Tigers to Wall Street: Don’t Finance Rainforest Destruction

The President of Indonesia and top leaders of major Indonesian corporations were greeted by a colorful group of rainforest activists this week as they visited Wall Street to secure billions of dollars in US investment in some of the most environmentally and socially destructive industries in Indonesia. Supporters of Rainforest Action Network joined with members [...]

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RAN Executive Director on the Connections Between Forests and Climate Change

It has been an extreme summer. Droughts. Wildfires. Crop failures. Heat waves. Melting ice caps. We’ve seen these words so much this summer you may not feel any shock at the sight of them now. It is clear that we are no longer talking about climate change as a fearful phenomenon in the future; we [...]

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Major Win for Forests in Landmark Lacey Case

Forest activists around the world are celebrating the successful resolution of the first criminal investigation brought against a company for violations of the amended Lacey Act. This week Gibson Guitar Company accepted responsibility for importing illegal wood from Madagascar into the United States, and for the first time there are real consequences. The Lacey Act [...]

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Congress: Protect the Forests and Wildlife of the World From Illegal Logging

Did you know that almost half of all rainforest destruction is done illegally? Government corruption, lax laws and poor enforcement result in widespread illegal deforestation across the globe. This unofficial forest clearing makes it extremely challenging to truly protect critically endangered species like the orangutan or Sumatran tiger from extinction and it contributes enormous amounts [...]

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A Week in Rio: Greenwash Gone Wild!

It’s not a pretty sight: a convergence of some of the world’s most rapacious corporations spouting their forgotten love for nature as they cavort at Rio+20 VIP events. Take Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which is known as “one of the most destructive companies on the planet”. APP is nonetheless dressing up in Rio as [...]

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APP’s Deforestation Commitments: Hollow Promises from an Untrustworthy Company

On May 15th, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) announced several “new” commitments that appear to have the potential, if implemented, to address some of the numerous controversies surrounding the company’s notoriously destructive operations. It is encouraging to see APP acknowledging many of the negative impacts associated with its business model that the company has, at [...]

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Levi’s Unzips New Policy Excluding Logging Giant Asia Pulp & Paper

Asia Pulp and Paper is having a hard time holding onto customers these days. With the release of its forest products purchasing policy, Levi Strauss & Company has become the latest major brand to ban business with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). This comes on the heels of a major public cancellation with APP affiliate [...]

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Exposing APP: Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize

UPDATE: On October 11, 2012, Disney announced a comprehensive paper policy that maximizes its use of environmentally superior papers like recycled and eliminates controversial sources like those connected to Indonesian rainforest destruction. For more info, visit www.ran.org/disney. As Rainforest Action Network (RAN) continues our negotiations with The Walt Disney Company to secure a comprehensive paper policy that would [...]

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RAN: Big In Japan

This October marks the sixth anniversary of the opening of Rainforest Action Network’s Japan office, spearheaded by our Tokyo-based, activist-ambassador Toyo Kawakami. Toyo began working for RAN in 2005, campaigning to convince large Japanese paper companies and retailers to stop buying wood chips linked to the destruction of Tasmania’s old growth forests sold by Australian [...]

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PHOTOS: RAN on the Frontlines of Indonesia’s Endangered Rainforests

RAN Forest Campaigner Lafcadio Cortesi and I traveled to Sumatra, Indonesia last month to meet with and interview an extensive network of allies involved in the movement to resist the rampant deforestation and human rights abuses occurring there. We witnessed firsthand the ecological devastation, tense social conflicts and choking haze of carbon emissions resulting from [...]

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