Rainforest-rescue.org

The sea lions living off the Chilean coast have a thick fur that protects them from the cold of the Humboldt Current. But in this case, their fur won’t save the protected marine mammals. The government and the fishing industry want the animals killed, because they allegedly empty the fishermen’s fishing grounds. However, the sea lions cannot be blamed for putting an increasing number of fishermen out of work. The industry has put itself into this social and ecological crisis – following the years of overexploitation, overfishing and the collapsing of the samon farming industry.
Environmental organisations in Chile ask for our support in helping the sea lions.

On January 21st, 2012, the protest signatures we collected during the campaign „Plantations are no forests“ were handed over to the director-general of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The press conference held during the International Green Week Berlin offered a great opportunity to talk to José Graziano da Silva.

“The current trend of converting rainforest into palm oil plantations is devastating our country. Our people cannot provide for themselves any longer; and endangered species such as the orang-utans are doomed to die. It is high time for us to join forces and jointly put a stop to the palm oil industry’s  illegal activities on all levels.“

Nordin from Save Our Borneo asks for financial support to put his plan into action.

Two conflicting projects in Nicaragua are being financed by the German government. Public funds are going toward the expansion of a palm oil plantation. Environmentalists are sounding the alarm, however: the plantation poses a threat to a strictly protected biosphere reserve. Small farmers are also protesting the project. The monocultures endanger their fields, which were also funded by German development aid.

Please sign our petition against the funding of environmental destruction.

On December 14, 2011, Unilever in Hamburg made a pledge to an indigenous Sumatran family: Unilever would ensure that its palm oil supplier, Wilmar, would rebuild the homes it destroyed and compensate the victims within 30 days. The company has not kept its promise. On the contrary – the families are still being bullied.
In an open letter in cooperation with Watch Indonesia! and Robin Wood, we are now calling on Unilever CEO Paul Polman to stop buying palm oil from Wilmar.

The rainforests of Madagascar are threatened. Large amounts of ebony and rosewood are logged illegally. As one result of this, the lemures which live on the East African island are highly endangered because they need the trees to survive. The manufacturers of musical instruments are paying large amounts of money to buy these special trees. Gibson and the music industry lobbying group (NAMM) is now working to dismantle a law that prohibits dealing with illegally logged trees.

In the state of Tamil Nadu, which is located in southern India, the French Michelin enterprise is planning to construct a huge tire plant. In order to construct the plant, the community forest of the Dalit people (the so-called "untouchables") is supposed to be cut down. The Dalit have fought for two years in order to protect their livelihood.
Now they are asking for international help. The tire plant needs to be stopped and we ask you to support the Dalit people by signing our protest action.

The BBC reports: Orangutans are treated as pest and exterminated on Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil plantations. In the last year alone, up to 1,800 orangutans were killed in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
Please write to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and protest with your signature against the slaughter of orangutans.
(Start: 12/28/11)

At an altitude of 4,000 meters in the Peruvian Andes, more than 8,000 farmers have been guarding dozens of mountain lakes for nearly the past two weeks. The natural water reservoirs are acutely threatened by gold mining. The lakes are vital as water supplies for livestock and agriculture in the valley. The farmers are calling on the new Peruvian president to keep his campaign promise and speak out against the Conga gold and copper mining project.

Sign our petition and help the people of Cajamarca defend their fundamental rights and water sources.