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Report links H&M and Zara to major environmental damage in biodiverse Cerrado
- A report by U.K. investigative NGO Earthsight links supply chains of fashion giants H&M and Zara to large-scale illegal deforestation, land-grabbing, violence and corruption in Brazil.
- The country’s Cerrado region, home to a third of Brazil’s species, has already lost half of its vegetation to large-scale agriculture and is under increasing pressure from a booming cotton industry.
- The two major producers linked to illicit activities, SLC Agrícola and Grupo Horita, deny the accusations, as does Abrapa, Brazil’s producer association, which also oversees cotton certification implementation in the country.
- Earthsight found that most of the tainted cotton it tracked had the Better Cotton label, raising the alarm over the practices and traceability of the certification system.
Bird-friendly maple syrup boosts Vermont forest diversity & resilience
- A relatively new program in Vermont is helping both maple syrup-producing farms and their customers to improve forest habitat preferred by a diversity of bird species.
- Launched in 2014, the Bird-Friendly Maple Project furnishes a logo to qualifying farms for use on their products, if they can demonstrate that the forests where they tap sugar maple trees contain a diversity of trees and shrubs, which improves the woodlands’ structure and foraging and nesting opportunities for birds.
- Creating a biologically diverse farm is a major tenet of the sustainable agriculture technique of agroecology, because it leads to greater resilience and health of the farm, its farmers and its wildlife.
- Maple syrup operations included in the program cover 7,284 hectares (18,000 acres) of forests via 90 participating farms as the program is now being replicated in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.
Certificate of origin for Acre’s açaí is a boost for the Amazonian superfood
- The municipality of Feijó in Acre state is the first in Brazil to receive a certification of origin for its açaí berries, raising hopes that the economy centered around the fruit will grow in value.
- A success the world over, açaí is a multimillion-dollar product that has shown how developing an Amazonian bioeconomy can keep the rainforest standing.
- Local communities and experts say they hope that training, research and support for production will help to consolidate the production chain to benefit producers and grow the local economy.
As RSPO celebrates 20 years of work, Indigenous groups lament unresolved grievances
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) held its annual conference in Jakarta to celebrate 20 years of growth and impact — but activists and Indigenous communities say they’ve been waiting years for RSPO to resolve ongoing conflicts and long-standing complaints.
- Indigenous groups and local communities that have lost their lands and forests say the RSPO grievance system has left them without justice or resolution.
- While the RSPO says it has improved its methods of dealing with grievances, affected communities say their complaints have been dismissed for lack of evidence, they have awaited answers for years and their voices aren’t being heard.
Calls for FSC to drop Canada’s Paper Excellence over ties to deforester
- Green groups have gathered mounting evidence that Canada’s biggest pulp and paper company, Paper Excellence, is effectively controlled by notorious Indonesian deforester the Sinar Mas Group, via its subsidiary, Asia Pulp & Paper.
- They are now calling on the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies millions of hectares of Paper Excellence-managed forests as well as 42 of the company’s mills, to cut ties with it.
- APP was in 2007 “disassociated” from the FSC and remains barred from membership due to “destructive forestry practices”; its control of Paper Excellence should lead to the same outcome for the Canadian company, activists say.
- Both companies have denied allegations of controlling ties — despite the fact that Paper Excellence’s sole shareholder is the son of the APP chair and previously directed APP’s China business, among other revelations.
Report alleges APP continues deforestation 10 years after pledge to stop
- A new Greenpeace report alleges that pulp and paper giant APP continues to clear forests and develop peatlands 10 years after adopting its landmark 2013 pledge to stop destroying natural forests for its plantations.
- The report identifies 75,000 hectares (185,300 acres) of deforestation in APP supplier concessions or companies connected to APP between February 2013 and 2022 — an area the size of New York City.
- APP has also changed the start date of its no-deforestation policy from 2013 to 2020, which would allow the company at some point in the future to accept new suppliers that deforested between 2013 and 2020.
- APP denies allegations of continued deforestation and says its suppliers have ceased forest conversions since 2013; the company also says it has committed to peatland restoration.
Indigenous Dayak ‘furious’ as RSPO dismisses land rights violation complaint
- The RSPO, the world’s leading sustainable palm oil certifier, has dismissed a complaint filed by an Indigenous community in Indonesia against a plantation company accused of violating their land rights.
- The company, MAS, arrived on the Indigenous Dayak Hibun’s ancestral land in 1996, and by 2000 had swallowed up 1,400 hectares (3,460 acres) of the community’s land within its concession.
- The community lodged its complaint in 2012, aimed at MAS’s parent company at the time, Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation, which is a member of the RSPO.
- In dismissing the complaint, 11 years later, the RSPO cited no evidence of land rights violations, and also noted that Sime Darby Plantation has sold off MAS — whose current owner isn’t an RSPO member and therefore isn’t subject to the roundtable’s rules.
EU deforestation-free rule ‘highly challenging’ for SE Asia smallholders, experts say
- Millions of small-scale farmers in mainland Southeast Asia are at risk of losing access to European forest commodity supply chains unless serious action is taken to help them comply with the new EU deforestation-free regulation, experts say.
- Smallholders produce significant quantities of the region’s forest-related commodities, but many lack the technical capacity and financial capital to meet the hefty due diligence requirements of the new rule.
- Without support for vulnerable communities to comply, experts say farmers could be exposed to land grabbing, dispossession and other abuses, with some left with no choice but to retreat into forested landscapes to eke out a living.
- Sustainability groups, meanwhile, say the new EU rule is an opportunity to move forest commodity sectors toward improved responsibility, sustainability and transparency.
Palm oil giants Indonesia, Malaysia start talks with EU over deforestation rule
- Negotiations have begun between the world’s top two palm oil producers and the EU to address sticking points in a deforestation law that would make it harder for the commodity to enter European markets.
- Indonesia and Malaysia account for 85% of global palm oil exports, and would be heavily impacted by the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR), which prohibits imports into the EU of commodities sourced by clearing forests.
- At the first joint meeting of an EU-Indonesia-Malaysia task force, delegates discussed risk designations for producer countries as well as the role of certification schemes like the RSPO to help meet EUDR requirements.
- Indonesian officials say their main issue with the EUDR is that it discriminates against small farmers, who manage 41% of the total plantation area in the country and would have difficulty complying with the new regulation’s requirements.
‘Sustainability is a continuous journey’: Q&A with RSPO’s Joseph D’Cruz
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s leading certifier of ethical compliance, has long faced scrutiny over its sustainability guidelines and how it responds to member companies’ frequent violations.
- Today, the organization is headed by veteran development professional Joseph D’Cruz, a self-professed newcomer to the industry who says he wants the RSPO to be less reactive and more proactive.
- In a wide-ranging interview with Mongabay, D’Cruz discusses why sustainability should be seen as an unending journey rather than an end goal, how the gap between sustainable and “conventional” palm oil is closing, and what role governments must play in driving greater sustainability.
- “When you watch the progress of platforms like the RSPO, sometimes on the outside it might seem frustratingly slow,” he says. “But that’s because you got to bring everybody along and that’s a very tricky challenge sometimes.”
Indonesia to cut tuna harvest in bid for more sustainable fishery
- Indonesia will reduce its overall tuna catch by 10% over the course of three years, citing unsustainable current levels of fishing.
- The government is also pushing for more tuna fisheries in Indonesia to obtain sustainable certification and eco-labeling, as part of wider efforts to show that it can manage the species within its waters.
- Fisheries experts have welcomed the move to protect the world’s tuna populations, but say other countries in the region should also be encouraged to reduce their catch to make it effective.
- Indonesia catches more tuna than any other country, accounting for about 16% of the world’s total tuna supply.
With little will to fight it, corruption is major risk for Indonesian palm oil
- Indonesia’s top 50 palm oil companies have weak antigraft measures, rendering the industry highly prone to corruption, according to a new report by Transparency International Indonesia.
- It found that practices such as political lobbying and revolving door practices among the 50 companies are barely regulated, and many companies don’t disclose their tax data.
- Some companies also don’t have antibribery policies and programs that extend to all staff, including executives and directors, the report says.
- On average, the 50 companies scored 3.5 out of 10 on six criteria, such as anticorruption programs, lobbying activities and data transparency.
Brazil’s Indigenous groups demand a voice in new soybean railway project
- The Ferrogrão railway project was conceived with a view to reducing transportation costs between the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Pará, where soybeans are one of the main export products.
- The railway has been met with resistance from the region’s Indigenous peoples, who will be impacted by the socio-environmental risks associated with the project.
- A study by the Federal University of Minas Gerais highlighted that the Ferrogrão railway line will cross several Indigenous territories in the Xingu River Basin, something that could see more than 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of rainforest lost to deforestation in Indigenous territories in the state of Mato Grosso by 2035; more than half of this would be in the Xingu Indigenous Park alone.
- After the project was suspended by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2021, it has since been marked as a priority by the current government and its future will be decided by the Court’s plenary session in May this year.
Tide Island: seven decades of environmental racism in Salvador
- Since the 1950s, an area with one of the largest Black populations in the state capital of Bahia has suffered damages to the health of its people and ecosystem as a result of nearby operations of a port, an industrial complex and an oil refinery.
- Many of the approximately 4,000 residents make their living from fishing and shellfish gathering — activities directly affected by contamination of waters and destruction of mangroves.
- Recent research has detected levels of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead in the children from Ilha de Maré, or Tide Island, four times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
EU ‘moving the goal posts’ with new timber requirement, Indonesia says
- In 2011, Indonesia began the process of ensuring that its timber exports to the European Union met strict legality verification standards, which the EU duly recognized in 2016.
- Now, a new bill threatens to undermine this progress by revoking the “green lane” access for imports of Indonesian timber and subjecting them to addition checks for deforestation links.
- “You can’t suddenly change your mind by saying ‘I’m not willing to accept [Indonesian timber products] because they’re not sustainable enough,’” says Arif Havas Oegroseno, the Indonesian ambassador to Germany.
- The official adds that Indonesia is willing to take the matter to the World Trade Organization — a move that other tropical forest countries, including Brazil and Ghana, have also hinted at.
With FSC rule change, deforesters once blocked from certification get a new shot
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has adopted a number of significant changes during its recent general assembly in Bali, chief among them moving its cutoff date for eligibility from 1994 to 2020.
- With the change, logging companies that have cleared forests since 1994, but before 2020, will be allowed to obtain certification from the body, something they weren’t allowed to do before.
- To qualify, companies will have to restore forests and provide remedy for social harms done in the 1994-2020 period in their concessions.
- The decision has sparked responses from both critics and supporters, with the former saying the new rule rewards known deforesters, and the latter saying it opens opportunities for forest restoration and remedies for Indigenous and local communities.
Drive for restoration and remedy behind some NGOs’ cautious support for FSC changes (commentary)
- Earlier this month, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) held its General Assembly in Bali.
- Grant Rosoman, a senior campaign advisor to Greenpeace International, argues that decisions made at this year’s General Assembly marked “the most significant change in direction” for the certification scheme in the last 20 years.
- Rosoman specifically identifies stakeholders’ approval of Motion 37 which will allow certification of forest areas cleared for plantations after November 1994 provided the party involved commits to restore an equivalent area of natural forest.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
‘More responsible forest management is needed’: Q&A with FSC’s Kim Carstensen
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is widely considered the gold standard for certifying sustainable forest use, but has frequently been criticized for failing to uphold the standards that it touts.
- Kim Carstensen, the FSC’s director-general, says some of the complaints have a basis, and that while the FSC will never be the perfect system in everyone’s view, it’s still “the best that can be done” and “provides the basis for a lot of opportunities to be created.”
- In an interview with Mongabay, Carstensen discusses long-awaited updates to the FSC’s rules, how to deal with problematic member companies, and why certification should be more than just a logo.
FSC-certified paper plantation faces farmer backlash in Colombia
- Smurfit Kappa Cartón de Colombia (SKCC), a paper company with multiple plantations certified by the FSC ethical wood label, is facing backlash from Indigenous and local farmers over land disputes and environmental impacts.
- Mongabay was able to confirm three cases of plantations violating Colombia’s legal forest code. Communities living close to the company’s paper plantations say they are to blame for water shortages and a decrease in biodiversity and soil fertility.
- There is little agreement over the effects of these plantations on water availability, but many activists and academics say agroforestry or silvopasture systems can be alternative solutions to increase biodiversity and contribute to farmers’ livelihoods.
- A SKCC forestry division manager said SKCC carries out rigorous legal and background analyzes of the properties to operate according to the law and practices respect for the environment.
FSC-certified Moorim Paper linked to massive forest clearing in Indonesia’s Papua
- A subsidiary of South Korean paper company Moorim has cleared natural forests a tenth the size of Seoul in Indonesia’s Papua region over the past six years, a new report alleges.
- The report, published by various NGOs, alleges that the cleared areas consisted of primary forests serving as a habitat for threatened species and a source of livelihood for Indigenous Papuans.
- Moorim’s Indonesian subsidiary, PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), which holds the concession to the land, also allegedly cleared the forests without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous and local communities.
- Moorim has denied the allegations, but the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which certifies its paper products as being sustainably sourced, says it has begun assessing the case to determine whether there’s enough substantial information to indicate a violation of its policies.
Indigenous-led report warns against ‘simplistic take on conservation’
- To deal with climate change and biodiversity loss effectively and equitably, conservation needs to adopt a human rights-based approach, according to a new report co-authored by Indigenous and community organizations across Asia.
- Unlike spatial conservation targets such as “30 by 30,” a rights-based approach would recognize the ways in which Indigenous people lead local conservation efforts, and prioritize their tenure rights in measuring conservation success.
- Without tenure rights, strict spatial conservation targets could lead to human rights abuses, widespread evictions of Indigenous communities across Asia, and high resettlement costs, the report warned.
- Also without tenure rights, the inflow of money into nature-based solutions such as carbon offsets and REDD+ projects could also result in massive land grabs instead of benefiting local communities.
Why farmers, not industry, must decide the future of cocoa (commentary)
- As companies, NGOs, and experts look to agroforestry to solve many of the sustainability challenges facing the cocoa sector, Mighty Earth analyst Sam Mawutor argues that the cocoa agroforestry ‘revolution’ must be one led by farmers
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Indonesia to tighten regulation of tuna harvest in bid for sustainability
- Indonesia plans to develop a nationwide harvest strategy for its world-leading tropical tuna fishery.
