EU Action on deforestation seems “appropriate” As the European Commission begins work on issues to be addressed in its 2016 work programme, pressure is building for EU action to rein in EU…
EU: Undermining development aid by backing landgrabbers? Concerns have been raised in the European Parliament that the EU development aid budget is financing harmful private sector investments.…
Protest against landgrabs by Socfin and Bolloré now also in Europe In solidarity with communities of five countries, on 27 May 2015 international NGOs protested against a European company…
FLEGT Action plan evaluation ongoing An evaluation of the 2003 Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) action plan is ongoing, with a view to its possible revision.…
NGO victory signals greater transparency in Indonesia’s forests Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forests has been forced to release information about commercial forest activities, following a…
MEPs condemn land grabs On 12 March 2015, the European Parliament strongly condemned Tanzania’s government for land grabbing, evictions and violence against its Maasai people. This follows…
Subsidies to forest destruction dwarf REDD+ funding A new study by ODI examining subsidies for the production of ‘forest risk’ commodities in Indonesia (timber and palm oil) and Brazil (beef…
CAR’s reconciliation forum takes critical steps on governance In the Central African Republic (CAR), hundreds of representatives from armed groups, political parties, civil society and the religious…
Local farmers unite internationally against confiscation of their lands In April 2015, farming communities in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cambodia began occupying the oil palm…
News in brief - May 2015 Seeing the forests through the trees, a new report from Fern analysing the ‘transparency annexes’ of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) in five African…
