Vigil with candles

Dec 27, 2023

Indonesia: Christmas Eve nickel smelter blast kills 20

An explosion at a nickel smelter in Sulawesi, Indonesia, on December 24 left twenty dead and dozens injured. This is not an isolated case, says our partner JATAM Sulteng.

A group of Indigenous people with protest banners in front of a hut covered with palm fronds

Dec 15, 2023

Brazil: US carbon traders stoke conflict among Indigenous Ka'apor

The Indigenous Ka'apor do not want carbon projects in their ancestral territory and the rainforest of the Brazilian Amazon.

Graphic of crowd with "Save Aru" banner, ocean and ships in background

Dec 15, 2023

Indonesia: Carbon trading scheme threatens Aru Islands

Carbon traders want to commercialize the rainforest of the Aru Islands between Australia and New Guinea. The #SaveAru coalition is calling for the plan to be rejected.

Protest during COP 28: End fossil fuel. Save our planet and our future

Dec 14, 2023

COP 28 outcome falls short – bad news for people and nature

The UN Climate Change Conference COP 28 in Dubai has ended in disappointment: The urgently needed phase-out of oil, gas and coal was reduced to a toothless “transition”.

Arrest of students in Kampala on November 24, 2023

Nov 30, 2023

Uganda: Yet more student climate activists behind bars

On November 24, seven students were once again arrested in Kampala for peacefully protesting against the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

A protest march with thousands of people fills a street in the capital

Nov 30, 2023

Panama celebrates Supreme Court ruling against copper mine - protests continue

We celebrate the Supreme Court ruling declaring the copper mine unconstitutional, reports Radio Temblor – Colectivo Voces Ecólogicas

Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti before a black background

Nov 27, 2023

Solidarity with human rights defenders Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti

Over 100 organizations, including Rainforest Rescue, are calling on the Indonesian government to stop the criminalization of Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar.

Environmentalist Matek in Malaysia

Nov 27, 2023

Sarawak: Logging company backs down in face of local resistance

In Sarawak, a timber company had started clearing forest along the Ulu Lioh and Ulu Lijan rivers. Faced by the resistance of local communities, the company withdrew.

four Papuans in traditional dress in front of the courthouse

Nov 24, 2023

Court ruling endangers Awyu forest in Papua

A court in Papua has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Indigenous Awyu people against a license issued for an oil palm plantation. They will fight on for their forest.

Sign of the Agropalma palm oil company on the edge of an oil palm plantation

Nov 15, 2023

Brazil: Agropalma oil palm plantation security shoots and kills Indigenous man

Indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon complain of brutal violence, including the killing of an Indigenous man, by security guards from the palm oil company Agropalma.

Rainforest Rescue banner and Komodo petition on a round table

Nov 12, 2023

Jakarta and Berlin: NO to a ‘Jurassic Park’ for Komodo dragons!

Speaking out on two continents: Environmentalists handed over 108,967 signatures in Jakarta and Berlin calling for protection for Komodo dragons.

Chimpanzees in Sapo National Park

Nov 7, 2023

Côte d’Ivoire: A safe forest corridor for chimpanzees

The Cavally Forest in Côte d'Ivoire has been declared a nature reserve. The link between the Taï and Sapo national parks is thus better protected.

Students celebrate the dismissal of charges against them

Nov 7, 2023

Uganda: Charges dropped against anti-pipeline activists

A court in Kampala dismissed the case against nine young environmental activists who had peacefully protested the EACOP oil pipeline.

Komodo dragon on the beach

Nov 2, 2023

In defense of the Komodo dragons: locals resist “Jurassic Park”

Work on a “Jurassic Park” tourist attraction is transforming the Komodo Islands in eastern Indonesia and threatening the habitat of the unique Komodo dragons.

Amazon rainforest

Oct 30, 2023

Forest guardians excluded from Three Basins Summit

Civil society joint statement to the Three Basins Summit, Amazon – Congo – Borneo – Mekong – Southeast Asia in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Humboldt penguins on a rocky coastline

Oct 27, 2023

Chile upgrades protection of the Humboldt Archipelago

Chile’s Humboldt Archipelago is now a marine protected area. This is a significant step forward for this biodiversity hotspot.

Protest against EACOP pipeline in Kampala

Oct 20, 2023

Uganda: Further arrests of EACOP pipeline protesters

In Uganda, police again violently broke up a peaceful demonstration against the EACOP oil pipeline and arrested four students.