- The fisheries ministry says having a set of rules in place under such a strategy will be crucial to protecting the country’s wild tuna stock.
- The move will also help the government’s ongoing push to achieve sustainability certification for its fisheries and subsequently open them up to the growing global demand for eco-labeled seafood.
- Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of tuna, but its fisheries have long been plagued by poaching and destructive fishing practices.
Is a European proposal on imported deforestation too punitive? (commentary)
- One third of global deforestation is linked to international trade, and the European Union plus the UK are estimated to account for 16% of global trade-related deforestation.
- A recent European Commission proposal would require companies to ensure that commodities placed on the European market are not linked to a territory that has been deforested after December 31, 2020.
- A senior scientist at CIRAD argues that as worded, the proposal could punish some countries unfairly while ignoring other useful certification schemes that protect forests.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
‘Collaboration is key’ to address big environmental challenges, says Daniel Katz
- In 1986 Daniel Katz set out to save tropical rainforests by co-founding the Rainforest Alliance to develop a global certification standard for forest products and crops. Katz hoped this approach would create economic incentives for companies to adopt more sustainable practices and provide sustainable livelihoods for local people.
- Over the next 35 years, the Rainforest Alliance grew into one of the world’s best known environmental brands and brought the idea of eco-certification into the mainstream.
- Since founding the Rainforest Alliance, Katz has served in a range of roles, from board member to management advisor to Senior Program Director at the Overbrook Foundation. In those capacities, he’s been a keen observer of how the conservation sector has evolved.
- In a wide-ranging interview with Mongabay, Katz spoke about trends in conservation, obstacles the sector still needs to overcome, and the importance of collaboration. He also offered advice for conservation entrepreneurs.
Amid a furniture boom, timber certification is just a start, say experts
- For furniture consumers and manufacturers alike, ensuring timber is both legal and sustainable is tricky in Southeast Asia, where supply chains are blighted by illegal logging, poor forest management and scant law enforcement.
- In an effort to improve timber sustainability in the region’s furniture supply chains, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the ASEAN Furniture Industries Council (AFIC) recent launched a four-year collaboration to promote timber certification.
- While the collaboration is a positive step, experts say even more needs to be done to prevent illegally sourced timber from entering the region’s domestic supply chains and local markets that largely operate informally and under less scrutiny than export markets.
- Experts also point out that timber certification is not a guarantee of deforestation-free products, and call on companies to publicly commit to deforestation-free supply chains and transparent reporting.
One in five hectares of oil palm in Indonesia is illegal, report shows
- A fifth of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, are operating illegally inside forest areas that are off-limits to commercial agricultural activity, a new report from Greenpeace shows.
- Half of these plantations are operated by corporations, and the other half by smallholders, indicating that nearly a third of registered palm oil companies in Indonesia have illegal plantations.
- These illegal plantations occupy protected areas such as national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Site, and overlap with the habitat of threatened wildlife like orangutans and tigers.
- Many of the companies identified in the report are members of so-called sustainability certification schemes like the RSPO and ISPO, pointing to a failure by these initiatives to address unsustainable practices.
Relying on green labels to address our thirst for the products of deforestation would be a disaster (commentary)
- Fresh promises on forests at COP26 will be meaningless unless they are coupled with real action. A key test will come shortly after the conference concludes.
- Deforestation and associated human rights abuses are driven by overseas demand for agri-commodities like palm oil, soy and beef. They won’t be stopped until that demand is stopped. New draft EU legislation – expected to be released next week – could cut off one of the biggest sources of that demand.
- However, while decision-makers debate the finer points of the law, such as the commodities it will cover, none of these will matter if they do not address a wider problem: the flawed ‘independent certification’ schemes it looks likely to end up relying on, whether they are given a formal ‘green lane’ or not.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
NGOs say FSC label offers little protection for forests, Indigenous people
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a widely recognized ethical wood label, came under fire from NGOs this week for systematic flaws that allow deforestation and companies with questionable human rights records to benefit from certification.
- Forest certification allows timber suppliers to attract discerning, high-paying customers, adopt an eco-friendly image, and meet requirements to access lucrative markets, like the EU.
- Earlier this year, Greenpeace International published a report arguing that the FSC had “greenwashed” forest destruction, highlighting a trend of increasing deforestation and degradation despite the expansion of certification.
- In the Congo Basin, which hosts the second-largest tract of rainforest after the Amazon, the area under FSC certification has, in fact, shrunk, and even in certified concessions, experts say, valuable intact forestland is under threat.
Everything is traceable – unless you don’t want it to be (commentary)
- Aida Greenbury, the former Managing Director of Sustainability at APP Group and currently a board member and advisor to several organizations including Mongabay, argues that companies need to stop making excuses for the lack of traceability of commodities and materials in their supply chains.
- “Consumers have the right to know where the products they buy come from, and to trace them back to the source of the raw materials to ensure that they are not linked to anything dodgy, such as deforestation and human rights violations,” she writes. “Consequently, brands, retailers, and manufacturers have the responsibility to provide this traceability information to consumers.”
- Greenbury argues that traceability must extend throughout a company’s supply chain, including third party suppliers and smallholders.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
FSC dumps palm oil giant Korindo amid rights, environmental issues in Papua
- Indonesian-South Korean palm oil giant Korindo has been expelled from the Forest Stewardship Council after both parties couldn’t come into an agreement on how to verify the company’s compliance.
- Korindo was in the process of keeping its membership at the FSC, which required the company to make significant social and environmental improvements and provide remedy to the damage it had done from its operations in the Indonesian province of Papua.
- The FSC was supposed to verify the progress but the certification body and Korindo failed to agree on the process.
- Korindo plans to reenter the FSC and says it remains committed to sustainability, but activists say the disassociation means the company has failed to meet sustainability standards and sends a message to other firms accused of environmental and social violations.
Environmental benefits or social — but rarely both — under RSPO, study finds
- Oil palm plantations certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) can promote environmental benefits, but have a limited impact on rural development, a new study has found.
- The study analyzes trade-offs between development and environmental impacts of RSPO on local communities in Indonesia.
- It found that the certification scheme can be effective in terms of promoting both conservation and development outcomes, but under certain conditions.
- A key factor found to influence the outcomes is terrain flatness: steeper slopes are more expensive to cultivate, making it less likely that palm oil companies will implement more environmentally friendly practices.
Malaysian council opens hearing into claims of timber certification flaws
- For more than a year, Indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo have been campaigning against timber conglomerate Samling’s certified-sustainable production plantations.
- They allege the certification processes for the plantations, which overlap with their traditional territory, were flawed and carried out without proper community consent; Samling has denied the allegations.
- The Malaysian Timber Certification Council last month launched a dispute resolution case between the two sides, giving the communities a chance to formally air their complaints.
- The conflict comes as the local government works toward a 2022 goal to have all timber companies obtain sustainable forest management certification.
Indonesia’s biodiesel program fuels deforestation threat, report warns
- A new report adds to warnings that Indonesia’s biodiesel program will drive greater deforestation by boosting demand for palm oil.
- It says contradictory and opaque government policies “create conditions for producers to maintain business-as-usual production systems, instead of investing in more sustainable production innovations, such as increasing land productivity.”
- Experts also say the biodiesel program should only serve as a transition to more sustainable forms of renewable energy, and not the long-term solution that the government is touting.
- Palm oil plantations are the single biggest driver of deforestation in Indonesia.
Threat of legal action against Indigenous Borneans protesting timber company
- For more than a year, Indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo have been campaigning against timber conglomerate Samling and its subsidiaries.
- Indigenous groups and environmental NGOs allege the company failed to obtain free, prior and informed consent of communities affected by its certified-sustainable timber production plantations; the company denies the allegations.
- In late May, Samling subsidiaries threatened to take legal action against Indigenous communities alleging the company was involved in trespass, damage or destruction of forest.
- NGOs describe the letters as an attempt to silence Indigenous communities who have spoken out against the company.
Despite flaws, commodity eco-labels contribute to sustainability (commentary)
- While eco-labels may have failed to stop deforestation of many agricultural commodities, they are nevertheless contributing to the sustainability of commodity production, argues Matthias Diemer, a trained ecologist who owns a consultancy in Switzerland focusing on sustainability in agricultural commodities.
- Diemer says that reports by Greenpeace and other watchdogs are important to raise the bar for eco-labels, but dismissing voluntary certification and placing the onus for change on governments is naive and risks losing the potential benefits of certification.
- Instead eco-labels should be appraised on realistic expectations of their potential impacts, writes Diemer.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Forest patches amid agriculture are key to orangutan survival: Study
- A recent study highlights the importance of small fragments of forest amid landscapes dominated by agriculture for the survival of orangutans in Southeast Asia.
- The research, drawing on several decades of ground and aerial surveys in Borneo, found that orangutans are adapting to the presence of oil palm plantations — if they have access to nearby patches of forest.
- The authors say agricultural plantations could serve as corridors allowing for better connectivity and gene flow within the broader orangutan population.
How the pandemic impacted rainforests in 2020: a year in review
- 2020 was supposed to be a make-or-break year for tropical forests. It was the year when global leaders were scheduled to come together to assess the past decade’s progress and set the climate and biodiversity agendas for the next decade. These included emissions reductions targets, government procurement policies and corporate zero-deforestation commitments, and goals to set aside protected areas and restore degraded lands.
- COVID-19 upended everything: Nowhere — not even tropical rainforests — escaped the effects of the global pandemic. Conservation was particularly hard in tropical countries.
- 2019’s worst trends for forests mostly continued through the pandemic including widespread forest fires, rising commodity prices, increasing repression and violence against environmental defenders, and new laws and policies in Brazil and Indonesia that undermine forest conservation.
- We don’t yet have numbers on the degree to which the pandemic affected deforestation, because it generally takes several months to process that data. That being said, there are reasons to suspect that 2020’s forest loss will again be substantial.
France’s tropical forest conservation efforts: an interview with AFD’s Gilles Kleitz
- Since hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015 which resulted in the Paris Climate Agreement, France has become a leading proponent for tropical forest conservation. This effort has included establishing a National Strategy to Combat Imported Deforestation (SNDI) to effectively apply a zero deforestation policy to commodities produced at the expense of forests in the tropics.
- One of the key institutions charged with implementing the SNDI abroad is the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France’s overseas development agency. AFD programs in tropical forests have not always been without controversy—NGOs have alleged that AFD has supported companies which contribute to deforestation—but AFD says it has incorporated this criticism as well as findings from research institutions into safeguards it now applies to the projects it finances.
- Accordingly, AFD’s emphasis around tropical forests in recent years has shifted toward conservation and “sustainable forest management”, which includes establishing forest management plans to reduce the impact of logging operations in places like the Congo Basin.
- To provide some context on AFD’s current approaches and priorities, Mongabay spoke with Gilles Kleitz, head of Agriculture, Water and Biodiversity at the French Development Agency.
Report: Soy, cattle industries trail palm oil, timber on deforestation risk
- The report says the soybean and cattle industries lack certification bodies like the RSPO that were created after consumer pressure.
- Among soybean and cattle producers, Glencore Agriculture, JBS and Minerva scored worst on indicators for forest risk.
- The two industries have a significant role in the deforestation of the Amazon and Brazil’s Cerrado biome.
Atlantic trends can predict Amazon drought 18 months away, study finds
- Scientists from Germany have developed a climate model that allows them to predict periods of drought in the Amazon based on surface temperature analysis of the Atlantic Ocean.
- Their model was able to trace back six of the seven main drought events since the 1980s.
- With an early warning, farmers and traditional Amazonian communities will be able to plan ahead and mitigate against climate impacts to some degree.
- However, scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of droughts in the Amazon rainforest will only increase as global warming worsens.
‘Deforestation-free’ isn’t working: It’s time to go forest positive (commentary)
- Charlotte Opal, the Executive Director of the Forest Conservation Fund, argues for “forest positive” supply chains where companies are not only buying from suppliers who aren’t deforesting, but are also actively protecting standing forest in those supply chains.
- “Directly supporting forest conservation is a simple, cheap, and fast way for companies to get out in front of the problem and stop deforestation at the frontier, while in parallel they do the expensive, complex, and slower work of cleaning up their supply chains.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Is Malaysia’s CIMB serious about addressing deforestation? (commentary)
- Gulzhan Musaeva, an independent financial analyst writes about CIMB’s sustainability commitments. CIMB is Malaysia’s second largest bank and a major leader to regional plantation companies.
- Musaeva argues that CIMB’s reluctance to address the issues associated with forest sector borrowers head-on casts doubt on its sustainability aspirations.
- “This means that, despite massive exposure to forest-risk sectors,” writes Musaeva, “CIMB, among other Malaysian banks, willfully overlooks its impact on SDG 15 ‘Life on Land’ through financing activities. Local communities who bear the brunt of impaired land use and environment are thus effectively dismissed as stakeholders in materiality assessments.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
FSC slammed for slow probe into deforestation by firms linked to Indonesia’s richest man
- An environmental NGO that flagged deforestation by two pulpwood companies linked to a Forest Stewardship Council member says the FSC has dragged its feet on carrying out a proper investigation.
- The companies and the FSC member, a paper mill, are all controlled directly or indirectly by Robert Budi Hartono, Indonesia’s richest person.
- The complaint was filed last December, but the investigation only began in February this year, and has been put on hold since June because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FSC says.
- The NGO has questioned the FSC’s delayed response, its non-standard investigation process, and its apparent failure to link the pulpwood companies to the certified paper mill earlier.
Probe begins into alleged deforestation by Olam, ‘world’s largest farmer’
- A retrospective assessment has begun of claims that FSC-certified palm oil producer Olam razed thousands of hectares of wildlife-rich rainforest in Gabon.
- Campaigners are calling for Olam to fund compensatory forest restoration or additional protection.
- The Gabonese government says its palm oil strategy is sustainable and does not threaten the country’s rich biodiversity.
‘Meaningless certification’: Study makes the case against ‘sustainable’ palm oil
- Three-quarters of oil palm concessions in Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil occupy land that was forest and/or wildlife habitat as recently as 30 years ago, a new study shows.
- While not the initial drivers of deforestation in those areas, these plantations shouldn’t be certified sustainable if that history is accounted for, the study authors say.
- “The fact that someone else did deforestation just a few years before does not absolve the palm oil plantation’s owner and definitely does not justify a sustainability label by a certification scheme,” says co-author Roberto Cazzolla Gatti.
