Charismatic megafauna at play. Did we get your attention?

The word 'biodiversity' is often bandied about as shorthand for 'lots of lovely animals and plants'. We probably think of African plains teeming with herds of antelopes, zebra and wildebeest, a jungle cacophonous with crickets, monkeys and birds, or perhaps a coral reef that looks like a still from Finding Nemo.

But that's because most of us are a little shallow when it comes to the species we co-inhabit this planet with. We get overexcited by the big things, the cuddly things, and the wow! things. Read more »

It's been another big year for Greenpeace around the world, culminating in the Copenhagen climate summit. Take a look back on some of our best images and stories from 2009.

This blog by Greenpeace US webbie Mike Gaworecki first appeared yesterday on the Climate Rescue weblog.

Discussions at these climate talks are often in a highly specialized language that some of us like to call 'alphabet soup' – because it is conducted almost entirely in acronyms. One such cup o' soup we’ve been hearing a lot about lately is REDD, which stands for "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation." So I thought I'd give you an as-brief-as-possible update on where the negotiations on REDD are at, and what we're pushing for. Read more »

As world leaders line up in Copenhagen to agree a new climate treaty, we've also been working hard to secure a result that will have a positive impact on the global climate - by protecting Indonesia's forests.

Today we're publicly releasing new evidence that Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer, has been persistently engaging in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance. We presented presented the evidence in this dossier to one of their biggest customers, the giant Unilever corporation. Now Unilever has decided to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas.

I'm in the Congo, on the first anniversary of our newest Greenpeace office opening here. Read more »

Just hanging around... our activists shut down a paper mill that was busy pulping the rainforest.

After building dams and shutting down bulldozers to prevent further deforestation, the team at the Climate Defenders Camp in Indonesia has swung into action once more. At dawn, climbers entered a huge pulp and paper mill in Sumatra and scaled the massive loading cranes, blocking operations at the mill.

As I write, the latest reports are that three teams of climbers have been removed and detained, while a fourth remains in place on one of the cranes. In keeping with earlier reactions to the Climate Defenders, they've been threatened and intimidated but they're still holding out. Read more »

Sarah is in Kinshasa, visiting our Congo office on their first anniversary.

I write from our office in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In some ways it's very like any other Greenpeace office. There are pictures of the Rainbow Warrior on the wall, people on phones rush from room to room, journalists and cameramen walk in and out. There's a shout and we all crowd round the TV to watch one of our colleagues, Rene Ngongo, who won the alternative livelihood award a few weeks ago for his work in the DRC, giving an interview. Read more »

The 11 foreign activists deported over the last day or so

When both you and the journalists who are accompanying you start getting deported it's usually a sign that you're doing something right. But that doesn't make the current situation in Indonesia any better.

It certainly seems to be the case that our Climate Defenders Camp on the Kampar peninsula of Sumatra has ruffled a few feathers with the Indonesian authorities.

Pretty amazing stuff going on in Indonesia over the weekend.

It started when the police issued an eviction order for the camp, after last week's action which closed down an APRIL logging concession. The action was strongly supported by local communities - the eviction notice was only secured after pressure from the logging companies.

But then, in a surprising move, the chief of police of Pelalawan district revoked the eviction order, after 300 locals from nearby Teluk Meranti village turned up at the camp the next morning to show their support.

Greenpeace activists shut down an APRIL logging concession yesterday.

Ian is the member of our forests campaigning team dealing with Indonesia.

Yesterday, as Greenpeace activists were preparing to close down the pulp and paper operations of one of Indonesia's biggest forest criminals APRIL, (or 'Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings'), back here in the UK I was just starting a meeting with UK climate minister Joan Ruddock.

What's the connection between our activists in the field, and me in a meeting room in London? Well it certainly wasn't our choice of outfits - they probably wouldn't let me into DECC with a red boiler suit on, and a suit and tie isn't particularly suitable for the Indonesian rainforest. Read more »