet-eudr-interview-with-recoftcs-martin-greijmans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 10:59:05 +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/20/2025/12/29105530/IMG_6036-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312175</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Certification, Coffee, Community Forests, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forestry, Green, International Trade, Palm Oil, Plantations, Regulations, Timber, and Timber Laws]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Smallholders produce significant quantities of Vietnam’s coffee, Indonesia’s palm oil, and Thailand’s rubber exported into the EU. Yet under the bloc’s upcoming deforestation-free regulation (EUDR), industry experts say small-scale producers across Southeast Asia need more support to help prepare them to comply with the new rules. The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is set to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Smallholders produce significant quantities of Vietnam’s coffee, Indonesia’s palm oil, and Thailand’s rubber exported into the EU. Yet under the bloc’s upcoming deforestation-free regulation (EUDR), industry experts say small-scale producers across Southeast Asia need more support to help prepare them to comply with the new rules. The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is set to take effect at the end of 2026, after EU lawmakers voted earlier this month to postpone its implementation for the second year in a row, citing technical concerns. Its goal is to ensure that forest-linked products imported into the EU are deforestation-free by introducing mechanisms that enable companies trading seven commodities — cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and timber — to track their products’ origins throughout the entire supply chain. While experts say increased oversight is a vital step to reduce the footprint of EU consumption on forests, others have warned that without appropriate support and governance mechanisms, the new rules could introduce inequities that harm small-scale producers. Many smallholders lack the capacity and capital to comply with some aspects of the new regulations, for instance. This could see them sidelined in favor of bigger producers who can more easily adapt, according to Martin Greijmans, community enterprise program lead at RECOFTC, a Thailand-based community forest nonprofit. Further complicating matters are limited resources to inform smallholders about how the regulations will affect their businesses, underscoring the need for greater efforts by governments and private companies to help smallholders adapt, he says. “One shocking thing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/se-asias-smallholders-struggling-to-meet-eudr-interview-with-recoftcs-martin-greijmans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/se-asias-smallholders-struggling-to-meet-eudr-interview-with-recoftcs-martin-greijmans/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312175</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous Dayak sound alarm as palm oil firm razes orangutan habitat in Borneo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indigenous-dayak-sound-alarm-as-palm-oil-firm-razes-orangutan-habitat-in-borneo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indigenous-dayak-sound-alarm-as-palm-oil-firm-razes-orangutan-habitat-in-borneo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2025 04:01:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/28121816/bornean-orangutan-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310408</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Culture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAPUAS HULU, Indonesia — A palm oil company is rapidly clearing rainforest inside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that’s home to orangutans and sun bears, adding to concerns over Indonesia’s efforts to curb deforestation. The company, PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR), is a subsidiary of the Jakarta-based First Borneo Group, owned by Indonesian tycoon Alexander Thaslim. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAPUAS HULU, Indonesia — A palm oil company is rapidly clearing rainforest inside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that’s home to orangutans and sun bears, adding to concerns over Indonesia’s efforts to curb deforestation. The company, PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR), is a subsidiary of the Jakarta-based First Borneo Group, owned by Indonesian tycoon Alexander Thaslim. It has cleared nearly 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of rainforest since it began operating last year in Kapuas Hulu, a landlocked district deep in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, near the border with Malaysia. ESR’s 15,000-hectare (37,000-acre) oil palm plantation concession overlaps with part of the Labian–Leboyan watershed, a wildlife corridor connecting Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum national parks — two of the last strongholds for the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Conservationists estimate that as much as 80% of the concession area contains rainforest deemed of high conservation value, making it especially vital to protect. Orangutans inhabit about a quarter of the concession, according to a government-backed study from 2016. The corridor and parks form part of the Betung Kerihun–Danau Sentarum Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO in 2018. Its forests sustain hundreds of species of fish, birds and mammals, including rare hornbills and giant rafflesia flowers, and provide water, food and livelihoods for Indigenous Dayak communities whose cultures are deeply tied to the land. The location of PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR)&#8217;s palm oil concession in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, which overlaps with a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Despite the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indigenous-dayak-sound-alarm-as-palm-oil-firm-razes-orangutan-habitat-in-borneo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/indigenous-dayak-sound-alarm-as-palm-oil-firm-razes-orangutan-habitat-in-borneo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310408</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EU touts climate leadership while undermining antideforestation rules, critics say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/eu-touts-climate-leadership-while-undermining-antideforestation-rules-critics-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/eu-touts-climate-leadership-while-undermining-antideforestation-rules-critics-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Nov 2025 13:48:29 +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/20/2025/11/12130728/1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309907</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[European Union