Aerial view of a river meandering through a rainforest, clouds

Oct 19, 2023

Brazil: Deception and abuse with carbon offsetting projects in the Amazon rainforest

Entrepreneurs from the US and Europe are doing brisk business with carbon offsetting projects in rainforests, while the local population goes away empty-handed.

Detained Dayak people sit on the ground, armed police officers behind them

Oct 9, 2023

Indonesia: Protesters killed and injured on oil palm plantation in Bangkal, Borneo

Indonesian police guarding oil palm plantations in Borneo opened fire on protesting Indigenous people. The aftermath: one dead, two seriously injured and twenty arrests.

A young woman in a colorful helmet holds up a poster with a heart and speaks into a microphone

Oct 4, 2023

Cambodia: Court bars activists from traveling to accept Alternative Nobel Prize

The youth group Mother Nature Cambodia has won this year’s Alternative Nobel Prize. However, a court in Phnom Penh has banned them from traveling to Stockholm.

A group of young people sitting and standing in front of a tree on the beach

Oct 3, 2023

Alternative Nobel Prize for Rainforest Rescue partner Mother Nature Cambodia

The youth group Mother Nature Cambodia has been lauded for its commitment to conservation and human rights. Congratulations to our Cambodian partners!

View of clouds, rivers and rainforest seen from an airliner, with the wing at the top of the frame

Sep 21, 2023

Carbon credits: Don’t let big emitters off the hook!

Carbon offset credits in rainforest areas don’t help the climate. We need real climate protection – reducing emissions, not offsetting them!

A human rights activist hands the petition to the President of the Indigenous Institute, who is sitting at her desk

Sep 21, 2023

Paraguay: Over 100,000 supporters call for the return of Manjui land

We demand that the Paraguayan state return part of the territory of the Manjui Indigenous people and formally transfer state land to the Wonta community.

A group of Papuans sitting on palm leaves

Sep 20, 2023

Indonesia: Korindo before Indigenous tribunal in Papua

The Marind Indigenous people of Indonesia’s Merauke district have condemned Korindo, a logging and palm oil company, under their traditional law.

Portrait of indigenous leader Sarapo Ka'apor wearing a feather headdress

Sep 15, 2023

Putting their lives on the line: Indigenous people and environmentalists in danger

People who are actively committed to protecting their land, the environment and the people who live there live dangerously in the global South.

Vote YES for Yasuní

Aug 24, 2023

Ecuador: Referendum halts oil drilling in Yasuní National Park

A huge success: a majority of people in Ecuador voted to end oil production in Yasuní National Park in a binding referendum.

Indigenous people marching in a row holding up placards with slogans such as: “Our land is our future”

Aug 11, 2023

Amazon summit in Brazil: Indigenous people speak out against violence

The Indigenous peoples of the Amazon region face constant threats and violence. During the Amazon summit, young Indigenous people were seriously injured by gunfire.

A group of 15 young people standing and kneeling in front of the Ministry of Tourism building, holding a banner to the camera. It reads “Koh Kong Island must become a marine national park”

Jul 20, 2023

Cambodia: Koh Kong petition handed over in Phnom Penh and Berlin

More than 133,000 people around the world signed our petition to save Cambodia’s Koh Kong island. The petition has now been delivered to the Cambodian government.

Ka’apor meeting in the Amazon rainforest

Jul 13, 2023

Study finds Indigenous Ka’apor are Brazil’s best rainforest defenders

The Indigenous Ka’apor, partners of our organization, are resisting the trend of increasing deforestation in Brazil and are sucessfully defending their forest.

Screenshot with the logos of the different seals granted to Agropalma

May 18, 2023

Responses to our petition on certified palm oil from Brazil

Help end greenwashing and label fraud with certified palm oil. Certified palm oil from Agropalma is not organic, fair or sustainable.

A group of people holding a banner that reads (translated): “Protect the wealth of the people! Stop the theft! Alliance Against Mining”

Apr 26, 2023

Philippines: Violence against peaceful blockade of illegal nickel mine

On the Philippine island of Palawan, a peaceful, authorized blockade against an illegal nickel mine was violently broken up by police and the company’s security forces.

A person among the trunks overgrown with mosses and epiphytes in a misty mountain rainforest

Apr 17, 2023

Ecuador: Local people triumph over copper mine

A great victory for the life, nature and biodiversity of the Intag region in Ecuador: A court finally annulled the environmental permit for a copper mine project.

