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News and success stories

Stay in the loop with news of ongoing campaigns and successes in the fight against rainforest destruction.


A lonely orangutan in a desolate landscape

Post-rockers raise awareness of rainforest destruction

Dec 18, 2013 The instrumental / post-rock duo Collapse Under The Empire has issued a charity single, Lost, in support of our work. The band will be donating the entire proceeds of the digital download to Rainforest Rescue.

Activists with a taped mouth in Quito

Fundación Pachamama Requests SOLIDARITY

Dec 5, 2013 QUITO - On Wednesday, December 4th, 2013, plain-clothes police officers appeared at the offices of Fundación Pachamama and proceeded to shut down the facilities, leaving a resolution from the Ministry of Environment ordering the dissolution the organization.

The tragedy of Tanjung Puting National Park

Dec 1, 2013 In Borneo’s Tanjung Puting National Park, ancient trees are being felled for oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, palm oil companies are patting themselves on the back for their “sustainable” farming practices at their annual meeting on Sumatra. And the EU is ignoring the devastating consequences of its agrofuels policy for the rainforests. A report from Indonesia.

A Koala sits on an eucalytpus tree

The world steps up to protect koalas

Nov 21, 2013 We asked for your help in protecting koalas in a call to action on our website. The response was loud and clear: more than 83,000 people from all over the world signed our petition to save the Australian marsupials.

Recent news on agroenergy

Nov 14, 2013 This is a link list with recent reports about agroenergy

Communities and biodiversity under threat from Europe's bioenergy boom

Nov 13, 2013 Biofuelwatch's new report looks at the current impacts of the UK's demand for biomass industry on forests and communities worldwide. Although the focus is on UK demand, it is relevant for large- scale biomass electricity anywhere.

Coal India is deluding investors

Oct 1, 2013 The biggest coal miner in the world, Coal India Ltd., has rigged the market with false information to increase its value. According to a study published by Greenpeace, investors needed to spend more money per share than fair market value suggested.

Environmental activists hand over the signatures to members of the European Parliament

Strasbourg: 243,998 signatures against agrofuels handed over

Sep 26, 2013 Rainforest Rescue and other environmental and human rights organizations have collected 243,998 signatures of people who call for a change in the fatal agrofuels policy of the European Union.

Cheering indigenous people of Ecuador

Ecuador oil auction stopped

Aug 1, 2013 Local protests and international forms of pressure help indigenous peoples. It seems that not enough oil companies submitted bids on 3 million hectar of Ecuador's last remaining area of virgin rainforest. The deadline was extended yet again by the Ecuadorian government.

UN Special Rapporteur Jamas Anaya

Panama: UN expert calls for recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights

Jul 30, 2013 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, concluded his official visit to Panama today. In his final statement, Mr. Anaya stated that indigenous peoples of the country are calling for greater recognition and protection of their territories and natural resources.

Night shot of forest fire with embers and smoke

Forests ablaze in Sumatra – and the EU pours oil on the fire

Jun 23, 2013 Rainforests are burning on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The arsonists: palm oil companies that need land for their plantations. And while humans, animals and plants are helpless in the face of the fires, the EU industry committee just voted to increase the biofuel share in motor vehicle fuels.

2 pictures. Left: Oil palm plantation next to rainforest. Right: A man looks at devastated land

Palm oil lobby woos legislators

Jun 17, 2013 In early May, five EU parliamentarians went on a luxury trip to Malaysia and Singapore at the invitation of Neste Oil. The palm oil company’s generosity was not without ulterior motives, as the EU is currently reviewing its agrofuels policy.

Cameroon: Government is stopping deforestation

Jun 6, 2013 The U.S. company Herakles Farms wants to destroy 70,000 hectares of rainforest for its huge palm oil project. Illegal clearings have already started. The authorities have now stopped the company's activities and seized the logging machinery in the rainforest.

Congo: First success for endangered mountain gorillas

May 31, 2013 There is new hope for the Virunga National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this world heritage, the government has opened five areas for oil exploration. Due to worldwide protests of environmentalists, the oil company TOTAL pulled out of the exploration project.