and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forests, International Trade, Palm Oil, Plantations, Politics, Rainforests, Soy, Supply Chain, Trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BELÉM, Brazil — At a Nov. 19 press conference at the U.N. climate summit currently underway in Brazil, European Union officials spoke for half an hour without a single mention of forests or efforts to halt deforestation — even though COP30 is taking place in a city dubbed the “gateway to the Amazon.” For Boris [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BELÉM, Brazil — At a Nov. 19 press conference at the U.N. climate summit currently underway in Brazil, European Union officials spoke for half an hour without a single mention of forests or efforts to halt deforestation — even though COP30 is taking place in a city dubbed the “gateway to the Amazon.” For Boris Patentreger, senior director for France at advocacy group Mighty Earth, the silence captured a wider problem: back in Europe, governments are moving to weaken the EU’s flagship antideforestation law, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “That [press conference] was the last moment to say that we want to keep the EUDR. And they didn’t say that,” he told Mongabay. “And actually, I was really surprised because there was no question about deforestation. It was only a question about climate.” Adopted in June 2023, the EUDR was meant to cement the EU’s environmental leadership. Once in force, it will require importers of cocoa, coffee, palm oil, cattle, timber and rubber products to prove their products aren’t linked to deforestation. The EUDR was designed to protect tropical forests in places like the Amazon and Indonesia, which continue to shrink at alarming rates, driven in large part to meet consumption demand in wealthy markets. The EU is the world’s second-largest driver of imported deforestation, after China. But political momentum has shifted sharply inside the bloc. The EUDR was meant to go into force at the end of 2024. This was then delayed by a year, pushing the enforcement date&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/eu-touts-climate-leadership-while-undermining-antideforestation-rules-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/eu-touts-climate-leadership-while-undermining-antideforestation-rules-critics-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309907</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cautious win for Indigenous groups in Malaysia as palm oil firm pauses forest clearing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/cautious-win-for-indigenous-groups-in-malaysia-as-palm-oil-firm-pauses-forest-clearing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/cautious-win-for-indigenous-groups-in-malaysia-as-palm-oil-firm-pauses-forest-clearing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2025 22:48:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Danielle Keeton-Olsen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/11175004/Community-Blockade_borneoproject-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309126</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Malaysia, Sarawak, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous activists in central Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo have declared victory, at least temporarily, after palm oil firm Urun Plantations agreed to a moratorium on clearing land in a disputed area. Penan and Kenyah residents of the Long Urun region alleged that the plantation, which is certified as sustainable, was clearing natural forest that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous activists in central Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo have declared victory, at least temporarily, after palm oil firm Urun Plantations agreed to a moratorium on clearing land in a disputed area. Penan and Kenyah residents of the Long Urun region alleged that the plantation, which is certified as sustainable, was clearing natural forest that should remain standing — even as the plantation company maintains any land clearing was within legal guidelines. This Sept. 24, 2025 image shows land clearing in the Long Urun area. Image courtesy of The Borneo Project. According to a press release from Indigenous rights and environmental protection NGO SAVE Rivers, community leaders reported that the Glenealy/Samling Belaga Mill, the last remaining mill within 50 kilometers (30 miles) still buying palm fruit from Urun Plantations, has suspended sourcing from the plantation. The moratorium agreement also follows a recent media campaign by SAVE Rivers and environmental advocacy group The Borneo Project, which called on international palm oil producer SD Guthrie (formerly known as Sime Darby Plantation and one of the world’s largest producers of certified sustainable palm oil), to suspend purchases from the Glenealy/Samling Belaga Mill. Satellite imagery shows deforestation within Urun Plantations’ concession. Image by Emilie Languedoc / Mongabay. Eileen Clare Ipa, a resident of Long Urun’s Uma Pawa village, told Mongabay she was glad the company had stopped cutting trees, but she saw them still planting oil palm and doing maintenance on the cleared area. Ipa said she wants the company to leave that area&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/cautious-win-for-indigenous-groups-in-malaysia-as-palm-oil-firm-pauses-forest-clearing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309126</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UNESCO biosphere listing raises hope, questions for Malaysia’s Kinabatangan floodplain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/unesco-biosphere-listing-raises-hope-questions-for-malaysias-kinabatangan-floodplain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/unesco-biosphere-listing-raises-hope-questions-for-malaysias-kinabatangan-floodplain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 21:57:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/03105023/20170410-132702-1-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308711</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Malaysia’s Kinabatangan floodplain, home to orangutans, pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys, has officially joined UNESCO’s global network of biosphere reserves, protected areas of high biological and cultural diversity. Covering 413,866 hectares (1.02 million acres) of forests, wetlands, and villages in eastern Sabah, the newly declared Kinabatangan Biosphere Reserve (KBR) connects the Heart of Borneo, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Malaysia’s Kinabatangan floodplain, home to orangutans, pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys, has officially joined UNESCO’s global network of biosphere reserves, protected areas of high biological and cultural diversity. Covering 413,866 hectares (1.02 million acres) of forests, wetlands, and villages in eastern Sabah, the newly declared Kinabatangan Biosphere Reserve (KBR) connects the Heart of Borneo, a