- He adds the RSPO’s failure to account for past deforestation means that “every logged area ‘today’ could be certified as a sustainable plantation ‘tomorrow,’ in an infinite loop of meaningless certification.”
Podcast: From parks to payments, which conservation strategies work best?
- This is the 100th episode of the Mongabay Newscast! We revisit Mongabay’s groundbreaking Conservation Effectiveness reporting project in order to see what developments there have been since we did the initial reporting three years ago.
- Joining us today are Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who tells us about the impetus for the series of reports that would become Conservation Effectiveness, what the main findings were from the project, and the new developments over the past three years that might help fill the gaps in our understanding of conservation impacts.
- We also speak with Sven Wunder, a principal scientist at the European Forest Institute in Barcelona, Spain as well as a senior associate at the Center for International Forestry Research, or CIFOR. Wunder actually spoke with me back in 2017 for the piece I wrote about PES as part of the Conservation Effectiveness series, and we’ve spoken again for this episode of the podcast so he can fill us in on the latest research into the impact of a variety of conservation strategies.
Upgrade of Indonesian palm oil certification falls short, observers say
- The Indonesian government’s planned update to its palm oil sustainability certification program doesn’t do enough to protect Indigenous communities from land grabs or prevent the destruction of forests, groups say.
- The Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) scheme prohibits the conversion of Indigenous lands to oil palm plantations, but relies on the official framework for recognizing Indigenous land claims that covers only a tiny fraction of such areas.
- It also fails to explicitly call for the protection of secondary forests, allowing an area greater than the size of California to potentially be cleared for more plantations.
- There is also no provision for independent monitoring of the ISPO certification scheme itself that would provide credibility and oversight to the system.
A Brazilian forest community shows certified timber really does work
- In Pará, the Brazilian state with the highest deforestation rate, communities inside Tapajós National Forest have for the past 15 years run one of the most successful native timber management projects.
- Eighteen of the 24 communities in the conservation area are part of the project, which involves an average of 130 people. Forest management is their main source of income.
- In 2013, the communities earned FSC certification.
- Today, their products are sold around the world, thanks to partnerships with renowned designers to produce quality sustainable furniture and decorative objects.
Rainforest Alliance Certification gets a 2020 upgrade
- Rainforest Alliance has announced new, more robust criteria for certification. The rollout of the new program begins this September and companies will be audited against the new standards beginning in July 2021.
- The updated certification program provides new standards for farmers and companies in the areas of human rights, supply chains, livelihoods, deforestation and biodiversity and provides new data systems and tools for management.
- Currently, 44,000 products with the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal or UTZ label are available.
Ikea using illegally sourced wood from Ukraine, campaigners say
- The report provides evidence that some of the beech wood used in Ikea’s flagship Terje chair and other products came from a state-run forestry enterprise in Ukraine that was violating the law.
- Ikea’s suppliers in Ukraine harvested logs from the Velkyy Bychkiv state forestry enterprise during a “silence period” when the type of logging they were carrying out was legally prohibited.
- Campaigners say the Forest Stewardship Council, one of the world’s largest and most influential timber certification organizations, failed to note or take action on the illegalities.
How we calculated Korindo’s revenues from clearing Papuan rainforest
- A panel convened by the Forest Stewardship Council calculated that Korindo had deprived indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua province of $300 million by underpaying for the timber harvested from their lands in the decade from 2007.
- Korindo dismissed the figure as “pure fantasy” on the grounds that the panel had based its calculations on global market prices, when Korindo actually sold the timber locally. Korindo claimed it had made a loss on the logging operations as it cleared land for plantations.
- Based on our own calculation, we estimate that since the turn of the century, Korindo exported products worth $320 million using timber harvested as it cleared the rainforest for plantations in Papua.
The Consultant: Why did a palm oil conglomerate pay $22m to an unnamed ‘expert’ in Papua?
- In a year-long investigation with The Gecko Project, the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism-Newstapa and Al Jazeera, Mongabay traced a $22 million “consultancy” payment connected to a major land deal in Indonesia’s Papua province.
- It took us from South Korea and Singapore to the heart of the largest rainforest left in Asia, to find out how the payment helped make the Korindo Group one of the largest oil palm producers in the region.
- Photography by Albertus Vembrianto.
Indonesia drops panned plan to scrap legality license for wood exports
- The Indonesian government has backtracked on a decision to end timber legality checks for the export of wood products, amid widespread criticism and the prospect of being shut out of the lucrative European market.
- In February, the trade ministry issued a regulation that would free wood product exporters from having to obtain licenses certifying that the wood comes from legal sources, known as v-legal (“verified legal”) and required for wood products entering the EU market.
- The policy was supposed to take effect on May 27, but on May 11 the ministry revoked the regulation, citing a request from the environment ministry, which had not been consulted on the initial move.
- Environmental activists and businesses have welcomed the revocation of the regulation, but a trade group representing wood furniture exporters says the U-turn is disappointing.
Indonesia aims for sustainability certification for oil palm smallholders
- An update to the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standard will require all smallholder farmers in the country to be certified, alongside large plantation companies that are already obliged to comply.
- Observers have welcomed the move, noting that 40% of palm oil plantation area in Indonesia — an area larger than Switzerland — is under smallholder management.
- Studies show that these small farmers often lack support and access to high-yield seedlings; as such, their productivity is low, and to make up for it, they clear more land for planting — often illegally.
- Enrolling them in ISPO certification is expected to help boost their productivity and prevent them from deforesting, but bureaucratic tangles threaten to undermine the program.
Watchdogs lament palm oil giant Wilmar’s exit from forest conservation alliance
- Wilmar International, the world’s biggest palm oil trader, has quit the steering group of the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), which helps agribusiness identify forest areas for protection.
- It cited governance and financial problems within the group — which includes members from agribusiness, civil society and environmental watchdogs — as justification for its April 2 exit.
- But other steering group members and watchdogs say it appears Wilmar is trying to shirk its conservation and sustainability commitments as an HCSA member, and that its exit hurts efforts to boost sustainability in the sector.
- The HCSA mechanism is used by agribusiness to distinguish forest areas that should be protected from degraded areas that can be developed, in a bid to minimize deforestation.
Indonesia risks timber trade with EU after scrapping license rules
- The European Union says a move by Indonesia to no longer require that wood exports be verified as coming from legal sources threatens the timber trade between the two sides.
- The EU has since 2016 put its trust in Indonesia’s timber certification scheme, the SVLK, to ensure that the wood it imports from the Southeast Asian nation isn’t illegally logged.
- But Indonesia’s trade ministry says it’s scrapping the SVLK requirement for exporters in a bid to boost business amid a slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Industry experts have slammed the move, saying it undermines hard-won gains for the reputation of Indonesian timber and weakens the country’s position in trade negotiations.
Coconut farmers in Southeast Asia struggle as palm oil muscles in on them
- Indonesia and the Philippines account for most of the world’s coconut production. But as the palm oil industry expands, helped along by generous government subsidies, coconut farmers are struggling to adapt.
- In 2010, palm oil overtook coconut oil as the top-selling oil in most Philippine grocery stores. Most of it was imported from Indonesia or Malaysia, but now the Philippines is trying increase its own production.
- Oil palm is a much more industrialized crop than coconut, which is dominated by smallholders. But while the low price of palm oil has given it an advantage, demand has risen for high-quality coconut products due to health and sustainability concerns.
- Some coconut farmers say they need the same kind of support from the government that palm oil companies get if they are going to survive.
Indonesia ends timber legality rule, stoking fears of illegal logging boom
- Indonesia’s trade ministry has scrapped a requirement for wood exporters to obtain licenses verifying their wood comes from legal and sustainably managed sources.
- The SVLK verification system took a decade to develop and implement and has been accepted by some of the most stringent market regulators for timber legality, including the EU.
- Scrapping the licensing requirement constitutes a major setback for Indonesia’s timber industry and could open the door to more illegal logging, experts warn.
- The forestry ministry, which oversees the logging industry and the SVLK system, was not consulted about the trade ministry’s decision, and says it will ask for the new rule to be revised.
Cerrado in crisis: One Brazilian farm family commits to sustainable soy
- Brazil’s Cerrado is one of the most biodiverse tropical savannas on the planet, with aquifers and rivers vital to Brazil’s urban water supply. But more than half the biome’s 2 million square kilometers have been cleared, and the rest is vanishing fast.
- The Cerrado today serves a soaring global demand for soy, used as animal feed for livestock in Brazil, the European Union, United Kingdom and elsewhere.
- The Bergamaschi family soy plantation is different from most. The family has conserved 8% of its land above the 20% required by Brazil’s Forest Code. It is also fully committed to growing soy sustainably, and has received Roundtable for Responsible Soy certification — a designation that assures zero deforestation.
- But few Cerrado growers are following suit, largely due to economics. For now the EU market for certified soy is very small. Without consumer demand, and a strong commitment from government, soy certification will likely lag in the Cerrado. However, signs are that the EU could soon act to ban “imported deforestation.”
Malaysia to let RSPO publish oil palm concession maps
- The Malaysian government has decided to allow the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to publish concession maps for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak of its members in a bid to boost transparency in the sector.
- The RSPO has described the move as a “milestone” and it could leave neighboring Indonesia — currently the world’s largest palm oil producer and exporter — further behind in the pursuit of transparency in the palm oil sector.
- Activists have called on Indonesia to follow Malaysia’s footsteps if it doesn’t want to have the image of its oil palm products further tarnished compared to Malaysia.
Tropical forests’ lost decade: the 2010s
- The 2010s opened as a moment of optimism for tropical forests. The world looked like it was on track to significantly reduce tropical deforestation by 2020.
- By the end of the 2019 however, it was clear that progress on protecting tropical forests stalled in the 2010s. The decade closed with rising deforestation and increased incidence of fire in tropical forests.
- According to the U.N., in 2015 global forest cover fell below four billion hectares of forest for the first time in human history.
RSPO questions effectiveness of Indonesian palm plantation moratorium
- There hasn’t been any quantifiable way to tell if a year-long moratorium on issuing new licenses for oil palm plantations has been effective, observers say.
- Indonesia imposed the moratorium last year, but failed to define baseline data or publish permit details that would have been essential to measuring progress, according to an official from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
- As part of the moratorium, the government also ordered a review of existing plantation permits; however, a lack of sanctions sends the message that violators can keep “making mistakes over and over again.”
- An industry watchdog has called on the government to stop thinking about the industry in terms of sheer production volume, and instead to find ways to ensure that the production is sustainable.
World’s biggest meatpackers buying cattle from deforesters in Amazon
- JBS, Marfrig and Frigol, among the world’s biggest meat producers, have been buying cattle from ranches associated with illegal deforestation and slave labor, an investigation by Repórter Brasil has found.
- The ranches in question are located in southern Pará state, the epicenter of the fires currently ravaging the Amazon, providing further evidence of the link between deforestation for cattle pasture and forest fires.
- The three companies say the information that would have flagged the ranches as problematic were not publicly available at the time they made their purchase, and point to their commitments to not source from ranches linked to environmental crimes.
- But a lack of animal traceability allows ranchers to use legalized farms to conceal sales of cattle raised in illegal areas through false declarations of origin, in a practice known as “cattle washing.”
How rubber farmers can reduce risk and help the environment (commentary)
- Since the cost of natural rubber, unlike synthetic rubber, is determined by markets and mostly driven by commodity exchanges like that of Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai, Thailand’s rubber farmers – mostly made up of small landowners who hold 95 percent of the planting area – don’t have safeguards against the seesawing econometrics of the business.
- They have also traditionally cultivated rubber as a monoculture – a practice often criticized for its environmental effects on soil, fauna population, quality, and productivity. So, diversifying the scope of their lands and livelihoods is an option that only makes sense.
- Gaining certification through organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) helps them transition through that diversification, widening the possibilities of income and teaching them more sustainable ways to manage their operations.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
FSC to keep Korindo in the fold, for now
- Palm oil giant Korindo must “commit to reparations for past [land] conversion practices” in Indonesia or else face expulsion from the Forest Stewardship Council, the certification body announced this week.
- The precise conditions for Korindo to retain its FSC membership were not elaborated on. But the FSC said that if Korindo fails to meet them, it could be expelled from the FSC.
- Campaign group Mighty Earth called on Korindo to return customary lands to indigenous communities, restore damaged ecosystems, and more.
Can jurisdictional certification curb palm oil deforestation in Indonesia? (commentary)
- In this commentary, Dan Nepstad of Earth Innovation Institute and John Watts and Silvia Irawan of Inovasi Bumi argue that the surge in oil palm expansion in Indonesia since the early 2000s has caused deforestation, environmental degradation and social conflicts; strategies to reduce these negative impacts have seen only modest success.
- The authors say the jurisdictional certification pilots of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) represent a promising new approach to these issues. The RSPO pilot in Seruyan — a district that has experienced many of these problems — has led to several innovations, including an agricultural facility that provides technical support to smallholders while managing funds received from companies, implementation of the “jurisdiction-wide environmental protection plan” regulation, a mechanism for resolving land conflicts, and a method for mapping and registering independent smallholders.
- Deforestation may be on the decline in Seruyan, with the exception of the El Niño related fires of 2015 and 2016. Through jurisdictional certification, there is the potential to protect 480 thousand hectares of standing forests and restore 420 thousand hectares of forests.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Chinese banks risk supporting soy-related deforestation, report finds
- Chinese financial institutions have little awareness about the risks of deforestation in the soy supply chain, according to a report released May 31 from the nonprofit disclosure platform CDP.
- China imports more than 60 percent of the world’s soy, meaning that the country could play a major role in halting deforestation and slowing climate change if companies and banks focus on stopping deforestation to grow the crop.
- Around 490 square kilometers (189 square miles) of land in Brazil was cleared for soy headed for China in 2017 — about 40 percent of all “converted” land in Brazil that year.
- As the trade war between the U.S. and China continues, China may increasingly look to Latin America for its soy, potentially increasing the chances that land will be cleared to make way for the crop.
’Green’ bonds finance industrial tree plantations in Brazil
- The Environmental Paper Network (EPN), a group of some 140 NGOs with the goal of making the pulp and paper industry more sustainable, released a briefing contending that green or climate bonds issued by Fibria, a pulp and paper company, went to maintaining and expanding plantations of eucalyptus trees.
- The report suggests that the Brazilian company inflated the amount of carbon that new planting would store.
