<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=zero-deforestation-commitments&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/zero-deforestation-commitments/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 07:57:59 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Zero Deforestation Commitments</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/zero-deforestation-commitments/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Tight Brazil election challenges fragile gains for Amazon conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tight-brazil-election-challenges-fragile-gains-for-amazon-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tight-brazil-election-challenges-fragile-gains-for-amazon-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 07:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda WenzelKarla MendesLucas Berti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18210229/Curvas_do_Parque_Nacional_de_Anavilhanas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330151</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Politics, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As South America turns right, Brazil’s vote could leave the Amazon without conservation leaders.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As voters in Brazil prepare to head to the polls on Oct. 4, forest guardians and environmental analysts are bracing for a high-stakes presidential contest that could abruptly shift the nation&#8217;s environmental policy. The election presents a stark choice between maintaining current conservation strategies, experts say, or risking a policy U-turn that could reverse recent progress in lowering deforestation rates across the Amazon rainforest and other biomes. The election is shaping up to be a tight race between left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), who was arrested and blocked from running for office after being sentenced in a failed coup d’ètat trial. According to polls, the two are very likely to face off in a runoff election scheduled for Oct. 25. Lula&#8217;s administration managed to drop deforestation in the Amazon to its lowest level in a decade — Brazil holds 60% of the biome. However, experts and conservationists warn that these gains are fragile, hanging by a thread that could snap if Flávio Bolsonaro brings back his father’s policies, favoring agribusiness and mining, and slashing Indigenous rights and support. In a detailed analysis of the candidates&#8217; environmental platforms, the Climate Observatory, a prominent coalition of Brazilian civil society organizations, concluded that issues related to climate and the environment are receiving far less attention than necessary. The exception is Lula’s plans, where the only area of concern is energy — which was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tight-brazil-election-challenges-fragile-gains-for-amazon-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tight-brazil-election-challenges-fragile-gains-for-amazon-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330151</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil firms kept zero-deforestation pledges, but forests saw little extra benefit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/palm-oil-firms-kept-zero-deforestation-pledges-but-forests-saw-little-extra-benefit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/palm-oil-firms-kept-zero-deforestation-pledges-but-forests-saw-little-extra-benefit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 09:46:11 +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/20/2026/08/25084940/oil-palm-deforestation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327215</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Food Industry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Law, Palm Oil, Plantations, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A new study of palm oil concessions linked to Indonesian supply chains finds no evidence that corporate zero-deforestation commitments have led to additional reductions in deforestation. Tropical countries such as Indonesia continue to lose their forests at an alarming pace. In 2025, the world lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary forest, equivalent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A new study of palm oil concessions linked to Indonesian supply chains finds no evidence that corporate zero-deforestation commitments have led to additional reductions in deforestation. Tropical countries such as Indonesia continue to lose their forests at an alarming pace. In 2025, the world lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary forest, equivalent to more than 11 football fields of forest a minute . To curb this trend, palm oil-producing countries have introduced national policies in the past decade, while companies have increasingly adopted zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs). When viewed through a before-and-after lens, Indonesian palm oil ZDCs appear highly successful at reducing deforestation. To determine how effective these commitments actually are, an international team of researchers compared deforestation trends in Indonesia’s palm oil sector — the world’s largest producer and exporter of the commodity — between concessions linked to supply chains with ZDCs and those without them. Using public databases to identify companies that have adopted ZDCs, the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that companies had largely complied with their commitments. However, it found no evidence that those commitments produced an additional reduction in deforestation in Indonesian palm-oil concessions beyond broader changes affecting the sector. In both ZDC-linked and non-ZDC concessions, the study says, . During the full implementation period for ZDCs from 2018 to 2020, annualized deforestation fell to around 0.5% in both groups. In the researchers’ preferred, the decline was 6.5 percentage points in ZDC-linked concessions and 6.63&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/palm-oil-firms-kept-zero-deforestation-pledges-but-forests-saw-little-extra-benefit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/palm-oil-firms-kept-zero-deforestation-pledges-but-forests-saw-little-extra-benefit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327215</doi>				</item>
						<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 Ponak, a village next to Muara Tae. But Muara Tae has contended the companies colluded with individuals in Muara Ponak who fraudulently signed away hundreds of hectares of Muara Tae’s communally held land, in exchange for hundreds of millions of rupiah in compensation. The district government facilitated the transactions by redrawing the Tae-Ponak border, increasing the latter’s territory at the expense of the former. The district chief at&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>Lawmakers seek rights probe into Indigenous conflict at Indonesian timber firm</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/lawmakers-seek-rights-probe-into-indigenous-conflict-at-indonesian-timber-firm/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/lawmakers-seek-rights-probe-into-indigenous-conflict-at-indonesian-timber-firm/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 10:23:36 +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/20/2024/03/27180141/Screenshot-2024-03-28-010118-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322966</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Conflict, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Forest Products, Forestry, Great Apes, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Mammals, Orangutans, Peatlands, Primates, Protected Areas, Pulp And Paper, Social Conflict, Tropical Deforestation, Wetlands, Wildlife, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesian lawmakers have called for a government fact-finding probe into a long-running conflict between an Indigenous community in Borneo and an industrial timber company linked to one of Indonesia&#8217;s largest recent deforestation cases. The call came at the end of a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on June 30, where lawmakers said testimony presented [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesian lawmakers have called for a government fact-finding probe into a long-running conflict between an Indigenous community in Borneo and an industrial timber company linked to one of Indonesia&#8217;s largest recent deforestation cases. The call came at the end of a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on June 30, where lawmakers said testimony presented during the session strengthened indications of alleged structural and systematic human rights violations in the conflict. Responding to the hearing, Indonesia&#8217;s Ministry of Human Rights said it would conduct a more comprehensive review of the case, including field monitoring and coordination with other government agencies, as it prepares to investigate allegations of human rights violations linked to the conflict between PT Mayawana Persada and the Dayak Kualan community in Ketapang district, West Kalimantan province. The Dayak Kualan community alleges the company&#8217;s concession overlaps with its customary lands and forests, and that Mayawana proceeded to clear the area without obtaining its meaningful consent. Despite the community&#8217;s longstanding objections, Mayawana razed lands and forests that the Dayak Kualan community says form part of its customary territory, according to Tarsisius Fendy Sesupi, the customary chief of Lelayang, one of the Indigenous hamlets overlapped by the concession. &#8220;The company never sought the community&#8217;s agreement. It simply moved in and cleared everything,&#8221; he said at a recent press conference in Jakarta. In cases where community members agreed to relinquish their land, they did so under pressure and received only 1.5 million rupiah (about $83) per hectare, or $34 per acre,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/lawmakers-seek-rights-probe-into-indigenous-conflict-at-indonesian-timber-firm/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/lawmakers-seek-rights-probe-into-indigenous-conflict-at-indonesian-timber-firm/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322966</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pulp and paper giant APRIL&#8217;s supplier choices put FSC remedy process to the test</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-aprils-supplier-choices-put-fsc-remedy-process-to-the-test/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-aprils-supplier-choices-put-fsc-remedy-process-to-the-test/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 04:12:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/23034155/signal-2026-06-01-105626_002-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321620</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Kalimantan, Global, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Certification, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Products, Forestry, Forests, Industry, International