Издание 7 за актуализациите на NEPCon Sourcing Hub

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Годишна конференция 2019 г., проведена в Давос, Швейцария (наричана просто „Давос“), ме увлече през втората половина на януари. Това беше конференция, фокусирана върху глобализацията, но имаше много дискусии около отговорността на компаниите и правителствата да спрат изменението на климата и да поемат отговорност за почистването на околната среда

На преден план, WEF публикува своя Доклад за глобалните рискове за 2019, който описва хората като „сомнамбули по пътя си към катастрофа“, както и екстремните метеорологични условия, неспособността да се предприемат действия относно изменението на климата и природните бедствия са начело на списъка. Някои световни лидери поеха силни и вдъхновяващи ангажименти, относно климатичните промени, дори министър-председателя на Нидерландия, Марк Рът, който говори за "неотложната и жизненоважна необходимост от опазване на околната среда и очерта стъпките, които предприемат или биха предприели, за да направят това” и японският премиер Шиндзо Абе, който обяви, че Япония ще използва председателството си на Г20, за да работи за глобален ангажимент към намаляване на пластмасите в океаните.

Платформата за Иновации с цел се фокусира върху иновациите в Четвъртата индустриална революция за справяне с предизвикателства като липсата на проследимост по веригите за доставка на храни, въздействието върху околната среда и безопасността на храните. Понастоящем хранителните системи са отговорни за около една четвърт от глобалните емисии на парникови газове, като почти една трета от цялата храна, произведена в световен мащаб, се губи, а 800 милиона души са хронично недохранени.

Бях много заинтересована и от дискусията около избягването на данъци, предизвикана от сегашните вирусни мнения на Рутгар Брегман:

На неговото първо посещение в Давос, Рутгер Брегман отхвърля „глупавите схеми на филантропия“, заявявайки, че истинският проблем, който трябва да се реши, е избягването на данъци.

Съгласна съм, че справянето с избягването на данъци е от основно значение за икономическото развитие, но също така считам, че това е особено вярно за сектора на суровините, оказващи влияние върху горите.  Един силен пример за това има в Папуа Нова Гвинея, жизнена и биоразнообразна страна, богата на ендемични видове, която е затруднена от незаконни и неустойчиви сечи. Твърди се, че избягването на данъци чрез трансферно ценообразуване е отговорно за загубени данъчни приходи, които могат да надхвърлят 100 милиона щатски долара годишно. Папуа Нова Гвинея не е единствената, която страда от тази загуба, Световната банка заявява, че годишният световен пазар губи 10 милиарда долара годишно от незаконна сеч, а правителствата губят допълнителни 5 милиарда долара приходи.

Както винаги, това беше един пленителен месец в света на отговорните източници. Разгледахме интернет, за да ви запознаем с най-важните истории, свързани с отговорни източници на стоки с въздействие върху горите и да се потопим дълбоко в продължаващите дискусии около дървения сектор в Соломоновите острови, които съвпадат с публикуването на Оценката на риска от незаконна дървесинана на NEPCon за Соломоновите острови.

Надявам се, че намирате този бюлетин за полезен. Моля, споделете го в интернет мрежата ви и се свържете с нас, ако имате някакви коментари или въпроси. 

Поздрави,

Alexandra Banks
Sourcing Hub Programme Manager

 

 

Sourcing Hub Updates

Risk assessment & risk profile for Solomon Islands

The Timber Legality Risk Assessment and Timber Risk Profile for Solomon Islands is now available on the NEPCon Sourcing Hub. A draft of the Risk Assessment for Solomon Islands was published for stakeholder consultation in July 2018. We did not receive any feedback on the draft. We still consider this Risk Assessment a working draft, and will revise and finalise it when funding is secured to carry out  further in-country consultation. 

 

Become a Sourcing Hub sponsor

Would you like to support the NEPCon Sourcing Hub and keep the tool free and open source? Now you can, either through a donation, corporate sponsorship or funding a specific tool or risk assessment. We are working hard to ensure we keep the risk assessments and tools up to date, but we need your help! Check out the support options, or get in touch to discuss at [email protected].

  

Training on timber legality Gabon and UK

NEPCon have three timber legality courses coming up, get in quick to register as the places are filling up fast. Three day LegalSource Experts Courses are being held in Libreville, Gabon (4-7 March) and London, UK (2-5 April) and a one day Timber Legality Workshop is being held in Libreville, Gabon on 7 March. NEPCon's training calendar for 2019 can be found here. 

 

Top News Stories

Solomon Islands timber legality in the spotlight
The small pacific islands nation of Solomon Islands has been in the spotlight recently for issues relating to the legality of the timber exports. Since the 1990s, round logs have been the most valuable export commodity for Solomon Islands (Allen 2011), with logging revenue contributing around 70% of export income (compared with 50% in 1994) and more than 15% of government revenue (CBSI, 2012).

In October 2018, Global Witness released Paradise Lost, a report that  examines China’s with the Solomon Islands, and highlights likes to illegal forest destcruction in the tiny nation.

According to Global Witness, Solomon Islands is China’s second-biggest source of tropical logs (after Papua New Guinea), and in 2017 alone, it exported more than 3 million cubic metres of logs to China, more than 19 times a conservative estimate of the annual sustainable harvest.

Shortly after the Global Witness report was released, the Solomon Islands Ministry of Forest Resources publicly refuted the log export figures in the report, describing the 2017 figures as “incorrect”.

Solomon Islands has a total land area of about 2.8 million hectares and has among the highest percentage of forest cover in the Pacific region. In 2015 the FAO Global Forest Resource Assessment estimated Solomon Island’s total forest cover to be around 78% (just under 2.2 million ha).  In 2004, around 1 million m3 of logs were exported, which is in sharp contrast to the sustainable annual harvest estimate at around 248,000 m3  (URS, 2006 in Hughes et. al., 2010). In 2006, log export volumes increased to 1.4 million m3, of which 93% were from natural forest.

By 2011, log export volumes reached to 1.9 million m3 of which only 85,000 m3 came from plantations (CBSI, 2007; CBSI 2012) and in 2016,  according to official government statistics, log exports had risen to 2.29 million m3 (CBSI 2016). This surge in logging exports appears to coincide with a strong international demand from Asia and record high international prices for logs (CBSI 2012; UN-REDD, 2013). 

Since the 1980s, the forest sector in Solomon Islands has been characterised by collusion between foreign logging companies and local politicians, systemic corruption and poor monitoring and enforcement (Allen 2011). A key causal factor behind this problem is the lack of alternative revenue sources for national and provincial governments, as well as for local communities.

According to Transparency International, the Solomon Islands - as a developing small island state recovering from a period of political instability and civil unrest - faces several corruption challenges fuelled by: the size of the country and its geographic spread, low state penetration of the regions and weak central institutions (Transparency International 2017). In addition, it faces specific governance challenges associated with the under-resourced management of natural resources including, for example, the influence and perpetration of large-scale corruption by international logging companies (Transparency International 2017). 

In December 2018, two government decision in Solomon Islands were announced:

• Logging on heights banned: Any logging operation or commercial activities conducted at an altitude higher than four hundred metres is illegal. Caretaker Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Dr. Culwick Togamana announced in Parliament. 
• Central Island province bans logging: The leaders of Central Island province announced they would not issue new business licenses to logging and mining companies following a local petition and recent reports detailing the lack of sustainability and legality in the country’s logging sector.   

For the past year, NEPCon has been working in the Solomon Islands, to develop as Timber Legality Risk Assessment, which is now available on the NEPCon Sourcing Hub. NEPCon has given Solomon Islands a Timber Risk Score of  21 / 100 in 2019. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment for Solomon Islands contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Solomon Islands for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

• Specified risk for 18 sub-categories (NB: Low risk for some source types).
• Low risk for 0 sub-categories.
• No legal requirements for 3 sub-categories

This means that there are numerous risks associated with timber sourced from Solomon Islands. The Timber Risk Profile contains a summary of these risks, as well as instructions for how to mitigate the risks. 

Contact us to discuss sourcing legal timber from Solomon Islands

 

 

David Hadley Garcia
Deputy Director, Responsible Sourcing

 

 

UK Timber Importers post Brexit: Change coming 
The UK Government has released new advice for the timber industry in the UK in the event of a "no deal Brexit".

In a no deal scenario, businesses importing timber and timber products from the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) and placing it on the UK market will have to carry out checks (known as ‘due diligence’) from day one of EU Exit. These checks demonstrate they are importing legally harvested timber, helping to protect against illegal deforestation.

There will be no changes to the current process for businesses importing from outside the EU, UK producers first placing on the market, and internal UK trade. As before, they will need to conduct checks to confirm their timber is legally harvested.

• UK Importer of timber from the EU (i.e. Germany or Poland): Change, will be required to conduct checks to confirm their timber is legally harvested.
• UK Importer of timber from outside the EU: No change, conduct checks to confirm their timber is legally harvested.

Contact us to discuss timber legality in the UK 

 

Oliver Cupit
Director, Responsible Sourcing

 

Palm oil industry at a crossroad – Producing countries up in arms as EU says no
According to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Impact Report 2018, production of certified, sustainable palm oil (CSPO) reached 13.6 million tonnes last year, about 20 percent of total global output. However, only about 52% of total CSPO supply or 6.2 million tonnes were sold. 

As sustainable palm oil is more expensive to produce, hardly anyone is willing to pay a premium for the product, said Sime Darby Plantation Berhad. The plantation in Malaysia is involved in the full spectrum of the palm oil value chain, from upstream to downstream activities, research and development, renewables and agribusiness. 

A senior analyst for grains and oilseeds at Rabobank International, Oscar Tjakra, said companies are selling their CSPO below cost than stockpiling it. Sime Darby reportedly only sold approximately 50 percent of its certified oil at a premium, while the remaining were offloaded to non-certified oil, without achieving any added value. So why don’t consumers buy CSPO?

Demand for certified oil in major consumers’ countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India and China are relatively low. Meanwhile, over in Western countries, some companies in Europe have yet to adopt the commitment to 100 percent CSPO, said World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In recent years, palm oil has faced an increasing amount of opposition as its production has been linked to various issues such as deforestation, habitat loss for orang utans, Asian elephants and Sumatran tigers, climate change, and indigenous rights issues. 

The controversy surrounding palm oil production intensified in recent months. It started when Iceland, UK’s frozen food retailer, decided to ban palm oilas an ingredient in all its own label food by end of 2018. So far, three European countries – Switzerland, France and Norway have passed a resolution to ban palm oil.

In June last year, the European parliament and EU ministers struck a deal on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) revision and as a result, they postponed the definition of the low or high-risks of indirect land use change iLUC risk factors. The definition of iLUC risk factors is vital that will determine the future of palm oil in the EU market. The Commission’s proposal should not provide an easy back door to biofuels based on palm oil and soy feedstocks, with high iLUC risks. 

To counter the European Union’s (EU) negative narrative on this commodity, two of the world’s biggest palm oil producers – Malaysia and Indonesia – together with Colombia will form a bloc to address the issuesfaced by the palm oil industry.  The European Commission published a roadmap on deforestation and forest degradation. In this roadmap, the commission linked production of commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, and cocoa as some of the major causes for 80% of all deforestation. It is open to public consultationfor four weeks, until 25 February 2019. 

