BREAKING: Occupy Cargill Activists Stage Citizens’ Arrest of Cargill, Inc.

MINNEAPOLIS – A colorful crowd of 40 Occupy activists, food justice advocates, farmers, and anti-corporate-personhood protestors braved below freezing temperatures today to gather with Rainforest Action Network to voice their grievances and stage a mock citizen’s arrest of Cargill Inc. in downtown Minneapolis. Bolstered by mass demonstrations nationwide on the second anniversary of the disastrous [...]

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RAN Staff Finds Deforestation And Violence For Palm Oil Unchecked By The RSPO

As the 9thAnnual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) meeting wrapped up on the island of Borneo, the crisis stemming from the uncontrolled expansion of palm oil plantations into rainforests and communities reached a fever pitch. Consider this: In the few days that RAN’s four staff-member delegation attended the RSPO meeting in SE Asia, the [...]

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Join the Race to Save Rainforests And Orangutans: Earn a Renegade Merit Badge!

This post is by Girl Scouts Madison Vorva (age 16) and Rhiannon Tomtishen (age 15), who have been campaigning to get palm oil out of Girl Scout Cookies for the past few years. Five years ago, while doing research for our Girl Scout Bronze Award, we learned that the cultivation of palm oil and palm [...]

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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: 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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Take Action: Make Girl Scout Cookies Rainforest Safe

It’s pretty crazy to think that something as seemingly innocent as Girl Scout cookies could be contributing to rainforest destruction, the violation of Indigenous rights and the extinction of endangered species like orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. Unfortunately, because Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) chooses to use rainforest destroying palm oil in a large majority of [...]

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Book Lovers: Don’t Buy Rainforest Destruction!

Attention Shoppers: Until your local book retailer adopts a comprehensive set of standards for the books they carry, it is up to YOU to make sure that the books you buy aren’t made of destroyed rainforests! Rainforest Action Network has made a Rainforest-Safe Reading List and is working to influence consumer choice where it really [...]

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Slave Labor For Palm Oil Production

Despite the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, tsunami and successive volcanic eruptions from Mt. Merapi this November, I made my way to Indonesia to attend the 2010 Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil conference, meet with allied organizations, and visit highly disputed palm oil plantations. The rapid proliferation of palm oil plantations has had grave effects on Indonesian [...]

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APP Promises Conservation: Don’t Hold Your Breath

Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), Indonesia’s largest and most controversial logger, made another promise this week. APP announced that one of the rainforest logging and conversion permits it controls (located in the globally significant peatland forests of the Sumatra’s Kampar Peninsula) will be re-licensed as a carbon conservation project. However, given the [...]

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General Mills Moves Away from Rainforest Destruction

It is with much gratitude, excitement and hope for our world’s remaining forests that I announce the end to Rainforest Action Network’s General Mills palm oil campaign. Our Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign has come a long way in 2010 with your help. Check out some campaign “best moments.” Eight months ago, 42 activists braved the freezing [...]

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