Jambi’s Rapid Forest Destruction Although the province of Jambi is considered a "late bloomer" in terms of palm oil industry development, its rate of expansion is far from slow. Located…
As one of the world’s largest palm oil producers, Indonesia is often at the receiving end of criticism and protests by activists, and even by its own people. Its poor…
A plan to clear half of Aru’s forest cover for sugar cane has been suspended, but the island paradise is still not safe from large-scale deforestation, according to a report…
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…
Papuan man in Indonesian New Guinea. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. A UN program to reduce global carbon emissions may be putting indigenous communities at risk, jeopardizing local land rights…
Deforestation for palm oil in Malaysia Indigenous and forest-dependent peoples from Asia, Africa and Latin America have called for increased recognition of customary land rights in order to curb deforestation…
Acacia plantation in Riau Province, Indonesia. The former governor of Indonesia’s Riau province has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay almost $90,000 in fines for…
Baby orangutans, like this Sumatran orangutan on its mother's back, are often kept illegally in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Indonesia’s Islamic clerics drew praise from conservation groups last…
A new report explores innovative steps being taken by several of the industry’s largest firms to improve social and environmental practices Oil palm plantation in Riau. Photo by: Rhett A.…
Photo by Rachel Graham. In a move signaling their commitment to CITES agreements on international trade of plants and animals, the Indonesian government declared two species of manta ray "protected"…
Ship carrying heavy mining equipment intercepted by hundreds of fishermen using dozens of fishing boats in the waters of Bangka Island. Photo: Save Bangka Island. Hundreds of villagers and fishermen…
Newly approved forest conversion plans in Aceh, where the attacks took place, would reduce elephant habitat even further in the province where conflicts with the species are already widespread Sumatran…
A young Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) was shot and killed by a coffee farmer in Jambi Province. With an estimated 400 individuals left in the wild, the species is…
Kelumpang Sarawak (Sterculia megistophylla) in Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Humans have been actively managing vast areas of Southeast Asia's forests for longer than previously believed, according to research…
Protest staged by Walhi Jambi. Sinar Mas Group allegedly defrauded the Indonesian government of $15 million by avoiding reforestation taxes on 2,000 hectares in Jambi province. The land is reportedly…
Police in Indonesia’s Aceh province have arrested two wildlife trafficking suspects allegedly behind five tiger poaching rings operating in the forests of northern Sumatra. The arrests followed a months-long investigation…
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…
Foto: Feri Irawan Nearly 150 homes were reportedly destroyed in the latest incident in a long-standing conflict between indigenous Batin Sembilan residents and former Wilmar unit PT Asiatic Persada. Indonesian…
Indonesia’s flag carrier won't transport shark fins any more Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda Indonesia has joined a growing number of airlines looking to curb the international shark fin trade by…
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…
Some of the largest palm oil companies are clearing forests and peatlands without seeking consent of local communities, leading to a spate of unresolved conflicts in plantation concessions around the…
A plan for a coal transport road continues to threaten a project to restore one of the last remaining lowland forests in Sumatra. The status of the permit for the…
A military court in Indonesia’s Aceh province has jailed two soldiers for illegally possessing two stuffed Sumatran tigers (Pathera tigris sumatrae) and a stuffed sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), a rare…
Local groups have called on the governor of Jambi province to cancel PT Asiatic Persada’s permit after Wilmar’s sale of the company stalls IFC-mediated talks. Indigenous people in Indonesia’s Jambi…
Activists have urged the Indonesian government to cancel or reassess plans to build a 148-kilometer coal railway in Indonesian Borneo, claiming the project will be an “ecological disaster” that will…
Villagers in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province occupied a local government office last week, fed up with the government’s lack of action to resolve a long-running land dispute with palm oil…
Eight Indonesian villagers have sued the country’s president and a number of other high-level government officials over the impacts of climate change and environmental destruction in their province, reports Mongabay-Indonesia.…
MIFEE project site in Papua, Indonesian New Guinea. Map courtesy of Google Earth. Land grabs and environmental destruction linked to an agricultural megaproject in Indonesia’s Papua province are devastating indigenous…
An indigenous peoples’ rights group has vowed to map millions of hectares of customary land in Indonesia, an ambitious target it hopes will help protect indigenous forests from encroachment by…