NEPCon developed comprehensive risk assessments to these major commodities – palm oil, timber, beef and soy in more than 70 countries. To learn more about risk assessments of palm oil, visit NEPCon Sourcing Hub.

Contact us to discuss palm oil sourcing

 

Lita Natasastra

Deputy Director, Responsible Sourcing

 

Eat less beef for the planet  
“Food production is the largest source of environmental degradation and has the greatest effect on the earth system” according to the The Lancet's latest findings. 
 
It is no secret that people and the planet face a major challenge from climate change. With projected population growth at 10 billion in 2050, leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, water and productive land depletion. Global dietary patterns, especially increasing consumption of beef, is one of the main drivers to lead us to these challenges, proved by the latest Lancet report and Global Forest Coalition. 
 
Livestock consumption has  tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last 10 years (World Watch Institute). According to FAO, Livestock production contributes to 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions. Within 25 years, global forest areas the size of India have been cleared for livestock, mainly in Latin America. Between 1990 and 2005 clearing forests to make way for pasture was responsible for 71% of deforestation in seven Latin American countries (Global Forest Coalition). Andreas Dahl-Jørgensen, the deputy director of the Norwegian government’s International Climate and Forest Initiative,quoted by Huffington Post said “we simply won’t meet the climate targets we agreed in Paris without a drastic reduction in deforestation and the restoration of forests around the world.”
 
The Lancet report, titled “Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems report” comprising a team of over 37 experts from 16 countries not only discusses negative impacts of meat production to earth system but also the threat to human health.

The data revealed in the report shows a strong connection between mortality and non-communicable diseases to the increase of meat consumption globally. To address these issues, Lancet said that our global dietary pattern and food production must radically change if we don’t want to decrease our health and harming the planet. “Sustainable food production for about 10 billion people should use no additional land, safeguard existing biodiversity, reduce consumptive water use and manage water responsibly, substantially reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, produce zero carbon dioxide emissions, and cause no further increase in methane and nitrous oxide emissions,” the report said.

The Lancet report also mentioned that “transformation to healthy diets from sustainable food systems is necessary to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.” 

NEPCon has analysed the risks related to the production of beef in Argentina and Brazil, you can read all about this on the Sourcing Hub. 

 

News from December 2018

Timber

 

 

Armenia

• Armen Press reports: Caucasus Nature Fund to increase number of surveillance cameras to reduce poaching, illegal logging.The Caucasus Nature Fund (CNF) is operating in Armenia for already ten years, and so far it has invested nearly 4 million Euros in the preservation of Armenia’s biodiversity. 

Brazil

• Scienmag reports: Revised Brazilian Forest Code May Lead To Increased Legal Deforestation In Amazon. Up to 15 million hectares of tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon could lose protection and be clear-cut because of an article in the country’s new Forest Code. 
• Ecology News reports: Deforestation and genocide in the Amazon reaches accelerated levels. A map shows the amount of industrial activity in the Amazon and the red crosses show the amount of indigenous people assassinated due to conflicts over rainforest that they are fighting to protect. 
• Spiegel online reports: Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. 
• South Africa Today reports: Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report. The Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna, covers over 20 percent of the nation’s territory, but it is seeing severe deforestation. A recent report uncovered links between municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation and with significant soy production. 
• World Economic Forum reports: 2019 can be the year we begin to save the world’s forests. Here’s how. Market signals and supply chain approaches that have raised awareness of the issue at a global level are a vital pre-condition to deforestation-free commodity production; they create the incentives and the market pull across the value chain from producers to consumers. 
• Mongabay reports: Latam Eco Review: Pirate fishers in the Caribbean and many new reserves created. No surprise: Brazil eliminates 11 protected areas in Rondonia state. 
• Spiegel online reports: Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. 
• Street Insider reports: Floor & Decor Holdings (FND) Linked to Brazilian Timber Firm Under Investigation - Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley analysts notes Floor & Decor Holdings (NYSE: FND) is being linked by Timberleaks to a Brazilian timber firm under investigation by continuing to purchase products that contain tropical timber from Indusparquet, which was accused of trafficked in illegally harvested timber. 
• Mongabay reports: Tropical forest conservation in the Bolsonaro era (commentary). Brazil’s President-elect represents a major threat to Brazil’s legacy of forest conservation and to the prospects of preventing extremely dangerous climate change. This legacy was achieved largely through command-and-control measures that were supported by consistently pro-environment presidents over the last three decades; these measures are now vulnerable to the abrupt decline in environmental political will. A strategy to avoid major forest conservation setbacks and achieve new wins is possible under Bolsonaro if Brazil’s farmers and the broader society are convinced that they will be worse off if this legacy is dismantled.
• The Hindu Business Line reports: In Brazil, a mission to reforest Amazonia takes root. To tackle global warming, the country hopes to restore 12 million hectares of trees by 2030. Businesses and social initiatives are taking up the challenge. 
• Mongabay reports: Top U.S. flooring retailer linked to Brazilian firm snagged in timber bust. An investigation by Brazil’s environmental enforcement agency and the federal police led to allegations that Indusparquet, a prominent supplier of tropical wood flooring, was using fraudulent permits to hide illegally harvested wood. Timberleaks, which first reported the link between Indusparquet and Floor & Decor, contends that the Lacey Act requires companies like Floor & Decor to go beyond the documentation provided by their suppliers — which in this case was alleged to be fraudulent — to ensure the source of those products is legal. 
• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks.Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood. 

Bulgaria

• Independent reports: Attempt to turn Bulgarian national park into ski resort defeated in court. Ruling blocks proposal to quadruple size of skiing zone in area home to ancient forests, wolves and bears.

Cambodia

• VietNamNet Bridge reports: Illegal timber imports from Cambodia threaten woodwork industry. Vietnam’s woodwork industry benefits from ‘clean’ supply sources, not from illegally imported timber from Cambodia, experts have warned. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Joint forces confiscate illegally logged timber. The Pursat provincial Military Police, in cooperation with provincial environmental officers, on Saturday confiscated a total of 150 Reach Kol timber logs. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Authorities halt ‘illegal’ logging. The Pailin provincial environment department detained a man who allegedly cleared 23ha without a permit at Stung Kach commune in Sala Krao district, the provincial deputy prosecutor Thol Kimhoeng said on Thursday. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Authorities intercept bus carrying timber. Kampong Thom provincial forestry officials yesterday seized 35 pieces of luxury timber from a bus transporting the haul from Preah Vihear province. 
• Eleven Myanmar reports: PM hits back at environmental activists over logging criticisms. Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday responded to environmental activists who accused the government of inaction over deforestation in Cambodia, saying they themselves used luxury wood to build and decorate their own homes. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Forest activists issue damning report of logging at Prey Lang. Activist groups from four provinces jointly published a report showing that 41 per cent of new tree stumps at the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary that was recorded over the last two years were the result of illegal logging. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Ministry institutes new permanent secretariat to prevent forest crimes. A forestry administration spokesman on Thursday said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries had recently created a new permanent secretariat to prevent all types of forestry crimes, with a particular focus on illegal rosewood trading. 
• Radio Free Asia reports: Illegal Logging Still Rampant in Cambodia’s Prey Lang Forest. Deforestation in Prey Lang forest in the central plains of Cambodia continues to be a major problem that threatens the local economy, food security and biodiversity, and has the potential to accelerate climate change, according to a recent report by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN). 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: NGO to probe illegal logging. A prominent forest activist based in Kampong Speu province is set to launch a field investigation into alleged illegal logging at the Phnom Oral and Phnom Kravanh wildlife sanctuaries despite “threats of arrest” by rangers and military officers in the area. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: ‘Defamed’ Korean company denies Prey Lang illegal logging claims. The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) has alleged that Korean-owned Think Biotech (Cambodia) Co Ltd is illegally harvesting timber from resin trees in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. But a company representative refuted the claim and accused the community of making up rumours to defame it. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Illegal logging claims refuted. Forest activists in Battambang province’s Samlot district said on Thursday that a company that has received an economic land concession (ELC) in the area is trading timber from outside its ELC boundary. 
• Khmer Times reports: Officials relay ministry message on land grabbing. Mondulkiri provincial environment officials have begun disseminating an Environment Ministry announcement reminding the public that the clearing and encroachment of protected forest land is illegal. 
• The Phnom Penh Post reports: Preah Vihear parks see clearing. Forest rangers and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) said on Tuesday that forest in the Phnom Tnort-Phnom Pok and Prey Lang wildlife sanctuaries in Preah Vihear province are being cleared by groups of perpetrators from Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Battambang provinces. 
• Radio Free Asia reports: Protected Forest in Cambodian Commune Illegally Logged Through Official Collusion: Mother Nature. Around 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of protected forest from a commune in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province has been illegally logged for timber and sold to businessmen from neighboring Vietnam through collusion with Cambodian authorities, an environmental watchdog group said Wednesday. 
• Khmer Times reports: Police officer due in court over obstruction of timber raid. The Tboung Khmum provincial forestry administration yesterday said that a police officer who attempted to thwart an illegal logging crackdown on Saturday will be sent to provincial court today. 
• Asian Correspondent reports: Cambodia mulls tougher laws on illegal timber logging. Cambodia loses thousands of cubic meters of timber through illegal activities and now the government is looking to amend its laws to better protect the prized natural resource. Last week, the country’s Minister of Interior held a meeting with counterparts from the environment and agriculture ministers, and other main stakeholders to reevaluate the existing laws which were deemed ineffective in combating illegal logging. 

Canada

• Global News reports: Disturbing finding about destruction of old-growth rainforest in B.C. The Sierra Club of BC says old-growth rainforest on Vancouver island is destroyed faster than in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Linda Aylesworth reports. 

China

• Sixth Tone reports: How Illegally Harvested Timber Is ‘Greenwashed’ in China. Even when Europeans buy certified sustainable wood, the environment pays the price.
• Business Hilights reports: China Steps Up Deforestation In Nigeria, Ghana As Timber Smuggling Soars. in Ghana, since the uncontrolled logging of rosewood for export mostly to China began in the Upper West Region of Ghana some three years ago, the impact is being felt in the mostly farming communities. 
• Yale Environment 360 reports: The Rosewood Trade: An Illicit Trail from Forest to Furniture. The most widely traded illegal wild product in the world today is rosewood, an endangered hardwood prized for its use in traditional Chinese furniture.

Colombia

• Insight Crime reports: How Organized Crime Profits from Deforestation in Colombia. Two years after the signing of a peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC, Colombia’s forests are under siege and experiencing heightened levels of deforestation promoted by various criminal actors looking to expand their illicit revenue streams. 

