Ecuador: Stop land grabbing and racial discrimination for palm oil!

Communities in northern Ecuador are fighting back against land grabbing and deforestation by the palm oil industry.

Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed

The global demand for palm oil—the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick—is driving worldwide tropical deforestation.

Despite gains in Brazil, forest destruction still 'stubbornly' high: Report

The world lost 10 football fields of old-growth tropical forest every minute in 2023 and despite uplifting progress in the Amazon, the picture elsewhere is less rosy, researchers said on Thursday.

Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach

JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.

Deforestation harms biodiversity of the Amazon's perfume-loving orchid bees

A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics.

Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests - Nature

An effort to map roads in the Asia-Pacific region finds that there are 3.0–6.6 times more roads than other sources suggest, and that unmapped ‘ghost roads’ are a major contributor to tropical forest loss.

PalmWatch platform pushes for farm-to-fork traceability of palm oil

JAKARTA — Farm-to-fork traceability has become an increasingly urgent, and often required, component of global supply chains, with a growing number of commodities now trackable all the way back to their source.

Can Europe save forests without killing jobs in Malaysia?

Brazil: Stop land grabbing and violence for “fair and sustainable” palm oil!

Palm oil from Brazil's Agropalma sports no less than ten different seals: Certified as organic, fair and sustainable, the oil is sold to food giants such as Ferrero, Kellogg’s and Nestlé.

Palm oil deforestation persists in Indonesia’s Leuser amid new mills, plantations

JAKARTA — Deforestation for oil palm plantations continues unabated at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, likely driven by new processing mills that in turn may ultimately be supplying major consumer goods companies.

Deforestation Could Put 84% of North American Lizards at Risk, Study Says

Deforestation is making lizards in North America more vulnerable because of a lack of shelter from extreme temperatures.

Ten years since anti-deforestation pledge, corporate world still not doing enough

It was supposed to be a major milestone, back in 2014, when hundreds of governments and companies came together to sign the New York Declaration on Forests, aimed at eliminating natural forest loss worldwide.

Forests declining globally amid wildfires and deforestation - News Cafe

Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation

In 2020, a Mongabay reporting team visited Bolivia’s Amboró National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area and found that portions of its protected forest had been cleared and replaced by illegal coca crops.

Dairy farmers accused of ‘radical’ damage to landscape

Natural features are being levelled to improve grazing despite laws requiring government approval for such works

‘Shocking’ mortality of infant macaques points to dangers of oil palm plantations

For 12 years, primatologist Nadine Ruppert and her colleagues have had one recurring task on their calendar: tagging along with a group of southern pig-tailed macaques in Segari, Peninsular Malaysia, as these primates hop between native rainforests a…

Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity

Every day, new areas of rainforests are converted into plantations, drastically changing tropical biodiversity and the way the ecosystem functions.

Report shows Peru failed to stop Amazon deforestation for palm oil and cacao

Several palm oil and cacao companies operating in the Peruvian Amazon have systematically contributed to clearing at least 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) between 2012 and 2021 in the country’s most forest-rich regions of Loreto and Ucayali, shows a n…

Palm oil deforestation makes comeback in Indonesia after decade-long slump

JAKARTA — Deforestation by the palm oil industry in Indonesia increased in 2023 for the second year in a row, bucking a decade of gradual decline, according to an analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap.

Old forests critically important for slowing climate change, merit immediate protection from logging

Forests are an essential part of Earth's operating system. They reduce the buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land degradation by 30% each year.

Palm Oil Plantations are Killing Baby Monkeys - One Green Planet

The detrimental effects of palm oil plantations on wildlife have been brought to light by a decade-long study conducted by researchers.

Palm oil giants push out smallholders in Guatemala; deforestation risks remain

Mario Rene Xol used to enjoy life in Aldea Tierra Negra, an Indigenous village bordering the Lachuá-Ik’bolay Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in northeastern Guatemala.

Greta Thunberg Calls COP28 Outcome a 'Betrayal'

"This COP has once again proven that the COP processes are not working in our favor," the climate activist said.

Investigation shows ‘shadow companies’ linked to Indonesia palm oil giant First Resources

One of the world’s largest palm oil companies appears to have overseen a network of companies responsible for deforestation of tens of thousands of hectares, according to a new investigation published by The Gecko Project, a London-based investigativ…

Calls for tighter rules on biofuels imports to root out palm oil fraud

Investigations suggest a large share of ‘used’ cooking oil being imported could be wrongly labelled as demand outpaces supply

Killings of Bornean orangutans could lead to their extinction

Only about 100,000 Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) remain, less than half of their original numbers.

sci_burst | Instagram, TikTok | Linktree

View sci_burst’s Linktree. Listen to their music on Spotify here.

Beef, soy and palm oil products linked to deforestation still imported into UK

Campaigners accuse government of failing to stick to promises made at Cop26 climate summit in 2021

Beef, soy and palm oil products linked to deforestation still imported into UK

Campaigners accuse government of failing to stick to promises made at Cop26 climate summit in 2021

Oil palm in the Pan Amazon

Oil palm is highly suited to cultivation in the ecological and climatic conditions of the tropics and its cultivation in South America has expanded steadily over the last three decades.

Palm oil alternative is better for health and environment

A new palm oil substitute called PALM-ALT has been developed by researchers at Queen Margaret University in Scotland.

Deforestation for palm oil continues in Indonesia’s ‘orangutan capital’

JAKARTA — Despite various commitments from global brands and the government to protect Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, home to some of the rarest species on Earth, development of new palm oil plantations and drainage of carbon-rich peatlands continue i…