Verdict in Indonesia: Government must return ancestral lands

May 27, 2013 The indigenous peoples of Indonesia and its advocacy group, AMAN, have scored a great success: the Constitutional Court ruled that the government must recognize the land rights of forest dwellers. It may no longer class their customary forests as “state forest areas” and lease them to loggers or plantation operators.

Borneo, Indonesia: Earth Day Campaigns to raise public awareness

May 3, 2013 Our partners at Save Our Borneo never miss an opportunity to bring the state of the rainforests in their homeland to their fellow humans’ attention. This time, they chose International Earth Day for their activities.

Indigenous Penan people blocking access for logging company Interhill

Malaysia: Video documents corruption of Chief Minister

Apr 15, 2013 One of the most notorious enemies of the rainforest has been exposed: The British environmental organization Global Witness recorded a video of members of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib’s extended family illegally selling off vast tracts of rainforest in the Malaysian part of Borneo.

A baby elephant standing over the body of its dead mother, touching her head with its trunk

Over 100,000 signatures for elephant conservation in Malaysia

Mar 22, 2013 Earlier this year, the image of a tiny elephant calf trying in vain to awaken his dead mother with his trunk moved people around the world. The poisoning of 14 endangered Borneo pygmy elephants in the Malaysian state of Sabah met with incomprehension and indignation.

Protesters in Indonesia

Indonesia: Incense farmers have been released

Mar 20, 2013 Because they were defending themselves against the logging of their rainforest on the island of Sumatra, 31 protesters have been arrested. Due to protests from all around the world – including a petition from German Rainforest Rescue with 28,000 participants – the 16 remaining incense farmers have now been released.

Panama: Time is running out for Tabasará communities

Mar 15, 2013 On 8th March, during a 3-hour blockade which prevented vehicles from leaving or entering the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam construction site in western Panama, an 80-strong group of Ngabe protesters were dispersed by riot squads who pelted the area with tear gas.

Brazil: Guaraní land rights established

Feb 13, 2013 On January 10, 2013, the national authority for the protection of indigenous peoples in Brazil (FUNAI) confirmed the rights of two Guaraní-Kaiowá communities to 41,571 hectares of land. FUNAI thus responded to protests by the Guaraní, who for decades have been pitted against major landholders who have been colonizing the indigenous territory.

Slow loris on a tree

Indonesia: slow lorises are not merchandise

Jan 28, 2013 On Friday, January 18, 2013, Rainforest Rescue presented a petition with 48,838 signatures protesting the illegal trade in slow lorises to the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin.

David Vollrath from Rainforest Rescue hands over the signatures to the diplomatic secretary

Colombia: Stop the chainsaws

Jan 24, 2013 On January 17, 2013, Rainforest Rescue had an appointment at the Colombian Embassy in Berlin. We presented senior embassy staff a petition with 72,877 signatures protesting the impending illegal clearance of 4,000 rainforest trees in Colombia’s Atrato region.

Switzerland: petition presented to UBS

Jan 21, 2013 On January 17, 2013, we presented our petition with 48,462 signatures to the Swiss UBS bank, calling on them to freeze the accounts of Musa Aman and refrain from business involving money from the illegal trade in tropical timber

Success as Hawaii's largest energy company halts palm oil use in power stations

Jan 11, 2013 Back in October 2010, Rainforest Rescue and Biofuelwatch joined local campaigners in Hawaii in opposing plans for large-scale palm oil burning in power stations by the islands' largest energy company, HECO. Ever since then, HECO has not burnt any more palm oil.

Virunga ranger with Gorilla baby in arms

Virunga NP: Interview with park management

Jan 4, 2013 380 rare mountain gorillas live in Virunga National Park in large family groups. Now Britain’s SOCO International plc intends to drill for oil in the park. This would spell the end of the park and the gorillas. Rainforest Rescue interviewed Ephrem Balole of the Virunga park managment.

Happy New Year

Jan 1, 2013 Thank you for your wonderful support in 2012 and Happy New Year from Rainforest Rescue! We wish you a wonderful 2013.You can still send Happy New Year E-cards to your family and friends:

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