Tasmania's World Heritage forests are safe
In an unprecedented move, the Australian government sought to have UNESCO World Heritage protection removed from 74,000 hectares of pristine Tasmanian forest. Following a worldwide storm of protest, the UNESCO put a stop to the plan.
Victory for the mountain gorillas
Things are looking up for the mountain gorillas: British oil company SOCO International plc announced today that it is abandoning its plans to explore for oil in Virunga National Park. The company is also calling off its oil exploration in Lake Edward.
Ikea halts deforestation in Karelia
Ikea's wholly-owned subsidiary Swedwood reports that it has ceased its logging operations in the last remaining old-growth forests of the northern Russian region of Karelia. Swedwood had been clear-cutting century-old trees in the boreal forests with heavy machinery for many years.
Indonesia: heavy fine for palm oil company for slash-and-burn
A court in the Aceh province in northern Sumatra sent a strong signal against the slashing and burning of rainforests: the palm oil company PT Kallista Alam has been sentenced to pay a fine of approximately 9 million US dollars as well as 21 million US dollars for reforestation of Tripa's destroyed swamp forest.