The work of our Forests team is about far more than trees and the protection of the Earth’s precious remaining forests – it also keeps a sharp watch on the issue of forest conversion for cash crops, especially palm oil, and on related human rights issues such as corruption, governance and land rights
It can be a little frustrating (if somewhat predictable) to see our findings dismissed out-of-hand by official mouthpieces for those governments we have cause to identify as either directly promoting harmful, even criminal, environmental policies or turning a blind eye to corruption on their watch
Poaching for trade continues to be the primary threat to the survival of tigers in the wild. It’s a brutal trade targeting some of the world’s most iconic and majestic species, to churn out entirely expendable luxury goods such as tiger skin rugs and expensive wines made from tiger bone steeped in alcohol
Two forest rangers, Sieng Darong and Sab Yoh, have been murdered in Preah Vihear Protected Forest, Cambodia. They were shot by illegal loggers, one of which has been tied to the Cambodian military, with high-powered rifles. The main driver of these crimes is unsustainable demand for rosewood timber in Vietnam and China
Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinesis) is a species that has lived longer than human beings on this planet earth. Yet recent decades of rampant demand for high-end furniture are driving the species to the brink of extinction
The town of Pakse is the sort of place that gives rise to the clichés that predominate in descriptions of Laos. Slow, sleepy and peaceful. Nestled on the Mekong, not far from the border with Thailand, it serves as an entry point to the picturesque Bolaven plateau