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…
Concession owned by PT Multi Persada Gatramegah (PT MPG), a subsidiary of Musim Mas company, a palm oil supplier to Procter and Gamble in Muara Teweh, North Barito, Central Kalimantan.…
Oil palm plantation in Borneo. Over half the world's palm oil traded internationally is now bound by zero deforestation commitments after Singapore-based Golden-Agri Resources (GAR) extended its forest conservation policy…
Indonesian pulp and paper giant talks forest conservation policy with critics Lafcadio Cortesi, Rainforest Action Network (RAN); Scott Poynton, The Forest Trust (TFT); Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace; Rhett Butler, Mongabay; Aida…
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…
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…
In an effort to avoid palm oil linked to deforestation, candy giant Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) will source 100 percent of its palm oil from traceable sources by the end of…
Up to 1,400 hectares of forest have been cleared in a concession belonging to an Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) supplier in Borneo, potentially putting the company in breach of…
Harnessing big data for conservation. The world's largest remote camera trap initiative—monitoring 275 species in 17 protected areas—is getting some big data assistance from Hewlett-Packard (HP). To date, the monitoring…
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…
Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. A coalition of investors and asset managers is urging stakeholders in the palm oil industry to…
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…
In a move that represents a significant development for efforts to reduce the environmental impact of palm oil, consumer products giant Unilever today announced it will be able to trace…
With a backdrop of fires raging across oil palm and timber plantations in Sumatra, business and political leaders convened in Indonesia to discuss a path forward for producing deforestation-free commodities…
The U.S. government could play a key role in breaking the link between commodity production and greenhouse gas emissions associated with tropical deforestation, argues a new report released by seven…
Microsoft is "offsetting" some of its greenhouse gas emissions by buying credits generated by a forest conservation project in Kenya. According to TJ DiCaprio, Microsoft's Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability,…
In another sign that the global paper industry may be steering toward more sustainable practices following years of bruising activist campaigns and pressure from buyers, International Paper (IP) has committed…
Neste Oil, a Finnish energy giant, has announced a new "no deforestation" policy [PDF] for sourcing palm oil. The company, which is one of the world's largest buyers of palm…
Mongabay.com is partnering with the Skoll Foundation ahead of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship to bring a series of perspectives that aim to answer the question: how do…
Deforested peat forest in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. From 2004 to 2010, book publishers increased their use of recycled fiber by nearly five times, from 5 percent…
Asia Pulp & Paper's widely heralded forest conservation policy came after the forestry giant had already cleared nearly all of the legally protected forests within its concessions in Sumatra, alleges…
Oil palm plantation and forest in Borneo Golden Agri-Resources, one of the largest palm oil producers in Indonesia, is launching a pilot program designed to protect forests within its concession…
Norway's $700 billion pension fund continues to divest from companies linked to tropical deforestation, selling stakes in 23 palm oil producers last year, reports Rainforest Foundation Norway, an activist group…
Green Gucci handbags. Courtesy of Gucci Gucci has rolled out a collection of 'zero-deforestation' handbags. Each handbag comes with a "passport" that provides the history of the product's supply chain…
Mongabay.com is partnering with the Skoll Foundation ahead of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship to bring a series of perspectives that aim to answer the question: how do…
Asia Pulp & Paper's Anti-Deforestation Pledge: Sign Of A Changing Industry? Indonesian Dipterocarp rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the world’s largest paper…
Rainforest in Borneo 100 companies have reported on the impact of their operations on the world's forests. The Forest Footprint Disclosure Project released its fourth annual report this week. The…
Borneo rainforest. Photo by Rhett Butler. Norway's $650 billion sovereign wealth fund will ask companies in which it invests to disclose their impacts on tropical forests, as part of its…
Deforestation in Sumatra. Photo courtesy of RAN. Disney this week announced sweeping changes to its paper-sourcing policy that will exclude fiber produced via the destruction of tropical rainforests. The policy…
Rainforest in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Switzerland has kick-started a new contest to award innovative ideas devoted…