Trade, Land Use Change, Logging, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Pulp and paper giant APRIL&#8217;s recent decision to lower its deforestation commitments and source wood from two companies associated with extensive recent forest loss has created a new challenge for its relationship with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), with environmental groups urging the world&#8217;s leading forestry certifier to terminate the already suspended reassociation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Pulp and paper giant APRIL&#8217;s recent decision to lower its deforestation commitments and source wood from two companies associated with extensive recent forest loss has created a new challenge for its relationship with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), with environmental groups urging the world&#8217;s leading forestry certifier to terminate the already suspended reassociation process. In late May, APRIL announced it was reviewing its decade-old Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP) 2.0 and lowering its deforestation cutoff date from 2015 to Dec. 31, 2020. The move allows Indonesia&#8217;s second-largest pulp and paper producer to source wood from PT Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) and PT Mayawana Persada (Mayawana), two companies that have experienced some of the country&#8217;s largest recent forest losses. APRIL said the decision was necessary to address fibre shortages after the Indonesian government revoked the operating permits of four of its long-term suppliers earlier this year, affecting around 15% of its wood supply in Riau Province. According to data from the forest-monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, together, IFP and Mayawana lost nearly 80,000 hectares (197,684 acres) of forest­­­­­ — an area almost half the size of London — between 2015 and 2024, including more than 54,000 hectares (133,436 acres) after 2020. This is more than any other forestry companies in Indonesia. Deforestation in the concession of PT Mayawana Persada, September 2020–April 2024 © Earthsight. Image source: Sentinel-2 via Copernicus Browser Environmental groups have criticized the move, arguing that it weakens a longstanding no-deforestation safeguard and sends a message that companies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-aprils-supplier-choices-put-fsc-remedy-process-to-the-test/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-aprils-supplier-choices-put-fsc-remedy-process-to-the-test/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321620</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pulp and paper giant APRIL adds major deforesters as suppliers after revising sustainability policy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-april-adds-major-deforesters-as-suppliers-after-revising-sustainability-policy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-april-adds-major-deforesters-as-suppliers-after-revising-sustainability-policy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 15:12:59 +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/20/2025/12/15111219/DJI_0028-min-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321412</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Kalimantan, Global, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, EUDR, Forest Products, Forestry, Forests, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Law, Orangutans, Primates, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Timber, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Pulp and paper giant APRIL made recent changes that are concerning to environmental groups. These changes include suspending and reviewing its flagship sustainability policy, lowering its deforestation commitments, and sourcing wood from two companies responsible for some of Indonesia&#8217;s largest recent forest losses. The company, part of the Singapore-headquartered Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Pulp and paper giant APRIL made recent changes that are concerning to environmental groups. These changes include suspending and reviewing its flagship sustainability policy, lowering its deforestation commitments, and sourcing wood from two companies responsible for some of Indonesia&#8217;s largest recent forest losses. The company, part of the Singapore-headquartered Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group, the world’s largest manufacturer of viscose rayon, said the changes are needed to align its policies with international standards and secure fiber supplies following the loss of several long-term suppliers. Environmental groups, however, said the move weakens a key safeguard that APRIL has long cited as evidence of its no-deforestation commitments. The controversy centers on APRIL&#8217;s decision to add Indonesian concessions PT Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) and PT Mayawana Persada (Mayawana) as its wood suppliers, integral to manufacturing viscose. Both companies, based on Kalimantan, have experienced extensive forest loss in recent years and have been repeatedly criticized by environmental groups. Previously, RGE and its subsidiaries, including APRIL, pledged not to source wood from plantations linked with deforestation since 2015. It is a pledge the company had reportedly broken. Its new corporate promise lowers the cutoff date to 2020, drawing sharp criticism from environmental groups. APRIL said IFP began delivering wood fiber to the company in May 2026. However, vessel-tracking data reviewed by Mongabay indicated that at least five barges carrying timber from the vicinity of IFP&#8217;s operations in Central Kalimantan were tracked traveling to Futong Port in Riau between mid-March and mid-April. Futong serves&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-april-adds-major-deforesters-as-suppliers-after-revising-sustainability-policy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-april-adds-major-deforesters-as-suppliers-after-revising-sustainability-policy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321412</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Thailand, EUDR pressure on small-scale rubber farmers prompts private-sector assistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-thailand-eudr-pressure-on-small-scale-rubber-farmers-prompts-private-sector-assistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-thailand-eudr-pressure-on-small-scale-rubber-farmers-prompts-private-sector-assistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2026 02:02:31 +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/20/2026/06/14133641/1.-Banner-option-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Business, Certification, Commodity agriculture, Corporations, Crops, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, EUDR, Farming, Forest Products, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Law, Plantations, Rubber, Supply Chain, Sustainable Forest Management, Trade, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KRABI, Thailand — Beneath a humid canopy of rubber trees, Sathit Phromraksa pauses to inspect a coagulated ball of rubber in a palm-sized bowl fastened to a trunk. Last night, he and his wife worked their way through the plantation, carefully carving a line in the bark of each tree to stimulate the flow of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KRABI, Thailand — Beneath a humid canopy of rubber trees, Sathit Phromraksa pauses to inspect a coagulated ball of rubber in a palm-sized bowl fastened to a trunk. Last night, he and his wife worked their way through the plantation, carefully carving a line in the bark of each tree to stimulate the flow of milky latex. With a total 500 trees to tap in their 1.6-hectare (4-acre) plantation, their work took them from midnight to 3:30 a.m. “I inherited this rubber farm from my father,” says 59-year-old Sathit, a lifelong resident of Namgaan subdistrict in Thailand’s Krabi province. “Back then, my family used a lot of chemicals to control weeds and pests, but now, we follow organic practices.” Sathit is one of roughly 1.7 million smallholders who produce 90% of Thailand’s natural rubber supply across millions of individual plantations, most of them no bigger than his. For many, staying profitable is a constant challenge amid fluctuating market prices, crop diseases and climate change. Now, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is poised to add to the pressures facing small-scale producers like Sathit. Under the law, set to take effect in January 2027, only suppliers who can prove their land wasn’t cleared after Dec. 31, 2020, will be allowed to continue selling rubber to EU markets. As the world’s leading natural rubber producer, the economic implications for Thailand are significant. While the bulk of its exports go to China and Malaysia, the value of Thai rubber entering the EU increased by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-thailand-eudr-pressure-on-small-scale-rubber-farmers-prompts-private-sector-assistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-thailand-eudr-pressure-on-small-scale-rubber-farmers-prompts-private-sector-assistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 02:24:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aida Greenbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20021450/kalbar_drone_190243-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319771</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Commentary, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don’t want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don’t want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet many of the people closest to the forest are also the ones with the strongest reason to keep it standing. That was not how I saw things at the start of my career. Years inside corporate sustainability changed my view, as did many difficult conversations with communities. Customary forest behind smallholders oil palm plantation in Sanggau, West Kalimantan. Photo by Aida Greenbury. People often asked me, “How did someone like you, a corporate slave, end up working for smallholders?” It’s a long story. I worked for corporations for many years. Some people might remember me as Managing Director of Sustainability at one of the largest integrated forestry, pulp and paper companies headquartered in Indonesia. A forest-based company of that size in Indonesia is frequently criticized for deforestation. More than a decade ago, before I left the company, that work led me to help develop the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), a multistakeholder initiative to develop a deforestation-free methodology for extractive companies operating in humid tropical regions. With many existing deforestation standards unclear and rife with loopholes, adopting a clear, science-based deforestation-free methodology, supported by companies, NGOs, and other global stakeholders, was what I needed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319771</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EU deforestation law nudges timber trade, Indonesia probe shows, but risks persist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eu-deforestation-law-nudges-timber-trade-indonesia-probe-shows-but-risks-persist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eu-deforestation-law-nudges-timber-trade-indonesia-probe-shows-but-risks-persist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2026 04:31:26 +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/20/2026/04/17040959/Picture1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Europe, European Union, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forests, International Trade, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Several European timber firms have cut ties with suppliers linked to deforestation in Indonesia following a 2025 investigation, suggesting that an upcoming European Union regulation is already influencing behavior ahead of its implementation at the end of 2026. Still, new trade data show imports from high-risk suppliers continued in 2025, raising concerns that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Several European timber firms have cut ties with suppliers linked to deforestation in Indonesia following a 2025 investigation, suggesting that an upcoming European Union regulation is already influencing behavior ahead of its implementation at the end of 2026. Still, new trade data show imports from high-risk suppliers continued in 2025, raising concerns that timber linked to forest clearance may still be entering EU supply chains. In their 2025 investigation, U.K.