transboundary rainforest conservation area, with the Lower Kinabatangan–Segama Wetlands. The latter is itself a Ramsar site, or a wetland of global importance, and connects to the new reserve’s diverse wetland ecosystem, together forming one of Southeast Asia’s last remaining lowland forest corridors that ensures ecological connectivity between inland forests and the coast. UNESCO made the announcement on Sept. 27, following the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in China.Under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, the site joins more than 700 biosphere reserves worldwide intended as “living laboratories” where biodiversity protection coexists with sustainable livelihoods. The designation followed years of consultation among government agencies, researchers and local communities, led by the Sabah Biodiversity Centre (SaBC) and endorsed by the Malaysian National Commission for UNESCO (MNCU). Officials say they hope it will strengthen coordination between conservation, agriculture and tourism actors in one of Malaysia’s most intensively used landscapes. But while the UNESCO listing brings international prestige, Kinabatangan’s past and present reveal a landscape heavily fragmented by plantations and uneven land governance. Conservationists warn that unless long-standing structural issues are addressed, the new status may fall short of its promise. An isolated fragment of forest sites&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/unesco-biosphere-listing-raises-hope-questions-for-malaysias-kinabatangan-floodplain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308711</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia court clears wildfire scientists in case brought by palm oil company</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-court-clears-wildfire-scientists-in-case-brought-by-palm-oil-company/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-court-clears-wildfire-scientists-in-case-brought-by-palm-oil-company/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 07:53:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rendy Tisna]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/17071230/wildfire-scientists-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307872</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fires, Forests, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Science, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A lower court in the Jakarta suburb of Bogor ruled in October in favor of environmental scientists Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, dismissing a lawsuit brought by Borneo plantation firm PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri over a wildfire more than seven years ago. “Hopefully this will set a good precedent to protect environmental defenders and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A lower court in the Jakarta suburb of Bogor ruled in October in favor of environmental scientists Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, dismissing a lawsuit brought by Borneo plantation firm PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri over a wildfire more than seven years ago. “Hopefully this will set a good precedent to protect environmental defenders and activists and enable the effort to rescue the deteriorating environment without the threat of pressure and lawsuits,” Bambang told Mongabay Indonesia in response to the ruling. Bambang and Basuki are professors at Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Indonesia’s premier forestry university. The government has frequently called on both academics to provide testimony as expert witnesses in wildfires cases brought by the forestry ministry against plantation companies. In 2018, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry brought a case against PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri, which was heard in the Kapuas district court in Central Kalimantan province. The government alleged the company was culpable for a fire covering 833 hectares (2,058 acres) using the principle of “strict liability,” which holds companies ultimately responsible for any damage. In court, the government relied on peatland samples measured by Bambang, who is head of the wildfires laboratory at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, from several sites on the PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri concession taken during November 2018. The court judgment noted testimony that the area burned was approximately 833 hectares (2,058 acres), which was both Bambang’s conclusion and “in accordance with the results of measurements by the Central Kalimantan Provincial Plantation Service.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-court-clears-wildfire-scientists-in-case-brought-by-palm-oil-company/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307872</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil must halt Liberian palm oil company’s abuses (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/roundtable-on-sustainable-palm-oil-must-halt-liberian-palm-oil-companys-abuses-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/roundtable-on-sustainable-palm-oil-must-halt-liberian-palm-oil-companys-abuses-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2025 13:33:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gaurav Madan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/09/12005717/aceh_0825-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307689</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Commodity Roundtables, Corporate Social Responsibility, Governance, Human Rights, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, and Palm Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of southeastern Liberia, fear is resounding over what the future may hold. For more than a decade, communities in Sinoe county have struggled against palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), which has razed more than 1,000 hectares (almost 2,500 acres) of rainforest, destroyed sacred sites, and violated local land rights. GVL’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of southeastern Liberia, fear is resounding over what the future may hold. For more than a decade, communities in Sinoe county have struggled against palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), which has razed more than 1,000 hectares (almost 2,500 acres) of rainforest, destroyed sacred sites, and violated local land rights. GVL’s abuses were affirmed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry certification body, and by the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), a multistakeholder initiative aimed at protecting forests. Following years of community resistance and a formal complaint, the RSPO issued a stop-work order for GVL to halt plantation expansion. But this past June, the RSPO announced it was lifting the moratorium, raising concerns over the fate of globally significant forests and the communities that live there. Today, Liberian civil society