No justice for Indigenous community taking on a Cambodian rubber baron

Heng Saphen and her daughter, Chan Lay PhiekKAMPONG THOM, Cambodia — The mood outside the Kampong Thom Provincial Court had grown tense on the afternoon of July 26. Some 12 residents of Ngon village, an Indigenous Kuy community in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district, waited for the judge’s verdict. The group had spent roughly $200 traveling the 75 kilometers (47 miles) to […]

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Beef is still coming from protected areas in the Amazon, study shows

Some of the world’s largest beef exporters are still buying cattle that grazed in protected areas of the Amazon rainforest, despite commitments to stop this practice, according to a new study. The report, published today in the journal Conservation Letters found that millions of cattle grazed in protected areas (PAs) in the Brazilian states of Mato […]

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Industrial soy drives deforestation spike in southeastern Brazil, satellite images show

Deforestation is rising in a vulnerable part of the Amazon rainforest due to increased activity by industrial agricultural producers, who are burning down large pieces of territory to create new plantations. A new report from NGO Amazon Conservation analyzed satellite data in the southeastern state of Mato Grosso, discovering surprising amounts of deforestation connected to […]

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World Bank approves $200 million IFC loan for industrial agriculture in Brazil’s Cerrado

A major loan was approved this week for an industrial food producer operating in Brazil, despite outcries from conservation groups and international shareholders worried that the money would ultimately fund activities that contribute to deforestation. The $200 million loan was granted to industrial agricultural producer Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) for monoculture soy and corn production […]

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Mongabay reporter sued in what appears to be a pattern of legal intimidation by Peruvian cacao company

Global Forest Watch tree cover loss 2001-2021 set on Planet imagery from Jun-Sep 2020.In November 2020, Peruvian cacao company Tamshi filed a lawsuit against Mongabay Latam staff reporter Yvette Sierra Praeli for “aggravated defamation” over her reporting of a government investigation into the firm’s activities in the Peruvian Amazon. While the case was formally dismissed by a Peruvian court last month, it wasn’t the first time that Tamshi […]

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Guatemala tightens cattle ranching rules, but can they stop deforestation?

Guatemala is getting ready to implement new regulatory programs for the cattle industry in hopes of slowing the rate of deforestation in some of the country’s most at-risk tropical forests. The government has invested in quarantine pens for cattle raised in Petén, a department that has struggled to prevent cattle ranching from encroaching on the […]

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