Long Isun Fights for Borneo’s Vanishing Rainforests
For more than a decade, the community has fought logging and palm oil development on their ancestral land, which is home to one of the last intact rainforests in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. The community is fighting to protect some of Borneo’s last intact rainforests from companies connected to Mondelēz and Procter & Gamble — and they need your help.
Frontline and Indigenous Communities are Forest Defenders
Indigenous and local communities have been successfully protecting and managing their lands since time immemorial. But local and national governments –– not to mention corporations –– fail to recognize their land rights. Research shows that upholding Indigenous land rights is one of the most effective ways of stopping deforestation.
Follow the Lead of Frontline Communities
For over 35 years, we’ve fought to preserve forests, protect the climate, and uphold human rights. Fighting against systemic injustice and partnering with Indigenous and frontline communities have been core values at RAN since our founding in 1985, because we believe that only if human rights and Indigenous rights are respected will we be able to keep forests standing and protect our climate.
Unilever, world’s largest palm oil buyer, shows leadership. Will Cargill?
Today Unilever, the consumer goods giant that purchases 4% of the world’s palm oil, has finally lived up to the commitments they made almost two years ago to remove rainforest…
Wild Money: Massive corruption in Indonesia’s forestry sector
Human Rights Watch has just released the report: Wild Money: The human rights consequences of illegal logging and corruption in Indonesia’s forestry sector. Talking to allies in Riau, Sumatra, where…
Sumatra hunger strike: the last recourse for a forest community
Here in Riau, Indonesia, signs of the struggle to save the last of Sumatra’s forest is everywhere. Daily, the papers cover stories of timber and oil palm companies destroying forests,…
RSPO Dispatch: Duta Palma destroys rainforests and lives
On the first day of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Pak Jamaluddin was quiet. He said the air conditioning of Kuala Lumpor gave him the flu. He seemed…
RSPO to Sinar Mas and APP: No more clearing at Bukit Tigapuluh
As I have written about on Understory before, Sumatra’s Bukit Tigapuluh is one of the last great forests of the world. It’s breathtaking biodiversity, high conservation importance, and value to…
RSPO Dispatch: Tough times for climate and forests, but RSPO still intact
Contrary to a number of sensationalist media reports leading up to this year’s Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil, the RSPO is not breaking up. At the core of the…
RSPO Dispatch: Oil palm is not development
The RSPO is the world’s largest annual meeting of oil palm industry, environmentalists, human rights advocates, and, most importantly, community members. Today, I watched as a community member from Borneo…