and international allies are urgently demanding that the RSPO reverse its decision and maintain its stop-work order on GVL’s expansion to prevent further deforestation, protect communities’ rights, and ensure accountability for the company’s environmental and human rights violations. Notably, GVL is controlled by Indonesian palm oil giant Golden Agri Resources (GAR), a member of the RSPO, with its own history of alleged illegal forest clearance, corruption and human rights abuses. A Golden Veroleum Liberia oil plantation abuts a forested buffer. Image by Jonathan H. Timperley. For years, the RSPO has faced criticism for providing cover to member companies engaged in abuse. By reversing its decision on GVL — despite research showing the company&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/roundtable-on-sustainable-palm-oil-must-halt-liberian-palm-oil-companys-abuses-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/roundtable-on-sustainable-palm-oil-must-halt-liberian-palm-oil-companys-abuses-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307689</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>RSPO sparks NGO outrage for dismissing complaint over alleged ‘shadow companies’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rspo-sparks-ngo-outrage-for-dismissing-complaint-over-alleged-shadow-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rspo-sparks-ngo-outrage-for-dismissing-complaint-over-alleged-shadow-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2025 07:31:10 +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/20/2025/10/02124848/1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Certification, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A major palm oil producer linked through supplier-reported mill lists to global brands like General Mills and PepsiCo has escaped sanction for allegedly concealing a web of “shadow companies” linked to deforestation and rights abuses, after the industry’s leading certification body ruled the allegations fell outside its current rules. The Roundtable on Sustainable [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A major palm oil producer linked through supplier-reported mill lists to global brands like General Mills and PepsiCo has escaped sanction for allegedly concealing a web of “shadow companies” linked to deforestation and rights abuses, after the industry’s leading certification body ruled the allegations fell outside its current rules. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) dismissed allegations that Indonesian conglomerate First Resources Ltd. (FRL) controls a network of shadow companies — affiliates secretly under the same ownership but undeclared to regulators — despite evidence presented by NGOs linking these firms to deforestation, peatland destruction, river pollution and labor abuses. The decision by RSPO has triggered outrage among NGOs that say it exposes a loophole that lets corporate groups hide destructive operations behind undeclared affiliates while keeping their sustainability credentials intact. A group of NGOs, whose names were not disclosed in the panel’s decision, filed the complaint against FRL in 2021. They alleged FRL secretly controlled three firms — identified in the RSPO decision only as Company A, B and D, but presumed by NGOs to be FAP Agri, Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA) and New Borneo Agri (NBA). CAA has been Indonesia’s single biggest palm oil deforester for the past two years, according to analysis by French-based technology consultancy TheTreeMap. By not declaring these affiliates, NGOs say, FRL has been able to profit from destructive operations while still touting its 2015 zero-deforestation pledge and RSPO membership — allowing it to keep selling certified “sustainable” palm oil to multinational&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rspo-sparks-ngo-outrage-for-dismissing-complaint-over-alleged-shadow-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rspo-sparks-ngo-outrage-for-dismissing-complaint-over-alleged-shadow-companies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report finds 226 Indigenous land defenders in Peru at risk of violence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/report-finds-226-indigenous-land-defenders-in-peru-at-risk-of-violence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/report-finds-226-indigenous-land-defenders-in-peru-at-risk-of-violence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2025 17:25:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/29172239/LINA-Y-LITA-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306748</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Deforestation, Drug Trade, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, extractives, Forests, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Palm Oil, Rainforests, and trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous territories and the people who defend them in the Peruvian Amazon face a litany of growing threats, activist groups warn in a recent report. In defending their land rights in the face of incursions by criminal, extractive and infrastructure activities, Indigenous peoples run the risk of harassment, criminalization, and even death, they warn. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous territories and the people who defend them in the Peruvian Amazon face a litany of growing threats, activist groups warn in a recent report. In defending their land rights in the face of incursions by criminal, extractive and infrastructure activities, Indigenous peoples run the risk of harassment, criminalization, and even death, they warn. The “Situation of Indigenous Defenders in Ucayali, 2024” report by ProPurús and AIDESEP, an umbrella group of Indigenous associations in the Peruvian Amazon, recorded 226 cases between 2010 and 2024 of Indigenous defenders in “situations of risk” in the region. Deforestation caused by the creation of the Bolognesi–Puerto Breu road in Ucayali. Image courtesy of Upper Amazon Conservancy. The report covers the department of Ucayali; Puerto Inca province in Huánuco department to the west of Ucayali; and two districts — Padre Márquez and Contamana  — in Loreto department to the north. According to the study, one in every 13 environmental defenders in Ucayali was killed during the study period. Between 2019 and 2024 alone, 11 environmental defenders were killed here, followed by Huánuco with a toll of eight killed. The report’s findings were presented May 15 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima. They provide a comprehensive look into the threats facing environmental defenders in the three departments, which are home to the 13 Indigenous federations and nearly 260 Indigenous communities that comprise ORAU, AIDESEP’s Ucayali chapter. Among the threats driving violence against Indigenous defenders in the Amazon, the report cites “illegal