palm oil

How to Choose Chocolate That’s Truly Sustainable

How to Choose Chocolate That’s Truly Sustainable

Like with so many products, staring at the shelf of chocolate chips and baking bars can be overwhelming. What are the “right” labels to pay attention to: “Certified Compostable,” “Direct Trade” or “Fair Trade?” Does higher price mean better wages for the workers that produced it? Cacao is produced in humid regions near the equator […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    More Than Half of Palm Species Threatened With Extinction, Study Finds

    More Than Half of Palm Species Threatened With Extinction, Study Finds

    It’s hard to imagine a world without palm trees. Members of the recognizable Arecaceae family drop coconuts onto white-sand beaches, pierce their fronds through the greenery of rainforests and line glamorous boulevards from Los Angeles to Miami.  But a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution Monday warns that we might have to. A […]

    20% of Oil Palms Grown for Palm Oil in Indonesia Are Illegal, Report Finds

    20% of Oil Palms Grown for Palm Oil in Indonesia Are Illegal, Report Finds

    Growing palm oil is notoriously bad for the environment, as creating the oil palm plantations requires extensive deforestation. This process destroys the habitats of orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and many other creatures. Now, a report shows that about one-fifth of the oil palm plantations in Indonesia are actually grown in forest estates, including protected forests […]

    Video Reveals Water Contamination, ‘Brazen Disregard’ for Amazon by ‘Sustainable’ Palm Oil Industry

    Video Reveals Water Contamination, ‘Brazen Disregard’ for Amazon by ‘Sustainable’ Palm Oil Industry

    During 18 months, Mongabay investigated allegations challenging the “sustainable” status of the Brazilian palm oil supply chain, revealing impacts including deforestation and water contamination, and what appears to be an industry-wide pattern of brazen disregard for Amazon conservation and for the rights of Indigenous people and traditional communities in northern Pará state. In this behind-the-scenes […]

    New Report Finds Indonesian Forestry Company Cleared Endangered Orangutan Habitat

    New Report Finds Indonesian Forestry Company Cleared Endangered Orangutan Habitat

    By Hans Nicholas Jong An Indonesian forestry company with possible links to pulpwood and palm oil powerhouse Royal Golden Eagle has cleared forests the size of 500,000 basketball courts since 2016, some of them home to critically endangered orangutans, according to a new report. Nusantara Fiber controls 242,000 hectares (598,000 acres) of industrial tree plantations […]