- The author of the briefing also questions the environmental benefits of maintaining industrial monocultures of eucalyptus, a tree that requires a lot of water along with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer that can impact local ecosystems and human communities.
Trekking the boreal forest for biodiversity (insider)
- Sweden is widely considered to be the world’s greenest country, but its surprisingly lax forestry laws often leave decisions about logging to timber companies, and large swaths of biologically-rich boreal forest are being lost.
- Federal agencies and certifying bodies such as the Forest Stewardship Council have tried to improve the situation, but activists charge that they are unable to prevent forestry companies from cutting even the most valuable and the oldest forest tracts. I traveled there in 2011 to investigate their claims.
- These forest watchdogs have trained themselves to identify rare and endangered species of fungi and lichens, whose presence prevents cutting of those richest tracts, a successful but rugged tactic requiring long days of trekking, climbing, and lifting or turning of many logs.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.
New maps show where humans are pushing species closer to extinction
- A new study maps out how disruptive human changes to the environment affect the individual ranges of more than 5,400 mammal, bird and amphibian species around the world.
- Almost a quarter of the species are threatened by human impacts in more than 90 percent of their range, and at least one human impact occurred in an average of 38 percent of the range of a given species.
- The study also identified “cool” spots, where concentrations of species aren’t negatively impacted by humans.
- The researchers say these “refugia” are good targets for conservation efforts.
Indonesia’s tuna fisheries seek out sustainability certification
- One tuna fishing operation in Indonesia has been certified for its sustainable practices, and at least a dozen more are seeking similar certification to meet growing global demand for eco-labeled seafood.
- Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of tuna, but its fisheries have long been plagued by poaching and destructive fishing practices.
- NGOs working with local fishing communities have called on the government to do more to support the drive toward sustainable fishing certification, given the costs of undergoing the necessary assessment and implementing operational changes.
RSPO should suspend membership of groups undermining Guatemala’s anti-impunity commission (commentary)
- The journey toward sustainability must begin from a baseline of proven ethical intent — and a number of recent signs raise serious doubts about the ethical intent of a wide swath of industry players in Guatemala.
- Palm oil is the fastest growing agribusiness industry in Guatemala. Along with mining and hydroelectric projects, it is a major cause of land grabs that displace indigenous communities. Palm oil companies have been heavily involved in Guatemalan President Morales’ campaign to stop the U.N. Commission Against Impunity.
- In order to responsibly address the unfolding political crisis in Guatemala, the RSPO should postpone the certification processes of all Guatemalan palm companies until GREPALMA and its members end their campaign to sabotage the U.N. Commission Against Impunity and desist from undermining the rule of law in the country.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Saving the forests of the Congo Basin: Q&A with author Meindert Brouwer
- Central African Forests Forever, first published in 2017, takes readers to the heart of the continent, introducing them to the people and wildlife of this region.
- Its author, independent communications consultant Meindert Brouwer, says the book also functions as a tool for sharing information about efforts to address poverty and environmental issues in the region.
- Mongabay spoke with Brouwer to learn more about his motivations and the reception of his work in Central Africa.
Rainforests: storylines to watch in 2019
- 2018 wasn’t a great year for tropical rainforests, with major conservation setbacks in Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and the United States coming on top of back-to-back years of high forest cover loss.
- Here are ten storylines we’re watching in the world of rainforests as we begin 2019.
- Brazil’s Bolsanaro, Democratic Republic of Congo election outcome, global economic health, Indonesia’s election, biofuel mandates, California forest carbon decision, forest monitoring technology, U.S. politics, and political momentum for biodiversity.
The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018
- This is our annual rainforests year in review post.
- Overall, 2018 was not a good year for the planet’s tropical rainforests.
- Rainforest conservation suffered many setbacks, especially in Brazil, the Congo Basin, and Madagascar.
- Colombia was one of the few bright spots for rainforests in 2018.
Christmas ad conundrum: Is a palm oil boycott the way to save apes?
- British supermarket chain Iceland attempted to run a television advertisement highlighting the link between palm oil and the destruction of the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.
- Deemed too political to air due to its links with campaigning group Greenpeace, the advertisement has been viewed online more than 70 million times, reigniting a debate on whether consumers should boycott products containing palm oil.
- Many wildlife NGOs argue that calling for a blanket ban on palm oil could do more harm than good. Instead, they urge concerned consumers to pressure the industry to clean up its practices.
- However, critics of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s leading standards council, say RSPO-certification has so far failed to stamp out deforestation and other harmful practices among member companies.
RSPO adopts total ban on deforestation under sweeping new standards
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has adopted new standards that will prohibit its member companies from clearing any type of forest for palm plantations.
- RSPO-certified companies were previously permitted to clear secondary forests and peat forests with a peat layer no deeper than 3 meters (10 feet).
- The move comes amid a growing consumer backlash that has prompted companies to make zero-deforestation commitments.
- Environmental activists have welcomed the RSPO’s deforestation ban with cautious optimism, noting that enforcement of the certification body’s standards has historically been lax.
The legal institutionalization of FSC certification in Gabon (commentary)
- Gabon’s President Ali Bongo announced on September 26, during a visit to a Rougier wood processing plant, that all forest concessions in Gabon will have to be certified with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard by 2022.
- Unlike its neighbors, Gabon has never shown any interest in the European proposal for a Voluntary Partnership Agreement, probably because its timber exports are increasingly focused on Asia. If other countries follow Gabon’s lead and make private certification mandatory (the Congo-Brazzaville is considering this in its forestry law under preparation), the European strategy, which gives only a secondary place to private certification, will probably have to be reviewed.
- The future will tell us whether the Gabonese decision is the first step in consecrating the power of private governance in an area that has long remained particularly sovereign, or whether the conversion of a voluntary instrument into a legal prerequisite is turning against the FSC by undermining its credibility.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Audio: How an African bat might help us prevent future Ebola outbreaks
- On this episode, we look at research into an African bat that might be the key to controlling future Ebola outbreaks.
- Our guest is Sarah Olson, an Associate Director of Wildlife Health for the Wildlife Conservation Society. With Ebola very much in the news lately due to a recent outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Olson is here to tell us how research into hammer-headed fruit bats might help us figure out how Ebola is transmitted from animals to humans — and potentially control or prevent future outbreaks of the viral disease.
- The bats don’t contract the disease, but there is evidence that they carry the virus. Olson is part of a study in the Republic of the Congo that seeks to understand how the Ebola virus is transmitted from carriers like hammer-headed fruit bats to other wildlife and humans.
Slave labor found at Starbucks-certified Brazil coffee plantation
- Brazil Labor Ministry investigators have raided the Córrego das Almas farm in Piumhi, in rural Minas Gerais state, and rescued 18 workers who were laboring on coffee plantations in conditions analogous to slavery.
- The Córrego das Almas farm holds the C.A.F.E. Practices certification, owned by Starbucks in partnership with SCS Global Services. After hearing of the raid, the two companies responsible for issuing the seal said they would review the farm’s quality certificate. Starbucks says it hasn’t bought coffee from the farm in recent years.
- The farm also holds the UTZ seal, a Netherlands-based sustainable farming certificate prized by the coffee industry. That seal of approval was suspended after the certifier was questioned by Repórter Brasil regarding the Ministry of Justice investigation.
- Another inspection in Minas Gerais, in the town of Muzambinho, rescued 15 workers in conditions analogous to slavery from a farm owned by Maria Júlia Pereira, the sister-in-law of a state deputy, Emidinho Madeira.
Aligning forces for tropical forests as a climate change solution (commentary)
- Tropical forest governments need help to achieve their commitments to slow deforestation and are not getting it fast enough; companies could deliver some of that help through strategic partnerships, especially if environmental advocacy strategies evolve to favor these partnerships. Aspiring governments also need a mechanism for registering and disseminating their commitments and for finding potential partners.
- Climate finance is reaching most jurisdictions, but not at the speed or scale that is needed. Tropical forest governments need help making their jurisdictions easier to do business in and more bankable; they are beginning to develop innovative ways to use verified emissions reductions, to create industries and institutions for low-carbon development, and to establish efficient, transparent mechanisms for companies to deliver finance for technical assistance to farmers.
- Partnerships between indigenous peoples and subnational governments have emerged as a promising new approach for both improving representation of forest communities in subnational governance and delivering greater support, unlocking climate finance in the process.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Study links US demand for Chinese furniture to deforestation in Africa
- Recent research links the U.S. demand for furniture made in China to tree cover loss in Africa’s Congo Basin.
- Between 2001 and 2015, China became the largest export market for timber from the Congo Basin, and over that same time period, the share of imports of furniture from China to the U.S. grew from 30 percent to 50 percent.
- The researchers suggest that public awareness campaigns aimed at curbing the demand for such furniture could be a boon for the Congo Basin’s forests.
The crisis in the European tropical timber sector in Central Africa (commentary)
- European concessionaires in Africa are gradually selling their assets to Asian investors, who have substantial capital and operate in markets that accept lower-quality wood. This has led some Europeans to wonder whether they are truly on a level playing field with some of their Asian competitors.
- Withdrawal of European companies is associated with decline in FSC certification. Rougier and Wijma represented nearly 700,000 certified hectares in Cameroon, but their Chinese successors are not necessarily maintaining those certifications.
- A reduction in forest taxation for certified concessions seems to be the simplest solution, providing international donors compensate producing countries for the resulting loss of tax revenue.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
EU demand siphons illicit timber from Ukraine, investigation finds
- Corrupt management of Ukraine’s timber sector is supplying the EU with large amounts of wood from the country’s dense forests.
- The London-based investigative nonprofit Earthsight found evidence that forestry officials have taken bribes to supply major European firms with Ukrainian wood that may have been harvested illegally.
- Earthsight argues that EU-based companies are not carrying out the due diligence that the EU Timber Regulation requires when buying from “high-risk” sources of timber.
Logging roads drive loss of intact forest in FSC-certified logging concessions
- Logging roads in Central Africa cause greater loss of intact forest landscapes, or IFLs, on certified timber concessions compared to non-certified concessions, an analysis shows.
- Certified timber companies typically build more robust road networks that are more apt to show up on satellite imagery than non-certified companies.
- The findings highlight an apparent contradiction between certification for logging and the protection of IFLs, leading some critics to argue that IFL protection should not be part of the Forest Stewardship Council’s standards.
Time is running out for palm oil certification (commentary)
- A number of voluntary schemes have been set up to address the environmental impacts of palm oil, which has experienced rapid growth in demand and has been identified as one of the leading drivers of deforestation and biodiversity loss worldwide.
- While there is some variation between them, none of the schemes has been very effective in slowing down deforestation. The range of schemes, and the existence of different modules within each scheme that allow members to opt for varying degrees of ambition, are leading to a watering down of sustainability outcomes in general.
- For too long, certification has been considered as the one and only “possible and realistic” option for addressing the impacts of palm oil cultivation, but the fact is: we are running out of time.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
More gorillas and chimpanzees living in Central Africa’s forests than thought
- A study led by WCS researchers pulled together wildlife survey data collected between 2003 and 2013 at 59 sites in five countries across western Central Africa.
- They then developed mathematical models to understand where the highest densities of gorillas and chimpanzees are and why, as well as broader trends in the populations.
- They found that more than 361,000 western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and almost 129,000 central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) inhabit these forests — about 30 percent more gorillas and 10 percent more chimpanzees than previously estimated.
- The team’s analyses also demonstrate that western lowland gorilla numbers are slipping by 2.7 percent a year.
Small farmers not ready as Indonesia looks to impose its palm oil sustainability standard on all
- The Indonesian government plans to make its sustainable palm oil certification scheme, the ISPO, mandatory for small farmers by 2020. These farmers account for 40 percent of the total oil palm plantation area nationwide, but were exempted from the initial ISPO rollout.
- A recent study shows that these smallholders are not ready to adopt the standard. They face a variety of challenges, largely stemming from the tenuous nature of their land ownership claims.
- The Ministry of Agriculture fears that under the existing ISPO compliance regulation, many farmers will end up in prison for failing to comply by the deadline. The government is now drafting an updated ISPO regulation.
Certified weaknesses: The RSPO’s Liberian fiasco (commentary)
- On February 13, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the industry certification system for production of conflict-free palm oil, confirmed what many in Liberia’s rural Sinoe County have been saying all along: Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), a palm oil company operating since 2010, did not properly receive the consent of local communities to acquire their traditional lands.
- The charges against GVL are not new. The first complaint filed against GVL with the RSPO came in 2012. Over the years, multiple civil society reports have documented GVL’s land grabbing, human rights violations, and environmental degradation. In 2015, a riot erupted on GVL’s plantation. Six years and various investigations by the RSPO later, the situation for these communities is largely the same.
- It’s striking that, given the resources and responsibilities of both the company and the certification body, neither GVL nor the RSPO had chosen to communicate with these communities about the remedies GVL was directed to pursue by the RSPO. This begs the question: What is the value of corporate commitments and industry standards if those messages never reach the people they intend to benefit, let alone are translated into tangible actions?
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
India’s new forest policy draft draws criticism for emphasis on industrial timber
- The Draft National Forest Policy 2018 is now open for public comments, and will replace the older 1988 policy once it comes into force.
- Critics are apprehensive about how the draft policy deals with community participation and industrial forestry.
- The current draft is bereft of knowledge-driven solutions, some experts say.
Greenpeace International ends its Forest Stewardship Council membership
- Greenpeace International announced on March 26 that it would not renew its membership with the FSC.
- The environmental organization says the FSC is not meeting its aims of protecting forests and ensuring that human rights are respected.
- Greenpeace and the FSC both say they intend to continue to engage with each other, despite the end of a long formal relationship.
FSC-certified timber importer failed to check legality of shipment from Cameroon
- Hardwood Dimensions, a timber importer in the U.K., violated the EU Timber Regulation by not properly verifying the legality of a shipment of Cameroonian ayous in January 2017.
- A judge ordered Hardwood Dimensions to pay 4,000 pounds ($5,576) plus court costs in the case.
- The case calls into question the effectiveness of Forest Stewardship Council certification, which Hardwood Dimensions has held since 2000.
Report finds projects in DRC ‘REDD+ laboratory’ fall short of development, conservation goals
- The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) released a new report that found that 20 REDD+ projects in a province in DRC aren’t set to address forest conservation and economic development — the primary goals of the strategy.
- The Paris Agreement explicitly mentions the role of REDD+ projects, which channel funds from wealthy countries to heavily forested ones, in keeping the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius this century.
