Posts Tagged: deforestation

Indonesia has the second largest natural tropical forests on the planet and these have endured continual threats from illegal logging and unsustainable practices for decades.  WWF and many other local and international groups are working to turn these problems around to ensure ‘High Conservation Value Forests’ are left standing. It would be great to think [...]

Nature is the basis of everybody’s well-being. To quote David Attenborough on this 60th anniversary celebration of his incredible career: “A happy ecosystem is the basis for a happy human being. If it goes wrong, everything goes wrong.” And that means we need to protect the future of a whole range of species and places. [...]

To be honest there is nothing terribly endearing about white-shouldered ibises. The guide books struggle to make it sound appealing with its naked head, dark brownish plumage and dull red legs. Even its typical down-curved ibis bill is a dull grey. It has a small block of white where its neck joins its head and [...]

Over the last 20 years oil palm has emerged as a wonder crop – providing copious quantities of palm oil as an ingredient in everything from soap to biscuits. But at what cost to the environment? I’ve come to Gabon, in western Central Africa, to see what’s happening here. Palm oil production has already cleared [...]

I am sure by now you will have enjoyed watching the documentary from Kwale which shares lessons learned and our experiences of delivering conservation and livelihood improvement. With continued support from you, I am certain we will attain greater milestones. Kwale has been very busy during the months of May and June. This is because [...]

DEFRA’s Green Food Project (GFP), launched today, states it’s the start of a process that hopes to steer the UK food system to a sustainable future, where it remains a world leader in producing high-quality food. Food that contributes to a healthy population and conserves the natural environment. We completely agree with those aims, but [...]

Last Friday evening I sat and sulked like a kid who’s dropped the summer’s first ice cream in the sand. Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, had announced only a partial veto of the worrying new forest bill we’ve been campaigning against. My immediate reaction was one of defeat – to me, anything other than a full [...]

I recently went to Brazil to visit the soya-growing region of the Cerrado – which is more closely connected to all of us than we might think… Like most people, I hadn’t heard of the vast tropical savannah area known as the Cerrado before. Located in the heart of Brazil and spanning an area the [...]

Today’s guest blogger, on the subject of soya/soy, is Cassio Franco Moreira (PhD Agroecology), who is head of WWF Brazil’s agriculture and environment programme, and represents WWF on the RTRS – Round Table on Responsible Soy. “It’s fair to say I know quite a bit about certification schemes for agriculture. I have a small family-run organic coffee [...]

Update 22 May: sign the urgent petition before Friday! Join the millions asking Brazil’s president to veto the disastrous changes to the forest law! Just a few months ago, Rio de Janeiro seemed the perfect backdrop for the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (aka Rio+20). In the past decade, Brazil has made huge progress [...]