21 February 2018
Morris Kidir gestures at a wide expanse of dark-green land he says was earmarked for a school or clinic in his northern Liberian village, now covered in young oil palm trees.
In October last year, he recalls, workers from Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby arrived at the plot and began filling in
12 October 2017
Deaths of environmental activists locked in conflict with mining, logging and agricultural companies across three continents has passed 150
• Interactive: recording the deaths of environmental activists around the world
The number of people killed this year while defending their community’s land,
9 October 2017
Indigenous leaders say operations in the remote Amazon violate rights and risk fatal epidemics
There are more indigenous peoples living in “isolation” in Peru than any country in the world except Brazil. All live in the Amazon - the majority in poorly-protected reserves, or areas where reserves
4 October 2017
How can food companies stop contributing to deforestation? A panel of experts discussed solutions at a roundtable in New York
29 September 2017
Corporations globally have made hundreds of commitments on deforestation. But what do these pledges really mean and why do scandals keep happening?
9 August 2017
Villagers of Klong Sai Pattana say palm oil company responsible for targeted killings and harassment of their community.
Chai Buri District, Thailand - As he manoeuvred his pick-up truck along the dirt track leading to his village of Klong Sai Pattana one afternoon, Supot Kalasong, 42, heard a
9 August 2017
Unclear regulations on land ownership have led to overlapping claims, with some indigenous people occupying the concession areas of palm oil companies
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian security companies have seen a surge in demand for guards to protect palm oil plantations from fruit thieves and
26 May 2017
Colonialism brought large-scale farming to Africa, promising modernisation and jobs – but often dispossessing people and exploiting workers. Now, after several decades of independence, and with investor interest growing, African governments are once again promoting large plantations and estates.
16 May 2017
When bulldozers rolled into their forest at the start of last year, the Ekuri community in southeast Nigeria protested: "Indigenes say no!"
They didn't want a superhighway that would wipe their ancestral lands in the Cross River National Park off the map.
Under pressure, the earthmovers left to
10 May 2017
MONROVIA – When Liberia signed a series of contracts with international palm oil producers in the years after its protracted civil war, the news was greeted by some as a welcome sign of national renewal. Despite criticism voiced by local and international advocacy groups that the massive deals
27 March 2017
Thailand is aiming to increase its domestic palm oil production by up to 50 per cent over the next nine years while at the same time trying to reclaim encroached peat forest from smallholders.
“Look, the peat here is so deep” 61-year-old Preecha Chimtong, a smallholder farmer growing oil palm
17 March 2017
In almost every aisle of the grocery store, you can find products from the palm oil, soy, wood, and cattle industries. Together, these industries are responsible for more than a third of tropical deforestation annually, according to the non-profit organization Forest Trends. While strides have been