palm oil

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    2 Orangutans Who Spent Their Lives in Cages Are Returned to Their Forest Home

    2 Orangutans Who Spent Their Lives in Cages Are Returned to Their Forest Home

    By Alicia Graef Animal advocates are celebrating the successful rescue, rehabilitation and release of two critically endangered Bornean orangutans who had spent their lives in cages as pets. The two orangutans, eight-year-old Johnny, and 10-year-old Desi, had spent their lives in confinement as pets before being rescued by a team from International Animal Rescue (IAR) […]

    7 Ways You Contribute to Rainforest Destruction on a Daily Basis

    7 Ways You Contribute to Rainforest Destruction on a Daily Basis

    By Sophia Lepore People don’t usually think about the destruction of rainforests while washing their hands, applying lipstick or doing laundry. But thanks to high demand for products containing palm oil, which is derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree, consumers are inadvertently contributing to deforestation. Companies in countries such as Indonesia burn […]

    Exclusive Clip: DiCaprio’s Climate Doc Exposes Destruction of Rainforest for Palm Oil as Huge Driver of Global Carbon Emissions

    Exclusive Clip: DiCaprio’s Climate Doc Exposes Destruction of Rainforest for Palm Oil as Huge Driver of Global Carbon Emissions

    A new documentary produced and starring actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio premieres in Los Angeles today and will be broadcast globally in 45 languages in 171 countries on the National Geographic Channel starting Oct. 30, timed to air in advance of the November elections. The film highlights the critical role forest destruction plays in driving […]

    Orphaned Orangutan Gets Second Chance After His Home Was Destroyed by Palm Oil

    Orphaned Orangutan Gets Second Chance After His Home Was Destroyed by Palm Oil

    By Chelsea Matthews As Conflict Palm Oil companies move into priceless rainforests like Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, they are leaving a trail of destruction behind. Chocolate the orangutan is one of the few lucky survivors of this destruction and his is a story of hope. Racing Extinction, Rainforest Action Network and Wildlife Asia have put together […]

    Burning Across Borders: The Health Toll of Palm Oil Fires

    Burning Across Borders: The Health Toll of Palm Oil Fires

    By Diane Shohet Earlier this month, Indonesian officials sounded the alarm that “haze” from forest fires was making its way towards neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. Haze is a benign word for the toxic smog that swamps the region every year between August and October when smallholder farmers in Indonesia clear their old oil palm crops […]

    How Palm Oil Ravages Rainforests, Endangers Wildlife and Destroys Communities

    How Palm Oil Ravages Rainforests, Endangers Wildlife and Destroys Communities

    Demand for palm oil is growing—and fast. At the moment, most of it ends up in hundreds of food products—from margarine and chocolate to cream cheese and oven chips—although it’s also used in cosmetics and increasingly, for use in biodiesel. But the cost to the environment and the global climate is devastating—to feed this demand, tropical […]

    Why is Palm Oil So Bad?

    Why is Palm Oil So Bad?

    Consumer knowledge on the destructiveness of palm oil production—found in everything from ice cream and crackers to detergents and cosmetics, is rising. Increased awareness is sorely needed, as more and more forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is among the biggest threats driving iconic wildlife species like the Sumatran […]