Peat forest clearing for oil palm in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler The Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan is moving forward on an oil palm plantation monitoring system…
Borneo rainforest canopy. Photo by Rhett Butler The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has passed a motion to increase protection of old-growth forests. Motion 65, a measure proposed by Greenpeace, passed…
Industrial logging operation in Malaysian Borneo in 2012. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a body that sets social and environmental certification criteria for forestry products,…
Greenpeace Canada has filed a Statement of Defense in response to a $7 million lawsuit by Resolute Forest Products (NYSE:RFP) over allegations that the logging company destroyed forests in Quebec…
Oil palm fresh fruit bunches in Aceh, Indonesia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. This week several palm oil giants — Sime Darby Plantation, Musim Mas Group, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad…
Greenpeace has released a basic rating system to gauge the strength of companies' zero deforestation commitments related to palm oil sourcing. The rating system, dubbed the Tiger Challenge, incorporates five…
In past decade, Brazil has done the carbon equivalent of taking every car off America's roads for three years Brazil's success in reducing deforestation in the world's largest rainforest has…
RSPO-certified plantations near Bohorok outside of Medan, North Sumatra. Courtesy of Global Forest Watch A global map of the world's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified oil palm plantations…
Oil palm plantation in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett Butler The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) today called for greater collaboration between it and the leading implementer of zero deforestation…
Coffee produced under the Rainforest Alliance's certification system topped a billion pounds (455,000 tons) for the first time in 2013, reports Reuters. The volume of Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee beans surged…
Destruction of rainforest for an oil palm plantation in Malaysia Genting Plantations Bhd's stock price fell by more than two percent after the palm oil company's membership in the Roundtable…
Trends in commodity certification markets Market share for certified commodities. All figures courtesy of IISD's report The volume of commodities produced under various social and environmental certification standards jumped 41…
Clearing and burning of peat forest for palm oil production in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Despite a high-profile campaign that caused one of the world's largest food companies…
Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysia The Malaysian state should play a more active role in supporting the transition toward less environmentally destructive palm oil production, says a coalition…
Acacia harvesting and rainforest in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Flaws in the country’s system to verify legal wood products could have implications for trade with Europe, as new…
This is an expanded version of A New Leaf in the Rainforest: Longtime Villain Vows Reform, which ran on Yale e360 last week. This story was originally developed in January…
Clearing for oil palm in Riau Province, Indonesia. The Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), an alliance formed last year, has opened its doors to new members who commit to social…
Fast food companies are lagging behind other consumer products companies in efforts to establish policies that favor deforestation-free and conflict-free palm oil, finds a new assessment published by the Union…
Deforestation in Riau, Sumatra. After a campaign waged by two charismatic Girl Scouts over questionably-sourced palm oil used in Girl Scout Cookies, Kellogg Company today announced a policy that will…
Deforestation for oil palm on peatland in Riau Province on the island of Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Despite a sharp drop in the price of palm oil since…
Advocates for reduced impact logging in tropical forests often make a case that better forest management cuts carbon emissions relative to traditional forms of timber harvesting. While the argument for…
Rainforest Alliance has agreed to conduct an audit of Asia Pulp & Paper's progress in implementing the zero deforestation policy the forestry giant signed last year. The deal, announced Thursday…
APRIL partner accused of clearing forests and felling endangered tropical hardwoods. Indonesian NGO says the wood supplier is linked to corruption and its legal timber certificate should be revoked Logging…
Coffee in Costa Rica Participation in agricultural certification programs appears to boost access to credit for small farmers, asserts a study published by the Rainforest Alliance, an environmental group that…
The year in rainforest news 2013 was full of major developments in efforts to understand and protect the world's tropical rainforests. The following is a review of some of the…
Resolute Forest Products, the largest industrial logging company in Canada, suffered a major setback this week when the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) revoked three certifications for the forestry giant. According…
Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Wilmar, the world's largest palm oil trader and a long-time target of environmentalists, has signed…
Mongabay.org announces three new $20,000 environmental reporting prizes under its Special Reporting Initiatives program. Three new environmental journalism prizes will enable journalists to do in-depth reporting on three important environmental…
Labor unions demand seat at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Protester at the palm oil meeting in Medan, Indonesia. Photo: Ayat S Karokaro Protesters from 10 Indonesian labor unions…
Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysia A group of environmental activists, conservation groups, and palm oil producers officially announced a new initiative that aims to showcase best practices in…