economies, including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/report-finds-226-indigenous-land-defenders-in-peru-at-risk-of-violence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/report-finds-226-indigenous-land-defenders-in-peru-at-risk-of-violence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306748</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EUDR implementation comes laden with potential unintended consequences</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/eudr-implementation-comes-laden-with-potential-unintended-consequences/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/eudr-implementation-comes-laden-with-potential-unintended-consequences/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2025 19:05:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/04150701/Image_7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Cerrado, East Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Global, Indonesia, South America, Southeast Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Cacao, Coffee, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Globalization, International Trade, Land Use Change, Palm Oil, Pasture, Politics, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Set to enter into force Dec. 30, 2025, the European Union’s deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) aims to halt the bloc’s contribution to global forest loss. Experts Mongabay spoke to agree the EUDR promises to become a landmark legislative tool for curbing commodities supply chain-related deforestation at the international level. But those analysts also warn of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Set to enter into force Dec. 30, 2025, the European Union’s deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) aims to halt the bloc’s contribution to global forest loss. Experts Mongabay spoke to agree the EUDR promises to become a landmark legislative tool for curbing commodities supply chain-related deforestation at the international level. But those analysts also warn of “unintended consequences” built into the law that could imperil the initiative’s objectives and effectiveness and in some cases raise the risk of further deforestation or land use change spreading to other ecosystems. Once it is implemented, the EUDR requires producers of a wide range of commodities — including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood — prove their products are not being sourced from land deforested after Dec. 31, 2020. EUDR implementation was delayed in 2024 when transnational companies and commodity producing nations complained to the EU of being unprepared for the law. That hiatus raised widespread concerns the delay might be used for “watering down” the statute. But the postponement could also allow time for potential EUDR defects to be addressed. The Rainforest Alliance, for example, which has supported the law from its inception, “definitely saw the unintended consequences from the start,” says Fanny Gauttier, the NGO’s European public affairs lead. Prime among those unintended consequences, she says, is the possibility of the EUDR accidentally excluding many of the world’s smallholder farmers. Other experts point to the potential “leakage” of commodities once destined for EUDR nations being shipped to unregulated markets. Add&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/eudr-implementation-comes-laden-with-potential-unintended-consequences/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global brands join drive for deforestation-free palm oil in Indonesia’s Aceh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/global-brands-join-drive-for-deforestation-free-palm-oil-in-indonesias-aceh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/global-brands-join-drive-for-deforestation-free-palm-oil-in-indonesias-aceh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2025 10:11:33 +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/20/2022/07/12174448/orangutan-with-light-flare-leuser-r-butler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304783</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian Forests and Indonesian Palm Oil]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, International Trade, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Some of the world’s biggest consumer brands are banding together to tackle deforestation in one of Earth’s richest biodiversity hotspots in Indonesia. The companies, including Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, on Aug. 13 launched the Aceh Sustainable Palm Oil Working Group, which brings together major palm oil buyers, producers and refineries to align with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Some of the world’s biggest consumer brands are banding together to tackle deforestation in one of Earth’s richest biodiversity hotspots in Indonesia. The companies, including Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, on Aug. 13 launched the Aceh Sustainable Palm Oil Working Group, which brings together major palm oil buyers, producers and refineries to align with a newly established road map for sustainable palm oil in the province of Aceh, on the island of Sumatra. The working group, the first province-level initiative of its kind in Indonesia, is “a much-needed, long-overdue step towards halting the devastating effects of palm oil expansion in this vital region,” U.S.-based campaign group Rainforest Action Network (RAN) forest policy director Gemma Tillack said in a statement. Stakeholders pose together during the launch of the Aceh Sustainable Palm Oil Working Group in Aceh in August 2025. Image courtesy of IDH. Forest loss pressures Despite its ecological importance, Aceh continues to face pressure from palm oil-driven deforestation. The province is home to Southeast Asia’s largest and most carbon-rich peatlands, as well as the Leuser Ecosystem — the last place on Earth where critically endangered Sumatran elephants, tigers, orangutans and rhinoceroses coexist in the wild. The Leuser landscape is part of the UNESCO-listed Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra World Heritage Site and is also designated as a Biosphere Reserve. Deforestation in Aceh fell after a peak in 2009, but has been on the rise again since 2021. Between 2020 and 2024, the province lost 41,834 hectares (103,374 acres) of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/global-brands-join-drive-for-deforestation-free-palm-oil-in-indonesias-aceh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304783</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Indonesian companies dodge fines for forest &#038; peatland fires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-indonesian-companies-dodge-fines-for-forest-peatland-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-indonesian-companies-dodge-fines-for-forest-peatland-fires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2025 12:16:50 +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/20/2025/08/19155325/f77a088b-14c2-4493-bed4-a40f43f954ed-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304524</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jambi, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fires, Forests, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Plantations, Pollution, Pulp