News and success stories
Stay in the loop with news of ongoing campaigns and successes in the fight against rainforest destruction.
© RdR/Mathias Rittgerott
Tanzania: Is construction of the EACOP pipeline about to begin?
Construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline EACOP is apparently about to begin. Pipes for 100 kilometers arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in December 2023.
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Indonesia: Christmas Eve nickel smelter blast kills 20
An explosion at a nickel smelter in Sulawesi, Indonesia, on December 24 left twenty dead and dozens injured. This is not an isolated case, says our partner JATAM Sulteng.
Brazil: US carbon traders stoke conflict among Indigenous Ka'apor
The Indigenous Ka'apor do not want carbon projects in their ancestral territory and the rainforest of the Brazilian Amazon.
Indonesia: Carbon trading scheme threatens Aru Islands
Carbon traders want to commercialize the rainforest of the Aru Islands between Australia and New Guinea. The #SaveAru coalition is calling for the plan to be rejected.
COP 28 outcome falls short – bad news for people and nature
The UN Climate Change Conference COP 28 in Dubai has ended in disappointment: The urgently needed phase-out of oil, gas and coal was reduced to a toothless “transition”.
Uganda: Yet more student climate activists behind bars
On November 24, seven students were once again arrested in Kampala for peacefully protesting against the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
Panama celebrates Supreme Court ruling against copper mine - protests continue
We celebrate the Supreme Court ruling declaring the copper mine unconstitutional, reports Radio Temblor – Colectivo Voces Ecólogicas
Solidarity with human rights defenders Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti
Over 100 organizations, including Rainforest Rescue, are calling on the Indonesian government to stop the criminalization of Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar.
Sarawak: Logging company backs down in face of local resistance
In Sarawak, a timber company had started clearing forest along the Ulu Lioh and Ulu Lijan rivers. Faced by the resistance of local communities, the company withdrew.
Court ruling endangers Awyu forest in Papua
A court in Papua has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Indigenous Awyu people against a license issued for an oil palm plantation. They will fight on for their forest.
Brazil: Agropalma oil palm plantation security shoots and kills Indigenous man
Indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon complain of brutal violence, including the killing of an Indigenous man, by security guards from the palm oil company Agropalma.
Jakarta and Berlin: NO to a ‘Jurassic Park’ for Komodo dragons!
Speaking out on two continents: Environmentalists handed over 108,967 signatures in Jakarta and Berlin calling for protection for Komodo dragons.
Côte d’Ivoire: A safe forest corridor for chimpanzees
The Cavally Forest in Côte d'Ivoire has been declared a nature reserve. The link between the Taï and Sapo national parks is thus better protected.
Uganda: Charges dropped against anti-pipeline activists
A court in Kampala dismissed the case against nine young environmental activists who had peacefully protested the EACOP oil pipeline.
In defense of the Komodo dragons: locals resist “Jurassic Park”
Work on a “Jurassic Park” tourist attraction is transforming the Komodo Islands in eastern Indonesia and threatening the habitat of the unique Komodo dragons.
Forest guardians excluded from Three Basins Summit
Civil society joint statement to the Three Basins Summit, Amazon – Congo – Borneo – Mekong – Southeast Asia in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Chile upgrades protection of the Humboldt Archipelago
Chile’s Humboldt Archipelago is now a marine protected area. This is a significant step forward for this biodiversity hotspot.
Uganda: Further arrests of EACOP pipeline protesters
In Uganda, police again violently broke up a peaceful demonstration against the EACOP oil pipeline and arrested four students.
Brazil: Deception and abuse with carbon offsetting projects in the Amazon rainforest
Entrepreneurs from the US and Europe are doing brisk business with carbon offsetting projects in rainforests, while the local population goes away empty-handed.
Indonesia: Protesters killed and injured on oil palm plantation in Bangkal, Borneo
Indonesian police guarding oil palm plantations in Borneo opened fire on protesting Indigenous people. The aftermath: one dead, two seriously injured and twenty arrests.
Cambodia: Court bars activists from traveling to accept Alternative Nobel Prize
The youth group Mother Nature Cambodia has won this year’s Alternative Nobel Prize. However, a court in Phnom Penh has banned them from traveling to Stockholm.
Alternative Nobel Prize for Rainforest Rescue partner Mother Nature Cambodia
The youth group Mother Nature Cambodia has been lauded for its commitment to conservation and human rights. Congratulations to our Cambodian partners!
Carbon credits: Don’t let big emitters off the hook!
Carbon offset credits in rainforest areas don’t help the climate. We need real climate protection – reducing emissions, not offsetting them!
Paraguay: Over 100,000 supporters call for the return of Manjui land
We demand that the Paraguayan state return part of the territory of the Manjui Indigenous people and formally transfer state land to the Wonta community.
