Greener palm oil arrives in the United States
The first shipment of palm oil certified under sustainability criteria have arrived in the United States, according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). AAK, a vegetable oils and…
U.S. farms and forests report draws ire in Brazil; cutting down the Amazon does not mean lower food prices
Not surprisingly, a US report released last week which argued that saving forests abroad will help US agricultural producers by reducing international competition has raised hackles in tropical forest counties.…
Saving tropical forests helps protects U.S. agriculture, argues campaign
Reducing deforestation abroad helps protect the U.S. agricultural sector by ensuring higher prices for commodities and reducing the cost of compliance with expected climate regulations, argues a new report issued…
UE amanatkan standar lingkungan biofuel untuk lindungi hutan dan lahan basah
UE kini bergerak untuk membuat standar lingkungan untuk biofuel yang digunakan di Eropa, mensyaratkan biofuel untuk memberikan "pengurangan substansial" pada emisi gas rumah kaca dan tidak menghasilkan perubahan fungsi hutan…
Foto-foto tunjukkan daerah mirip-surga untuk lokasi pembangkit listrik batu bara di Borneo
Dengan seluruh perhatian dunia sedang mengarah pada bencana lingkungan di Teluk Meksiko, banyak yang mulai merenungkan kebenaran dari tidak hanya Amerika, tapi ketergantungan dunia akan bahan bakar fossil. Meski begitu…
EU mandates biofuel environmental standards to protect forests, wetlands
The E.U. today moved to establish environmental standards for biofuels used in Europe, requiring biofuels to deliver "substantial reductions" in greenhouse gas emissions and not result in conversion of forests…
Brazil luncurkan dorongan besar untuk minyak kelapa berkelanjutan di Amazon
Usaha minyak kelapa "yang berkesinambungan" dapat menekan Malaysia dan Indonesia dalam prestasi di area lingkungan hidup dari minyak sayur yang banyak digunakan. Presiden Brazil Lula da Silva, hari Kamis menjelaskan…
India menjadi pembeli minyak kelapa terbesar
India mengalahkan Cina sebagai pembeli minyak kelapa terbesar di dunia pada tahun 2009, tulis Bloomberg. Berdasarkan angka-angka dari Solvent Extractors' Association di India, kelompok prosesor berbasis di Mumbai, India mengimpor…
Photos reveal paradise-like site for coal plant in Borneo
With the world's eyes on the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, many are beginning to ponder the rightness of not just America's, but the world's dependence on fossil…
Brazil launches major push for sustainable palm oil in the Amazon
"Sustainable" palm oil effort may pressure Malaysia and Indonesia on environmental performance of widely used vegetable oil. Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Thursday laid out plans to expand palm…
Nestle’s palm oil debacle highlights current limitations of certification scheme
Last week Nestle, the world's largest food processor, was caught in a firestorm when it attempted to censor a Greenpeace campaign that targeted its use of palm oil sourced from…
Pengembang Minyak Kelapa Merengsek Hingga Perbatasan Terakhir Indonesia: Papua
Pengembang minyak kelapa di bagian Indonesia dari Papua Nugini menandatangani perjanjian yang meragukan yang mengeksploitasi masyarakat lokal dan menempatkan ekosistem hutan yang cukup penting beresiko, menurut sebuah laporan baru dari…
Conflicting signals out of Indonesia on whether palm oil plantations will be classified as forests
Indonesia will not allow the conversion of natural forest for oil palm plantations, claimed the country's Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan in comments reported by the Jakarta Post. Speaking at a…
EU biofuels target will starve the poor, says anti-poverty group
The European Union's biofuel targets could starve up to 100 million people, warns a report from an anti-poverty charity. ActionAid estimates the E.U.'s plan to source 10 percent of transport…
Amazon rainforest will bear cost of biofuel policies in Brazil
Business-as-usual agricultural expansion to meet biofuel production targets for 2020 will take a heavy toll on Brazil's Amazon rainforest in coming years, undermining the potential emissions savings of transitioning from…
EU: rainforests can be converted to palm oil plantations for biofuel production
The European Union may be planning to classify oil palm plantations as forests, raising fears among environmental groups of expanded conversion of tropical rainforests for biofuel production, reports the EUobserver,…
UK failing to meet biofuel sustainability standard
Only 4 percent of biofuel imported for use in the UK — and 20 percent of biofuel used overall — meets the environmental sustainability standard set by the Renewable Transport…
Company seeks to log forest reserve for palm oil in Uganda
A company in Uganda is pressuring the environment ministry to allow it to log a protected forest reserve to establish a palm oil plantation, reports The New Vision. BIDCO, a…
India becomes largest buyer of palm oil
India surpassed China as the world's largest buyer of palm oil in 2009, reports Bloomberg. According to figures from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a processor group based in…