Ghana

• Ghana Web reports: Ghana to export timber to EU market. Ghana is close to making history as the first country in Africa to get clearance to export timber to the European market by the end of the year. 
• My Joy online reports: Gov't declares war on unlawful logging. The Lands and Natural Resources Minister has declared war on illegal logging of timber in the country's forests. 
• Business Hilights reports: China Steps Up Deforestation In Nigeria, Ghana As Timber Smuggling Soars. Also in Ghana, since the uncontrolled logging of rosewood for export mostly to China began in the Upper West Region of Ghana some three years ago, the impact is being felt in the mostly farming communities. 
• GBN reports: China’s lust for rosewood fuels logging in Ghana’s poorest region. China’s lust for rosewood fuels logging in Ghana’s poorest region. 
• Ghana News Agency reports: FSD seizes 600 chainsaw machines in Brong-Ahafo. The Goaso and Bechem District Offices of the Forestry Services Division (FSD) in Brong-Ahafo have upped measures to clamp down on activities of illegal loggers, to preserve forest reserves in the region. This comes amid growing depletion of the Bosomkese, Aparapi, Ayom, Abonsare, and the Bonsam-Bepo Reserves.
• Ghana News Agency reports: Illegal logging and wildfires degrade major forest reserves in Brong-Ahafo.Wildfires and illegal logging and lumbering have caused extensive destruction to major forest reserves in the Brong-Ahafo Region. The vegetative covers of the Aparapi and Bosomkese forest reserves, which covered about 522 hectares in Tano North Municipality, established in the 1930s, have turned "deserts" with the wanton destruction of more than 80 per cent of their vegetative cover. 
• Ghana Business News reports: Government initiates two approaches to combat illegal logging. The Government has instituted two approaches as part of efforts to combat the increasing spate of illegal logging, mining, farming and other illegal activities in forest reserves and wildlife protected areas. 
• Ghana Web reports: 98,500 lumber seized; 181 suspects grabbed. A total of 181 suspects have been arrested in connection with illegal chainsaw operations and 98,566 pieces of assorted lumber seized by a task force in the past six months, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, has revealed. 
• Modern Ghana reports: Civic Response Deepens Forest Governance Through Real-time Monitoring. Civic Response has deepen its further approach towards the promotion of forest sector governance through the implementation of its Civil Society-led Independent Forest Monitoring in Ghana (CSIFM-Ghana) project. 

Guatemala

• Rabble.ca Blogs reports: Peaceful Resistance of La Laguna challenges deforestation in Guatemala. PBI-Guatemala accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of La Laguna to a meeting with the Municipal Council of San Pedro de Ayampuc and the National Institute of Forests. 

Guinea Bissau

• Environmental Investigation Agency reports: Authorized Plunder. The ongoing sale of “pre-Convention” specimens of Pterocarpus erinaceus in Guinea-Bissau has quickly become the archetype of an ill-conceived stockpile disposal process that directly undermines the integrity of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). New findings by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) indicate that the current sale of about 180,000 logs, authorized by the CITES Secretariat through the end of 2018, has resulted in the laundering of fresh logs into the unsecured stockpiles, new illegal harvest of vulnerable CITES-protected wild populations, benefits to traffickers who are de-facto controlling the CITES-authorized sale, and multilayered corruption schemes. 

Guyana

• Mongabay reports: Guyana signs on to forest management agreement with the EU. Guyana has signed on to an agreement with the EU that should prove instrumental in securing a profitable position for the small Latin American country in the global legal logging industry. 

Haiti

• Whyy reports: Temple scientist documents deforestation, mass extinction in Haiti. A Caribbean island once full of lush trees and teeming with wildlife is nearly completely deforested and undergoing a mass extinction event. 

India

• Telengana today reports: Two tractor-loads of teak logs seized in Kamareddy. Superintendent of Police, Kamareddy, N Swetha Reddy, and District Forest Officer (DFO) Balamani jointly conducted the operation at Yellampet village.
• The Free Pres Journal reports: Bhopal: Genetic record keeping, DNA test to check smuggling of trees. Forest department has taken initiative for DNA testing and maintaining genetic records for the tree-stumps chopped off in Nauradehi wild life sanctuary, Sagar district. 
• Hitavada reports: Cover-up in logging case surfaces. Villagers demand suspension of Ranger. An alleged cover-up in illegal logging case has surfaced in Kanker-Durgukondal Forest Range. Villagers are demanding suspension of the Ranger in the case. The illegal logging case RF 641/642 was registered on the complaint of villagers of Kanker-Durgukondal forest range made to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF). Villagers expressed dissatisfaction with the suspension of Deputy Ranger, and calling it smokescreen to shield the main accused, the Ranger. 
• Hindustan Times reports: India eyes farm forestry to reduce carbon footprint. India plans to partner with the private sector in scaling up its agro-forestry efforts. This is, however, a controversial subject because environmental activists are against India allowing any private or corporate forestry projects on forest land.

Indonesia

• Mongabay reports: The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018. 2018 was a difficult year for the world’s tropical rainforests. Below are of some of the biggest rainforest storylines for the year, but we couldn’t cover everything, so if there are important things missing, feel free to add them via the comment function at the bottom. 
• Mongabay reports: Funds tripled and target slashed, but Indonesia still off pace for reforestation. Indonesia’s efforts to reforest critiacally degraded land, left over from mining, logging and agricultural activities, have fallen far short of the government’s targets. 
• Mongabay reports: In Borneo, dwindling forests face further fragmentation as roads spread. Road projects throughout Indonesian Borneo threaten to fragment a third of the forest habitat currently accessible to the island’s wildlife, according to a new study.
• JPIK reports: KLHK Law Enforcer Secures 384 Container of Illegal Timber from Papua Worth IDR 100 Billion. The Directorate General of Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (DG Gakkum KLHK) once again secured 199 illegal wooden containers in Surabaya. 
• The Jakarta Post reports: Toba Lake hills prone to landslides due to alleged illegal logging: Walhi. Debris from landslides reportedly caused by illegal logging covered Siduadua Bridge on the transSumatra highway in Sibaganding subdistrict, Simalungun regency, North Sumatra, for some time. 
• Yale Environment 360 reports: A Highway Megaproject Tears at the Heart of New Guinea’s Rainforest. The Indonesian government is building a 2,700-mile road network on the island of New Guinea, opening up some of the world’s last great tropical rainforests to development and threatening unique indigenous cultures. 
• Miami Herald reports: Death toll from Indonesian floods, landslides rises to 30. South Sulawesi Gov. Nurdin Adbullah told local media that siltation of the dam and deforestation of the upstream watershed worsened the floods. 
• The Jakarta Post reports: Rampant deforestation in Leuser triggers floods, landslides. The rampant destruction of forests in the Leuser ecosystem, a major water source for Aceh, has led to frequent flooding in the province. 
• The Jakarta Post reports: Arrest of Malaysian loggers made in Indonesian territory: TNI. The Indonesian Military (TNI) said it arrested five Malaysians on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, refuting claims that the arrests were made on Malaysian territory. 
• Antara News reports: Vietnam, Ghana emulate Indonesia`s certified timber products. Indonesia`s management of certified timber exports, which launched was in 2016, was emulated by Vietnam and the Republic of Ghana. 
• Antara News reports: TNI manages to secure illegal timber in North Aceh District. TNI personnel from the Intel team Korem 011 / Lilawangsa, Aceh Province, managed to secure illegal timber from the Mango Deer, in Gampong (village) Glee Dagang, Sawang Subdistrict, North Aceh District. 
• Antara News reports: President calls for stopping illegal logging in Jambi. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on security authorities in Jambi here on Sunday to seriously tackle illegal logging that still occurs in the Sumatran province. "Please, the regional police chief stop it. Eradicate it," he said durimg a meeting with forest farmers at Kenali Pine Forest Park to distribute Social Forestry Decree certificate. 
• TimberBiz reports: Indonesia marks major milestone against illegal logging. Indonesia and the EU have marked the second anniversary of a major milestone in their partnership against illegal logging — the launch of the world’s first ‘FLEGT’ licensing scheme, guaranteeing the legality of timber products exported to the EU. Since Indonesia began issuing FLEGT licences, on 15 November 2016, it has exported only verified legal timber and timber products. 
• US News reports: Indonesia Unveils More Detailed Land Map in Bid to Resolve Development Planning Disputes. Indonesia's government on Tuesday launched a more detailed map of land use aimed at resolving overlapping claims in the vast archipelago, including in forest areas, three years later than was initially planned. 
• Jakarta Post reports: Indonesia and EFTA countries sign trade agreement. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was signed on Sunday, Dec.16, 2018 in Jakarta. 
• ScandAsia reports: Indonesia-EFTA free trade deal. Indonesia has on 16 December signed a free trade deal with European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which Norway is a member of. 
• Star Online reports: Indonesia, EFTA sign long delayed free trade deal. Indonesia on Sunday signed an economic agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) aimed at increasing trade and investment, concluding almost eight years of negotiations.
• Antara News reports: Year Ender - Looking into progress in Indonesia-EU cooperation. The European Union (EU) and Indonesia have developed cooperation agreements in various sectors in the past several years as outlined in the European Union-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). 
• Pacific Standard reports: The continued clearing of rainforests spells disaster for curbing climate change. The countries with the richest swaths of rainforest are still cutting them down, undermining one of the best available solutions to staving off climate change impacts. 

Iran

• Radio Farda reports: MPs Criticize Government For Neglecting Alarming Deforestation. A local MP from western Iran and nine other members of the Iranian parliament have officially accused President Hassan Rouhani and Islamic Republic officials of neglecting the "tragedy" of deforestation in Western Iran. 

Japan 

• Ensia reports: Learning from the past: Japan’s tree-planting efforts provide lessons for other countries. As momentum grows around the world for reforestation, due in part to the need to sequester carbon, Japan’s experience can inform countries like China, Pakistan and India. 

Jordan

• Jordan Times reports: Assault on two forest rangers ‘isolated incident’ — ministry. Attack comes as cases of illegal logging drop 75% in 2018. On Wednesday, two forest rangers were assaulted by illegal loggers in Jerash, 45km north of Amman, according to the Agriculture Ministry. 

Kenya

• Standard Media reports: Charcoal trade thrive in Nakuru despite the ban. Charcoal business continues to thrive in Baringo County despite the ban on logging. In February last year, the government imposed a moratorium on logging to allow reassessment and rationalisation of forests across the country. 
• The Star reports: Ranger in governor shooting threat suspended, locked up. A forest guard who threatened to shoot Elgeyo Marakwet governor Alex Tolgos has been interdicted. The ranger was suspended pending investigations into his conduct. The guard cocked his gun and threatened to shoot Tolgos during the governor’s tour of projects in Chebororwa ward on Tuesday. 

Laos

• Eleven Myanmar reports: Laos doubles export of finished timber products. The export of Laos' finished wood products increased by 107 percent in 2018 after the government banned the export of unfinished timber and promoted value-adding through the production of finished goods. 
• Mongabay reports: Devastating Laos dam collapse leads to deforestation of protected forests. The collapse of a dam in southern Laos released five billion cubic meters of water, killing dozens, devastating communities, and forcing thousands to flee. The collapse also flooded areas of protected forest. In early September, the Global Land Analysis and Discovery Lab at the University of Maryland began detecting tree cover loss along a 22-mile length of the river. By December 7, more than 7,500 deforestation alerts had been recorded. 