And Paper, Rainforests, Timber, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s courts have ordered plantation companies to pay more than 21 trillion rupiah ($1.3 billion), an amount 28 times the environment ministry’s entire annual budget, for forest and peatland fires — yet almost none of that has been collected. This leaves burned land unrestored, smoke returning each dry season and climate goals slipping [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s courts have ordered plantation companies to pay more than 21 trillion rupiah ($1.3 billion), an amount 28 times the environment ministry’s entire annual budget, for forest and peatland fires — yet almost none of that has been collected. This leaves burned land unrestored, smoke returning each dry season and climate goals slipping further out of reach. The challenges stem from legal loopholes, noncooperation, strategic bankruptcies and weak inter-agency coordination. But not all companies dodge responsibility — some are settling their debts, albeit painfully late. After a decade of legal stalemate, palm oil company PT Kallista Alam has begun paying its 366 billion rupiah ($22.6 million) fine for burning peat forest in the Tripa swamp, an important Sumatran orangutan habitat, between 2009 and 2012. Another company, pulpwood producer PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, a supplier to paper giant Asia Pulp &amp; Paper (APP), has also paid in full its fines of 78.5 billion rupiah ($4.8 million) for fires in its concession. These exceptions underscore the norm: Most fines remain unpaid, fueling a cycle of impunity where fires continue to flare up in concessions already found guilty by court. Four recent cases illustrate the different ways companies evade payment, and how weak enforcement perpetuates the cycle. Smoke rising from a forest fire in Riau. Image by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay. PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari One of the starkest cases involves industrial forestry firm PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari (MPL). In 2016, the Supreme Court fined PT MPL 16.2 trillion ($1&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-indonesian-companies-dodge-fines-for-forest-peatland-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304524</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study maps rare Borneo forests with unique habitats &#038; urgent need for protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/study-maps-rare-borneo-forests-with-unique-habitats-urgent-need-for-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/study-maps-rare-borneo-forests-with-unique-habitats-urgent-need-for-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 02:19:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/12094955/Heath-Forest_Bernat-Ripoll-Capilla-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304113</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian Forests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forests, Gold Mining, Mining, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Protected Areas, Research, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In their latest study, a group of researchers from Indonesia, the U.K., and the U.S. find that heath forests (locally known as kerangas) span 16,586 square kilometers (6,400 square miles) — almost the size of Hawaii’s land area — across Kalimantan. This figure suggests about a 33% loss of forest cover since a 1996 estimate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In their latest study, a group of researchers from Indonesia, the U.K., and the U.S. find that heath forests (locally known as kerangas) span 16,586 square kilometers (6,400 square miles) — almost the size of Hawaii’s land area — across Kalimantan. This figure suggests about a 33% loss of forest cover since a 1996 estimate of 24,750 km² (9,550 mi²), they write in a paper published July 16 in Cambridge University Press’ Journal of Tropical Ecology. The authors say their research offered a baseline by clarifying the mosaic structure of lowland kerangas and highlighting their distinct role as a unique habitat within the landscape, given limited research on these forests and the resulting gaps in understanding the effects of human pressures and conservation measures. “Research into kerangas forest coverage in Kalimantan was inspired by our discovery of the Rungan forest landscape’s fascinating forest and exceptional conservation value,” Namrata Biligeri Anirudh, a Ph.D. ecologist from the University of Indonesia who is the paper’s lead author, told Mongabay in an email interview. A new study mapping lowland heath forests (kerangas) in Indonesian Borneo reveals major changes in their extent and limited formal protection. Image courtesy of Bernat Ripoll Capilla. Anirudh noted that the landscape was nestled between the Rungan and Kahayan rivers in Central Kalimantan, serving as home to an extraordinary variety of endangered plants and animals, thanks to its rare mix of heath forests on sandy soils, swamps, lowland forests and abundant Borneo ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri). “The fact that such a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/study-maps-rare-borneo-forests-with-unique-habitats-urgent-need-for-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304113</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Indonesia reclaims forests from palm oil, smallholders bear brunt of enforcement</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/as-indonesia-reclaims-forests-from-palm-oil-smallholders-bear-brunt-of-enforcement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/as-indonesia-reclaims-forests-from-palm-oil-smallholders-bear-brunt-of-enforcement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2025 10:05:08 +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/20/2025/07/30093053/ac37d07e0ed471387f81e726cd66eba9-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303403</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Jambi, Riau, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Social Conflict, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a sweeping and militarized crackdown on illegal forest use, reclaiming millions of hectares of land — but civil society groups warn the campaign is displacing Indigenous peoples while sparing corporate offenders and entrenching land inequality. Under a regulation issued in January, President Prabowo Subianto established a task force to crack down on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a sweeping and militarized crackdown on illegal forest use, reclaiming millions of hectares of land — but civil society groups warn the campaign is displacing Indigenous peoples while sparing corporate offenders and entrenching land inequality. Under a regulation issued in January, President Prabowo