-based NGO Earthsight and its Indonesian partner, Auriga Nusantara, traced timber from recently cleared forests in Indonesian Borneo to European importers, using government documents, satellite imagery and trade records. Analyzing nearly 10,000 unpublished documents submitted to Indonesian authorities, the investigators identified cases where timber produced through forest clearance had entered European supply chains in some cases. The findings showed that the top five users of deforestation-linked wood in Indonesia in 2024 all exported products to the EU. Their main European customers were companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, which together ordered more than 23,000 cubic meters (812,200 cubic feet) of wood products that year, including plywood, decking and door frames. While only some shipments could be directly verified, the investigation pointed to a wider risk that timber linked to deforestation is entering EU markets through opaque supply chains. But despite these findings, the investigation has already prompted changes among some of the companies involved, with several cutting ties with the suppliers named in the report. Under the EU’s new antideforestation regulation, the EUDR, set to come into force&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eu-deforestation-law-nudges-timber-trade-indonesia-probe-shows-but-risks-persist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eu-deforestation-law-nudges-timber-trade-indonesia-probe-shows-but-risks-persist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317697</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>The cost of compliance with the EUDR will limit its impact on reducing deforestation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 01:33:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bjørn Rask ThomsenDaniel Nepstad]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/21000448/bolivia_drone_190118-26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314595</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Green, Industrial Agriculture, Rainforests, Redd, Regulations, Soy, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The production of food continues to eat its way into the world&#8217;s tropical forests. Agricultural expansion drives nearly 90% of global deforestation, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  The sector therefore represents a critical climate challenge: forest loss and degradation account for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The production of food continues to eat its way into the world&#8217;s tropical forests. Agricultural expansion drives nearly 90% of global deforestation, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  The sector therefore represents a critical climate challenge: forest loss and degradation account for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, by estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. One primary strategy to slow deforestation over the past two decades involves food and agri-commodity companies pledging “zero deforestation supply chains”, under pressure from consumers and environmental groups. These commitments have helped reduce deforestation from land uses like soybean production in the Brazilian Amazon through initiatives such as the now-suspended “Brazilian Soy Moratorium”. Tropical deforestation globally has remained persistently high, however. We argue here that the long-term impact of “zero deforestation supply chains” will be limited by the costs of implementing and operating these pledges; companies striving to do their part to reduce deforestation are less price-competitive than those that do not. Adjustments are urgently needed to translate corporate engagement into more collaborative and effective approaches to deforestation. With the goal of mitigating deforestation, the European Union has adopted a “zero deforestation supply chain” approach as the basis of its Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). When and if it is eventually implemented, the EUDR is set to exclude from the EU market those agri-commodities produced on land deforested after 2020. Implementation, originally scheduled for January 2025, has been postponed twice, however, and its future is unclear. EU countries&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314595</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After years of progress, Indonesia risks ‘tragedy’ of a deforestation spike</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/after-years-of-progress-indonesia-risks-tragedy-of-a-deforestation-spike/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/after-years-of-progress-indonesia-risks-tragedy-of-a-deforestation-spike/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jan 2026 04:27:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeff Hutton]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/13133313/indonesia-deforestation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312900</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Credits, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After years of uneven progress, deforestation in Indonesia is poised to accelerate, owing to widespread logging, expanding plantations and mining. In December, Indonesia’s forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, indicated the Southeast Asian nation had lost more forest during the first nine months of 2025 than the annual totals for any of the first three years [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After years of uneven progress, deforestation in Indonesia is poised to accelerate, owing to widespread logging, expanding plantations and mining. In December, Indonesia’s forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, indicated the Southeast Asian nation had lost more forest during the first nine months of 2025 than the annual totals for any of the first three years of this decade. Gross deforestation in Indonesia in 2025 was on track to at least match 2024’s tally, which reflected the most extensive losses since 2019, Antoni told a parliamentary committee in December. As Indonesia pushes ahead with its Merauke Food Estate project, which involves clearing at least 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of forest in South Papua province, worries are mounting that Indonesia’s commodity exports may suffer if big markets like the EU force importers, including food-processing companies, to prove they are not buying palm oil and other products that have resulted from clearing rainforest. “The tragedy of this project [Merauke Food Estate] is that it is undermining Indonesia’s recent success in the battle to halt global deforestation,” Amanda Hurowitz, forest commodities lead at nonprofit Mighty Earth, told Mongabay. Dump trucks maneuver at Weda Bay Industrial Park in Indonesia&#8217;s North Maluku province in 2024. The Weda Bay Mine is now among the largest nickel mines in the world. Image by AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim. Deforestation accelerates Indonesia’s deforestation slowed substantially during former President Joko Widodo’s second five-year term in office in part because of a moratorium on clearing forest for oil palm plantations following&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/after-years-of-progress-indonesia-risks-tragedy-of-a-deforestation-spike/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/after-years-of-progress-indonesia-risks-tragedy-of-a-deforestation-spike/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312900</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>Americans’ love of RVs tied to destruction of orangutan habitat: Investigation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/americans-love-of-rvs-tied-to-destruction-of-orangutan-habitat-investigation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/americans-love-of-rvs-tied-to-destruction-of-orangutan-habitat-investigation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2025 11:03:21 +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/20/2019/08/14034755/kalteng_0891-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305644</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, North America, Southeast Asia, United States, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Industry, International Trade, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Global calls are mounting for RV companies in the U.S. to change their policies following new revelations that some of America’s best-selling RVs are built with plywood from the destruction of orangutan habitat in Indonesian Borneo. While companies like Winnebago say they’re now “working quickly to better understand the concerns raised,” environmentalists warn [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Global calls are mounting for RV companies in the U.S. to change their policies following new revelations that some of America’s best-selling RVs are built with plywood from the destruction of orangutan habitat in Indonesian Borneo. While companies like Winnebago say they’re now “working quickly to better understand the concerns raised,” environmentalists warn that corporate and regulatory inaction continues to drive the loss of Indonesia’s rainforests. Two reports — by U.K.-based NGO Earthsight and Indonesian environmental group Auriga Nusantara as well as U.S.