Liberia 

• Mongabay reports: Liberia’s community forestry becoming a front for deforestation: Report. A report released by Global Witness late last year alleges that Liberia’s forestry laws are being “hijacked” by logging companies. 

Madagascar

• Mongabay reports: Madagascar’s next president to take office, bears suspect eco record. Andry Rajoelina is set to be sworn in as president of Madagascar tomorrow, Jan. 19. Many conservationists and civil society representatives were disappointed by his election 
• Mongabay reports: Challenging the illegal logging regime in Madagascar (insider). Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler writes about his expose into rosewood logging in the aftermath of Madagascar’s coup in 2009. Andry Rajoelina, the man who took power after the coup and was linked by NGOs to illegal rosewood trafficking, is running in Madagascar’s election next week. 

Malaysia

• Borneo Post Online reports: Sarawak committed to forest conservation, says Abang Johari. The Sarawak government aims to continue placing high importance on conservation within the state by setting a target to gazette one million hectares of land as Totally Protected Areas by 2020. 
• South China Morning Post reports: Malaysian government sues the state of Kelantan over indigenous tribe’s land rights. Malaysia has filed a lawsuit against an opposition-run state for infringing on an indigenous tribe’s land rights by handing out licences to plantation companies to cut down timber, the first such action by a sitting government. 
• The Straits Times reports: Sabah Forestry Dept says illegal logging not behind damage at rainforest park. Sandakan: Sabah Forestry Department has denied allegation that the damage to the Sandakan Rainforest Park here, also known as the Chinese Garden Forest Reserve, was due to illegal logging. 
• Malaymail reports: What about industrial forest plantations? Sarawak govt asks timber companies. Sarawak Chief Minister has asked timber licence holders to embark into industrial forest plantations (IFPs) as the state government is gradually reducing the production of timber from natural forests. 
• Sarawak Tribune reports: Five Sarawak Forest Management units obtain certification. Five forest management units (FMUs) in Sarawak obtained the Forest Management Certification (FMC) in 2018 as the state government was aggressively pushing for long-term timber licence holders to be certified by 2022. 
• Sarawak Tribune reports: Telok Melano's dark secret. Pan Borneo highway stakholders were involved in a simple signing ceremony at Sematan. 
• Daily Express reports: Government takeover sees export ban on logs. The year 2018 ended with still no clear outcome to the temporary ban on the export of round logs imposed in May. What was said to be a major logging scandal was uncovered a month after the State Government's decision to ban logging exports with enforcement operations chancing upon 40,161 logs – including from the State's forest reserves – and escaping paying timber tax. 
• The Star reports: Probe on rampant logging in Kedah. Suspicious logging activity in Kedah, including within a forest reserve, has triggered renewed investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commis­sion (MACC) nearly a year after an initial probe came to naught. 
• The Star reports: Log shortage forcing some plywood mills to stop production. Log supply shortage is serious in both Malaysia and Indonesia, and this has forced some plywood mills to halt production. “Log shortage in Malaysia and Indonesia is grave and plywood mills struggle to keep their operations. 
• The Star reports: Ikea completes replanting of three million rainforest trees in Luasong. Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has completed the replanting of three million rainforest trees at Luasong in east coast Sabah as part of its efforts to rehabilitate the degraded forest since 1998. 

Mexico 

• Washington Times reports: Suspect arrested for slaying of Mexican land rights activist. A suspect has been arrested for the killing of indigenous land rights activist Julian Carrillo in the Sierra Madre mountains of northern Mexico. 
• Insight Crime reports: Illegal Logging in Chihuahua is Now Mexico Cartel Territory. Among the most vibrant criminal markets in Mexico is illegal wood, and in the northern state of Chihuahua, there is increasing alarm that drug trafficking organizations are fighting for control of the trade. 

Mozambique 

• All Africa reports: Illegal Loggers Detained in Sofala. 20 people, seven of them Chinese citizens and the others Mozambicans, were arrested on 23 December for illegal logging in the buffer zone around the Gorongosa National Park in the central Mozambican province of Sofala. 

Namibia

• Namibia Economist reports: Experts to tackle the issue of the unabated logging. The Namibia Scientific Society will hold a talk on the ‘Legal Framework and Duties of Government Regarding Natural Resources and their Protection’, by Willem Odendaal from the Legal Assistance Centre and Andrew Fordred a Forensic Investigation Specialist, tonight at 19:30 at the Scientific Society. 

Nigeria

• Business Hilights reports: China Steps Up Deforestation In Nigeria, Ghana As Timber Smuggling Soars. Investigations by Business Hilights Intelligence Unit (BHIU) have shown that illegal logging for endangered species are ongoing in forest parts of Ogun Edo and Ondo states in Nigeria for export to China in containers. 
• Punch reports: Nigeria has lost 96% of its forests–NCF. The Director-General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr Mutari Aminu-Kano, says Nigeria is losing about 400,000 hectares of its land to deforestation annually. 
• Phys.org reports: How poor management of Nigerian forests led to exploitation by criminals. Nigeria's forests cover about 96,043 square km– that's about 10% of the country's landmass. But the presence of authorities in these sanctuaries is either non-existent or, at best, sporadic. This has led to forest areas being poorly managed, which in turn has led to them being exploited by criminals and posing a security threat.

Pakistan 

• Business Recorder reports: Forests at risk. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar expressed displeasure over the Sindh government's foot dragging and reluctance to recover hundreds of thousands of acres of state land, including protected forests, illegally allotted to and grabbed by real estate developers in the province. 

Paraguay

• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks.Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood. 

Peru

• Mongabay reports: The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018. 2018 was a difficult year for the world’s tropical rainforests. Below are of some of the biggest rainforest storylines for the year, but we couldn’t cover everything, so if there are important things missing, feel free to add them via the comment function at the bottom.
• Eklesia reports: Illegal logging of the Peruvian Amazon 'continuing at a rapid pace'. Global Witness has revealed the worrying persistence of destructive and illegal logging in Peru. 
• OCCRP reports: Peru Failing to Combat Illegal Logging in Amazon Claims Report. The Peruvian government is eroding its ability to protect the the Amazon from illegal logging by succumbing to corporate pressure, a report from Global Witness said Thursday. 
• Ecologist reports: Illegal logging in Peru. Stand at a certain point along the dusty highway on the northern outskirts of Puerto Maldonado, a town in the Peruvian Amazon, and you’ll see trucks transporting huge quantities of wood regularly pulling up and stopping. 
• United States Senate Committee on Finance reports: Wyden Statement on Consultations with Peru to Address Illegal Logging.Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on  the U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement it will request consultations with Peru, after the Peruvian government stripped independence from the agency that oversees Peru’s logging industry. 
• Zacks reports: Tetra Tech Secures Forest Management Deal From USAID in Peru. Tetra Tech, Inc. recently clinched a $23-million single-award contract from the U.S. Agency for International Development (“USAID”). Per the five-year USAID PRO-BOSQUES contract, Tetra Tech will support USAID’s work in improving forest management in Peru, apart from promoting private sector engagement in the sector. 
• Mongabay reports: Peru’s Brazil nut harvesters learn to monitor forests with drones. Brazil nut and ecotourism concessions in the Amazon maintain intact rainforest, but deforestation by illegal loggers, miners, and agriculturalists threaten the integrity of these lands and the Brazil nut industry. The Peruvian NGO Conservación Amazónica – ACCA is training concessionaires and forestry officials in southeastern Peru to fly drones and monitor the properties they manage using drone-based cameras.
• CIFOR reports: Recognition of indigenous territories as a REDD+ strategy: An example from the Peruvian Amazon. How tenure security can help achieve REDD+ objectives.  A recent Rights and Resources report provides strong evidence on the importance of recognizing and protecting indigenous rights towards mitigating forest-based emissions and curbing global warming. 
• The New York Times reports: The U.S. Should Get Tough on Timber With Peru. A poorly enforced trade agreement continues to damage the environment and the economy. 
• The New York Times reports: U.S. Accuses Peru of Violating Agreement to Protect Rain Forest. The United States is accusing Peru of violating its commitment to protect the Amazon rain forest from deforestation, threatening to hold Lima in violation of the 2007 United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. 

Poland

• Emerging Europe reports: Environmental groups warn Poland not to restart logging in Białowieża Forest. A coalition of environmental groups has criticised moves by the Polish state-owned forestry company to restart commercial logging in the Białowieża Forest in eastern Poland. 

Romania

• Romania-Insider reports: Romanian forestry company reacts to BBC feature on ‘disappearing forest’. The state-owned company Romsilva, which manages part of Romania’s forests, has reacted to a recent BBC feature on the Cerna Valley National Park in Romania. Romsilva has said that statements in the feature, such as “the whole park seems to be a logging area”, “illegal lodging” and “illegal methods” do not reflect reality. 

Russia

• Crime Russia reports: ‘Black lumbermen’ gang manhandles Duma member in Siberia. The parliamentarian actively fights devastation of forests. 
• Crime Russia reports: Head of Russian Railways branch arrested in bribery case. The head of the Sortavalskaya Infrastructure Distance allegedly received money to keep silent about illegal logging. 

Solomon Islands

• Mongabay reports: Solomon Islands province bans logging in bid to protect environment. The leaders of Central Island province, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, have decided not to issue new business licenses to logging and mining companies following a local petition and recent reports detailing the lack of sustainability and legality in the country’s logging sector. 
• SIBC reports: Logging on heights banned. Any logging operation or commercial activities conducted at an altitude higher than four hundred metres is illegal. Caretaker Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Dr. Culwick Togamana revealed in his debate on the sine die motion over the weekend.

Tanzania 

• Independent reports: Unique Tanzania forest granted official protection after research reveals it is on brink of collapse. The Tanzanian government has agreed to set aside a unique forest as a new nature reserve after research revealed it was about to be wiped out for good. 

Thailand 

• The Nation reports: Changes give forest protection centre more authority, ease in identifying encroachers. With this new policy, we will be able to focus on two aspects of the job – taking care of those who have the right to continue living in the forest, and [apprehending] those who are there illegally. 
• Bangkok Post reports: Cops shunted after house built with logs from protected area. Six senior police officers have been transferred from their station after one of them was suspected of building a house with wood felled in an area that was about to be declared a forest reserve. 
• The Nation reports: Blood-hued Phayung almost gone as corrupt officials pave way for logging. Waterfall in northeastern Buntrik-Yod Mon Wildlife Sanctuary a mature male elephant lay dead, with traces of a highly volatile bullet left in its mouth and its bud. 

Uganda

• Daily Monitor reports: NFA official suspended over illegal logging.The National Forestry Authority (NFA) has suspended one of its officers for looking on, as illegal logging takes place in forest reserves under his supervision. 
• NTV reports: Masaka forestry officials held over illegal logging. Police in Masaka led by the RDC, Herman Sentongo have arrested a National Forestry Authority official in connection with cutting timber from Mujuzi forest reserve in Kyanamukaka sub-county. 

