All articles
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Choked in smoke – living in the thick of Indonesia’s haze
Smoke caused by forest fires and peatland destruction, is covering about 80% of Sumatra, Indonesia. And it seems like no matter how far you try to escape, the smoke follows. My wife and daughter should be at our home in Pekanbaru, Riau on the east of Sumatra right now. It’s been more than a…
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How loggers are destroying the Amazon — and getting away with it
The Amazon rainforest is the largest on earth. Its biodiversity is unparalleled, it is crucial to the stability of the global climate, and it is home to many indigenous peoples. |Trucks loaded with timber await the repair of a ferry used to cross the Curuá-Una river, close to Santarém, Pará State.|Greenpeace Brazil activists place banners…
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Tackling deforestation – it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) had a history of greenwashing – remember its former Rainforest Realities website? | To address concerns of its stakeholders and customers, APP asked independent auditors Rainforest Alliance to spend several months in the field to see how it was really doing against its Forest Conservation Policy – warts and…
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Tropical deforestation is bad news – the science keeps telling us
Deforestation is very bad news for the environment and for the climate. Deforestation is very bad news for the environment and for the climate. It is bad news for biodiversity and releases greenhouses gases into the atmosphere – we know that. But the science is increasingly certain that deforestation is bad for agriculture too. It…
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Palm oil companies say they’ll put forest destruction on hold. But what happens next?
Some of the world’s biggest palm oil companies have suspended their forest destruction. Is this a ceasefire or the end of their war on forests? | We refuse to stand by while palm oil companies turn forests to plantations. We started with Indonesia’s largest palm oil company, Golden Agri Resources (GAR). When GAR agreed to…
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Arrest of forest rights activists symbolic of what’s wrong in India
It was just past midnight when Indian police hauled two Greenpeace India activists out of their sleep and arrested them this week as a crackdown on protests against a planned coal mine in the Mahan forest intensified. The arrests are the latest example of intimidation tactics used in India to quell unrest over the plans by…
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Activists mark two years of taking FLaC in the Leard
Activists in the Leard Forest in north west NSW are today celebrating two years fighting against the Maules Creek Coal Mine. It was six months ago when it finally dawned on me just how special FLaC (Frontline Action on Coal) Camp is. I was at the Leard in February when the original FLaC Camp was…
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6 myths this Indonesian logger didn’t want busted
Recent large-scale clearance of peatland forest inside a PT. Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (PT RAPP) pulpwood concession on Pulau Pedang, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province. PT RAPP is a subsidiary of APRIL, the pulp & paper division of the RGE Group. On 28 January 2014, APRIL announced that it intends to continue to use rainforest…
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How to halt a bulldozer army while overcoming a fear of heights
This might seem like an unlikely thing for someone with vertigo to sign up for. But, on Monday night, I volunteered to spend a night high in the canopy of critically-endangered Box Gums in the Leard Forest. It was a unique spot to witness the majesty of this place. I was suspended nine metres above…