-based campaign group Mighty Earth — trace how tropical timber from rainforest clearance in Indonesia enters the supply chains of leading U.S. RV makers, including Jayco, Winnebago and Forest River. The findings highlight governance gaps in Indonesia, where forest clearing for industrial concessions remains legal, and regulatory weaknesses in the U.S., whose laws prohibit illegal logging but not legal deforestation. Since the investigations were published, Mighty Earth has published a petition to urge RV companies to change their timber sourcing policies to exclude any wood from deforestation. The online petition seeks 1,500 signatures and so far has garnered more than 1,000. “Before it&#8217;s too late, it&#8217;s time to protect our rainforests, uphold the rights of Indigenous communities, and save the incredible animals that live there,” the petition says. “Tell RV CEOs: We demand that you only use deforestation-free and Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood in your supply chains and RV manufacture.” Tropical forest cleared by PT Indosubur Sukses Makmur in Borneo, January 2025. Image courtesy of Auriga /&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/americans-love-of-rvs-tied-to-destruction-of-orangutan-habitat-investigation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/americans-love-of-rvs-tied-to-destruction-of-orangutan-habitat-investigation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305644</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pulp and paper giant APP moves closer to regaining FSC stamp despite pending review</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/pulp-and-paper-giant-app-moves-closer-to-regaining-fsc-stamp-despite-pending-review/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/pulp-and-paper-giant-app-moves-closer-to-regaining-fsc-stamp-despite-pending-review/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2025 10:19:12 +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/20/2023/10/31045148/GP04KSQ_Web_size-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304616</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jambi, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Certification, Conflict, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Plantations, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Reforestation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, Social Conflict, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Asia Pulp &#38; Paper, one of the world’s biggest forestry groups, has effectively been given the green light to seek ethical certification from the Forest Stewardship Council — a stamp of approval that it was stripped of 18 years ago for deforestation and other violations. In a decision announced in July, the FSC, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Asia Pulp &amp; Paper, one of the world’s biggest forestry groups, has effectively been given the green light to seek ethical certification from the Forest Stewardship Council — a stamp of approval that it was stripped of 18 years ago for deforestation and other violations. In a decision announced in July, the FSC, the world’s leading certifier of sustainable forestry practices, lifted a suspension to allow APP to resume its remedy process — a series of remedial and restorative measures for past violations that would eventually make the company eligible for FSC certification. Watchdog groups say the move caught them by surprise, especially given that a key legal review into the company’s web of corporate holdings remains unfinished. They warn this lets one of the world’s most notorious forestry firms fast-track its return to the ethical timber trade, and also exposes communities in conflict with APP-linked companies to further harm. “We were led to believe that the outcome of the legal review would inform whether APP was eligible to re-enter the remedy process,” the Forest Peoples Programme, a U.K.-based campaign group, told Mongabay. “Proceeding in advance undermines trust in the process and diminishes the credibility of the review itself.” Log yard of Sinar Mas Group/Asia Pulp and Paper&#8217;s Indah Kiat pulp&#8217;s paper mill in Riau Province, Sumatra. In 2003, a lot of the logs used by the mill was obtained by large scale clearance of natural forest. Tangled corporate web APP is the main pulp and paper arm&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/pulp-and-paper-giant-app-moves-closer-to-regaining-fsc-stamp-despite-pending-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/pulp-and-paper-giant-app-moves-closer-to-regaining-fsc-stamp-despite-pending-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304616</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First congress of forest basin leaders results in call for direct financing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2025 15:06:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/24063744/Maribel-Arango-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301259</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Climate, climate finance, Climate Justice, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Forests, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Redd, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At the world’s first global congress of Indigenous peoples and local communities from forest basins, representatives began preparations to increase direct finance to community forest conservation — especially in the run-up to the upcoming U.N. climate conference, COP30. The participants, from the Amazon, Congo, Mesoamerica, and Borneo-Mekong basins, gathered May 26-30 in Brazzaville, Republic of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At the world’s first global congress of Indigenous peoples and local communities from forest basins, representatives began preparations to increase direct finance to community forest conservation — especially in the run-up to the upcoming U.N. climate conference, COP30. The participants, from the Amazon, Congo, Mesoamerica, and Borneo-Mekong basins, gathered May 26-30 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and proposed that new financing pledges at the global climate conference should direct at least 40% of funds directly to Indigenous and local community organizations. This, they said, should go through their own funding mechanisms — instruments that organizations are currently in the works of scaling up. An estimated 80% of the world’s tropical forests and two-thirds of its biodiversity lie within the Amazon, Congo and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basins, with about 36% of the world’s intact forests on Indigenous lands. Countries within these basins are experiencing record-high rates of forest loss, and some estimate the management and restoration of forests could cost $203 billion per year by 2050. “As we [Indigenous leaders] looked into the minimum funds that went directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities, this congress needed to initiate talks on advancing mechanisms that could channel direct funds to community organizations,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, president of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad. Ivindo River in the Congo Basin in Gabon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Pathways to direct funding While the congress focused on the roles of Indigenous peoples and local communities in forest conservation, improved access to direct funds&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301259</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EUDR risk classifications omit governance &#038; enforcement failures, critics say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/eudr-risk-classifications-omit-governance-enforcement-failures-critics-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/eudr-risk-classifications-omit-governance-enforcement-failures-critics-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2025 09:18:18 +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/20/2024/08/06053741/sabah_2092-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Rights, Palm Oil, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is under fire for a risk classification system that critics say overlooks illegal logging and governance failures — potentially undermining the very goal of halting forest loss. The EUDR’s benchmarking system, which affects the level of checks and requirements faced by exporters and EU importers alike, appears to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is under fire for a risk classification system that critics say overlooks illegal logging and governance failures — potentially undermining the very goal of halting forest loss. The EUDR’s benchmarking system, which affects the level of checks and requirements faced by exporters and EU importers alike, appears to focus overwhelmingly on deforestation metrics and existing EU political sanctions, according to an analysis by nonprofit Forest Trends. At the same time, it overlooks equally critical issues like governance, corruption and law enforcement capacity, the analysis found. Forest Trends warns that this narrow focus risks missing systemic governance failures and enforcement gaps — the very conditions that enable illegal deforestation to flourish, even when official forest loss appears low. The risks are especially high as illegal deforestation is widespread in many tropical countries that export their goods to the EU, with estimates suggesting that 50-90% of deforestation in some tropical regions is illegal. This approach may misclassify countries with weak enforcement and high illegality as low or standard risk. Many countries with well-documented governance failures, such as the Republic of Congo and Papua New Guinea, are classified as “low risk,” alongside Finland and Norway. As part of its implementation, the EUDR uses a benchmarking system to classify countries based on their deforestation risk: low, standard or high. This classification determines the level of inspections and obligations placed on operators and member states’ authorities. Forest Trends pointed out that the World Bank designates the Republic of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/eudr-risk-classifications-omit-governance-enforcement-failures-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/eudr-risk-classifications-omit-governance-enforcement-failures-critics-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Profit imbalance in palm oil industry risks environmental compliance, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/profit-imbalance-in-palm-oil-industry-risks-environmental-compliance-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/profit-imbalance-in-palm-oil-industry-risks-environmental-compliance-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2025 15:35:02 +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/20/2025/05/15152727/Solidaridad-2-scaled-e1747323208671-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299156</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Certification, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Palm Oil, Rainforests, Regulations, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Multinational palm oil-buying companies could be doing more to address financial inequities in their global