UK

• GOV. UK reports: No deal Brexit advice: changes for timber importers and exporters. Advice on preparing for checks on timber as part of contingency planning.

USA

• Street Insider reports: Floor & Decor Holdings (FND) Linked to Brazilian Timber Firm Under Investigation - Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley analysts notes Floor & Decor Holdings (NYSE: FND) is being linked by Timberleaks to a Brazilian timber firm under investigation by continuing to purchase products that contain tropical timber from Indusparquet, which was accused of trafficked in illegally harvested timber. 
• Civilized reports: The Government Shutdown Is Turning National Parks into Cesspits. Illegal logging is also taking place at some sites, according to John Garder - Senior Budget Director of the National Parks Conservation Association, who says these illegal activities and the accumulation of human waste could do irreversible damage to the parks.

Ukraine 

• 112 Internationals reports: Law on enhanced accountability for illegal logging, timber export comes into force in Ukraine. The law #2531-VIII, which provides the enhancing of the accountability up to the prison sentences for the smuggling of timber, has come into force in Ukraine. 
• Ukrinform reports: EU requests consultations with Ukraine over wood export ban. The EU has formally requested consultations with Ukraine under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement on Ukraine's export ban on unprocessed wood, according to a report posted on the website of the European Commission. 
• Open 4 Business reports: Ukraine Switches To European Timber Standards – State Forest Resources Agency. Wood industry of Ukraine from January 2019 switched to new national wood standards harmonized with the European ones, the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine has reported. 

Viet Nam

• Viet Nam Net reports: Rare trees cut down in nature reserve. On December 5, tens of rare timber trees such as chò (White Meranti), sến (Lauan, Meranti) and lim (ironwood) were found to be chopped down in the forest area in Village 5 in Tra Doc Commune in Tra Doc Nature Reserve in central Quang Nam Province. 
• Mongabay reports: Tracing the safeguards against illegal logging in Vietnam. The groundwork for obtaining and verifying legally-sourced timber in Vietnam is being laid with a new agreement between Vietnam and the EU. 
• Vietnam.net reports: Illegal logging threatens old forest. Many hundred-year old trees in Na Pen Forest in the northern province of Dien Bien have been illegally logged, putting the future of the old forest at risk, the Vietnam News Agency reported. 
• Vietnam.net reports: VPA to facilitate wood exports to EU. With the EU being among the largest importers of Vietnam’s wood products, the upcoming adoption of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union will help Vietnam both attract more European investment and boost its wood product exports to not only the EU, but also many other markets. 
• Viet Nam News reports: European Parliament delegation prepares to ratify forestry agreement with Việt Nam. A European Parliament (EP) delegation is in Hà Nội to prepare for the ratification of a bilateral agreement on forestry that would promote trade in verified legal timber products from Việt Nam to the EU and other markets. 
• Mongabay reports: Current threats and future hopes for the greater Mekong’s mangroves. Pid economic growth and illegal logging for fuelwood collection have damaged mangrove forests. 

Africa

• Chatham House reports: How Poverty Is Causing Deforestation Across Africa. Gitika Bhardwaj speaks to campaigner Obed Owusu-Addai about why solving the problem of deforestation across Africa requires tackling one of its biggest causes – poverty. 

EU

• Timber@biz reports: Public consultation in EU on combatting deforestation. The European Commission (EC) has launched a public consultation to help develop an integrated EU approach to combatting deforestation, protecting forests and promoting sustainable supply chains.
• Jakarta Post reports: Indonesia and EFTA countries sign trade agreement. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was signed on Sunday, Dec.16, 2018 in Jakarta. 

 

Palm oil

 

Colombia

• European Palm Oil Alliance reports: The Netherlands signs first bilateral agreement on sustainable palm oil from Colombia. Intention Statement is outcome of Roundtable on sustainable palm oil with Dutch minister of Agriculture Schouten in Bogota. 

France 

• The Jakarta Post reports: France pushes EU on palm oil. On Dec. 20, the French National Assembly passed its Finance Bill. This would ordinarily be unremarkable and have little bearing on Indonesia. 
• Reuters reports: Total says French palm oil curb threatens biofuel facility. French energy group Total said a move by lawmakers to exclude palm oil from raw materials approved for use in biofuel would put at risk its La Mede facility in southern France. 
• Malay Mail reports: France condemned for anti-palm oil vote, risk retaliatory trade action, says minister. Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok has condemned the French National Assembly for excluding the use of palm oil as a biodiesel feedstock, a move that could disrupt the livelihood of millions in key palm oil producing nations including Malaysia. 

Ghana 

• Business Ghana reports: Asokore Rural Bank to support over 3,000 smallholder farmers in commercial oil palm production. The Asokore Rural Bank Limited at Asokore in the Sekyere East District is working to provide financial support to enable more than 3,000 smallholder farmers in the area to commence commercial oil palm production. 

Guatemala

• Reuters reports: Guatemalan farms shift to palm oil, fueling family migration. In the poor, hot region of Guatemala that was home to a seven-year-old migrant girl before she died in U.S. border custody last month, palm oil cultivation is taking over from subsistence farming, adding to pressure on people to leave. 
• Eco Watch reports: Why Is Palm Oil Cultivation Replacing Subsistence Farming in Guatemala?. Palm oil production is exploding in Guatemala and is helping to fuel migration to the U.S. while creating poor labor conditions on the ground, Reuters reports. Palm oil production in Guatemala has exploded nearly sevenfold over the past ten years as subsistence farmers in the forested province of Raxruha are selling their land to palm oil companies—some to help pay for smugglers to help them cross the border into the U.S. 

India

• Business Line reports: Solvent extractors ink pact with Indonesian body for promoting sustainable palm oil. Aimed at promoting palm oil trade and sustainable production in India and Indonesia, key oil trade bodies from the two countries have agreed to create a Joint Working committee to look into the trade matters and implement sustainable practices. 

Indonesia

• Climate Home News reports: World’s three biggest rainforests face year of precarious politics. Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia all face a year of political flux placing their vast rainforests in peril. 
• Mirage News reports: Indonesian road-building spree among ‘world’s scariest’ environmental threats. An ambitious road-building spree by the Indonesian government will fragment and destroy vast areas of tropical rainforests on the island of Borneo, according to an international research team. 
• Reuters reports: Slow replanting of palm a blow to Indonesia's efforts on environment. An ambitious scheme to replant about a fifth of the land under palm oil in Indonesia is running far behind schedule, marking a blow to efforts by the world’s top producer to lift yields and fend off attacks on the sustainability of the crop.
• Euractiv reports: Time is running out for biofuels sustainability criteria. The European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) of Energy will only give two days to other DGs to express their opinion about its much-awaited proposal on the sustainability criteria of biofuels, which will determine the future of palm oil in Europe. 
• Truth Theory reports: Norway To Ban Deforestation-Linked Palm Oil Biofuels In Historic Vote. The Norwegian parliament voted this week to make Norway the world’s first country to bar its biofuel industry from importing deforestation-linked palm oil starting in 2020, The Independent reported. 
• Mongabay reports: Palm oil companies continue to criminalize farmers in Sumatra (commentary). Nearly five years after Friends of the Earth U.S. reported about escalating conflict between farmers in the village of Lunjuk on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and palm oil company PT Sandabi Indah Lestari — or PT SIL — those communities remain in conflict with PT SIL, which supplies Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil trader. 
• Phys.org reports: Protecting proboscis monkeys from deforestation.A 10-year study of proboscis monkeys in Borneo has revealed that forest conversion to oil palm plantations is having a significant impact on the species. 
• Forests News reports: Is deforestation in Borneo slowing down?.When people talk about deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil often gets the blame. Demand for the versatile vegetable oil is high worldwide, and the two Asian countries together produce 87% of global supply. 
• News Now reports: Investigation: Neste still buying palm oil from mills caught in illegal rainforest harvests. company in Sumatra that receives palm fruit from national park plantations, where elephants & tigers are critically endangered through habitat loss, is one of Neste's main suppliers. 
• Palm Oil Magazine reports: developing Palm Oil Plantations in Kalimantan is Different from it in Papua. Developing Palm Oil Plantations in Kalimantan is Different from it in Papua. 
• Planet Earth Newsletter reports: GREENPEACE — Oreo maker linked to destruction of orangutan habitat for palm oil in Indonesia — PLANET EARTH FLOWERS group. Palm oil suppliers to snack food giant Mondelez have destroyed almost 25,000 hectares of orangutan habitat in Indonesia in just two years, new mapping analysis by Greenpeace International has revealed. 
• European Interest reports: Indonesian civil society pleads with the EU to phase out palm oil-based biofuels. an unprecedented array of Indonesian indigenous and civil society actors speak out in defense of phasing out palm oil in biofuels. 
• Business and Human Rights Resource Centre reports: Indonesia: Supreme Court upholds $69 million fine against palm oil company over negligence that caused forest fires. In a major victory for the environment, Indonesia’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court verdict ordering PT National Sago Prima (NSP) [subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro], a sago plantation company, to pay IDR 1 trillion (US$69 million) in fines for causing forest fires in Riau in 2015. 
• Stanford Earth reports: The double-edged sword of palm oil.Widespread cultivation of oil palm trees has been both an economic boon and an environmental disaster for tropical developing-world countries. New research points to a more sustainable path forward through engagement with small-scale producers.
• Jakarta Post reports: Company under fire for withdrawing RSPO membership. Environmental activists have criticized publicly listed plantation firm PT London Sumatra Indonesia (Lonsum) for its decision to withdraw its membership from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). 
• Food Navigator reports: PepsiCo responds with 'disappointment' at Indofood's withdrawal from RSPO over disputed audit decision.PepsiCo has voiced its 'disappointment' in Indonesian food giant Indofood's decision to withdraw from the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification scheme ‘with immediate effect’. 
• Palm Oil Magazine reports: Indonesia Agreed Not to Support RED II and ILUC for Palm Oil. The attempt to discriminate palm oil product from Indonesia done by European Union through Renewable Energy Derective (RED) II, and carbon track in palm oil development from the conversion or Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC), is directly responded by the government of Indonesia. 
• US News reports: Indonesia Unveils More Detailed Land Map in Bid to Resolve Development Planning Disputes. Indonesia's government on Tuesday launched a more detailed map of land use aimed at resolving overlapping claims in the vast archipelago, including in forest areas, three years later than was initially planned. 
• Benar News reports: Malaysian Judge Sets 4-Day Remand for Senior Tabung Haji Executive. A Malaysian court Wednesday ordered that the chief operating officer of an ailing state fund, which helps Muslims save money for their Mecca pilgrimage, be remanded for four days so the anti-corruption commission (MACC) could investigate bribery allegations, officials said. 
• Free Malaysia Today reports: Plantation firm files police report against ex-Lembaga Tabung Haji chief, 4 others. Trurich Resources Sdn Bhd (Trurich) has lodged a police report against five individuals for allegedly misleading the company in the acquisition of oil palm plantations in Indonesia totalling US$58 million, between 2008 and 2009. 
• Mongabay reports: Vast palm oil project in Papua must be investigated by government, watchdogs say. Last week, Mongabay, Tempo, Malaysiakini and Earthsight’s The Gecko Project published an investigation into the story behind the Tanah Merah project, an enormous palm oil development in Papua, Indonesia, whose owners remain shrouded in secrecy. Observers say what while Papuans have a right to development, the Tanah Merah project is clearly intended to benefit the wealthy and connected individuals who have coalesced around it. Watchdog groups want Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s administration to investigate the permits underpinning the project with an eye toward cancelling them. They have also called on authorities to implement a new regulation requiring companies to disclose their beneficial owners. 
• News Now reports: Investigation: Neste still buying palm oil from mills caught in illegal rainforest harvests. Company in Sumatra that receives palm fruit from national park plantations, where elephants & tigers are critically endangered through habitat loss, is one of Neste's main suppliers. 
• Mongabay reports: Palm oil giant Wilmar promises to take harder line with errant suppliers. The world’s biggest palm oil trader has updated its sustainability policy, as its self-imposed deadline to stop buying palm oil linked to a variety of environmental and social ills draws closer. 
• Eco-Business reports: Women in palm oil: invisible no more?.Mounting attention on women’s rights violations in the palm oil industry have pushed women workers out of the shadows, forcing companies to step up and improve the welfare of their female workforce. In Indonesia, where close to 6 million people work in the palm oil industry, women toil alongside men in remote plantations across the country. However, female plantation workers are unlikely to be included in that number, as investigations on labour issues in the palm oil industry suggest. 
• Mongabay reports: One map to rule them all: Indonesia launches unified land-use chart. The Indonesian government has published a long-awaited map that, for the first time, unifies all land-use data from a host of disparate sources. 
• Sustainability times reports: ‘Sustainable’ palm oil cultivation isn’t sustainable at all. Palm oil is a highly versatile vegetable oil and so not surprisingly demand for it is very high worldwide. In one decade alone that global demand almost doubled from 37 million metric tons in 2006 to 64.2 million metric tons in 2016. 
• The Jakarta Post reports: Indonesia plans to make 30 percent biodiesel blend mandatory, studies B100. While the government expanded the mandatory use of a 20 percent biodiesel blend ( B20 ) in September, it plans to further boost domestic biodiesel consumption to absorb more crude palm oil (CPO) amid fluctuation in the global market price of the commodity. 
• US News reports: Indonesia Unveils More Detailed Land Map in Bid to Resolve Development Planning Disputes. Indonesia's government on Tuesday launched a more detailed map of land use aimed at resolving overlapping claims in the vast archipelago, including in forest areas, three years later than was initially planned. 
• Press Reader reports: Sustainable palm oil does not exist – ‘certified’ can destroy even more wildlife. Palm-oil forests certified as sustainable are being destroyed faster than non-certified land, experts have found, in a study they say blows the lid on any claims that the oil can be destruction-free. 
• The Jakarta Post reports: ‘We’re only fighting fires of past sinners’: Luhut defends govt's palm oil support. Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has rebuffed claims that he and the government were not paying attention to the deforestation and forest fires caused by oil palm plantations. He said he was also worried about their environmental impacts on younger generations, but he claimed the government was struggling to make progress since the land concessions for the plantations, some of which were on fire-prone peatlands, had been given out by past governments. 
• EcoWatch reports: World's Largest Palm Oil Trader Ramps Up Zero-Deforestation Efforts. The world's largest palm oil trader released plans on Monday to increase its efforts to eliminate deforestationfrom its supply chain. 