- RRI is asking REDD+ donors to pause funding of projects in DRC until coordinators develop a more participatory approach that includes communities and indigenous groups.
Zero-deforestation pledges need help, support to meet targets, new study finds
- The study’s authors reviewed previous research to understand the impact that zero-deforestation commitments are having on reducing the loss of forests.
- Nearly 450 companies made 760 such commitments by early 2017.
- These pledges can reduce deforestation in some cases, but in others, they weren’t effective or had unintended effects, according to the study.
- The authors advocate for increased public-private communication, more support for smallholders, and complementary laws that support these pledges.
Study: RSPO certification prunes deforestation in Indonesia — but not by much
- Oil palm plantations certified as sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil had less deforestation than non-certified plantations, according to a new analysis.
- Certification’s effect on the incidence of fires and the clearing of forest from peatlands was not statistically significant.
- The research demonstrates that while certification does reduce deforestation, it has not protected very much standing forest from being cut down.
Camera traps reveal surprises in Peru
- Scientists set 72 camera traps and audio recorders to compare biodiversity across certified forested areas and forests that are not certified for sustainable use.
- The first few images reveal the presence of jaguars, pumas, jaguarundis, tapirs, red deer, tufted capuchins and even bush dogs, which are elusive and difficult to find.
New carbon maps of Sabah’s forests guide conservation in Borneo
- Airborne LiDAR mapping combined with satellite imagery analysis has provided scientists, government agencies and NGOs with a “wall-to-wall” account of the carbon held in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo.
- The study, led by ecologists from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, revealed that more than 40 percent of the forests with the highest carbon stocks aren’t covered by the state’s most stringent protections.
- The findings give wildlife biologists the chance to examine how carbon stocks correlate with the presence of biodiversity; NGOs the opportunity to identify new high-carbon areas to set aside under oil palm certification schemes; and the Sabah government the information to determine which forests are the most valuable and therefore need further protections.
RSPO tops among certification schemes, though all must improve: report
- A new report from the Forest Peoples Programme ranks certification schemes for biofuels and edible oils.
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil topped the NGO’s rankings, although it too has significant problems.
- “It seems that about half of RSPO members’ palm oil sold in Europe, mostly for biofuels, is…not RSPO-certified. For those concerned about human rights and social justice, this is very troubling,” FPP campaigner Marcus Colchester said.
It is time to recognize the limits of certification in agriculture (commentary)
- In early 2017, the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) decided that it was going to stop working with certification in agriculture.
- It was actually a fairly easy and straightforward decision: After working with this tool for over 20 years, we could look back and conclude that certification was not the best approach to improve the sustainability of most farmers in the world, especially when considering the huge challenges we face from climate change, poverty, deforestation, soil and water contamination, and human rights violations.
- In our history, we have seen many positive impacts from certification for workers, producers and the environment. But we have also increasingly come to recognize the limitations of certification as a tool to drive change in agricultural production systems at scale.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
In Vietnam, small farmers and timber magnates forge uneasy alliance
- Vietnam plans to certify as sustainable some 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) of production forests in the country and boost timber export value to $8 billion by 2020.
- Nearly a quarter of the country’s forests are managed by smallholders, whose subsistence lifestyle often compels them to harvest their timber too young to be used for furniture or as quality wood products.
- An initiative by WWF looks set to change this by training smallholders in sustainable farming methods under FSC standards, which is hoped to also boost their income over the long term.
- Local wood processors and exporters are also pushing for higher domestic supply as they look for a more viable alternative to costly imported timber.
Audio: Impacts of gas drilling on wildlife in Peru and a Goldman Prize winner on mercury contamination
- On today’s episode: a look at the impacts of drilling for natural gas on birds and amphibians through bioacoustics, and a Goldman Prize winner discusses her ongoing campaign to rid mercury contamination from the environment.
- Our first guest on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast is Jessica Deichmann, a research scientist with the Center for Conservation and Sustainability at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Deichmann led a study that used acoustic monitoring, among other methods, to examine the impacts on wildlife of a gas drilling platform in the forests of southeastern Peru.
- Next, we talk with 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Yuyun Ismawati, an environmental engineer from Indonesia who currently lives in the UK. As the founder of an NGO called BaliFokus and a steering committee member of IPEN, a non-profit based in Sweden that works to improve chemicals policies and practices around the world, Ismawati has made it her life’s mission to stop the use of mercury in activities like gold mining that cause the toxin to leach into the environment and thereby threaten human health and wildlife.
Is the Forest Stewardship Council going to stay ‘fit for purpose’ for this century? (commentary)
- Reflecting on the General Assembly in Vancouver, held earlier this month, has me questioning whether FSC is going to stay fit for purpose for this century, or whether it is going to be held back by misguided economic self-interest.
- The idea is that members of the three FSC chambers – social, environmental, and economic – come together to shape the future of the certification system by discussing and voting on motions that fundamentally affect the way FSC is run. But is that really still the case?
- For the first time in the eight FSC general assemblies I’ve attended over the past 20+ years, I wondered whether this is a network with a shared vision that is innovative, adaptive, and progressive.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Supporting conservation by playing a game? Seriously? (commentary)
- Can you answer important questions about conservation by playing a game? Yes, and it works.
- In August, ForDev, the research team I lead, was invited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Congo Basin Office to facilitate a workshop of their Regional Working Group on High Conservation Values. FSC’s goal was to define regional indicators for the management of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) within certified forest concessions.
- We combined the MineSet role-playing game with facilitation techniques to help members of the Working Group understand each other, integrate research outputs in their discussions, and support the decision-making process.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
FSC mulls rule change to allow certification for recent deforesters
- Motion 7 passed at the FSC General Assembly meeting in Vancouver on Oct. 13, indicating that the organization will pursue a change to its rules allowing companies that have converted forests to plantations since 1994 to go for certification.
- Current rules do not allow FSC certification for any companies that have cleared forested land since 1994.
- Proponents of a rule change say it would allow more companies to be held to FSC standards and could result in the restoration or conservation of ‘millions of hectares’ in compensation for recent deforestation.
- Opponents argue that FSC is bending to industry demands and that a rule change will increase the pressure for land conversion on communities and biodiversity.
Leading US plywood firm linked to alleged destruction, rights violations in Malaysia
- An investigation has found that Liberty Woods, the top importer of plywood in the US, buys wood from a Malaysian company that has faced numerous allegations of environmentally unsustainable logging and indigenous rights violations.
- Environmental NGOs have accused the timber industry in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, of clearing too much forest too quickly, polluting streams and rivers and failing to obtain consent to log from local communities.
- Satellite imagery analysis in 2013 showed that, between 2000 and 2012, Malaysia had the world’s highest deforestation rate.
- In Sarawak, where logging company Shin Yang is based, only 5 percent of forests remain relatively untouched.
‘SALT’ alliance aims to tackle illegal fishing on a global scale
- The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) alliance announced today at the Our Ocean conference in Malta aims to bring together representatives from seafood companies and seafood-producing and -consuming countries to decrease illegality in the fishing sector.
- Scientists reported that between 11 million and 26 million metric tons (12.1 million and 28.7 million tons) of the worldwide catch is illegal or unreported, costing as much as $23.5 billion a year.
- A year-long process headed by the NGO FishWise that will seek input from a variety of stakeholders begins this month.
Does forest certification really work?
- Based on a review of 40 studies of variable quality, we found that certified tropical forests can overall be better for the environment than forests managed conventionally.
- But there wasn’t enough evidence to say if certified tropical forests are better than, the same as, or worse than conventionally managed tropical forests when it comes to people.
- We also found that profits and other economic benefits can be hard to come by for certified logging companies working in tropical forests.
- This is part of a special Mongabay series on “Conservation Effectiveness”.
Palm oil giant FGV will ‘endeavor to rehabilitate’ peatlands it trashed in Borneo
- About a year ago, Felda Global Ventures promised to stop clearing rainforests and peatlands to make way for its oil palm estates.
- This year, though watchdogs reported that the company had continued to clear over 1,000 hectares of forest and peat in Indonesian Borneo, violating not only its green pledge but also its obligations as a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as well as a new government regulation.
- Last month, FGV renewed its commitment and said it would try to rehabilitate the peatlands it planted since August 2016.
Charcoal and cattle ranching tearing apart the Gran Chaco
- The year-long probe of Paraguay’s charcoal exports by the NGO Earthsight revealed that much of the product was coming from the Chaco, the world’s fastest-disappearing tropical forest.
- Suppliers appear to have reassured international supermarket chains that it was sustainable and that they had certification from international groups such as FSC and PEFC.
- But further digging by Earthsight revealed that the charcoal production methods used may not fit with the intent of certification.
- Several grocery store chains mentioned in the report have said they’ll take a closer look at their supply chains, and the certification body PEFC is reexamining how its own standards are applied.
Photos: Where once were mangroves, Javan villages struggle to beat back the sea
- Mangunharjo, Bedono, Sawah Luhur — these are just some of the communities where clear-cutting mangrove forests has caused environmental disaster.
- Mangroves are removed to make way for shrimp and fish farms. But without the forests’ protection, coastal communities become dangerously vulnerable to erosion and flooding.
- In some places, residents have planted new mangroves, and managed to reclaim their home from the sea. But not everywhere.
Rainforest Alliance, UTZ announce merger to create single sustainability standard and certification program
- Together, the two NGOs certify some 182,000 cocoa, coffee, and tea farmers around the world.
- The merger will allow those farmers, and any new farmers who choose to work with the future Rainforest Alliance, to perform one audit of their operations rather than two and avoid the administrative workload of having to adhere to two sets of standards and certification systems.
- The merged groups plan to publish a single standard for their unified certification program by early 2019.
FSC to investigate Korean conglomerate’s palm oil operations in Indonesia
- The group submitted the complaint to the FSC on May 15, 2017, together with evidence that Mighty Earth said showed the Korindo Group has, since 2013, cleared more than 30,000 hectares (over 74,000 acres) of rainforest for palm oil production in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and North Maluku.
- “The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has formally accepted a Policy for Association (PfA) complaint submitted by Mighty Earth against Korindo Group (Korindo) for ‘Significant conversion of forests to plantations or non-forest use’,” the certification body confirmed in a statement released today.
- In its Policy for the Association of Organizations with FSC (PfA), the certification body lists a number of “unacceptable forest-related activities” in which companies cannot directly or indirectly engage — essentially giving the FSC a means of protecting its reputation and “ability to deliver on its mission” should a company with certified operations be found to be responsible for unsustainable practices in some of its other operations.
Pressure builds on palm oil firm Goodhope after RSPO sanction
- The RSPO ordered Goodhope to freeze its operations in Indonesia earlier this month amid allegations of land grabbing and forest destruction.
- Goodhope said recently that it needed more time than the RSPO had given it to bring its operations into compliance with the roundtable’s standards.
- The company says it is working with credible auditors to conduct new assessments of its concessions, after the RSPO deemed previous audits the firm had commissioned as lacking in credibility.
Wilmar appeals RSPO ruling that it grabbed indigenous lands in Sumatra
- Palm oil giant Wilmar has been involved in a land conflict with the Kapa people of West Sumatra for years.
- Earlier this year, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ruled in favor of a complaint filed against Wilmar. Wilmar said it accepted the ruling.
- Now Wilmar is appealing the ruling on procedural grounds. The company says it wasn’t properly consulted during the process.
- The Forest Peoples Programme, an NGO helping the Kapa through the process, says the company is stalling, “which we see as a tactic to delay having to address outstanding human rights violations.”
Palm oil firm pledges to stop deforesting after RSPO freezes its operations in Papua
- Goodhope Asia Holdings, an arm of Sri Lanka’s Carson Cumberbatch, is the latest palm oil company to promise to purge its operations of deforestation, peatland conversion and human rights abuses.
- Announcing such a commitment and implementing it are two different matters. Despite the growing prevalence of such pledges, no major user or processor of palm oil can say it has actually eliminated deforestation from its supply chain.
- Goodhope subsidiary PT Nabire Baru presides over what one watchdog called “possibly the most controversial plantation in Papua.”
RSPO freezes palm oil company’s operations in Papua
- The RSPO ordered Goodhope Asia Holdings to stop work in seven of its concessions in Indonesia, citing “poor quality” audits commissioned by the company to ensure it follows RSPO rules.
- High Conservation Value assessments for all seven of the concessions were conducted by a team of Bogor Agricultural University lecturers led by Nyoto Santoso. The assessments are being treated as suspect by the RSPO.
- While Goodhope opposes the measures, they have been lauded by environmental NGOs as a positive step.
RSPO accused of letting palm oil firm proceed with dodgy audits in Papua
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is the world’s largest association for ethical production of the commodity, found in everything from chocolate to makeup and laundry detergent.
- The RSPO’s credibility rests on the quality of its system for ensuring its member companies actually adhere to its standards.
- Two years after the RSPO finally acknowledged deficiencies in its certification system, observers say the organization has done little to follow up on its commitment to address the issue.
Jurisdictional certification approach aims to strengthen protections against deforestation
- Jurisdictional certification brings together all stakeholders across all commodities within a district or state to ensure the entire region is deforestation-free.
- A few tropical forest regions have long used the jurisdictional approach; with proven success, more regions are now following suit.
- Pilot programs in Brazil and elsewhere exemplify the successes and challenges of the jurisdictional approach.
Big data timber exchange partners with FSC in Brazil
- BVRio pulls together data on the pricing, supply chain and certification of timber and wood products through its Responsible Timber Exchange.
- Since opening in November 2016, the exchange has fielded more than 400 offers for 5 million cubic meters of timber.
- The partnership with the Forest Stewardship Council is aimed at bolstering the market for certified forest products.
From conflict to communities: Forests in Liberia
- Liberia holds 40 percent of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest.
- National and international organizations have worked with communities and the country’s leadership to clean up the corruption that many say has pervaded outside investments in timber and commercial agriculture.
- Currently, the Land Rights Act, which would give communities more control over their forests, awaits approval, but its progress has been paralyzed, in part by this year’s elections.
Survival of nearly 10,000 orangutans in Borneo oil palm estates at stake
- 10,000 orangutans remain in areas currently allocated to oil palm. These animals can only survive if environmental practices in plantations adhere to standards such as those prescribed by RSPO.
- Orangutan rescues should only be allowed when no other solutions exist; otherwise they will aggravate problems of deforestation and orangutan killing.