supply chains that perpetuate challenges for smallholder farmers, according to a new report from sustainable development watchdog Solidaridad. The report highlights how smallholder farmers, who produce nearly one-third of raw palm oil globally, receive a disproportionately small share of industry [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Multinational palm oil-buying companies could be doing more to address financial inequities in their global supply chains that perpetuate challenges for smallholder farmers, according to a new report from sustainable development watchdog Solidaridad. The report highlights how smallholder farmers, who produce nearly one-third of raw palm oil globally, receive a disproportionately small share of industry profits compared to large corporations like retailers and oil-processing firms. The imbalance often leaves farmers lacking the resources to gain a foothold in high-value markets that increasingly demand less environmentally destructive goods, the report notes, a situation set to intensify as the European Union, one of the world’s biggest importers of palm oil, brings its deforestation-free regulations (EUDR) into effect at the end of 2025. The EUDR will require producers of a suite of deforestation-linked commodities, including palm oil, to comply with new standards of traceability, geolocalization and land-use mapping. However, trade experts have warned that without support to comply with these new rules, farmers could lose access to the EU market, worsening their economic position and exposing them to land grabbing, dispossession and other abuses. Meanwhile, smallholders lack the technical resources and financial capital to adopt practices that could benefit biodiversity and boost climate-resilience on their farms. “In theory, it’s fine if everybody in the supply chain makes a profit,” Michel Riemersma, palm oil policy adviser at Solidaridad, told Mongabay. “But if the downstream companies are the only ones making a profit while the farmers at the beginning of the supply chain have to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/profit-imbalance-in-palm-oil-industry-risks-environmental-compliance-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/profit-imbalance-in-palm-oil-industry-risks-environmental-compliance-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299156</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Coming to a retailer near you: Illegal palm oil from an orangutan haven</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/coming-to-a-retailer-near-you-illegal-palm-oil-from-an-orangutan-haven/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/coming-to-a-retailer-near-you-illegal-palm-oil-from-an-orangutan-haven/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jan 2025 11:36:50 +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/20/2022/07/12174448/orangutan-with-light-flare-leuser-r-butler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293374</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Loss, Forests, Great Apes, International Trade, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Illegal deforestation has reportedly surged to record levels in a wildlife reserve at the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island that’s known as the “orangutan capital of the world.” A newly published report by U.S.-based NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) says 2,577 hectares (6,368 acres) of forests in Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Illegal deforestation has reportedly surged to record levels in a wildlife reserve at the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island that’s known as the “orangutan capital of the world.” A newly published report by U.S.-based NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) says 2,577 hectares (6,368 acres) of forests in Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve have been cleared since 2015, with deforestation spiking dramatically between 2021 and 2023. Map of the Leuser Ecosystem, of which the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is a part of. RAN said these rates of deforestation are unprecedented over the last decade that it’s been monitoring the region. And since it occurred after the cutoff date for eligibility for an important “no deforestation” framework, it raises concerns about both deforestation-free commitments and the efficacy of global conservation efforts. Palm oil from trees grown on this illegally deforested land risks entering the supply chains of major consumer brands like Procter &amp; Gamble, Nestlé, Mondelēz, PepsiCo and Nissin Foods, the report warned. Some of the brands and palm oil traders have acted in response to the report, including by suspending sourcing from illegal plantations and launching investigations into the matter. But observers question whether these actions are enough to halt illegal deforestation in the wildlife reserve. Significant areas of forests are being cleared inside Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve to make way for new illegal palm oil plantations, north of the Ie Meudama village, Aceh Selatan. Image courtesy of Rainforest Action Network (RAN). Significance of Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve Rawa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/coming-to-a-retailer-near-you-illegal-palm-oil-from-an-orangutan-haven/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/coming-to-a-retailer-near-you-illegal-palm-oil-from-an-orangutan-haven/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293374</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Do forest conservation pledges work? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/do-forest-conservation-pledges-work-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/do-forest-conservation-pledges-work-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2024 17:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Matthew Spencer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/02013159/kalbar_drone_190676_23-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289741</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, New York, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Rainforests, Temperate Forests, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In late September 2014 a besuited and bearded Leonardo DiCaprio stood at the grey marble dais in the UN General Assembly in New York and declared somberly that world leaders had to ‘make history or be vilified by it.’ The pressure was mounting for climate action and governments, companies and NGOs responded with a blizzard [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In late September 2014 a besuited and bearded Leonardo DiCaprio stood at the grey marble dais in the UN General Assembly in New York and declared somberly that world leaders had to ‘make history or be vilified by it.’ The pressure was mounting for climate action and governments, companies and NGOs responded with a blizzard of announcements including the high-profile New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), which committed signatories to halve deforestation by 2020, and end it by 2030. Sadly, in the years immediately following the signing, deforestation actually increased, and the first target was missed. Deforestation has been on a downward trend since 2017 but the world is currently off track to end forest loss by the end of the decade. The perceived failure of the New York Declaration is a key reason the EU is introducing its tough new deforestation regulation (EUDR). At this year’s New York Climate Week there were lots of forest events but no discussion on the NYDF, or what its weakness might mean for its ‘upgraded’ Glasgow version agreed three years ago, with even greater support. It was therefore a surprise find that many veterans of forest policy I spoke to there felt that the New York Declaration had been worthwhile, despite the failure to meet its 2020 target. There were also people who felt it had been a mistake to get companies and governments to sign up to a target that they didn’t know how to deliver, and a veteran NGO staffer recalled&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/do-forest-conservation-pledges-work-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/do-forest-conservation-pledges-work-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian logging syndicate tied to major U.S. wood flooring supply chains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/cambodian-logging-syndicate-tied-to-major-u-s-wood-flooring-supply-chains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/cambodian-logging-syndicate-tied-to-major-u-s-wood-flooring-supply-chains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2024 02:43:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/21015326/IMG_0076-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289010</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Consumption, Corruption, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Greenwashing, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Timber, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part of a Mongabay series investigating Cambodia&#8217;s illicit timber trade. Read Part One. Several Cambodian journalists helped to report this investigation, but have requested not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the story. SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — On a rain-sodden day in September 2023, reporters entered the Sihanoukville Special [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part of a Mongabay series investigating Cambodia&#8217;s illicit timber trade. Read Part One. Several Cambodian journalists helped to report this investigation, but have requested not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the story. SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — On a rain-sodden day in September 2023, reporters entered the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone on the southwest coast of Cambodia, in the country’s largest port city. Established in 2008 through a partnership between Chinese and Cambodian private companies, the Sihanoukville SEZ hosts a range of Cambodian and Chinese ventures exporting products worldwide. Among them is Nature Flooring (Cambodia), a Chinese-owned company established in the Sihanoukville SEZ in May 2019. Nature Flooring is just one of the many subsidiaries of China’s Nature Home Group, focused on wooden flooring and doors. The firm’s website states that the group is valued at 87.6 billion yuan (about $12 billion) and boasts several partnerships with U.S. companies. Over the course of a year, Mongabay has collected evidence that suggests much of the plywood used to craft the products sold by Nature Flooring and other companies within the Sihanoukville SEZ may have been illegally logged from protected Cambodian rainforests. The investigation found that U.S. consumers risk furnishing their homes with flooring products made from wood logged illegally from the Cambodian rainforest while believing the products to be sustainably sourced. Cambodia’s