Liberia

• Liberia reports: Liberia: NGO Calls for Regulator of Agriculture Concessions. SAMFU says conflicts have jolted Liberia’s agricultural concession history since its very beginning and it was time to use a new, stronger law to prevent future conflicts. 

Malaysia

• FMT News reports: The plight of our indigenous people. Violations of the rights of indigenous peoples remain a major concern, particularly as indigenous communities continue to lose their native customary rights (NCR) land as a result of landmark decisions at the Federal Court. 
• New Straits Times reports: UK to follow very closely Malaysia's effort in sustainable palm oil. The United Kingdom (UK) will follow very closely Malaysia’s effort in ensuring its palm oil industry is sustainable and not developed at the expense of deforestation which causes damage to the environment, said the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK, Jeremy Hunt. 
• The Star Online reports: Making the case for palm oil. This is an open letter to the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt. 
• Malaysiakini reports: Mulu natives want oil palm companies out of national park's vicinity. Mulu natives have reportedly written to Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to ask for help in stopping the clearing of rainforests for oil palm plantations in areas surrounding Gunung Mulu National Park, a UN-recognised world heritage site. 
• New Straits Times reports: Malaysia can emulate Gabon's sustainable plantation policy. Recently, the Norwegian Parliament requested its government to limit and phase out palm oil in its biofuels policy, to take effect from January 2020. The aim is to exclude biofuels with a high deforestation risk. 
• Malaysia Kini reports: PM to Send Protest letters to France, Norway over palm oil biofuel ban. Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok Suh Sim has reportedly said that the prime minister will be writing a letter to the French president and Norwegian prime minister to protest the European Union (EU) parliament's decision to ban palm oil from transport fuels. 
• Malaymail reports: Three major airlines join ‘Love MY Palm Oil’ campaign. The three airlines, along with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), will extol the virtues of palm oil. 
• Free Malaysia Today News reports: Green activist sees red over call for more palm oil use. An environmentalist has voiced dismay over a deputy minister’s call on Malaysians to show patriotism through increased consumption of palm oil. 
• Salaam Gateway reports: Malaysia: Sime Darby Plantation and Salcra sign MoU. Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a collaborative framework to establish synergistic commercial cooperation along the palm oil value chain. 
• Mongabay reports: Borneo study explores links between farm expansion and deforestation. A nearly two-decade study of land-cover change in Borneo has identified a positive correlation between the loss of forests and the expansion of plantations, primarily for oil palms. 
• The edge Markets reports: Short reprieve for oil palm planters in 2019. This has not been a very good year for Malaysian planters. Not only did weaker demand drive the domestic palm oil stockpile to hit record highs and prices to multi-year lows, there were also the external noises to deal with, such as the anti-palm oil campaigns in the West. 
• Huff Post reports: We Need To Talk About Palm Oil. An extremely versatile ingredient that’s cheaper and more efficient to produce than other vegetable oils, palm oil is found today in half of all consumer goods including soaps and toothpaste, cosmetics and laundry detergent and a whole array of processed food. 
• Borneo Bulletin reports: Sarawak halts oil palm plantation expansion.The Sarawak government will not issue any new licences for the expansion of oil palm plantations, in line with its commitment to halt their enlargement, said Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok. 
• Daily Express reports: Why only 623 smallholders RSPO-certified in Sabah. Sabah is a very important palm oil producing State in Malaysia.It is one of the largest palm oil producers in the whole of Malaysia with thousands of smallholders in the State alone. However, there are only a total of 623 smallholders in Sabah who have achieved the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification to date.
• Benar News reports: Malaysian Judge Sets 4-Day Remand for Senior Tabung Haji Executive. A Malaysian court Wednesday ordered that the chief operating officer of an ailing state fund, which helps Muslims save money for their Mecca pilgrimage, be remanded for four days so the anti-corruption commission (MACC) could investigate bribery allegations, officials said. 
• Free Malaysia Today reports: Plantation firm files police report against ex-Lembaga Tabung Haji chief, 4 others. Trurich Resources Sdn Bhd (Trurich) has lodged a police report against five individuals for allegedly misleading the company in the acquisition of oil palm plantations in Indonesia totalling US$58 million, between 2008 and 2009. 
• Reuters reports: Malaysia charges former chairman of palm agency Felda over graft. Malaysian prosecutors on Friday charged a former chairman of state palm plantation agency Felda with breach of trust and receiving bribes, the most senior official hit by accusations of graft that led to millions of ringgit in losses. 
• Benar News reports: Malaysia: Ex-Tabung Haji Officials Made False Statements Over Land Deals, Firm Says. Former officials at a tainted Malaysian state fund aimed at helping Muslims save for their pilgrimage to Mecca were accused Friday of making false statements over land purchases, as the government moved to save the fund from financial collapse. 
• The Edge Markets reports: Trurich files police report against TH ex-CEO Ismee, TH Plantations ex-bosses for misleading the company.Trurich Resources Sdn Bhd, a company co-owned by FGV Holdings Bhd and Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), has lodged a police report against senior management members in the pilgrim fund and its subsidiary TH Plantations Bhd. 
• The Sun Daily reports: Govt can play greater role in palm smallholders’ certification: RSPO. The government can play a greater role in the certification of small-time palm oil growers, especially breaking down barriers to entry and on land matters, according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). 
• Borneo Bulletin reports: Sarawak halts oil palm plantation expansion. The Sarawak government will not issue any new licences for the expansion of oil palm plantations, in line with its commitment to halt their enlargement, said Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok. 
• Daily Express reports: Why only 623 smallholders RSPO-certified in Sabah. Sabah is a very important palm oil producing State in Malaysia.It is one of the largest palm oil producers in the whole of Malaysia with thousands of smallholders in the State alone. However, there are only a total of 623 smallholders in Sabah who have achieved the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification to date. 
• The Malaysian Reserve reports: FGV freezes recruitment due to RSPO findings. FGV Holdings Bhd has frozen all new recruitment of workers from external contractors across its operations with immediate effect, following complaints of labour policy breaches raised by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). 
• The Sun Daily reports: FGV freezes new recruitment of workers from external contractors. FGV Holdings Bhd has frozen all new recruitment of workers from external contractors across its operations with immediate effect. It said the ban would only be lifted when the company was satisfied beyond any doubt that contractors were strictly adhering to all of FGV’s internal policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures. 
• Energy Live reports: World’s biggest palm oil trader announces plans to prevent deforestation. Wilmar International has pledged to stop working with farmers and businesses involved in deforestation or development on peatland.  

Norway                        

• The Independent reports: Norway to heavily restrict palm oils linked to deforestation. 'The Norwegian parliament’s decision sets an important example to other countries and demonstrates the need for a serious reform of the world’s palm oil industry,' activist says.   

United Kingdom

• Food Ingredients First reports: Iceland chief hits back at palm oil PR stunt criticisms as farmers union declares “palm oil is a lifeline, not a bogeyman”. The Director of Palm Oil Farmers Unite has hit out at UK retailer Iceland’s “anti-palm oil crusade” claiming that the “hypocritical and immoral” campaign is damaging to thousands of Malaysian and Indonesian smallholder farmers who depend on the vegetable oil supply chain to make a living. But, Iceland’s Managing Director insists the supermarket chain is not calling for a palm oil ban, but is strongly against deforestation and wants to see a sustainable supply chain.  

