Nov 10, 2010

The Sustainability Lie – A film about the dirty palm oil business

From 8th to 11th November, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is holding its Annual General Assembly in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Europe wants to import ever more cheap palm oil and RSPO-certificates are buying producers and customers a good conscience. However, sustainable palm oil production is a myth, not a reality. Today, the NGO Rainforest Rescue is releasing a film about deforestation and evictions in Indonesia at the hands of the world's largest palm oil company.

Oct 22, 2010

Seven arrests in Sarawak (Malaysia) over logging dispute

BMF (Bruno Manser Fund) has just received the news that the Malaysian police have arrested Nicholas Mujah, the Secretary General of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and six Iban villagers, including the headman of Kampung Bajong in Sebuyau, Sarawak.

Sep 17, 2010

Not Now, Not Never: the World Bank and oil palm

Interview with Guadalupe Rodriguez from Rainforest Rescue. Oil palm monoculture plantations are not and will never be sustainable” say environmentalist organizations such as Biofuelwatch, Rainforest Rescue, Ecologistas en Accion and the World Rainforest Movement, after the review process –more formal than real- of the World Bank investments in oil palm.

Sep 14, 2010

FSC certified - Sustainable on paper: the eucalyptus plantations of Bahia, Brazil

NGOs, city administrations and publishers worldwide switch to FSC-certified paper. Ordinary consumers can buy copy and printing paper as well as paper towels and even wallpaper bearing the tree logo. But is the paper's green image justified?

Aug 31, 2010

Environmental group call on World Bank to drop plans for resumed palm oil funding

Press release by World Rainforest Movement, Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations RECOMA, Rettet den Regenwald, Salva la Selva, Ecologistas en Accion and Biofuelwatch Frankfurt, 31st August 2010

Jun 8, 2010

Launch of “responsible soy” label faces global opposition

New scheme to certify biofuel and animal feed opposed by 235 civil society groups BRUSSELS (BELGIUM), 8 June 2010 ? A proposed new label for “responsible” soy will not stop deforestation, 235 civil society groups from across the globe warned in a letter today, ahead of a conference set to finalise the labeling scheme in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [1]

Jun 4, 2010

New Report Reveals Major Threats to Forests and Communities from Bioenergy

Forest Advocacy groups from three continents released a new report today that reveals the threat bioenergy poses to forests and forest-dependent peoples. The report warns that U.S. plans for wood-based bioenergy, biochar and genetically engineered trees (GE trees) will worsen a dangerous situation.

May 20, 2010

Ecuador: Correa Looks to Reopen Unpopular Mining Project in Junin

An official government site reveals that the Correa government plans on investing $180,000 on “social and environmental studies” during 2010 to determine the feasibility of the Junin copper deposit. The study would be the first step for the newly-created national mining company to try to reactivate a mining project which has resulted in two transnational mining companies being defeated by Intag’s communities and organizations. Now the stage is being set for possible confrontations between communities and local governments pitted against the national government and its national mining company.

May 19, 2010

Losing the plot: Spread of the biofuel jatropha in India

A new report by Friends of the Earth: "Losing the plot: the threats to community land and the rural poor through the spread of the biofuel jatropha in India.

May 14, 2010

The Battle for the Xingu

Cultures of Resistance is excited to present our short film "The Battle for the Xingu" online. The film is about indigenous Kayapó opposition to the Brazilian government’s proposed Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Amazon. The dam would have a disastrous impact on the Kayapó homeland. The film features footage from the 2008 Altamira summit, a key moment of the burgeoning Kayapó movement, when 1,000 Indians joined national and international supporters in the city of Altamira, Para to protest the Belo Monte Dam project plans.

Mar 9, 2010

A second hydrocarbon boom threatens the Peruvian Amazon

The Peruvian Amazon is home to extraordinary biological and cultural diversity, and vast swaths of this mega-diverse region remain largely intact. Recent analysis indicates, however, that the rapid proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones now threatens the region's biodiversity, indigenous peoples, and wilderness areas.

Mar 4, 2010

Rainforest Rescue undermines efforts in favor of FSC-certified industrial logging in primary forests

Open letter by BUND, Nabu, Oro Verde & WWF

Feb 19, 2010

A surreal argument for biofuels

A leaked paper has set out the idea that palm oil plantations can be considered 'forests' – and the EU seems to be buying it

Feb 16, 2010

BBC programme about palm oil power station plans in Bristol

Business correspondent Dave Harvey investigates controversial plans to produce power from palm trees at Avonmouth. The developers insist their biofuel power station will produce sustainable, green electricity. But environmentalists are worried about the impact on important wildlife habitats.

Feb 15, 2010

EU biofuels significantly harming food production in developing countries

EU biofuels 10% targets cause millions of peope to go hungry and increase food prices and landlessness, says report EU companies have taken millions of acres of land out of food production in Africa, central America and Asia to grow biofuels for transport, according to development campaigners.

Feb 11, 2010

Burn Up the Biosphere and Call It Renewable Energy

Published on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Burn Up the Biosphere and Call It Renewable Energy: The New Taxpayer Bailout That Will Make You Sick AND Poor

Jan 21, 2010

Moorlands and hills targeted to grow crops for biomass and biofuels

Countryside protection groups warn of damage to wildlife

Jan 21, 2010

Scientists Identify Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park as one of the Most Biodiverse Places on Earth

A team of scientists has documented that Yasuní National Park, located in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is the most diverse area in all of South America and shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects.

Jan 10, 2010

The unintended ripples from the biomass subsidy program

It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy. But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good..

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