forests have been devastated by logging operations that have undermined conservation efforts nationwide and exacerbated risks in a country already vulnerable to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/cambodian-logging-syndicate-tied-to-major-u-s-wood-flooring-supply-chains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/cambodian-logging-syndicate-tied-to-major-u-s-wood-flooring-supply-chains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289010</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US consumers may be exposed to deforestation-linked palm oil via dairy: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/us-consumers-may-be-exposed-to-deforestation-linked-palm-oil-via-dairy-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/us-consumers-may-be-exposed-to-deforestation-linked-palm-oil-via-dairy-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2024 15:51:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/19135312/ecuador_230302-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287779</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, International Trade, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Consumers in the U.S. might be unknowingly exposed to palm oil products that come from deforestation, despite major consumer goods producers there adopting zero-deforestation pledges. That’s because these companies, which include the makers of iconic foods like Snickers, Kit Kat and Nutella, don’t account for the significant role that palm oil-based animal feed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Consumers in the U.S. might be unknowingly exposed to palm oil products that come from deforestation, despite major consumer goods producers there adopting zero-deforestation pledges. That’s because these companies, which include the makers of iconic foods like Snickers, Kit Kat and Nutella, don’t account for the significant role that palm oil-based animal feed plays in their supply chains, according to a new report. Its relatively low price and extremely versatility mean palm oil has become the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. In the U.S. itself, palm oil can be found in roughly half of all packaged goods in the average grocery store, from shampoo to cookies and crackers. Palm oil is also increasingly being used as an additive in livestock feed, particularly for dairy cows. As such, it has become “embedded” in consumer goods products deriving from dairy, such as milk, cheese, ice cream and chocolate. This indirect use of palm oil is often overlooked in the zero-deforestation accounting process, despite its growing use, according to a report by U.S.-based advocacy group Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The report found that palm oil-based animal feed is now the single largest palm oil product category imported by the U.S., accounting for 36% of all palm oil imports into the country by weight. This dairy — “embedded” with palm oil, some of which may be associated with deforestation — then enters the supply chains of major food producers. And these producers, despite their public pledges to avoid deforestation-linked&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/us-consumers-may-be-exposed-to-deforestation-linked-palm-oil-via-dairy-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/us-consumers-may-be-exposed-to-deforestation-linked-palm-oil-via-dairy-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287779</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s top timber companies are dropping the ball on ESG reporting: Analysis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 02:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/09023816/RESIZED-Preah-Roka_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-19-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286738</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, FPIC, International Trade, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, timber trade, Trade, Transparency, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An analysis of eight years’ worth of data by the international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) reveals a troubling decline in transparency and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting of the world’s 100 leading tropical timber and pulp companies. Since 2014, ZSL has been assessing ESG policies of these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — An analysis of eight years’ worth of data by the international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) reveals a troubling decline in transparency and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting of the world’s 100 leading tropical timber and pulp companies. Since 2014, ZSL has been assessing ESG policies of these 100 most-significant timber and pulp companies through its corporate transparency initiative called the Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT). “Together, these top 100 companies manage forests almost the size of France — so their actions impact a significant area of the world’s forests,” said Sam Ross, ZSL’s sustainable business project analyst, who led the assessment. In 2024, the average score for these companies dropped from 37.1% in 2017 to 24.1%, indicating a significant lack of transparency and accountability in their ESG practices. This is despite most of the assessed companies having committed to responsible and sustainable production on the back of growing pressure to halt deforestation worldwide by 2030. Halting deforestation is a key element of combating climate change as cutting down trees, particularly those in tropical forests, release vast amounts of the warming gas CO2. “We have seen small signs of progress, but the overwhelming story has been one of inertia,” Ross said. “Despite years of pressure and attempted engagement, our data shows many tropical forestry companies continue to fail in reporting even basic ESG data.” This decline in average score indicates systemic issues in the industry, which could undermine efforts to achieve sustainable forestry and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/worlds-top-timber-companies-are-dropping-the-ball-on-esg-reporting-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286738</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia, EU reconcile forest data ahead of new rules on deforestation-free trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/indonesia-eu-reconcile-forest-data-ahead-of-new-rules-on-deforestation-free-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/indonesia-eu-reconcile-forest-data-ahead-of-new-rules-on-deforestation-free-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Aug 2024 04:22:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/05/10102015/riau_1245-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285841</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, International Trade, Law, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Tracking, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The Indonesian government is working on improving and synchronizing its forest and supply chain data to comply with increasingly strict sustainability standards and requirements in markets where it exports to, including the European Union. Earlier this year, the Indonesian government discovered discrepancies between the forest map and data that it uses, and those [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The Indonesian government is working on improving and synchronizing its forest and supply chain data to comply with increasingly strict sustainability standards and requirements in markets where it exports to, including the European Union. Earlier this year, the Indonesian government discovered discrepancies between the forest map and data that it uses, and those used by the EU as a reference for the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The EUDR bans imports of seven forest-related commodities — soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, timber, rubber and beef — associated with deforestation and illegality. It requires producers and companies trading these commodities into the EU to provide detailed evidence proving they weren’t produced from land deforested since 2020. The new regulations give producers and companies until Dec. 30, 2024, to fully comply. To implement the EUDR, the EU is using forest data published on its Forest Observatory platform, which monitors changes in the world’s forest cover and related divers. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has its own forest monitoring system called SIMONTANA. It also has its own definition and classification of forest and deforestation. When comparing the EU Forest Observatory maps and the maps in SIMONTANA, the government found discrepancies, with the EU overestimating Indonesia’s forest cover. The government found that some shrublands and farmland, like oil palm plantations and coffee estates, had been categorized as forest cover by the EU. These discrepancies could make it difficult for Indonesian producers to comply with the EUDR and to export their products to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/indonesia-eu-reconcile-forest-data-ahead-of-new-rules-on-deforestation-free-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/indonesia-eu-reconcile-forest-data-ahead-of-new-rules-on-deforestation-free-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285841</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2024 12:26:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/13160907/canada-fire-wildfire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280650</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Illegal Deforestation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Asia, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Indonesia, Laos, Latin America, Nicaragua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, boreal forests, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Monitoring, Palm Oil, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland&#8217;s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres), according to the data, available [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland&#8217;s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres), according to the data, available on the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform managed by the World Resources Institute (WRI). And while this marks or 9% decrease from 2022, it’s virtually unchanged from the 2019 and 2021 deforestation rates. On average, over the past two decades, the world has consistently lost 3 million to 4 million hectares (7.4 million to 9.9 million acres) of tropical forest every year. This leaves the planet well off track from achieving zero deforestation by 2030, a global target agreed to by 145 countries at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. Forest loss, particularly in the tropics, releases huge volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Halting and reversing forest loss by the end of the decade is considered essential to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of