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Malaysian palm oil giant IOI suspended from RSPO

Mongabay: The green image of one of Malaysia’s largest conglomerates suffered a major blow on Friday with its suspension from the world’s largest association for ethical palm oil production, the RSPO. IOI Group was one of the founding members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, but it has been suspended over its operations in the Ketapang area of Indonesian Borneo, where three of its subsidiaries are alleged to have violated a raft of RSPO standards meant to prevent rainforest destruction and social...

Illegal forest clearing spotted in Aceh’s biggest peat swamp

Mongabay: Encroachers have been clearing forest at three locations in Aceh's biggest peat swamp since February, analysis of Landsat satellite imagery by environmental group Greenomics-Indonesia shows. The Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, on the western coast of Indonesia's Aceh province and the island of Sumatra, is home to the densest population of critically endangered Sumatran orangutans in the Leuser Ecosystem. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the deforestation, but encroachment for oil palm...

Indonesia’s partial forest-clearing moratorium extended, but activists wanted more

Mongabay: A Greenpeace activist dons a mask of Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in a smoldering peat forest that is supposed to be protected by Indonesia's partial forest clearing moratorium, next to a speech bubble that reads, "I can protect and save it all: 93.6 million hectares. Because I am the Forester President! Work... work... work!" Photo courtesy of Greenpeace. Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo extended Indonesia's partial forest-clearing moratorium yesterday on the day of its...