Global 

• New Internationalists reports: Five climate struggles to watch in 2019. Danny Chivers reports on the key environmental struggles to keep track of in the coming year. 
• The Star reports: Ban impacts poor farmers. Most affected: Oil palm smallholders worldwide who plant the crop as a route out of poverty will be hit by British supermarket chain Iceland Foods’ move to ban palm oil products from its own-brand range. 
• EcoWatch reports: Palm Oil Sourcing Should Be Disclosed to Consumers, Sustainability Study Recommends. Companies selling products which contain palm oil need to be upfront about where it comes from, so as to relieve consumers of the burden of making sustainable choices, a UK study says. 
• Malay Mall reports: Palm oil council raps WHO after study sensationalised by med. The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) criticised the World Health Organisation (WHO) today for bias after a recent report allowed the media an opportunity for sensationalism. 
• Bloomberg reports: The World Has Loads of Sustainable Palm Oil... But No One Wants It. The world’s biggest growers of palm oil say they’re stepping up efforts to produce the contentious commodity more sustainably, but consumers are unwilling to pay more for environmentally friendly supply. 
• Financial Review reports: The world has loads of sustainable palm oil ... but no one wants it. The world's biggest growers of palm oil say they are stepping up efforts to produce the contentious commodity more sustainably, but consumers are unwilling to pay more for environmentally friendly supply. 
• LongRoom News reports: Sustainable choices on palm oil must be easier for consumers, says new study. Consumer goods companies and retailers need to be upfront about where palm oil in their products comes from to relieve consumers of the burden of making sustainable choices. 
• IPE reports: ESG investing – beyond virtue signaling. One investment theme that will only grow stronger in 2019 is that of incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. 
• Reuters reports: To halt deforestation, researchers say we must listen to the forests. Conservationists and palm oil companies tackling deforestation and forest fires must rely less on satellite imagery and instead start listening to the sounds of the forests, according to a report published on Friday. 
• Earth.com reports: Retailers must be more transparent about their palm oil sources. The production of palm oil, a commonly used ingredient in cosmetics, food, cleaning products, and biofuel, causes massive deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions when not harvested sustainably — which massive quantities aren’t. However, many consumers are not aware when and if sustainably sourced palm oil is in their daily products. 
• Financial Review reports: The world has loads of sustainable palm oil ... but no one wants it. The world's biggest growers of palm oil say they are stepping up efforts to produce the contentious commodity more sustainably, but consumers are unwilling to pay more for environmentally friendly supply. 
• Foodbev Media reports: Sustainable palm oil is the best solution to deforestation. While debate rages on the full impact of deforestation as a result of the production of palm oil, many organisations, including leading UK retailers, are making promises to eradicate this product completely, or have pledged to work with more sustainable sources and suppliers. 
• Tricity news reports: Living Green: The perils of palm oil. Palm oil is so versatile and inexpensive to produce that it has come to be the most widely used vegetable oil worldwide. 
• South Africa Today reports: Is a palm oil boycott the way to save apes?. A Christmas advertisement deemed too political to air in the U.K. but that has been viewed more than 70 million times online has rekindled the debate about how to save orangutans from going extinct: should consumers boycott products containing palm oil?. 
• PRI reports: Converting forests into palm oil plantations is 'total devastation' for the planet. Demand for palm oil is booming. It’s a common ingredient in a wide variety of foods and household products, from cookies, bread and chocolate to soap and shampoo. But, as it turns out, the conversion of tropical forest into land for palm oil plantations has created huge risks for the entire planet. 
• The Independent reports: Norway to heavily restrict palm oils linked to deforestation. 'The Norwegian parliament’s decision sets an important example to other countries and demonstrates the need for a serious reform of the world’s palm oil industry,' activist says. 
• Eco-Business reports: Women in palm oil: invisible no more?. Mounting attention on women’s rights violations in the palm oil industry have pushed women workers out of the shadows, forcing companies to step up and improve the welfare of their female workforce. In Indonesia, where close to 6 million people work in the palm oil industry, women toil alongside men in remote plantations across the country. However, female plantation workers are unlikely to be included in that number, as investigations on labour issues in the palm oil industry suggest. 
• Mongabay reports: Palm oil giant Wilmar promises to take harder line with errant suppliers. The world’s biggest palm oil trader has updated its sustainability policy, as its self-imposed deadline to stop buying palm oil linked to a variety of environmental and social ills draws closer. 
• Eco-Business reports: Women in palm oil: invisible no more?. Mounting attention on women’s rights violations in the palm oil industry have pushed women workers out of the shadows, forcing companies to step up and improve the welfare of their female workforce. In Indonesia, where close to 6 million people work in the palm oil industry, women toil alongside men in remote plantations across the country. However, female plantation workers are unlikely to be included in that number, as investigations on labour issues in the palm oil industry suggest. 
• EcoWatch reports: World's Largest Palm Oil Trader Ramps Up Zero-Deforestation Efforts. The world's largest palm oil trader released plans on Monday to increase its efforts to eliminate deforestationfrom its supply chain. 
• EurAsia Review reports: COP24 And The Silesia Declaration: Impact On Palm Oil – Analysis. The negotiations in the recently concluded COP24 in Katowice produced a critical rulebook for the 2015 Paris Agreement. Equally important is the Silesia Declaration signed during the conference. It exhorted relevant stakeholders to ensure a just transition for segments of populations affected by climate agenda. 
• Web Wire reports: Breakthrough as world’s largest palm oil trader gives forest destroyers nowhere to hide. The world’s largest palm oil trader, Wilmar International, has published a detailed action plan to map and monitor all of its suppliers.
• Edie.net reports: World's biggest palm oil firm unveils new measures to end supply chain deforestation. Palm oil sourcing giant Wilmar International has unveiled plans to use satellite tracking and other digital technologies in a bid to eliminate deforestation risks from its supply chains. 
• Sustainability Times reports: ‘Sustainable’ palm oil cultivation isn’t sustainable at all. Palm oil is a highly versatile vegetable oil and so not surprisingly demand for it is very high worldwide. In one decade alone that global demand almost doubled from 37 million metric tons in 2006 to 64.2 million metric tons in 2016. 
• St. Luke's Maidstone reports: What’s the problem with palm oil?.Palm oil has hit the news lately when a supermarket advert was banned for being too political. 
• Reuters reports: WHO study likens palm oil lobbying to tobacco and alcohol industries. The palm oil industry is deploying tactics similar to those of the alcohol and tobacco industries to influence research into the health effects of its product, a study published by the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. 
• Triple Pundit reports: Purdue University Report: Palm Oil Is Still Unsustainable. A new report conducted by Purdue University and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment says it loud and clear – palm oil, the world’s most popular oil, is not, and likely never will be, sustainable. So what do we do now?. 
• Green Biz reports: Why food companies need to step up on human rights in global supply chains. One needn’t look far to see the risks companies run by failing to fully attend to human rights risks in their supply chains. The world’s largest meat company, JBS, lost access to key buyers after it was investigated for using forced labor practices.
• Greenpeace reports: A breakthrough: we’re now one step closer to ending deforestation for palm oil. It’s been a full year of campaigning to end forest destruction for dirty palm oil. After Greenpeace International exposed how Wilmar was still buying palm oil from rainforest destroyers and selling this dirty palm oil to brands all over the world, you took action. 
• Supply Chain Dive reports: Palm oil supply chain faces glut. Supply chain managers with palm oil in their supply chains need to be aware of the economic and environmental issues surrounding this universal commodity. 
• Raw Reporter reports: Palm oil boycott could actually increase deforestation. Palm oil can be found in food and cosmetics everywhere: in fact, half of the world’s population uses palm oil in food. But public awareness about the loss of wildlife through deforestation caused by palm oil crops is growing, and there’s mounting pressure on retailers to reduce their sales of palm oil products, or boycott them altogether. 
• Aid Environment reports: Aid Environment welcomes Joint Statement to stop deforestation for oil palm. Aid Environment co-signed the industry Joint Statement to create a deforestation free palm oil supply chain. Besides its primary signatory Wilmar International, the Joint Statement is supported by Unilever and Mondelēz International. Meanwhile Greenpeace International calls the commitment a breakthrough. We call upon other brands to support the Joint Statement as well. 
• Tech Time reports: Even ‘Certified’ Palm Oil Is Unsustainable: Study Reveals Misleading Claims On Eco-Friendly Practices. Palm oil production is far from being sustainable, experts say, even in forests where harvest practices are classified as destruction-free. A new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment found that forest loss in major oil palm-producing countries have been greater in the past decade even in areas labeled as sustainable. 
• The Edge Singapore reports: Will Wilmar's stricter environmental controls bear fruit?. Wilmar International last week signed a joint statement with Aidenvironment Asia, a not-for-profit consultancy in the field of sustainable production and trade, to reaffirm its commitment to “break the link between oil palm cultivation and deforestation, peatland development and social conflicts”. 
• The Sun Daily reports: Palm oil used in biofuel should be certified as sustainable. Any palm oil that is used in biofuels should be certified as sustainable, according to head of European operations at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Inke van der Sluijs. 
• Supply Chain Dive reports: Nestle, Hershey's, P&G among brands slammed for forced labor in palm oil supply chain. The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) slammed seven large consumer brands — Cargill, Hershey's, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever — for sourcing from a palm oil supplier linked to forced labor. An investigation into Malaysian palm oil supplier FGV, formerly known as FELDA, by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), found forced labor, human trafficking, unsafe living conditions and dozens of other breaches of RSPO sustainability criteria. As a result, RSPO suspended the membership of a mill and four plantations belonging to FGV. 
• Care2 reports: Oreo and Ritz Cracker Producer Drops Palm Oil Suppliers Linked to Deforestation. Mondelēz International, maker of these products and many more, announced that it is dropping 12 palm oil suppliers that contribute to deforestation. The company also called for 100 percent sustainability and 100 percent transparency across the palm oil industry.
• Eco-weekly reports: How different is the RSPO’s future now?. The revised Principles and Criteria (P&C) are the new set of environmental and social rules to which member companies must adhere if they are to meet RSPO certification standards. They are a comprehensive reaction to widespread criticism of the RSPO – the world’s largest certification scheme for palm oil, covering almost 20% of all palm oil globally. Yet, RSPO has of course been heavily scrutinised over how it enforces its standards and engages with its member.
• Ariana News reports: what is next for palm oil?. The boom of palm oil in the EU biofuels mixture since 2012 took centre stage in the debate about the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED2). 
• EU Business reports: Finally: European Commission announces plans to act on deforestation. WWF welcomes the European Commission’s intention to step up EU action against deforestation and forest degradation, as indicated in today’s publication of a roadmap towards a Communication, which is expected to be adopted in the second quarter of 2019. 
• Sustainability Times reports: ‘Sustainable’ palm oil cultivation isn’t sustainable at all. Palm oil is a highly versatile vegetable oil and so not surprisingly demand for it is very high worldwide. In one decade alone that global demand almost doubled from 37 million metric tons in 2006 to 64.2 million metric tons in 2016. 
• The Independent reports: No such thing as sustainable palm oil – 'certified' can destroy even more wildlife, say scientists. Palm-oil forests certified as sustainable are being destroyed faster than non-certified land, experts have found, in a study they say blows the lid on any claims that the oil can be destruction-free. Plantations with eco-friendly endorsements have lost 38 per cent of their forest cover since 2007, while non-certified areas have lost 34 per cent, according to researchers from Purdue University in the US state of Indiana. 
• Futuriy reports: Demand for ‘sustainable’palm oil ravages forests.Demand for palm oil has surged in the past decade and deforestation is rising in major oil palm-producing countries—most notably in areas certified as “sustainable.” 
• CSR Wire reports: SCS Global Services Becomes First North American Certifier. Accredited to New RSPO Principles and Criteria Standard for Palm Oil Plantations. Following on the heels of the historic 16th Annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, SCS Global Services (SCS) has become the first certification body in North America accredited to conduct assessments under the stringent new RSPO Principles & Criteria (P&C) Standard. This accreditation sets the stage for SCS to certify sustainable palm plantations and mills internationally. 
• Purdue University reports: Purdue study: Sustainable palm oil doesn't make the grade. According to a Purdue University study, deforestation is rising in major oil palm-producing countries. And it’s happening even faster in areas certified as “sustainable.”