capping the global average temperature rise at 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. &#8220;Forests are critical ecosystems for fighting climate change, supporting livelihoods, and protecting biodiversity,” said WRI president and CEO Ani Dasgupta. “The world has just six years left to keep its promise to halt deforestation. This year’s forest loss numbers tell an inspiring story of what we can achieve when leaders prioritize action, but the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report links pulpwood estate clearing Bornean orangutan habitat to RGE Group</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-links-pulpwood-estate-clearing-bornean-orangutan-habitat-to-rge-group/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-links-pulpwood-estate-clearing-bornean-orangutan-habitat-to-rge-group/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2024 18:18:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/22043832/kalteng_0856-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280348</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Business, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Conflict, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Great Apes, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Peatlands, Plantations, Pulp And Paper, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is experiencing a resurgence in forest clearance due to the expansion of pulpwood and oil palm plantations, reversing years of declining deforestation associated with these two industries. And at the forefront of this new wave of deforestation is a single company identified in a report by a coalition of environmental NGOs that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is experiencing a resurgence in forest clearance due to the expansion of pulpwood and oil palm plantations, reversing years of declining deforestation associated with these two industries. And at the forefront of this new wave of deforestation is a single company identified in a report by a coalition of environmental NGOs that include the Environmental Paper Network, Woods &amp; Wayside International and Rainforest Action Network. Since 2021, according to the report, pulpwood producer PT Mayawana Persada has converted 33,070 hectares (81,718 acres) of rainforest to monoculture pulpwood plantations — an area nearly half the size of Singapore — in the western part of Indonesian Borneo. Timelapse animation of deforestation within Mayawana Persada&#8217;s concession in West Kalimantan from 2021 to 2023. Image courtesy of Nusantara Atlas. The report describes it as “one of Indonesia’s biggest ongoing cases of deforestation,” occurring within a concession that largely overlaps with critical orangutan habitat and carbon-rich peatlands. Using data from forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, run by technology consultancy TheTreeMap, the report found that more than 80% of the deforestation in the company’s concession in 2023 occurred in carbon-rich peat areas. Of this, more than 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) took place in landscapes with a peat layer 3-7 meters (10-23 feet) deep, according to monitoring by Greenpeace Indonesia, another member of the coalition behind the report. These areas of deep peats are categorized as protected areas under Indonesian regulations, and thus should be off-limits to clearance and cultivation, Greenpeace Indonesia pointed out.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-links-pulpwood-estate-clearing-bornean-orangutan-habitat-to-rge-group/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-links-pulpwood-estate-clearing-bornean-orangutan-habitat-to-rge-group/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280348</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>PalmWatch platform pushes for farm-to-fork traceability of palm oil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palmwatch-platform-pushes-for-farm-to-fork-traceability-of-palm-oil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palmwatch-platform-pushes-for-farm-to-fork-traceability-of-palm-oil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2024 03:31:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/15060748/oil-palm-deforestation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280164</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Colombia, Indonesia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Consumer Action, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, International Trade, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Threats To Rainforests, Tracking, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Farm-to-fork traceability has become an increasingly urgent, and often required, component of global supply chains, with a growing number of commodities now trackable all the way back to their source. But for palm oil, one of the most controversial yet widely used commodities today, full traceability from the plantation to supermarket shelves to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Farm-to-fork traceability has become an increasingly urgent, and often required, component of global supply chains, with a growing number of commodities now trackable all the way back to their source. But for palm oil, one of the most controversial yet widely used commodities today, full traceability from the plantation to supermarket shelves to households remains a challenge due to the complexity of the supply chain. A single ton of palm oil derivative like stearic acid, for instance, used in detergents and cosmetics, is likely to consist of palm oil from hundreds of mills that, in turn, process palm fruit harvested from thousands of plantations. These webs of plantations and mills make it difficult to know whether palm oil is legally sourced and produced from an environmental and social conflict-free area. A new open-access online tool, developed by human rights NGO Inclusive Development International and the University of Chicago Data Science Institute, aims to address this issue. Called PalmWatch, it links 15 major industrial consumers of palm oil, such as Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, to the ground-level impacts of their palm oil consumption, including deforestation. The homepage of PalmWatch. To identify where these brands are sourcing their palm oil from, PalmWatch scraped individual brands’ most recent online supply chain disclosures and found more than 2,000 mills. The information about these mills is scattered across various websites, with much of the data not standardized, said Dustin Roasa, research director at Inclusive Development International. “PalmWatch puts all brands’ mills disclosure on one database, standardizes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palmwatch-platform-pushes-for-farm-to-fork-traceability-of-palm-oil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palmwatch-platform-pushes-for-farm-to-fork-traceability-of-palm-oil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280164</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s Amazonian states push for court reforms in bid for justice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/brazils-amazonian-states-push-for-court-reforms-in-bid-for-justice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/brazils-amazonian-states-push-for-court-reforms-in-bid-for-justice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2024 19:01:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luiz Antônio Araujo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/14182007/Flavio-Dino-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279869</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Funding, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Law, Politics, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amazonian states have gone largely unrepresented at the top of the Brazilian judicial system for decades, a political distortion that has spurred calls for reform.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s Supreme Court has sworn in its first justice with an Amazonian background in almost 20 years. Flávio Dino de Castro e Costa, a former federal judge who served as a governor and a senator for the state of Maranhão and as minister of justice for the past year, took office on Feb. 22. A close ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dino has stressed his Amazonian origins: Maranhão is one of the states that make up Brazil’s Legal Amazon region; another is Amazonas, where Dino traces his father’s side of the family. “I consider myself a man from the Amazonian region,” he told senators during his confirmation hearing in November 2023. His appointment to Brazil’s highest court is unusual. Historically, the country’s nine Amazonian states have gone virtually unrepresented at the top of the Brazilian judiciary. In its 134 years, the Supreme Court has had only two justices born in the Amazon. It’s a similar story for the Superior Court of Justice, the highest appeals court in Brazil; only four judges from the Amazon region have served on that court since 1988. Experts, activists, Indigenous advocates and lawyers from Amazonian states have long pushed for a reform of the federal court system in Brazil. Their aim is to boost their representation in these tribunals, which are of special interest for the Amazon: much of the illegal activity in the region is intertwined with environmental, Indigenous, mining and land reform issues — all of which fall under federal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/brazils-amazonian-states-push-for-court-reforms-in-bid-for-justice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/brazils-amazonian-states-push-for-court-reforms-in-bid-for-justice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279869</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil deforestation persists in Indonesia’s Leuser amid new mills, plantations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palm-oil-deforestation-persists-in-indonesias-leuser-amid-new-mills-plantations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palm-oil-deforestation-persists-in-indonesias-leuser-amid-new-mills-plantations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2024 14:56:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/12174448/orangutan-with-light-flare-leuser-r-butler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279835</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, carbon, Climate Change, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Great Apes, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Deforestation for oil palm plantations continues unabated at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, likely driven by new processing mills that in turn may ultimately be supplying major consumer goods companies. Plantation-driven forest loss has for decades eaten away at the Leuser Ecosystem, home to critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, tigers, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Deforestation for oil palm plantations continues unabated at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, likely driven by new processing mills that in turn may ultimately be supplying major consumer goods companies. Plantation-driven forest loss has for decades eaten away at the Leuser Ecosystem, home to critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants. The Leuser landscape spans 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres), much of it in the province of Aceh. But while past deforestation was carried out by a handful of large operators carving out chunks of the forest at a time, today it’s smaller operators administering “death by a thousand cuts” to feed a growing number of processing mills, according to monitoring by U.S.