Most oil palm is grown in areas that were once species-rich and carbon-rich tropical forests, thanks to the fact that the crop’s natural range is limited to the humid tropics.…
Agricultural expansion into tropical forests is an important driver of biodiversity loss — which scientists say has already become so severe across 60 percent of the Earth’s land surface that…
It’s well known that when forests are converted to palm oil plantations, biodiversity suffers. But oil palm trees only last for about 25 to 30 years, at which point they…
n the library shelves of its Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation center in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has row upon row of bound volumes, each bearing the…
France has imposed a new levy on palm oil imports, amid protests from the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest palm oil producers. The tax, part of a wider biodiversity…
Gorillas have been caught on camera in the Ebo Forest of Cameroon for the first time ever. Ebo Forest is comprised of nearly 2,000 square kilometers (about 770 square miles)…
he long-limbed, canopy-swinging, duet-singing gibbons of Southeast Asia are under threat as industrial agriculture eats into their forest habitat. Palm oil plantation expansion is famously bad news for all sorts…
Giant river toad. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. It's no secret that vital biodiversity hotspots in Southeast Asia are under threat from logging and the spread of oil palm plantations.…
Due to its widening impact on tropical forests yet high profit margins, palm oil is one of the most polarizing crops in the tropics. Scientists and environmentalists warn of the…
Researchers urge collaboration between NGOs, corporations At first the forest seems still, with only the sounds of busy insects and slight movement of wind betraying activity in the patchy undergrowth.…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Erik Meijaard Stunning wildlife encounter along the Kinabatangan River, Sabah. Although they are called the Bornean pygmy elephant, there is nothing small…
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.…
The humid tropical forests of northwestern South America boast over 140 different palm species (Arecaceae), yet the people who dwell underneath these green canopies and the knowledge they posses remain…
Peatland forest clearance for palm oil. Excavators clear intact peatland forests and build drainage canals in an oil palm concession owned by PT Andalan Sukses Makmur, a subsidiary of Bumitama…
Environmental group, Greenpeace, has accused Herakles Farms of illegal logging in Cameroon after the company has already been lambasted by scientists and conservationists for its plan to build a 70,000…
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com…
Expansion of the palm oil industry in Malaysia is destroying key habitat for endangered frogs, putting them at greater risk, finds a new study published in the journal Conservation Biology.…