Consumers should help pay the bill for ‘greener’ palm oil
A version of this article appeared today in the Jakarta Post Palm oil is one of the world’s most traded and versatile agricultural commodities. It can be used as edible…
Well-known climate change denialist labels activists in Copenhagen ‘Hitler Youth’
Prominent climate change denialist and past advisor to Margaret Thatcher, Viscount Christopher Monckton, has persisted in labeling protestors in Copenhagen 'Hitler Youth' despite little historical connection. The initial exchange between…
Efforts to slow climate change may put indigenous people at risk
Efforts to slow climate change are putting indigenous people at risk, warns a new report published by Survival International, an indigenous rights' group. The report, 'The most inconvenient truth of…
Palm oil developers push into Indonesia’s last frontier: Papua
Oil palm developers in the Indonesian half of New Guinea are signing questionable deals that exploit local communities and put important forest ecosystems at risk, alleges a new report from…
European companies not supporting ‘greener’ palm oil
Most European consumers of palm oil are failing to buy eco-certified palm oil, undermining efforts to encourage producers to reduce their impact on the environment, reports WWF. Analyzing 59 major…
Carbon accounting must not neglect emissions from bioenergy production and use
Carbon accounting used in the Kyoto Protocol and other climate legislation currently neglects CO2 emissions from the production of biofuels, a loophole that could drive large-scale destruction of tropical forests…
Palm oil both a leading threat to orangutans and a key source of jobs in Sumatra
An interview about orangutan conservation and the complexities of palm oil with Panut Hadisiswoyo and David Dellatore of the Orangutan Information Center and Helen Buckland of the Sumatran Orangutan Society.…
Working to save the ‘living dead’ in the Atlantic Forest, an interview with Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes
Fourth in a series of interviews with participants at the 2009 Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference. The Atlantic Forest may very well be the most imperiled tropical…
EU biofuels policy undermines governance in Indonesia, alleges report
Indonesian authorities are failing to prevent illegal logging and conversion of protected areas for oil palm cultivation used to supply the European market with supposedly "green" biofuels, alleges a new…
US subsidies of oil and coal more than double the subsidies of renewable energy
During the fiscal years of 2002-2008 the United States handed out subsidies to fossil fuel industries to a tune of 72 billion dollars, while renewable energy subsidies, during the same…
Brazil may ban sugarcane plantations from the Amazon, Pantanal
Brazil will restrict sugarcane plantations for ethanol production from the Amazon, the Pantanal, and other ecologically-sensitive areas under a plan announced Thursday by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration,…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellites show deforestation surging in Indonesia’s Tesso Nilo National Park
- Large-scale logging in Cambodia’s Prey Lang linked to politically-connected mining operation
- Pasture replaces large tract of intact primary forest in Brazilian protected area
- Deforestation on the rise as poverty soars in Nigeria
Oceans
- Nickel, Tesla and two decades of environmental activism: Q&A with leader Raphaël Mapou
- All eyes on Tesla as it invests in a troubled nickel mine
- ‘The return of land to Indigenous people is key’: Q&A with Shinnecock Kelp Farm’s Tela Troge
- WTO finally nets deal curbing fisheries subsidies, but tables key bits for later
Amazon Conservation
- At 30, Brazil’s Yanomami reserve is beset by mining, malaria and mercury
- Pasture replaces large tract of intact primary forest in Brazilian protected area
- Ecuador’s Pastaza province, Indigenous groups collaborate on forest conservation
- ‘Giving up’: Amazon is losing its resilience under human pressure, study shows
Land rights and extractives
- Coal mining threatens Ethiopia’s ancient coffee forest
- Proposed copper and gold mine threatens the world’s ‘second Amazon’ in PNG
- In Indonesian Borneo, a succession of extractive industries multiplies impacts, social fractures
- Illegal mining threatens one of the last forest links between the Andes and Ecuador’s Amazon
Endangered Environmentalists
- A look at violence and conflict over Indigenous lands in nine Latin American countries
- Citizen participation: a key achievement at the first COP to the Escazú Agreement
- “We are on the front line”: Q&A with Indigenous land defender Adiela Jineth Mera Paz
- Death threats and friction with military force Guatemalan rangers to flee
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
Conservation Effectiveness
- In prioritizing conservation, animal culture should be a factor, study says
- Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- In Laos, a ‘very dangerous dam’ threatens an ancient world heritage site
- Bali’s new highway project sparks concerns about agriculture and conservation areas
- Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
- Plantations and roads strip away Papua’s forests. They’re just getting started