-based campaign group Rainforest Action Network (RAN). RAN’s latest investigation found at least 192 hectares (475 acres) of forests were cleared in one concession alone in Aceh Tamiang district, Aceh province, in 2023. The concession, reportedly owned by a retired public servant named Bukhary, is located within the borders of Gunung Leuser National Park, one of Southeast Asia’s last great swaths of intact rainforest. The national park is a formally protected area at the heart of the Leuser Ecosystem and is part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS), a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004 and placed on UNESCO’s danger list since 2011. According to RAN’s investigation, forest clearing inside the concession started in 2021, after Bukhary erected a sign claiming owner of 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palm-oil-deforestation-persists-in-indonesias-leuser-amid-new-mills-plantations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/palm-oil-deforestation-persists-in-indonesias-leuser-amid-new-mills-plantations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil deforestation makes comeback in Indonesia after decade-long slump</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/palm-oil-deforestation-makes-comeback-in-indonesia-after-decade-long-slump/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/palm-oil-deforestation-makes-comeback-in-indonesia-after-decade-long-slump/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2024 07:33:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/02122034/linus_kaltim_DJI_0116-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278801</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Deforestation by the palm oil industry in Indonesia increased in 2023 for the second year in a row, bucking a decade of gradual decline, according to an analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap. Palm oil companies in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of the commodity, cleared 30,000 hectares (about 74,100 acres) of forest last [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Deforestation by the palm oil industry in Indonesia increased in 2023 for the second year in a row, bucking a decade of gradual decline, according to an analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap. Palm oil companies in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of the commodity, cleared 30,000 hectares (about 74,100 acres) of forest last year to make way for plantations, up from 22,000 hectares (54,400 acres) in 2022. These increases mark the end of a declining trend that began after the record 227,000 hectares (561,000 acres) — an area nearly twice the size of Los Angeles — of deforestation in 2012. Expansion of industrial oil palm plantations in Indonesia by year from 2001 to 2023 with emphasis on forest conversion. White bars represent the oil palm-driven deforestation or the areas of forest cleared and converted to plantations in the same year. The black bars represent areas of non-forest converted to oil palm. The sum of white and black bars represents the area of plantation added each year. Here, ‘Forest’ is old-growth, high carbon and high conservation value. ref to Gaveau et al. 2022 for methods and definitions. France-based TheTreeMap used plantation concession data from Greenpeace to identify 53 companies behind the plantation expansion and resulting deforestation, of which 20 had cleared carbon-rich peatlands. The single biggest deforester was the company Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA), whose three subsidiaries deforested 2,302 hectares (5,688 acres) across their concessions. A recent investigation by The Gecko Project has linked CAA to Indonesian conglomerate First&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/palm-oil-deforestation-makes-comeback-in-indonesia-after-decade-long-slump/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/palm-oil-deforestation-makes-comeback-in-indonesia-after-decade-long-slump/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278801</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2024 outlook for rainforests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/outlook-for-rainforests-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/outlook-for-rainforests-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jan 2024 05:16:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/03051316/indonesia_sulawesi_171067_24header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277302</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Ghana, Global, Indonesia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, El Nino, Environment, Forests, Green, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Tropical Forests, Year-end review, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last week, Mongabay published a recap of the major trends in the world’s tropical rainforests for 2023. Here’s a glimpse into some of the key issues to monitor in 2024. Brazil The deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon has declined significantly during President Lula&#8217;s first year of his third term, following the reinstatement of various [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last week, Mongabay published a recap of the major trends in the world’s tropical rainforests for 2023. Here’s a glimpse into some of the key issues to monitor in 2024. Brazil The deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon has declined significantly during President Lula&#8217;s first year of his third term, following the reinstatement of various rainforest protection programs. However, Lula faces substantial opposition from Congress and state governments regarding his environmental policies. Despite these challenges, international support for the Amazon is bolstering his administration&#8217;s conservation efforts. Elections in DRC and Indonesia Presidential elections will loom large in two countries with extensive tropical forests, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Indonesia. In the DRC, President Felix Tshisekedi was re-elected in December amid controversy, with observers and opposition claiming the vote was neither free nor fair. Given Tshisekedi&#8217;s presidency coincided with persistently high deforestation rates and strong demand for the country’s minerals, his re-election likely indicates little substantial change in the current trend. However, escalating instability in the East, potentially aggravating the existing humanitarian crisis, could introduce further uncertainty. In Indonesia, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has emerged as the presidential frontrunner. Prabowo, a vocal critic of the E.U.’s Zero Deforestation Regulation, has drawn concerns from NGOs about the future of environmental protection in Indonesia. The nation&#8217;s consistent, albeit underrecognized, reduction in deforestation since raises questions about its continuation under Prabowo’s potential leadership. Wallace&#8217;s Passage in Indonesia&#8217;s West Papua. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler Carbon Markets After a challenging year marked&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/outlook-for-rainforests-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/outlook-for-rainforests-2024/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The year in rainforests: 2023</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2023/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2023/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2023 03:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/13213218/lagoa-macuguacu-oct-2023-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277175</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Global, Indonesia, Latin America, South America, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Drought, El Nino, Environment, Environmental Law, Fires, Forest Carbon, Forests, Governance, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Remote Sensing, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Year-end review, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The following is Mongabay’s annual recap of major tropical rainforest storylines. This year, the list is more concise than in the past. Previous year-in-reviews: 2022 &#124; 2021 &#124; 2020 &#124; The 2010s &#124; 2019 &#124; 2018 &#124; 2017 &#124; 2016 &#124; 2015 &#124; 2014 &#124; 2013 &#124; 2012 &#124; 2011 &#124; 2009 While the data [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The following is Mongabay’s annual recap of major tropical rainforest storylines. This year, the list is more concise than in the past. Previous year-in-reviews: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | The 2010s | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2009 While the data is still preliminary, it appears that deforestation declined across the tropics as a whole in 2023 due to developments in the Amazon, which has more than half the world’s remaining primary tropical forests. Sharp decline in Amazon deforestation An analysis published in December by the MAAP initiative revealed a significant decrease in deforestation. In the first 11 months of 2023, deforestation totaled 912,000 hectares, marking a 56% reduction compared to the same period in 2022, and a 68% decrease from 2020 levels. MAAP&#8217;s preliminary estimate for deforestation across the Amazon basin in 2023. Brazil played a key role in this decline. The country&#8217;s National Space Research Institute (INPE) reported a 22% decrease in deforestation for the year ending July 31, 2023. This downward trend intensified after August 1st. Lula prioritizes the Amazon A major factor in reducing deforestation across the Brazilian Amazon was the transition from Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, which dismantled environmental protections, to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s. Lula campaigned on a platform of addressing rampant forest destruction. Annual deforestation in the legal Amazon since 1988, according to INPE&#8217;s PRODES system. Note: 2023 data is preliminary. After reassuming office on January 1, 2023, Lula&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2023/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2023/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277175</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>