Success stories
Ecuador oil auction stopped
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.
Congo: First success for endangered mountain gorillas
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
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.
Over 100,000 signatures for elephant conservation in Malaysia
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.
Indonesia: Incense farmers have been released
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.
Brazil: Guaraní land rights established
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.
Success as Hawaii's largest energy company halts palm oil use in power stations
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.