 

Soy

 

Argentina

• Inter Press Service reports: Argentina’s Indigenous People Fight for Land Rights. Nancy López lives in a house made of clay, wood and corrugated metal sheets, on private land dedicated to agriculture. She is part of an indigenous community of 12 families in northern Argentina that, like almost all such communities, has no title to the land it occupies and lives under the constant threat of eviction. 

Bolivia

• Mongabay reports: Agribusiness harm to Gran Chaco genetic diversity: centuries to heal. Bolivia have done little to conserve the region, even as agribusiness continues to aggressively convert native vegetation to soy. 

Brazil 

• World Economic Forum reports: Politics is failing to protect the Amazon. Global investors issued a stark warning to politicians at COP24, the 2018 United Nations climate summit in Poland. Companies with a combined investment portfolio of $32 trillion demanded that countries scale up efforts to phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible.
• Triple Pundit reports: Soy (Hopefully) Won’t Become the Next Palm Oil: Here’s Why. Representatives of Brazil’s soy industry, local NGOs and nearly two dozen large international companies are rounding the corner in an agreement to incentivize Brazilian soy farmers to end, or at least severely scale back, deforestation across the all-important Cerrado. Instead of continuing their deforestation efforts to maximize crop yields (and thus profits), farmers would be paid by the coalition to use the Cerrado land they have already converted to pasture land. 
• Food Navigator reports: Dialogue on deforestation: Constructive meeting of EU and Brazil soy chain partners. EU and Brazilian partners came together late last month to assess progress on their common agenda on moving soy production and trade up a gear, in terms of sustainability.
• Spiegel online reports: Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. 
• South Africa Today reports: Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report. The Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna, covers over 20 percent of the nation’s territory, but it is seeing severe deforestation. A recent report uncovered links between municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation and with significant soy production. 
• Mongabay reports: Agribusiness harm to Gran Chaco genetic diversity: centuries to heal. A study focusing on two prominent tree species in the Brazilian portion of the Gran Chaco biome found that degradation by industrial agribusiness, particularly soy growers, has put the biome’s genetic diversity at great risk. 
• Business green reports: China food giant backs tougher action on soy deforestation. Jun Lyu, chairman of the state-owned COFCO Corporation in China, revealed his backing for extending an industry moratorium on soy produced on deforested land in Brazil.
• Mongabay reports: Bolsonaro government reveals plan to develop the ‘Unproductive Amazon’. The government emphasis has shifted to large-scale infrastructure schemes by which to export soy from the Brazilian interior via new roads. 
• Feed Navigator reports: Platform aims to increase UK’s supplies of sustainable soy. Several regional platforms are materializing across Europe, alongside the global Roundtable for Responsible Soy (RTRS), to encourage domestic retailers and traders to buy only responsibly sourced soy. 
• Climate Home News reports: World’s three biggest rainforests face year of precarious politics. Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia all face a year of political flux placing their vast rainforests in peril. 
• Dialogo Chino reports: Brazilian government split on land ownership law. Environmentalists and communities fear the consequences of changing 2010 foreign ownership regulations.
• Global Landscapes Forum reports: For better farm yields in Brazil, a simple registration can help. In Brazil, the tropical savanna known as the Cerrado has long been under threat from agriculture. But new land management approaches within its vast mosaic of landscapes are changing the way local people are farming it.
• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks.Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood. 

China 

• Business green reports: China food giant backs tougher action on soy deforestation. Chairman of COFCO Corporation, China's largest food processor, announces support for tougher restrictions on trading soy grown on deforested land. 

EU

• Food Navigator reports: Dialogue on deforestation: Constructive meeting of EU and Brazil soy chain partners. EU and Brazilian partners came together late last month to assess progress on their common agenda on moving soy production and trade up a gear, in terms of sustainability.
• FeedNavigator reports: Commission: The EU is part of the problem of global deforestation. In a roadmap published yesterday, the European Commission has promised to tackle global deforestation, in particular trying to address and reduce the EU’s role in that.

Paraguay

• Thruthout reports: Agribusiness Invasion Threatens Indigenous of Paraguay’s Chaco Region. The Paraguayan Chaco region has been home to various groups of Indigenous peoples for millennia. But over the past few years, the land has been invaded by agribusinesses for the purpose of unsustainable livestock production. 
• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks.Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood. 

United Kingdom

• Feed Navigator reports: Platform aims to increase UK’s supplies of sustainable soy. Several regional platforms are materializing across Europe, alongside the global Roundtable for Responsible Soy (RTRS), to encourage domestic retailers and traders to buy only responsibly sourced soy. 

United States of America

• Bloomberg Environment reports: Palm Oil’s Loss May Be U.S. Soybean Gain in EU Biofuel Rule. Palm oil would be phased out as biofuel feedstock in EU, U.S. soybean farmers could benefit. 
• Active reports: US soy for producing biofuels, an ‘unsustainable’ giveaway to Trump. The European Commission is set to offer Washington a way out from current trade tensions with Chinese authorising imports of soybeans from the US to produce biofuels. 

Global

• World Economic Forum reports: Politics is failing to protect the Amazon. It's time for finance to step up instead. Global investors issued a stark warning to politicians at COP24, the 2018 United Nations climate summit in Poland. Companies with a combined investment portfolio of $32 trillion demanded that countries scale up efforts to phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible. In addition to energy, forests are another crisis point in the battle to contain carbon dioxide emissions. Yet much less is known about investment flows to companies operating in, for example, the Amazon rainforest. 
• Undercurrent News reports: Comprehensive’ soy assurance body adopted by ASC for final 2019 feed standard release. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has announced that it recognizes the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) as the most comprehensive standard for soy feed in the upcoming final release of its official feed standard in Q1 2019. 
• FeedNavigator reports: Commission: The EU is part of the problem of global deforestation. In a roadmap published yesterday, the European Commission has promised to tackle global deforestation, in particular trying to address and reduce the EU’s role in that. 
• Food Navigator reports: Soy: this year’s dirty commodity?. Europe is heavily reliant on imports of soy – both to feed its livestock and consumers’ appetite for plant-based diets. However, food brands are beginning to realise that this crucial commodity comes with a heavy footprint. 

 

Beef

 

Argentina

• Dialogo China reports: Meat consumption threatens international climate commitments. Campaigns to cut meat consumption have been highly visible throughout UN climate change conferences (COPs) in recent years, with livestock responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Yet the lack of progress is clearly on show at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, with beef burgers, ham gnocchi and bacon conspicuous among the catering options. 

Brazil

• World Economic Forum reports: Politics is failing to protect the Amazon. It's time for finance to step up instead. Global investors issued a stark warning to politicians at COP24, the 2018 United Nations climate summit in Poland. Companies with a combined investment portfolio of $32 trillion demanded that countries scale up efforts to phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible. In addition to energy, forests are another crisis point in the battle to contain carbon dioxide emissions. Yet much less is known about investment flows to companies operating in, for example, the Amazon rainforest. 
• Spiegel online reports: Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president, wants to open up protected indigenous territories in the Amazon rain forest to mining, cattle ranching and farming. The decision could be a fateful one for the global climate. 
• South Africa Today reports: Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report. The Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna, covers over 20 percent of the nation’s territory, but it is seeing severe deforestation. A recent report uncovered links between municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation and with significant soy production. 
• Climate Home News reports: World’s three biggest rainforests face year of precarious politics. Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia all face a year of political flux placing their vast rainforests in peril. 
• Mongabay reports: Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report.The Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna, covers over 20 percent of the nation’s territory, but it is seeing severe deforestation. A recent report uncovered links between municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation and those with the greatest soy production.
• New Statesman America reports: Brazil can survive another bad president. But can the planet?. Jair Bolsonaro threatens the rainforest, environmental activists and indigenous communities.
• Insider reports: Shift to the right in Brazil: MEPs rebel against the agreement with South America.If Bolsonaro accelerated the deforestation in the rain forest, the agreement is dead,” said Bernd Lange (SPD), the Chairman of the trade Committee of the EU Parliament, of the MIRROR. 
• Global Landscapes Forum reports: For better farm yields in Brazil, a simple registration can help. In Brazil, the tropical savanna known as the Cerrado has long been under threat from agriculture. But new land management approaches within its vast mosaic of landscapes are changing the way local people are farming it. 
• Dialogo Chino reports: Brazilian government split on land ownership law. Environmentalists and communities fear the consequences of changing 2010 foreign ownership regulations. 
• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks.Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood. 
• South Africa Today reports: Brazilian hunger for meat fattened on soy is deforesting the Cerrado: report The Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna, covers over 20 percent of the nation’s territory, but it is seeing severe deforestation. A recent report uncovered links between municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation and with significant soy production. 
• Bloomberg reports: Amazon Destruction Forces Brazil’s Cowboys to Ranch Like Texans.Brazilian ranch manager Marcos Aurelio de Queiroz wants to triple the number of cattle his company, CSM Agropecuaria, sends to slaughter every year. The tricky part: Doing it without adding even a single bit of land.  

China

• Dialogo China reports: Meat consumption threatens international climate commitments. Campaigns to cut meat consumption have been highly visible throughout UN climate change conferences (COPs) in recent years, with livestock responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Yet the lack of progress is clearly on show at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, with beef burgers, ham gnocchi and bacon conspicuous among the catering options. 

Honduras 

• Mongabay reports: ‘There are no laws’: Cattle, drugs, corruption destroying Honduras UNESCO site. Poverty and political violence are driving Hondurans into Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site holding some of the region’s largest tracts of old growth rainforest.

Paraguay

• Thruthout reports: Agribusiness Invasion Threatens Indigenous of Paraguay’s Chaco Region. The Paraguayan Chaco region has been home to various groups of Indigenous peoples for millennia. But over the past few years, the land has been invaded by agribusinesses for the purpose of unsustainable livestock production. 
• Business Wire reports: Global Canopy: New Tools Provide Significant Opportunity for Latin American Banks to “Underwrite Regional Food Security”, Through Better Management of Soft Commodity Risks. Global Canopy adds new tools and guidance to the Soft Commodity Risk Platform (SCRIPT), produced in partnership with WWF, to help regional banks better manage sustainability risks for commodities such as palm oil, soy, cattle and seafood.

 

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