Blogposts tagged 'Palm Oil'

Days before the president of Indonesia is set to announce a moratorium on forest destruction, we’ve got a copy of the draft moratorium, crunched the numbers and the news is not good. The data shows this proposed moratorium does little to protect areas that are not already off limits under Indonesia's existing laws.

Plantations, like this eucalyptus one in Sumatra, are gradually replacing Indonesia's rainforests (c) Beltra/Greenpeace

Laura Kenyon from our Making Waves blog explains how money intended to protect forests could actually encourage deforestation.

Norway and Indonesia are about to make history. A US$1bn forest protection deal between these two countries could help set Indonesia on a low-carbon development pathway and become a positive model for the rest of the world. It could clearly demonstrate that lowering carbon emissions to address climate change does not mean sacrificing economic growth and prosperity. What's more, this prosperous low-carbon development does not need to come at the expense of Indonesia's natural forests and peatlands.

But this deal is at risk. Today we released a report - Protection Money - which outlines how the deal is in danger of being undermined, unless action is taken to protect it from notorious industrial forest destroyers in the palm oil, paper and pulp sectors.  There is a potential that international money intended for the protection of Indonesia's forests and peatlands could end up being used to support their destruction.

Helen Buckland, UK director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, reports on developments at the recent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil meeting...

It's no secret that the palm oil industry is responsible for massive deforestation in Indonesia, but it's now gone some way towards acknowledging the value of rainforests and how vital they are for conserving endangered species, including orangutans.

With so little habitat remaining in Sumatra and Borneo, it is vital to preserve even degraded forests to ensure the survival of orangutans in the wild.

Take a look at this audio slideshow produced by photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and our very own Bex Sumner, both currently in Indonesia. It features our international exective director Kumi Naidoo and US forest campaigner Rolf Skar who've been witnessing the devastation in Sumatra for themselves, where plantations are replacing the rainforests at a rate of knots.