Palm oil fresh fruit bunches in Indonesia. Photo: Rhett A. Butler Last summer, an Indonesian NGO published research showing that an oil palm developer controlled by one of the country's…
Forest cleared for oil palm in West Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has prohibited Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), one of its most prominent…
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…
A large male Sumatran orangutan is released, some 50 kilometers from where he was rescued in the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for OIC. Conservationists rescued another orangutan stranded in…
An orangutan orphaned after its mother was killed during forest clearing for an oil palm plantation in Sumatra. A new app enables iPhone [download] and Android [download] users to scan…
Oil palm plantation and rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has completed its acquisition New Britain Palm Oil Ltd,…
Palm fruit used for palm oil production. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has purged membership of a number of companies and organizations that…
What's in store for rainforests in the new year.
Deforestation in Malaysia for palm oil. Photo by Rhett Butler Singapore-based Musim Mas has established a new sustainability policy that it says will eliminate deforestation, peatlands conversion, and social conflict…
Oil palm fruit. Photos by Rhett Butler Home products giant IKEA has made a time-bound commitment for eliminating palm oil linked to deforestation and human rights abuses from its supply…
Screenshot of the mapping function of the Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit, powered by ESRI. Click image to enlarge. A new initiative ranks the world's 25 largest publicly listed palm…
Oil palm plantation and natural forest in Costa Rica. All photos by Rhett Butler. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has signed an agreement with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm…
Report argues that a jurisdiction-based approach could be a solution if commodity certification fails to reduce deforestation Cattle pasture and a forest reserve in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett…
Rainforest clearing for oil palm in Aceh Province, Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler A new report published by Forest Heroes, an advocacy campaign pushing for an end to deforestation,…
An illegal oil palm plantation established within a protected forest area in Sumatra, Indonesia. Photos by Rhett Butler. Seven palm oil giants have agreed to fund a study that will…
Palm fruit in Indonesia An Indonesian Stock Exchange-listed company whose commissioner is a member of The Nature Conservancy-Indonesia's board has been clearing dense rainforest in New Guinea, finds a new…
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…
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…
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…
Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Borneo Personal care products giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J - NYSE:JNJ) today unveiled a comprehensive palm oil sourcing policy that eliminates deforestation and…
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…
Rainforest destruction for palm oil production in Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Orkla, a Nordic conglomerate that owns MTR Foods, one of India's major food companies, has established a…
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…
Rainforest conversion for oil palm in Malaysian Borneo. Palm oil giant Wilmar has refuted a claim that it will stop buying crude palm oil from the Malaysian state of Sarawak…
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…