Orange Guianan cock-of-the-rock

Apr 5, 2023

French Guiana: EU rejects derogation for biomass power plants in the Amazon rainforest

Thanks to united protests, the EU has rejected a derogation for the construction of biomass power plants in the rainforest of French Guiana.

Aerial view of a small village along a straight dirt road, with oil palm plantations cut into the rainforest behind it

Mar 24, 2023

Brazil: Agropalma’s “certified palm oil” seals under fire

The palm oil company Agropalma is accused of land grabbing, violence and poor working conditions, despite having 10 seals for organic, fair and sustainable production.

Ten women who learned to read, write and do basic math in a WCF project present their certificates

Mar 24, 2023

Liberia: Teaching reading and numeracy – for conservation

In Liberia, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation conservationists provided literacy and numeracy training to ten women in the village of Jalay Town.

Hendrikus Woro of the Awyu people

Mar 8, 2023

Indonesia: Violations of traditional forest rights in Papua

Indigenous people in Indonesia have a constitutional right to land. However, an example from Boven Digoel, Papua, shows how difficult it is to enforce.

Indigenous Cofan from Durengo with Eduardo Medúa (left)

Mar 7, 2023

Ecuador: Killing of activist Eduardo Medúa – Indigenous people accuse government and state oil company

The killers of Eduardo Medúa and those who hired them must be brought to justice. No to oil drilling in the Indigenous territories in the Amazon rainforest!

Village meeting in Vila Goncalves

Mar 3, 2023

Brazil: RSPO certification suspended for Agropalma oil palm plantations

Courts in Pará, Brazil, have ruled that the palm oil company Agropalma has illegally and fraudulently appropriated a large part of the land it claims.

Tropical beach with palm trees on Cajual Island

Feb 24, 2023

Brazil: Rail and port construction with German involvement threatens people and nature

Our immense demand for raw materials and energy is threatening the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna. Nature and communities in Brazil are being forced to make way.

A TASHA field officer talks about the dangers of oil projects in a village

Feb 21, 2023

Oil boom in Africa: “End economic colonization!”

The planned EACOP pipeline and two other oil projects are threatening people and the environment in Uganda, including Murchison Falls National Park.

Graphic: SLAPP suits are intended to silence critics

Feb 21, 2023

SLAPP lawsuit against Rainforest Rescue struck down

After more than three years, a lawsuit filed against Rainforest Rescue before the Regional Court in Hamburg, Germany, has ended – not with a bang but with a whimper.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaking with Yanomami people

Feb 7, 2023

Brazil: genocide of the Yanomami people uncovered

The Yanomami people in the Amazon rainforest are dying of introduced diseases, starvation and mercury poisoning. The new Brazilian government is intervening.

Camera trap image of Sumatran tiger

Jan 31, 2023

Sumatra: rangers injured by tiger in Leuser Ecosystem

Protecting Sumatran forests as a ranger is a dangerous job: In late January, a team of four rangers supported by Rainforest Rescue was attacked by a tiger.

Teacher in a village school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Jan 26, 2023

DRC: Fostering community trust with schools

In the heart of the Congo Basin, Rainforest Rescue supports school projects that go hand in hand with bonobo conservation.

Protest by the citizens of Kinipan in front of the court in Palangkaraya, 2022

Jan 17, 2023

Kinipan village chief acquitted

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected the trumped-up charges against the village chief of Kinipan, Willem Hengki. This is a victory for all defenders of Borneo’s forests.

Portrait of indigenous leader Sarapo Ka'apor wearing a feather headdress

Jan 13, 2023

Brazil: Rainforest Rescue petition leads to federal police investigation

Indigenous people in Brazil face harrassment, eviction and even death for defending their forests against loggers, cattle ranchers, agribusiness and mining companies.

Two African elephants in Mole National Park, Ghana

Jan 12, 2023

Stronger protections put in place for pangolins and elephants

Elephants and pangolins are now better protected than ever before. Hundreds of thousands signed our petitions calling for stronger conservation laws.

Indigenous activists Hamrullah, Nimrod and Renaldi behind bars

Jan 3, 2023

Indonesia: Indigenous rainforest guardians released from prison

Three wrongly convicted Indigenous rainforest guardians are free after months in prison. The men were able to rely on the solidarity of Rainforest Rescue.

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