Cargill announced a new forest policy yesterday to establish guidelines for removing deforestation from its supply chain. The policy is meant to satisfy commitments made by the company as part…
Two giant retailers and a major baking company have announced new policies that establish stronger guidelines for palm oil sourcing. As reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Target…
osmetics giant Avon promised today to purge its palm oil supply chain of deforestation and rights abuses, making it the latest in a wave of major producers and consumers of the…
A rainforest river in Malaysia's Sabah state. Photo: Rhett A. Butler Sateri has become the latest major viscose producer to adopt a new wood- and pulp-sourcing policy aimed at removing…
Over the past two years dozens of companies have established "zero-deforestation" or "deforestation-free" policies for the commodities they source, trade, and produce. The pace of adoption has been staggeringly fast…
Publicly-traded firm suspends new business with company planning to clear peatlands in Sarawak Palm oil growers who plan to convert peatlands and rainforests for new plantations have been warned: one…
Less than three weeks after APRIL unveiled a sustainability policy that is supposed to protect natural forests, an environmental group is alleging that one of the Indonesian forestry giant's subsidiaries…
June 23 update BLD Plantation Bhd, a Malaysian palm oil company, plans to clear some 14,000 hectares of peatlands in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, potentially putting it in…
Global Forest Watch image showing the region in West Papua where the clearing took place Agribusiness giants Cargill and Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) are pledging to investigate a palm oil supplier…
Acacia plantation in Riau. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Greenpeace is re-engaging with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) after the Indonesian forestry giant quickly responded to the killing of a…
A high profile pledge by the world's largest meat company to limit deforestation for cattle production in the Amazon appears to be working, resulting in a dramatic increase in compliance…
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…
Summary of main pressures on forests in different deforestation fronts. Graphics courtesy of WWF's LIVING FORESTS REPORT: SAVING FORESTS AT RISK. Click to enlarge. Environmental group WWF has released a…
Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Last week, the London-based think tank Innovation Forum convened a two-day conference on the subject of sustainable…
Fast food giant McDonald's will combat deforestation across its main commodity supply chains, including palm oil, beef, paper and packaging, coffee, and poultry. The commitment is the most comprehensive of…
Industrial rubber plantation in Colombia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Surging demand for natural rubber is decimating some of the world's most endangered forests, putting wildlife and critical ecosystem services…
Google Earth image showing GPS points where forest loss occurred within the past year in a West Kalimantan concession held by PT Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH). The apparent loss of…
Deforestation for an oil palm plantation abuts forest in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett Butler. Forests not only house many of the world's species, but also much of its carbon.…
Forest clearing for an oil palm in Malaysia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Yum! Brands, the company that owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, on Thursday announced a zero…
Oil palm plantation in Aceh on the island of Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Despite a worldwide trend of companies establishing social and environmental safeguards for palm oil sourcing,…
While deforestation for soy production in the Brazilian Amazon has slowed since the establishment of a deforestation moratorium in 2006, clearing for soy has increased sharply in recent years in…
Brazil's Atlantic Forest has been severely reduced in extent from agriculture and urban expansion. Over the past three years dozens of companies have made 'zero deforestation commitments', establishing policies that…
An excavator piles natural forest logs at a log pond inside a PT. Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (PT RAPP) pulpwood concession on Pulau Pedang, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province located…
An excavator piles natural forest logs at a log pond inside a PT. Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (PT RAPP) pulpwood concession on Pulau Pedang, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province located…
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…
Washington state rainforest. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. 3M has announced a new sustainability policy that will reduce the impact of its fiber-sourcing practices on forests and wildlife. The initiative,…
An acacia plantation that was burned in Riau by villagers seeking to establish an oil palm plantation. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Indonesian police are investigating the brutal killing of…
Editor's note: KLK issued a response to Chain Reaction Research's report on March 13, 2015. Deforestation for oil palm in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Malaysian palm oil…
Zero deforestation yet to go mainstream Deforestation for woodpulp production in Sumatra, Indonesia While a number of high profile companies have adopted policies designed to exclude deforestation from their commodity…
First of its kind audit of world's largest pulp and paper producer yields mixed results Arara Abadi acacia plantation near Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatra. All photos by Rhett A. Butler. An…