Man Up: Music Video Call-To-Action To Oppose The Keystone XL Pipeline Nov. 6th

Obama: Man Up! No to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline! Becky White and the Secret Mission have just released this catchy and hilarious protest anthem/call to action track and music video — featuring RAN’s own Executive Director Rebecca Tarbotton on violin — called “Man Up!” The song calls on people to gather at the [...]

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Peat Fires Greet Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force Assembly

Thick smoke from burning peatlands hangs over the capital of Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo every morning. The smell from the smoke is pervasive, a constant reminder of how Indonesia has become the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Driven by relentless and ill advised palm oil expansion, Kalimantan’s carbon rich but relatively [...]

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Victory for Indigenous Rights in Indonesia

In a huge win for Indigenous and forest dwelling peoples throughout Indonesia who are struggling to assert their customary land rights in the face of massive palm oil expansion, Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. has ruled that two Articles of Indonesian law used to imprison community members are unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid. Articles 21 and 47 [...]

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Earthdance And Critical Beats Release Album To Support Frontline Communities

Some of the world’s hottest DJs, including Govinda, Bluetech, and DJ Spooky, teamed up with Indigenous musicians from the Amazon to create some truly inspirational music. Now it’s your turn to inspire and be inspired by their beats. Earthdance International, Critical Beats for the Climate, and Rainforest Action Network are teaming up to promote the [...]

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Malaysia’s “Sustainable” Palm Oil Just Pure Greenwash

Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil. Photo: astromediashop As I reported on Monday, the Malaysian government—hand in hand with the country’s largest palm oil companies—is attempting to undermine the RSPO’s “sustainable palm oil” certification standard by creating its own certification. Problem is—the Malaysian palm oil industry’s version of “sustainable palm oil” is pure greenwash which is extremely [...]

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Victory At Glen Cove: “A Win For the Ancestors”

Nearly 100 days of continuous prayer on-site at Segorea Te (also known as Glen Cove) near San Francisco, California, has precipitated a precedent-setting victory for the protection of a sacred site and ancestral burial site near Vallejo, California. Here’s the good news: Yesterday, the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes established a cultural easement and settlement [...]

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A Rainforest Apocalypse? People, Peat And Promises For A New Direction

If you think this title sounds hyperbolic, you probably have not visited Sumatra lately. Before traveling here, I had heard stories about the oceans of oil palm that have been planted where rainforest once stood. But I was not prepared for this. The first sign that something is terribly wrong came before our plane even [...]

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From The Field: A Customary Elder of the Malayu Addresses Asia Pulp and Paper

It’s a good thing RAN’s forest campaigner, Lafcadio Cortesi, speaks Bahasa Indonesian so well. Otherwise I almost certainly would have gotten in the car with the undercover intelligence agent who told me to come with him because he “wanted to practice his English.” We had just arrived in the small village of Siabu, in the [...]

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From The Field: RAN’s Work Pays Off In Indonesia

I’ve only been in Indonesia for a few days and already I’ve heard multiple accounts of intimidation, corruption, kidnapping, torture and even murder suffered by our allies here who have been bold enough to speak out and resist the destruction of their forests and villages by palm oil and pulp and paper companies. But I [...]

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Respect Sacred Sites: Protect Glen Cove

“Everyone has the right to a final resting place. Our ancestors deserve to have a resting place on their original land without the threat of being removed for the sake of a park.”  – Corrina Gould, Chochenyo/Karkin Ohlone A spiritual encampment to protect a Bay Area sacred site is now in its 50th day. Local [...]

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