The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has released ten rehabilitated orangutans into the wild. They are the first releases the BOSF has been able to carry out since the Covid-19 pandemic began. […]
Hydropower project ‘imperils world’s rarest great ape species’
This article has been updated. There are reports that there will be a long-term delay in construction of the Batang Toru power plant. Conservationists say a 510-megawatt hydropower plant that is being […]
1.6 million hectares of land burned in fires in Indonesia this year, new analysis reveals
A new analysis of satellite data by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) indicates that 1.64 million hectares burned in fires that blazed this year across seven Indonesian provinces. A total […]
UNESCO committee keeps Sumatran rainforest on List of World Heritage In Danger
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee¹ has again voted to keep the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) in Indonesia on the List of World Heritage In Danger. At its 42nd session, taking place […]
Sumatran rainforest remains on List of World Heritage In Danger
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has voted unanimously to keep the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) on the List of World Heritage In Danger. At its 41st session, taking place this week […]
Two Sumatran elephants found dead – one on oil palm plantation and one on farmland
On two consecutive days this week, two Sumatran elephants were found dead – one on an oil palm plantation in North Sumatra and one on farmland in the Gayo Lues Regency in Aceh. The […]
NGOs urge UNESCO to intervene to save rainforest heritage site
A consortium of NGOs is calling on UNESCO to intervene urgently to protect the rainforest World Heritage Site in northern Sumatra in Indonesia. The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) site has […]
Writers & readers festival in Bali fosters collaboration and catalyses change
The 2016 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), held on the Indonesian island of Bali, brought together an extraordinary mix of authors, journalists, poets, activists, and musicians from 25 different countries, gathered […]
Writers festival in Bali aims to break down barriers and dissolve division
“I am you, you are me” (Tat Tvam Asi in Sanskrit) is the theme of this year’s Writers & Readers Festival in Ubud on the Indonesian island of Bali. “Tat Tvam Asi […]
Drainage of peatlands for plantations ‘cannot be sustainable’, report states
A new policy brief published today (Thursday) by Wetlands International and Tropenbos International rejects claims that the drainage of peatlands for plantations can be sustainable. In the new report, the two organisations call […]
Palm oil expansion: Greenpeace report reveals devastating impact of IOI environmental violations
A new Greenpeace report says the impact of deforestation and peatland drainage on palm oil concessions owned by the Malaysian company IOI far exceeds that referred to in the complaint to the […]
Defender of Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem wins Whitley Fund for Nature award
Farwiza Farhan is a force for nature, and a force of nature. Determined, dedicated, and passionate about protecting the environment, she is one of the founders of the NGO HAkA – based in […]
Freedom beckons for Pongky the orangutan after more than a decade in captivity
A Sumatran orangutan who was kept for more than a decade in a tiny cage, then was rescued, only to end up back behind bars in a zoo, is now at a […]
Aceh citizens launch class-action lawsuit to protect Sumatran rainforest
Concerned citizens have launched a civil lawsuit against Indonesia’s minister of home affairs in a bid to protect the Leuser Ecosystem – the last place on Earth where orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and […]
Peat drainage for pulp and oil palm ‘leads to fires, subsidence, and floods’
A new report published by the non-governmental organisation Wetlands International states that almost all of the recent fire hotspots on Sumatra’s environmentally precious Kampar Peninsula started on oil palm and pulp wood […]
Climate conference: environmentalists urge action to end forest destruction in Indonesia
Environmentalists from Indonesia who are in Paris for the COP21 United Nations climate change conference have called for urgent action to end the destruction of their country’s rainforests and peatlands. They appealed […]
Ambassadors for great ape conservation join call for action on Indonesia’s forest fires
Ambassadors for the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) have called on the Indonesian government to ban the use of fire to clear land if sustainable practices cannot be implemented. For months, huge […]
Forest fires rage on in Indonesia, endangering people and wildlife
Massive forest fires are still blazing in Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, causing life-threatening levels of pollution, coming dangerously close to the base camp of The Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project, […]
Asia for Animals: a catalogue of cruelty – with glimmers of hope
Delegates at the Asia for Animals conference in Kuching on Malaysian Borneo heard about the horrors of the dog meat trade, the decline in animal populations, and the devastation being caused by […]
Indonesia and Singapore take action against companies as forest fires continue to blaze
The Indonesian and Singaporean governments are taking action against companies accused of being responsible for forest fires that are still raging on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, causing fatalities and untold […]