Indonesia: Korindo before Indigenous tribunal in Papua
The Marind Indigenous people of Indonesia’s Merauke district have condemned Korindo, a logging and palm oil company, under their traditional law.
Putting their lives on the line: Indigenous people and environmentalists in danger
People who are actively committed to protecting their land, the environment and the people who live there live dangerously in the global South.
Ecuador: Referendum halts oil drilling in Yasuní National Park
A huge success: a majority of people in Ecuador voted to end oil production in Yasuní National Park in a binding referendum.
Amazon summit in Brazil: Indigenous people speak out against violence
The Indigenous peoples of the Amazon region face constant threats and violence. During the Amazon summit, young Indigenous people were seriously injured by gunfire.
Cambodia: Koh Kong petition handed over in Phnom Penh and Berlin
More than 133,000 people around the world signed our petition to save Cambodia’s Koh Kong island. The petition has now been delivered to the Cambodian government.
Study finds Indigenous Ka’apor are Brazil’s best rainforest defenders
The Indigenous Ka’apor, partners of our organization, are resisting the trend of increasing deforestation in Brazil and are sucessfully defending their forest.
Responses to our petition on certified palm oil from Brazil
Help end greenwashing and label fraud with certified palm oil. Certified palm oil from Agropalma is not organic, fair or sustainable.
Philippines: Violence against peaceful blockade of illegal nickel mine
On the Philippine island of Palawan, a peaceful, authorized blockade against an illegal nickel mine was violently broken up by police and the company’s security forces.
Ecuador: Local people triumph over copper mine
A great victory for the life, nature and biodiversity of the Intag region in Ecuador: A court finally annulled the environmental permit for a copper mine project.
French Guiana: EU rejects derogation for biomass power plants in the Amazon rainforest
Thanks to united protests, the EU has rejected a derogation for the construction of biomass power plants in the rainforest of French Guiana.
Brazil: Agropalma’s “certified palm oil” seals under fire
The palm oil company Agropalma is accused of land grabbing, violence and poor working conditions, despite having 10 seals for organic, fair and sustainable production.
Liberia: Teaching reading and numeracy – for conservation
In Liberia, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation conservationists provided literacy and numeracy training to ten women in the village of Jalay Town.
Indonesia: Violations of traditional forest rights in Papua
Indigenous people in Indonesia have a constitutional right to land. However, an example from Boven Digoel, Papua, shows how difficult it is to enforce.
Ecuador: Killing of activist Eduardo Medúa – Indigenous people accuse government and state oil company
The killers of Eduardo Medúa and those who hired them must be brought to justice. No to oil drilling in the Indigenous territories in the Amazon rainforest!
Brazil: RSPO certification suspended for Agropalma oil palm plantations
Courts in Pará, Brazil, have ruled that the palm oil company Agropalma has illegally and fraudulently appropriated a large part of the land it claims.
Brazil: Rail and port construction with German involvement threatens people and nature
Our immense demand for raw materials and energy is threatening the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna. Nature and communities in Brazil are being forced to make way.
Oil boom in Africa: “End economic colonization!”
The planned EACOP pipeline and two other oil projects are threatening people and the environment in Uganda, including Murchison Falls National Park.
SLAPP lawsuit against Rainforest Rescue struck down
After more than three years, a lawsuit filed against Rainforest Rescue before the Regional Court in Hamburg, Germany, has ended – not with a bang but with a whimper.
Brazil: genocide of the Yanomami people uncovered
The Yanomami people in the Amazon rainforest are dying of introduced diseases, starvation and mercury poisoning. The new Brazilian government is intervening.
Sumatra: rangers injured by tiger in Leuser Ecosystem
Protecting Sumatran forests as a ranger is a dangerous job: In late January, a team of four rangers supported by Rainforest Rescue was attacked by a tiger.
DRC: Fostering community trust with schools
In the heart of the Congo Basin, Rainforest Rescue supports school projects that go hand in hand with bonobo conservation.
Kinipan village chief acquitted
Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected the trumped-up charges against the village chief of Kinipan, Willem Hengki. This is a victory for all defenders of Borneo’s forests.
Brazil: Rainforest Rescue petition leads to federal police investigation
Indigenous people in Brazil face harrassment, eviction and even death for defending their forests against loggers, cattle ranchers, agribusiness and mining companies.
Stronger protections put in place for pangolins and elephants
Elephants and pangolins are now better protected than ever before. Hundreds of thousands signed our petitions calling for stronger conservation laws.
Indonesia: Indigenous rainforest guardians released from prison
Three wrongly convicted Indigenous rainforest guardians are free after months in prison. The men were able to rely on the solidarity of Rainforest Rescue.