Subianto established a task force to crack down on illegal activities inside forest areas, such as oil palm cultivation and mining. Illegal oil palm plantations alone occupy a combined 3.37 million hectares (8.33 million acres) of forests, or an area larger than Belgium, and account for a significant portion of palm oil output in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of the commodity. Since its launch in February 2025, the task force has reclaimed 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) and handed over nearly half that land to a state-owned plantation company, PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara. This potentially creates what could be the world’s largest state-owned palm oil company by land area, and risks replacing private land monopolies with a state-owned one, critics say. Critics say the regulation makes no distinction between large-scale corporate activities and those of local communities, including Indigenous peoples who have historically faced tenure conflicts due to unilateral forest area designations. As a result, the crackdown has displaced Indigenous and local communities, while shielding large corporations, and transferred land to Agrinas without due process, according to an analysis by the country’s largest environmental NGO, Walhi. Illegal road leading to an oil palm plantation in Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. ‘Exploitative&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/as-indonesia-reclaims-forests-from-palm-oil-smallholders-bear-brunt-of-enforcement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303403</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Insignificant risk’ EUDR proposal threatens fight against deforestation, critics say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/insignificant-risk-eudr-proposal-threatens-fight-against-deforestation-critics-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/insignificant-risk-eudr-proposal-threatens-fight-against-deforestation-critics-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2025 17:07:48 +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/20/2025/07/24165241/AP25199052827551-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303145</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and European Union]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Beef, Cacao, Cattle, Coffee, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, EUDR, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, International Trade, Law, Logging, Palm Oil, Politics, Rainforests, Rubber, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A last-minute proposal to revise the European Union’s sweeping antideforestation law has conservationists worried about yet another delay to the law’s implementation and weaker oversight of supply chains. The EU deforestation-free products regulation, or EUDR, is scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year, imposing new restrictions on imports linked to forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A last-minute proposal to revise the European Union’s sweeping antideforestation law has conservationists worried about yet another delay to the law’s implementation and weaker oversight of supply chains. The EU deforestation-free products regulation, or EUDR, is scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year, imposing new restrictions on imports linked to forest loss. But some officials want to simplify a section of the law to make trade easier — a hazardous delay tactic, some critics say. “Further attempts to delay the application of the regulation or to undermine its well thought through architecture will damage the credibility of the EU and frustrate the efforts of companies and third countries that have invested in reaching compliance,” said Together4Forests, a campaign of more than 220 environmental groups. The EUDR requires producers — including those in European countries — to prove cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy and wood weren’t sourced from land that was deforested after Dec. 31, 2020. Technically, the law took effect in 2023 but allowed countries an 18-month transition period to give producers time to meet the new trade regulations. Last year, the transition period was extended by another 12 months, citing producers’ lack of preparedness. It’s now due to go into force on Dec. 30 this year. Corn and soy fields in Brasilia, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The rigor of the regulations each country faces is based on a benchmarking system that categorizes them as either high, standard or low risk. This has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/insignificant-risk-eudr-proposal-threatens-fight-against-deforestation-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303145</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian palm oil company sues experts who helped secure $18m pollution ruling</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/indonesian-palm-oil-company-sues-experts-who-helped-secure-18m-pollution-ruling/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/indonesian-palm-oil-company-sues-experts-who-helped-secure-18m-pollution-ruling/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2025 11:31:14 +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/20/2025/04/22123507/borneo-Dayak-fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303123</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fires, Forests, Law, Law Enforcement, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two of Indonesia’s most prominent environmental experts are facing a lawsuit that activists say is part of a wider trend of silencing scientists who testify against environmental violators. Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, both veteran forensics experts whose testimonies have helped convict major polluters, are being sued by PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Two of Indonesia’s most prominent environmental experts are facing a lawsuit that activists say is part of a wider trend of silencing scientists who testify against environmental violators. Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, both veteran forensics experts whose testimonies have helped convict major polluters, are being sued by PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri (KLM), a palm oil company they helped hold accountable for massive fires in Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. Their expert testimony and damage assessments have proved crucial in securing rulings against environmental offenders. By calculating the cost of ecological destruction, they help judges assign real value to environmental losses — evidence often used to prove corporate liability or even corruption. Bambang has testified as an expert in more than 500 environmental destruction cases, and is currently assisting in more than 15 cases — from fires that spew toxic haze, to mining-caused floods and landslides. The KLM case stems from 2018, when the Indonesian government sued the company for fires that burned 511 hectares (1,263 acres) of its concession in Central Kalimantan. Those fires contributed to the toxic haze crisis that routinely blankets parts of Indonesia and neighboring countries during the dry season, causing widespread respiratory illness, school closures and flight cancellations. Peatland fires in particular release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making them a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions and regional air pollution. A court found KLM liable for the fires and ordered it to pay 89 billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/indonesian-palm-oil-company-sues-experts-who-helped-secure-18m-pollution-ruling/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303123</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest corridors protect Colombia’s critically endangered brown spider monkey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-corridors-protect-colombias-critically-endangered-brown-spider-monkey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-corridors-protect-colombias-critically-endangered-brown-spider-monkey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2025 09:44:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/02092251/Image_1_Andres-_Link-_2025_Colombia_Species_Brown-spider-monkey_Ateles-hybridus_Ana-Malagon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301794</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Forest Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Monkeys, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Restoration, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Colombia’s Middle Magdalena region, a patchwork of forest corridors is linking up isolated populations of the critically endangered brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus). Composed of native and fruit-bearing trees, these corridors on the margins of agricultural land and along riverbanks are providing a lifeline to this species and others, enabling them to move between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Colombia’s Middle Magdalena region, a patchwork of forest corridors is linking up isolated populations of the critically endangered brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus). Composed of native and fruit-bearing trees, these corridors on the margins of agricultural land and along riverbanks are providing a lifeline to this species and others, enabling them to move between isolated forest fragments. Around 600 hectares (1,480 acres) of forest providing habitat for the brown spider monkey in the Middle Magdalena are being connected by 15 ecological corridors, created by conservationists Andrés Link and Gabriela de Luna. Their NGO, Fundación Proyecto Primates (the Primates Project Foundation), aims to add another six corridors and connect a total of 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of forest across the region. “We&#8217;ve used the brown spider monkey as an umbrella species,” Link says. “We believe that working for the brown spider monkey is helping the entire biological community in this really diverse area of central Colombia.” Reversing fragmentation The brown spider monkey, also known as the variegated spider monkey or Choibos locally in Spanish, is one of the world’s most threatened primates. Over the past few decades, the middle Magdalena saw two waves of deforestation and land use change; more than 50 years ago, cattle ranching arrived, followed by oil palm plantations that have intensified in the last 15 years and continue to expand. Remaining forest patches that were spared in the first wave, such as in mountainous areas or wetlands, are now threatened by oil palms, biologist de Luna&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-corridors-protect-colombias-critically-endangered-brown-spider-monkey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301794</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Regulation on oil palm expansion in Peru’s Amazon could endanger forests, say critics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/regulation-on-oil-palm-expansion-in-perus-amazon-could-endanger-forests-say-critics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/regulation-on-oil-palm-expansion-in-perus-amazon-could-endanger-forests-say-critics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2025 18:55:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/27084108/Palma-aceitera-Thomas-Muller_1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301489</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Agribusiness, Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Palm Oil, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Oil palm is a crop whose derivatives have multiple uses, resulting in staggering global demand. Because of this, Peru’s Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI in Spanish) has developed a new regulation to boost oil palm production. On March 22, 2025, MIDAGRI published a ministerial resolution titled Policy Framework for the Sustainable Development of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Oil palm is a crop whose derivatives have multiple uses, resulting in staggering global demand. Because of this, Peru’s Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI in Spanish) has developed a new regulation to boost oil palm production. On March 22, 2025, MIDAGRI published a ministerial resolution titled Policy Framework for the Sustainable Development of Oil Palm in Peru (2025–2034). This document and its annex propose, among other things, expanding the agricultural frontier and increasing oil palm production, as well as improving competitiveness in the oil palm supply chain with a focus on sustainability. The projected expansion of oil palm cultivation outlined in the regulation would occur in the Amazon, which, according to the document, offers the optimal agro-climatic conditions for oil palm development. The new regulation aims to increase oil palm production. Image by Mongabay. In Peru, oil palm production has not been free from controversy, mainly because its expansion has often come at the expense of deforestation and has created conflict with Indigenous communities due to cases of irregular land appropriation. Oil palm is cultivated to obtain palm oil, which is used as a raw material in beauty products, toiletries, food and biodiesel. According to MIDAGRI, the area currently cultivated with oil palm in Peru totals around 95,000 hectares (234,750 acres). Although the resolution does not specify how many hectares should be added nationwide, it does note that in the region of Ucayali, the regional oil palm development plan has identified “267,641 hectares (661,355 acres) with potential for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/regulation-on-oil-palm-expansion-in-perus-amazon-could-endanger-forests-say-critics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301489</doi>				</item>
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