- Further scrutiny of companies and other groups that are at the forefront of these improvements is needed, but increasingly campaigners should focus on the laggards and rogues that cause the greatest environmental damage.
- This a commentary – the views expressed are those of the authors.
The Republic of Congo: on the cusp of forest conservation
- The Republic of Congo’s high forest cover and low annual deforestation rates of just over 0.05 percent have led to the country being named as a priority country by the UN’s REDD+ program.
- The country has numerous protected areas and has signed agreements to certify the sustainability and legality of its timber industry.
- Skeptics caution that more needs to be done to address corruption and protect the country’s forests, a third of which are still relatively untouched.
Wilmar grabbed indigenous lands in Sumatra, RSPO finds
- The Kapa are a Minangkabau people in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province.
- The community accused Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil company, of planting oil palm in their territory without their permission.
- Wilmar is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, meaning that it must respect the right of communities to veto development projects on their land.
- The RSPO recently decided that Wilmar had violated the Kapa’s right to “free, prior and informed consent.”
Greenpeace slams paper giant over loophole in fire-prevention policy
- APRIL is Indonesia’s second-largest paper firm. It sources pulpwood from a vast network of suppliers in the archipelago country.
- It has come to light that APRIL’s fire-prevention policy exempts short-term suppliers. These compose a major portion of its supply base.
- Some suppliers defined as “short term” by APRIL have actually been supplying the company for years, according to Greenpeace.
Audio: An in-depth look at Mongabay’s collaboration with The Intercept Brasil
- Branford is a regular contributor to Mongabay who has been reporting from Brazil since 1979 when she was with the Financial Times and then the BBC.
- One of the articles in the series resulted in an official investigation by the Brazilian government before it was even published — and the investigators have already recommended possible reparations for an indigenous Amazonian tribe.
- We also round up the top news of the past two weeks.
Will there really be enough sustainable palm oil for the whole market?
- A report by non-profit CDP suggests companies may have a false confidence in their ability to find enough sustainable palm oil to meet their commitments.
- Certified sustainable palm oil was in short supply last summer and prices spiked when two major producers were suspended by the industry’s main certification association, revealing vulnerabilities in the supply.
- Better planning to secure future supply includes working more intensively with suppliers, says CDP.
Logging in certified concessions drove intact forest landscape loss in Congo Basin
- A study published in the journal Science Advances this month found that, between 2000 and 2013, the global area of intact forest landscape declined by 7.2 percent.
- Certification of logging concessions, which aims to ensure sustainable forest management practices, had a “negligible” impact on slowing the fragmentation of intact forest landscapes (IFLs) in the Congo Basin, according to the study.
- According to Corey Brinkema, president of the Forest Stewardship Council US, the findings of the study may be noteworthy, but they don’t apply to how FSC operates today.
HSBC financing tied to deforestation, rights violations for palm oil in Indonesia
- HSBC has helped several palm oil companies accused of community rights violations and illegal deforestation pull together billions in credit and bonds, according to research by Greenpeace.
- The bank has policies that require its customers to achieve RSPO certification by 2018 and prohibiting the bank from ‘knowingly’ engaging with companies that don’t respect sustainability laws and regulations.
- Greenpeace contends that HSBC, as one of the world’s largest banks, should commit to a ‘No deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ policy and should hold its customers accountable to the same standard.
‘Last frontiers of wilderness’: Intact forest plummets globally
- More than 7 percent of intact forest landscapes, defined as forest ecosystems greater than 500 square kilometers in area and showing no signs of human impact, disappeared between 2000 and 2013.
- In the tropics, the rate of loss appears to be accelerating: Three times more IFLs were lost between 2011 and 2013 as between 2001 and 2003.
- The authors of the study, published January 13 in the journal Science Advances, point to timber harvesting and agricultural expansion as the leading causes of IFL loss.
The year in tropical rainforests: 2016
- After 2015’s radical advancements in transparency around tropical forests between improved forest cover monitoring systems and corporate policies on commodity sourcing, progress slowed in 2016 with no major updates on tropical forest cover, resistance from several governments in releasing forest data, and some notable backtracking on zero deforestation commitments.
- But even without the pan-tropical updates, we know that deforestation increased sharply in the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for the world’s largest area of tropical forest.
- Low commodity prices may have bought some relief for forests.
FSC certification gives boost to rainforest community
- The 371,000-hectare Iwokrama forest reserve was awarded FSC certification in October 2016.
- Iwokrama is renowned for its collaborative forest management approach with surrounding communities, including the Amerindian community of Fairview.
- Fairview is the only Amerindian community within the Iwokrama forest and is closely involved in a portion of its management.
UK greenheart restriction could put pressure on Guyana’s logging economy
- Greenheart is one of the toughest and most durable woods known to man, and is particularly suited to marine and freshwater based applications. The UK instituted a ban on its import earlier this year.
- Over the last four years, greenheart exports generated $27 million for the Guyanese economy.
- Greenheart represents over 18 percent of Guyana’s logging industry production, of which timber is a major export earner – it brought in $45.6 million just last year.
FSC puts timber processor on probation after ‘scathing’ investigation
- Holzindustrie Schweighofer is an Austrian company that sources timber from Romania, which contains some of Europe’s last tracts of primary forest.
- An FSC investigation uncovered evidence of Holzindustrie Schweighofer engaging in activities in Romania that went against FSC certification policy, such as sourcing illegally logged timber.
- The investigation’s conclusions led its panel to recommend that the company be disassociated from the FSC, but the organization chose instead to put the company on a two-month probation during which time it must fulfill certain conditions.
- The move has attracted criticism from Environmental Investigation Agency, which called the decision “shocking.”
Australian retailers accused of misusing the RSPO’s label on their palm oil products
- Major retailers Woolworths and Coles say their own-brand products have been “certified sustainable” by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
- However, Palm Oil Investigations, an Australian NGO, has called the legitimacy of those claims into question.
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has yet to act on the allegations. A spokesperson pointed out that no one had raised a formal complaint.
- The NGO says the roundtable must do a better job monitoring the claims of its members.
Indonesia ships first containers of timber under EU legality scheme
- Fifteen countries have agreed to participate in the scheme, known as FLEGT.
- Indonesia is the first to certify its exports as legal under the scheme.
- Now Indonesia must maintain the credibility of its system for ensuring compliance with the scheme.
Complaint against a palm oil company in Papua held in limbo by RSPO
- In April, an NGO complained to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil about a plantation firm alleged to have grabbed indigenous land in Indonesia’s Papua province.
- The official grievance has yet to be accepted or rejected by the RSPO’s Complaints Panel, even after more than six months.
- Observers have noted that an executive from the parent company of the firm in question also sits on the RSPO’s Board of Directors. The roundtable denies that there is any conflict of interest.
- The RSPO is the world’s largest association for ethical palm oil production, whose members consist of palm oil companies, banks and NGOs that choose to join.
RSPO loses key backer in Australia: ‘We just can’t trust them anymore’
- Palm Oil Investigations said it would cease to promote palm oil certified as sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
- The watchdog had pushed some of Australia’s biggest corporate users of palm oil to buy only that which the RSPO had certified as ethically produced.
- The RSPO is the world’s largest association for sustainable palm oil production.
More than 20 labor law violations by Indofood alleged in Indonesia
- NGOs are calling for a pair of Indofood subsidiaries to be suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
- The company has denied the allegations of human rights abuses on its plantations in the archipelagic Southeast Asian country, the world’s top palm oil producer.
- Indofood is an arm of the Salim Group and one of the world’s largest palm oil companies.
Scoring palm oil buyers on their sustainability commitments
- The scorecard reports the results of WWF’s analysis of 137 retailers, manufacturers, and food service companies from Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and the United States that collectively use more than six million metric tons of palm oil, 10 percent of all palm oil traded around the globe.
- Out of the 137 companies, WWF found that only 78 had made commitments to use 100 certified sustainable palm oil by 2015, while 30 have not made any kind of public commitment whatsoever.
- Just 96 companies reported using any certified sustainable palm oil in 2015, the scorecard states.
Voluntary certification standards have far to go, say experts
- Certification should be combined with other standard public policies to promote sustainable forest management principles, say experts.
- Experts point to a need for more relationship building between voluntary certification schemes and public institutions.
- Effective certification requires the cooperation of policy makers, certification schemes, companies, academics and other stakeholders.
IPOP’s demise undercuts palm oil industry progress [commentary]
- The Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) was a sustainability commitment signed by Indonesia’s biggest palm oil refiners in 2014.
- Dave McLaughlin, the World Wildlife Fund’s acting senior vice president for sustainable food, argues that the Indonesian and Malaysian governments must do more to promote sustainability in an industry plagued by environmental destruction and illegal practices.
- This post is a commentary — the views expressed are those of the author.
RSPO lifts suspension of Malaysian palm oil giant IOI
- NGOs have complained about IOI’s operations in Indonesia for years. In April, the RSPO suspended the company’s sustainable certification.
- On Friday, the RSPO lifted the suspension after IOI submitted an action plan to address the latest complaint.
- Green groups said the RSPO should have kept the suspension in place until IOI could demonstrate progress on the ground.
- It remains unclear whether consumer goods giants like Unilever and Proctor & Gamble, which moved to cut supplies from IOI in the wake of the suspension, will look to resume purchases from the company.
Failure of Indonesia’s palm oil commitment ‘not bad news’ [commentary]
- The Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) was a sustainability commitment signed by Indonesia’s biggest palm oil exporters in 2014.
- Scott Poynton, the founder of The Forest Trust (TFT), argues that the disbandment of IPOP is no big loss to conservation.
- He says companies are pressing forward with their own sustainability initiatives.
- This post is a commentary — the views expressed are those of the author.
Malaysian palm oil giant IOI under pressure after Cargill ultimatum
- Cargill said that unless IOI issues a new sourcing policy and sustainability plan by July 15, it will stay away from new contracts with the company.
- Environmental advocates called Cargill’s declaration “disappointing and essentially meaningless” because IOI has already committed to zero deforestation.
- Other multinational palm oil users have already cut supplies from IOI.
10 conservation “fads”: how have they worked in Latin America?
- A 2013 editorial in the journal Conservation Biology described 10 conservation methods that emerged since the late 1970’s as fads, “approaches that are embraced enthusiastically and then abandoned.”
- The fads on the list were: the marketing of natural products from rain forests, biological diversity hotspots, integrated conservation and development projects, ecotourism, ecocertification, community-based conservation, payment for ecosystem or environmental services, REDD+, conservation concessions, and so-called integrated landscapes.
- Mongabay consulted seven conservation experts on how the 10 fads played out in Latin America, a region that is not only a hotbed of biodiversity but also of conservation activity.
Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve, which covers one-fifth of Guatemala, is one of the most important tropical forest areas north of the Amazon and contains dozens of ancient Mayan archaeological sites.
- The best way to protect the reserve’s rainforest—better than national parks—has turned out to be nine community concessions, forest allotments where locals earn a living from the carefully regulated extraction of timber and plants.
- However, the community concessions’ future remains unclear, with contracts set to expire in the coming years and powerful forces opposing them.
Can conservationists overcome their differences to save life on Earth?
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future.
- The series explores how the world’s biggest conservation groups have embraced a human-centric approach known as “new conservation” that has split the field over how best to save life on Earth.
- It also investigates the role of big money in pushing conservation agendas, and the field’s changing relationship with people living in areas targeted for conservation.
- Jeremy Hance reported the Conservation, Divided series over the course of eight months. Stories ran weekly in April and May, generating intense interest from readers.
PanEco resigns from RSPO over ‘sheer level of inaction’
- PanEco runs the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program in Indonesia. It was one of the RSPO’s 33 NGOs members.
- The RSPO mainly consists of companies that produce, trade or use palm oil.
- The palm oil sector is vital to the Indonesian economy but leads the way in damaging the environment.
Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve, which covers one-fifth of Guatemala, is one of the most important tropical forest areas north of the Amazon.
- The reserve is a gem of biological and cultural heritage, with more than 500 species of birds, numerous endangered and iconic wildlife species, and dozens of ancient Mayan archaeological sites.
- The reserve’s multiple-use zone has generally succeeded at reducing deforestation and providing sustainable livelihoods for communities living there. But deforestation remains a huge problem in the reserve as a whole, pushed along by complex factors, including illegal settlement by landless migrants, oil development, and the presence of drug traffickers, cattle ranchers, and other armed groups.
Epilogue: Conservation still divided, looking for a way forward
- Ideas promoted under a new philosophy in conservation that focuses on nature’s service to humanity merit continued trial and a fair hearing, Hance writes, but they also require ongoing scrutiny.
- Likewise, Hance writes that the world’s biggest conservation groups, which have embraced the new philosophy, have made major achievements in recent years. But widespread dissatisfaction with their methods within the conservation community means they, too, deserve questioning.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories ran weekly between April 26 and May 17.
Conservation today, the old-fashioned way
- There used to be one way to do good conservation: save a species and protect some land or water. But as the human population has exploded, the atmosphere warmed, the oceans acidified, and the economy globalized, conservation has, not surprisingly, shifted.
- In Part 3 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how some conservationists are continuing to focus on traditional methods, even as the field shifts around them.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories are running weekly between April 26 and May 17.
Malaysian palm oil giant IOI sues RSPO over suspension
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil suspended IOI Group’s sustainability certification in March. Now the company has filed a lawsuit against the association in Zurich, the seat of the RSPO.
- The company characterized the move as a “painful” decision given its “great commitment and attachment” to the RSPO, but maintained that it had been “unfairly affected” by the suspension.
- A leaked memo written by the RSPO’s secretary general reveals the company told him it “has done no wrong” and “prefers if this legal action is kept low profile.”
Malaysian palm oil companies say their concession maps are state secrets
- In the name of transparency, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil agreed in 2013 to release the concession maps of its grower members.
- Companies in Indonesia and Malaysia, the largest palm oil-producing countries, have resisted the dictum for various reasons, and the maps remain unpublished.
- NGOs want the maps so they can better monitor companies’ operations, which are often linked to deforestation, social conflict and wildfires in tropical countries.
How big donors and corporations shape conservation goals
- In Part 2 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how major donors at foundations, governments, and corporations are pushing conservation groups to adopt a human-centric approach known as “new conservation” that some critics say leaves wildlife and wild lands out in the cold.
- Meanwhile, cozy relationships with environmentally destructive corporations have prompted long-running arguments that some of the world’s biggest conservation groups have lost sight of their environmental missions. Yet big conservation and corporations are closer than ever.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories are running weekly between April 26 and May 17.
A decade in the making: EU, Indonesia to start licensing scheme for legal timber shipments
- The EU said Indonesia had “met the final major requirement” of their trade deal under Europe’s anti-illegal-logging action plan.
- Indonesia is one of 15 countries to sign an agreement with the EU under the plan, and it would be the first to license exports under it.
- Both legal and illegal forms of logging have devastated Indonesia’s vast rainforests and biodiversity.
Has big conservation gone astray?
- In Part 1 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how the world’s biggest conservation groups have embraced a human-centric approach known as “new conservation” that has split the field over how best to save life on Earth.
- Neither side of the debate disagrees that conservation today is failing to adequately halt mass extinction. But how to proceed is where talks break down, especially when it comes to the importance of protected areas and the efficacy of the biggest, most recognizable groups.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories will run weekly through May 17.
Conservation, Divided: in-depth series starts Tuesday
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future.
- Veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance completed the series over the course of eight months.
- Conservation, Divided launches next Tuesday, April 26. Stories will run weekly through May 17.
New ways to fight human-rights abuses in the global seafood industry
- Slavery, child labor, abuse, and murder are well documented occurrences in seafood supply chains.
- New approaches to improving the industry’s human-rights record have emerged that often involve adding a social dimension to sustainable-seafood certification schemes or improving oversight via technological fixes.
- However, experts have yet to agree on which approaches are likely to work or which to embrace.
Study finds link between RSPO certification and profitability for palm oil companies
- Certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was found to increase a palm oil company’s profitability, according to a study commissioned by the RSPO.
- The findings are a boost for the RSPO, which has continuously grappled with industry claims that its certification schemes burden oil palm growers while providing few tangible benefits.
- Jan Willem van Gelder, director of the consultancy Profundo, was positive about the findings, saying they show that sustainability has an impact on profitability.
Malaysian palm oil giant loses 7 more customers over RSPO suspension
- IOI Group was suspended recently from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil over allegations of deforestation, peatland conversion and rights abuses in its supply chain.
- As a result, IOI’s customers are beginning to look elsewhere for palm oil, which is used in everything from snack food to soap and cosmetics.
- Greenpeace wants IOI to “introduce an immediate moratorium on all plantation development across its supply chain.”
Maroon 5 musicians voice support for community forestry in Guatemala
- Concerned that wood used in guitars and other instruments be sustainably sourced, members of the American bands Maroon 5 and Guster visited Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve in December.
- While there they met with governmental officials, the Association of Forest Communities of Peten, and locals involved in the harvest, processing, and export of certified wood from community forest concessions.
- Citing reduced deforestation and benefits to communities in the concessions, the musicans urged Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales to extend the concessions’ contracts, several of which are set to expire within the next decade.
Unilever, Kellogg, Mars drop palm oil giant IOI over RSPO suspension
- Malaysia’s IOI was suspended from the RSPO over violations of the roundtable’s sustainability standards in Borneo.
- Since then, IOI’s customers have moved to cancel contracts with the conglomerate, to date one of the major suppliers of RSPO-brand “Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.”
- IOI has submitted an action plan for RSPO reinstatement.
$90M to decouple food production from negative environmental impacts
- The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has announced $90 million in grants to improve the sustainability of food production.
- The new funds will go into three of the philanthropy’s programs: Forests and Agriculture Markets Initiative, Conservation and Financial Markets Initiative, and Oceans and Seafood Markets Initiative.
- The programs are working to decouple food production from negative environmental impacts.
Malaysian palm oil giant IOI suspended from RSPO
- IOI Group’s membership was frozen on Friday over three of its operations in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province.
- Some say the move could affect the company’s bottom line.
- IOI has generally denied the allegations against it, which include operating without the required permits, using fire to clear land, clearing rainforest and deep peat, and more.
Indonesia’s oil palm maps remain hidden from public view. Why?
- In 2013, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil promised to publish its growers’ concession maps.
- That hasn’t happened, but the RSPO has pledged to make good on its commitment this year.
- Not everyone is on board with the initiative, however, and some doubt it will come to fruition. The public’s ability to monitor the industry hangs in the balance.
New Rainforest Alliance head: technology could improve commodity certification
- In January, Rainforest Alliance announced it had hired Nigel Sizer as its new President.
- Sizer previously headed up World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch, a forest monitoring platform.
- Given that background, it is unsurprising that Sizer is embracing technology in his new leadership role at Rainforest Alliance.
Mato Grosso leading the fight against climate change and deforestation (commentary)
- If we slow tropical forest clearing and degradation while promoting their recovery, humanity could potentially reduce global carbon pollution by a quarter or more, buying precious time to wean our energy systems from fossil fuels.
- Mato Grosso provides important lessons on how this opportunity could be seized.
- This post is a commentary – the views expressed are those of the author.
Indonesia’s war on maritime slavery continues
- More than 1,300 trafficking victims have been repatriated from slave ships in eastern Indonesia since March 2015.
- Only 24 are still waiting in Ambon Port, a focal point of the effort, to go home, though other slaves are probably still out there.
- Going forward, the fisheries ministry is planning new measures to combat illegal fishing, including a new human rights certification scheme.
Market-based conservation programs slow deforestation in Chile, study finds
- In recent years, eco-certification, moratoria, and other so-called non-state, market-driven governance regimes have become a common approach to reducing deforestation.
- However, data on the effectiveness of these programs has been limited.
- A new study analyzing three such programs in Chile finds that the more collaboration between industry and environmental groups a program entails, the more successful it may be.
Oil palm plantations need to protect orangutans (commentary)
- All orangutans are Critically Endangered.
- The threats to orangutans are well known and easy to sum up. First, there is habitat loss, primarily because of plantation development for palm oil, rubber, pulp and paper and coconut, small-scale agriculture, and reckless and illegal burning of land. Secondly, it is outright killing.
- This post is a commentary — the views expressed are those of the author.
Indonesia could collaborate with RSPO, official study finds
- A new study reveals how the government’s sustainable palm oil scheme, ISPO, might work with the industry-led Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
- The study, sanctioned by the government and the RSPO. identifies similarities and differences between the two certification schemes.
- The RSPO has higher environmental standards than ISPO, but ISPO is mandatory for all Indonesian growers.
Is this Malaysian palm oil firm still destroying forest in Borneo — and selling to Wilmar?
- A Greenomics report finds deforestation in the supply chain of Genting Plantations, a supplier of Wilmar International.
- Wilmar, the world’s largest palm oil trader, has promised to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain.
- The allegations raise questions about the kind of monitoring Wilmar is doing to enforce its commitment.
How can banks spur the palm oil industry toward sustainability?
- Banks are starting to come up with ways to encourage sustainability in the palm oil sector, whose unbridled expansion is fueling deforestation and rights abuses across the world.
- Still, the nascent green finance industry faces a number of obstacles as it seeks to expand its influence.
- These include a lack of transparency with regard to company ownership, misguided valuations of palm oil enterprises, and more.
Do poor environmental practices affect palm oil firms’ bottom lines on a scale meaningful for investors and financiers?
- Big companies generally don’t see environmental noncompliance as a major economic risk.
- That’s because they tend to think about their business in the short term, rather than in the long term, where most environmental issues come into play.
- The material impacts of environmentally unsustainable practices can also be hard to quanify.
What’s preventing palm oil investors from going green?
- Green investment could make the palm oil industry more sustainable, but a variety of obstacles are preventing it from becoming more prevalent.
- A lack of expertise, the structural issue of short-termism, and a lack of proven materiality all keep funds from flowing toward sustainable operations.
- Additional issues specific to palm oil exist as well.
Do palm oil financiers care about sustainability?
- Sustainable finance has been touted as a solution to the palm oil industry’s links with forest destruction and rights abuses.
- The movement’s progress, however, has been hampered by the difficulty of measuring the environmental impact of things like green loans and bonds.
- Mongabay spoke to experts in the field to investigate how much investors and financiers in the palm oil sector care about their clients’ sustainability.
Is eco-certification the solution to forest destruction?
- The FSC’s standards rest on some of the most enlightened forestry practices in the world. By creating a specific market for ethical wood, the FSC aims to create a world of ethically run and sustainable forests.
- In September, a bust by US officials of wood illegally imported from Peru became the latest in a series of cases where forestry operations benefit from a relationship with the FSC without following FSC practices — or, in some cases, even the law.
- Critics say failures in the FSC’s certification process threaten to undermine the council’s mission.
Rainforest Alliance hires Global Forest Watch head as President
- The Rainforest Alliance, an NGO that pioneered eco-certification as a mechanism for reducing the impact of consumption on the environment, today named Nigel Sizer as its new President.
- Sizer, an ecologist who has worked with a number of non-profits, is perhaps best known for heading up World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch, a forest mapping and monitoring platform.
- Rainforest Alliance’s focus on certification is consistent with Sizer’s work on Global Forest Watch, which has become an important tool for companies to do risk assessments on the commodities they source.
The year in rainforests: 2015
- Between the landmark climate agreement signed in Paris in December 2015, Indonesia’s fire and haze crisis of the late summer and early fall, and continuing adoption of zero deforestation policies by some of the world’s largest companies, tropical forests grabbed the spotlight more than usual in 2015.
- Here’s a look at some of the biggest tropical forest-related developments from the past year.
- Trends in forest cover tend to lag broad economic trends, but there were indications that the global economic slowdown driven by declining growth in China may be starting to impact tropical forests.
Greenwashing? RSPO audits rife with ‘mistakes and fraud,’ report finds
- A new report casts doubt on the credibility of the RSPO’s network of auditors, a vital component of the organization’s certification process.
- Some auditors crop up repeatedly in problematic cases.
- The study was conducted by London-based NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency and Malaysian NGO Grassroots.
With fires wreaking havoc across Indonesia, Malaysian state targets greener palm oil
- The Malaysian state of Sabah on Wednesday announced it is pressing forward with a plan to certify 100 percent of its palm oil production under criteria set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by 2025.
- The initiative aims to differentiate Sabah’s palm oil from other producers, while addressing environmental problems and boosting productivity of existing plantations.
- Officials say the program will better position Sabah as other states and regions enter the palm oil business.
Four major US brands to drop controversial sustainable forestry certification scheme
- Xerox, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Delta Dental and Bigelow Tea have expanded on their commitments to support responsible forestry by distancing their brands from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, a controversial paper and wood certification scheme.
- More than 30 companies have committed to stop promoting SFI to date, including numerous Fortune 500 companies.
- The global market for certified forest products was worth more than $20 billion in 2013.
U.N. data suggests slowdown in forest loss
- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), a report published every five years.
- FRA is based primarily on self-reported data from countries and territories.
- The report shows that global forest loss slowed over the past 5 years, with the tropics accounting for most forest loss.
Moratoria beat certification to reduce deforestation for soy, palm oil, cattle
Oil palm plantation in Papua, Indonesia. The country lost 1 million hectares of forest cover in 2013, according to one estimate. Photo credit: Agus Andrianto/ CIFOR. Eighteen million hectares of forest were lost globally in 2013. Such an unprecedented rate of deforestation is a significant driver of climate change, accounting for approximately 12 to 15 […]
Greenpeace responds to Tropical Forest Trust on moving ‘Beyond Certification’
Editor’s Note: Greenpeace submitted this commentary in response to an interview Mongabay recently conducted with Scott Poynton of Tropical Forest Trust (TFT). In the interview, Poynton said the forest commodity sector needs to move ‘beyond certification’ to effectively address social and environmental issues. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the […]
Do we need to move ‘beyond certification’ to save forests?
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 for a business that have been historically slow-moving relative to other industries. Some sectors, like the Indonesian palm oil industry and the Brazilian soy industry, […]
Lack of stock data and incentives to collect it stymie Indonesian tuna fisheries on path to sustainability
7:00 am; Labuhan Lombok, Indonesia. It’s offloading time on the 30-foot-long M/V Nusa Indah 2. Crewmen pop the lid off the hold and pull yellowfin tuna from the icy pool below. The silver-skinned behemoths weigh 150 pounds apiece, and it takes three men to move one fish across the boat deck to a waiting factory […]
Consumers willing to pay sharp premium for wildlife-friendly palm oil, claims study
Orangutan orphaned after its mother was killed in an oil palm plantation in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Shoppers may be willing to pay a 15 to 56 percent premium for palm oil produced without the destruction endangered species’ habitat, asserts a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. […]
PepsiCo, Walmart, investors call for stronger palm oil standard
Forest cleared for an oil palm plantation in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Major global brands and a network of activist investors have joined together to call on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to adopt stronger criteria to eliminate deforestation from palm oil supply chains. The call, put out Monday in […]
Malaysian state eyes 100% certified palm oil by 2025
Logged over forest and oil palm in Sabah. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Sabah, a state in Malaysian Borneo, is weighing a proposal to produce only palm oil certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification initiative, by 2025. The move, if approved, would represent the first time a sub-national or state […]
Fisheries in developing countries stall on the path to sustainability
A fishing boat off the coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Photo by: Rhett Butler. Consumers in the developed world want sustainably sourced seafood and increasingly retailers like Walmart in the U.S. and Sainsbury’s in the U.K. are promising it to them. But there just isn’t enough certified-sustainable seafood to meet demand. Enter fishery […]
Palm oil certification body to establish stronger voluntary standard
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 high ecological costs caused by converting peatlands and rainforests for oil palm plantation, but growers and food producers argue that as the highest-yielding oilseed, palm […]
‘Zero Deforestation’ not necessarily the answer, environmentalists warn
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 forestry in Washington, D.C. Titled “How Business Can Tackle Deforestation,” the conference brought together leaders from both public and private spheres, including forest commodities companies, […]
Growing need for deforestation-free rubber as tire demand destroys native forests
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 at risk, warn scientists writing in the journal Conservation Letters. Reviewing a large body of published research, Eleanor Warren-Thomas of the University of East Anglia […]
Tracking companies’ zero deforestation commitments
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 set social and environmental safeguards for commodity sourcing and production. However these agreements are highly variable — some policies are quite strong, while others aren’t […]
Who’s funding palm oil?
Part 1 of 5 of a series on palm oil financing Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Palm oil may be the single most important crop that you never heard of. A vegetable fat that resembles reddish butter at room temperature, palm oil is derived from the fruit […]
Can voluntary sustainability standards survive in emerging markets?
The World in 2050: implications for sustainability Last month, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) published a new edition of its The World in 2050 report. Confirming the findings of previous studies, the report describes a shift in economic power from the global north to the south. PwC projects that the US’ and EU’s share of […]
Palm oil certification body purges membership
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 have failed to comply with reporting requirements. The move could be a sign that the certification body is getting more serious about enforcing its standards, […]
With new policy, 3M drops controversial forestry certification label
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, unveiled Thursday, came after engagement with several environmental groups, including The Forest Trust, ForestEthics and Greenpeace. It commits 3M to establish and implement a traceability […]
Employing shame for environmental change
Shame’s power: new book explores how shame can challenge environmental transgressors Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner off of Peru. Overfishing has become a massive global environmental problem, yet to date both governments and corporations have done little to tackle it. Photo by: C. Ortiz Rojas. In 2010, Greenpeace […]
Selective logging causes long-term changes to forest structure
Logging in Gabon. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Selective logging is causing long-term changes to tropical forests in Africa by facilitating the growth of weeds and vines, which reduces plant diversity and diminishes carbon storage, reports a new paper published in the journal Ecological Research. The paper, led by Roberto Cazzolla Gatti of the University […]
Palm oil facilitates large-scale illegal logging in Indonesia
New oil palm plantation established on peatland outside Palangkaraya in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan Province on the island of Borneo. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Development of oil palm plantations is providing cover for large-scale illegal logging in Indonesian Borneo, driving destruction of some of the island’s most biodiverse forests and undermining efforts to reform the […]
Progress being made in curbing illegal timber imports
Logging in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Five major timber importers are making progress in cutting contraband wood from their markets, argues a series of reports published by Chatham House. The analysis — which covers Britain, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States — is based on point of origin data for […]
IKEA commits to zero deforestation palm oil
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 chain. IKEA, which uses palm oil in candles and food products, unveiled the policy today. It calls for zero deforestation and no conversion of peatlands, […]
Ranking the world’s best – and worst – palm oil companies in terms of sustainability
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 companies in terms of transparency around the environmental performance of their operations. The project, called Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit or SPOTT, was developed […]
UN to promote RSPO-certified palm oil as conservation solution
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 Oil (RSPO) to promote eco-certified palm oil as part of the broader effort to conserve biodiversity. The move, announced Thursday, commits UNEP and RSPO to […]
Surprising reasons to be optimistic about saving forests
- In the 1990s, the world watched with alarm as vast tracts of tropical rainforest were torn down for timber and croplands, dug up for minerals and energy, and flooded for hydroelectric projects.
- Conservation groups, governments, philanthropists, and institutions like the World Bank collectively spent billions of dollars on programs to stop the carnage.
- But as viewed from satellites high above Earth’s surface, those efforts barely dented deforestation rates.
Reducing deforestation is good for business, argues report
Deforestation for pulp and paper production in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett Butler. Some of the world’s largest companies are making progress in disclosing and addressing deforestation risk within their commodity supply chains, but much work is left to be done to shift to more sustainable practices, argues a new report from the Climate Disclosure Project. […]
The Zanaga iron ore mine – a test of best laid plans for preserving wildlife
Logging companies threaten to undermine the mining industry’s efforts to leave biodiversity better off One of the largest iron ore deposits in Africa is located in a strip 47 kilometers long and three kilometers wide in the Republic of the Congo (RoC), bordering Gabon. A core section of the Guineo-Congolian Forest rises above this vast […]
Central Kalimantan to set up palm oil monitoring system to in bid cut deforestation 80%
Peat forest clearing for oil palm in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler The Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan is moving forward on an oil palm plantation monitoring system it hopes will help meet a commitment to reduce deforestation 80 percent by 2020. The online monitoring system will include “information on the performance of […]
FSC passes motion for greater protection of primary forests
Borneo rainforest canopy. Photo by Rhett Butler The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has passed a motion to increase protection of old-growth forests. Motion 65, a measure proposed by Greenpeace, passed with over 90 percent support from FSC members. The motion specifically increases protection of Intact Forest Landscapes, which Greenpeace defines as “remaining large unfragmented areas […]
FSC meeting weighs old-growth forest protection, smallholder participation
Industrial logging operation in Malaysian Borneo in 2012. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a body that sets social and environmental certification criteria for forestry products, is weighing measures that could step up protection for old-growth forests and make it easier for indigenous people and traditional forest communities to qualify for […]
Greenpeace alleges SLAPP suit tactic by logging company
Greenpeace Canada has filed a Statement of Defense in response to a $7 million lawsuit by Resolute Forest Products (NYSE:RFP) over allegations that the logging company destroyed forests in Quebec and Ontario. Filed Thursday in Ontario Superior Court, the Statement of Defense argues that Resolute Forest Products is using the suit in an attempt to […]
New palm oil sustainability manifesto met with criticism from environmentalists
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 (KLK), IOI Group Corporation Bhd, Cargill and Asian Agri/APICAL — announced new environmental criteria for palm oil production. The companies, which have long been targeted […]
Greenpeace rates companies’ zero deforestation commitments
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 metrics: a zero deforestation commitment, supply chain traceability, timelines for achieving palm oil sustainability goals, transparency, and implementation. The activist group says it reached out […]
In cutting deforestation, Brazil leads world in reducing emissions
In past decade, Brazil has done the carbon equivalent of taking every car off America’s roads for three years Brazil’s success in reducing deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest has been much heralded, but progress may stall unless farmers, ranchers and other land users in the region are provided incentives to further improve the environmental […]
RSPO plantations publicly mapped for the first time
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 is available for the first time. On Wednesday, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the RSPO unveiled a new layer of RSPO concession data for […]
RSPO calls for greater collaboration on zero deforestation commitments
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 policies, The Forest Trust (TFT). In a letter posted on its web site, the RSPO noted that both organizations have a similar goal: improving the […]
Rainforest Alliance eco-certified coffee hits 1 billion pounds
Coffee produced under the Rainforest Alliance’s certification system topped a billion pounds (455,000 tons) for the first time in 2013, reports Reuters. The volume of Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee beans surged 20 percent during the year, with rising demand from big buyers like McDonald’s and Green Mountain Coffee. Overall Rainforest Alliance coffee — which is produced […]
Malaysian palm oil company stock drops after environmental complaint
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 of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was suspended due to a complaint from the Borneo Rhino Alliance for failing to abide by the body’s principles on […]
Commodity eco-certification skyrockets, but standards slip
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 percent in 2012, far outpacing the 2 percent growth across conventional commodity markets, finds a comprehensive new assessment of the global certification market. The report […]
Despite campaign, Girl Scout cookies still aren’t deforestation free, say scout activists
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 to adopt a comprehensive zero deforestation policy, Girl Scout cookies still aren’t necessarily free of rainforest destruction and social conflict, say the two girl scouts […]
Malaysia at risk of falling behind in push for more sustainable palm oil
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 of Malaysian NGO’s. In a statement issued Sunday, the Malaysian Palm Oil NGO Coalition (MPONGOC) urged Malaysian banks, palm oil associations, and other government-backed institutions […]
Indonesian ‘legal’ timber scheme could be greenwashing illegal products, NGOs warn
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 research suggests even certified companies in Indonesia may not be meeting EU standards Indonesian civil society groups have called on their government to reform its […]
Will zero deforestation commitments save Indonesia’s forests?
This is an expanded version of A New Leaf in the Rainforest: Longtime Villain Vows Reform, which ran on Yale e360 last week. This story was originally developed in January and finalized in February. Fragment of peat forest amid a landscape of land cleared for plantations in Riau, Indonesia in February 2014. All photos by […]
Progressive palm oil group opens door to companies, NGO’s adopting zero deforestation policies
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 and environmental safeguards that go beyond the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) eco-certification standard. Founding members of POIG include three palm oil producers — […]
Fast food companies are laggards on palm oil sourcing safeguards
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 of Concerned Scientists (UCS), an advocacy group. The report, titled “Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation: Scoring America’s Top Brands on Their Palm Oil Commitments“, looked at palm […]
In Girl Scouts vs. Kellogg’s over palm oil, rainforests and orangutans win
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 move it toward deforestation-free palm oil. Under the commitment, Kellogg’s suppliers will have to meet specific sourcing criteria by the end of 2015. “Kellogg will […]
Despite falling palm oil price, premium for ‘sustainable’ product rises
Deforestation for oil palm on peatland in Riau Province on the island of Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Despite a sharp drop in the price of palm oil since 2011, premiums for certificates representing palm oil produced under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard have risen due to increased demand for greener […]
Reduced impact logging failing to cut emissions in Indonesia
Advocates for reduced impact logging in tropical forests often make a case that better forest management cuts carbon emissions relative to traditional forms of timber harvesting. While the argument for altering logging approaches to limit forest damage makes intuitive sense, a new study suggests that the carbon benefits may not bear out in practice. Bronson […]
Rainforest Alliance to independently audit APP’s zero deforestation commitment
Rainforest Alliance has agreed to conduct an audit of Asia Pulp & Paper’s progress in implementing the zero deforestation policy the forestry giant signed last year. The deal, announced Thursday in Jakarta, could help boost the credibility of APP’s policy, which while heralded as a breakthrough by several environmental groups, is still viewed with skepticism […]
Company accused of logging endangered rainforest trees in breach of timber legality certificate
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 operations at PT Triomas FDI’s concession in Riau. Photo taken by Eyes on the Forest on 21 September 2013. An Indonesian wood supplier that was […]
Small farmers see better access to credit with eco-certification
Coffee in Costa Rica Participation in agricultural certification programs appears to boost access to credit for small farmers, asserts a study published by the Rainforest Alliance, an environmental group that sets up and implements eco-certification standards. The study, published in September and titled Farmer Bankability and Sustainable Finance: Farm-Level Metrics that Matter, is based on […]
Rainforest news review for 2013
- 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 major tropical forest-related news stories for the year.
- As a review, this post will not cover everything that transpired during 2013 in the world of tropical forests. Please feel free to highlight anything this post missed via the comments section at the bottom.
Canada’s biggest logger loses eco-certification
Resolute Forest Products, the largest industrial logging company in Canada, suffered a major setback this week when the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) revoked three certifications for the forestry giant. According to Greenpeace, the company lost its certification in Quebec and Ontario due to several problems, including a lack of consent from the Crees nations and […]
World’s biggest palm oil company makes zero deforestation commitment
- Wilmar, the world’s largest palm oil trader and a long-time target of environmentalists, has signed a landmark policy that commits the company to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain.
- The deal, if fully implemented, has the potential to transform the palm oil industry, which has emerged over the past decade as one of the world’s most important drivers of tropical forest destruction.
Journalism prizes explore community forestry, commodity supply chains, China’s seafood consumption
Mongabay.org announces three new $20,000 environmental reporting prizes under its Special Reporting Initiatives program. Three new environmental journalism prizes will enable journalists to do in-depth reporting on three important environmental topics: the role of community forest management in addressing climate change, cleaning up commodity supply chains, and the market for more sustainable seafood in China. […]
Palm oil workers stage massive protest at sustainability meeting in Indonesia
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 and four NGOs descended on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO) meetings in Medan last Tuesday, urging the industry body to take serious steps […]
Greener palm oil on the horizon?
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 the palm oil industry, demonstrating that palm oil can be produced without social conflict, conversion of peatlands, or destruction of wildlife-rich forests. The Palm Oil […]
Aiming to avoid deforestation, Unilever to trace all palm oil it sources
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 all of the palm oil it sources by the end of 2014. The policy is notable because at present few major companies know where the […]
HBSC financing deforestation for palm oil in Borneo
HSBC, the world’s third largest bank, continues to lend to companies linked to deforestation despite a policy explicitly prohibiting such practices, alleges a new report from the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). The report, published last week, looks at two Indonesian palm oil companies that recently received finance from HSBC: Bumitama Agri and Triputra Agro […]
Palm oil companies ignoring community rights, new study shows
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 world, warns a coalition of NGOs and researchers. Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) are violating the rights of local communities in […]
‘Sustainable’ tropical timber trade a misnomer, says group
Logging in Malaysian Borneo. The production and trade in ‘sustainable’ timber products in Southeast Asia is mostly ‘a mirage’ due to questionable forestry practices and loopholes in import regulations, alleges a new report from Friends of the Earth International. The report, ‘Sustainable’ tropical timber production, trade and procurement’, focuses on logging in Malaysia and timber […]
Palm oil giant profiting off tiger habitat destruction, alleges Greenpeace
The world’s largest palm oil trader is continuing to traffic in palm oil linked to deforestation and illegal peatlands conversion, alleges a new report from Greenpeace. The report, titled A LICENSE TO KILL: how deforestation for palm oil is driving Sumatran tigers toward extinction, documents Singapore-based Wilmar International trading with several companies linked to “illegal […]
The palm oil debate: can the world’s most productive oilseed be less damaging to the environment?
On Thursday, 17 October 2013 Mongabay.com and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) co-hosted a discussion on environmental issues related to palm oil. The discussion involved representatives from WWF, Greenpeace and the RSPO. Mongabay.com Founder Rhett A. Butler served as the moderator. The following is an approximate transcription of the discussion. The transcription was […]
Indonesia, EU sign historic deal to end the illegal timber trade
Indonesia and the European Union signed a deal on Monday that aims to curb illegal logging by ending all trade in illegal wood products between Asia’s largest exporter of timber to Europe and each of the EU’s 28 member states. The deal marks Asia’s first Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade […]
Malaysia to launch palm oil certification scheme to compete with RSPO
Malaysia will launch its own certification standard for palm oil produced by local firms by 2014, reports Reuters. The initiative aims to differentiate Malaysian palm oil from that produced in other countries, while offering a less stringent alternative to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the sector’s leading certification body. “To move forward in the […]
Palm oil now biggest cause of deforestation in Indonesia
An excavator at the rainforest’s edge in recently cleared peatland within the Duta Palma group’s PT. Bertuah Aneka Yasa palm oil concession in Indragiri Hulu, Riau. Taken 05/04/2013 © Kemal Jufri / Greenpeace Conversion of forests for palm oil production now appears to be the single largest driver of deforestation in Indonesia, accounting for roughly […]
80% of rainforests in Malaysian Borneo logged
Bulldozer at a conventional logging site in Borneo Eighty percent of the rainforests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging, finds a comprehensive study that offers the first assessment of the spread of industrial logging and logging roads across areas that were considered some of Earth’s wildest lands less than 30 years ago. The […]
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