Earthsight

Indigenous Brazilians Protest Amazon River Dredging for Grain Exports | Amazon Watch Hundreds of Indigenous people have been protesting in northern Brazil for two weeks outside the port terminal of U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill, angered over the dredging and development of Amazonian...

⚠️ Scrapping the Amazon Soy Moratorium could drive a 30% rise in deforestation by 2045 ⚠️

Leading soy traders exited the agreement in Jan, reopening the market to deforestation-tainted soy.

With 70% of Brazil's soy destined for international markets, the EUDR is as important as ever. bit.ly/4qDZBCA

PEFC rules ban certification of areas deforested after 2010. But companies can certify only parts of their land, even if they have deforested other areas since then.

We’re calling on @pefc.bsky.social to revoke these certifications & revise their standards to stop greenwashing of major deforesters.

Environmental groups call for end to greenwashing of Indonesian deforesters Open letter calls for PEFC to revoke a 'sustainable' certification given to Indonesia's top deforesters, which have cleared more than 40,000 hectares of precious tropical forest in Borneo since 2021

Today, 18 NGOs from Indonesia, Europe & the US urge PEFC to revoke ‘sustainable’ certification from Indonesia’s two worst deforesters.

Despite clearing 40,000+ hectares in Borneo since 2021, including orangutan habitat, they can still market their timber as certified sustainable. bit.ly/4rfTLbW

⚠️ Illegal timber is laundered into international supply chains through licensed logging sites. EIA traced wood from sites with evidence of illegalities to 11 importers, including several in the EU

‼️We urgently need to combat widespread breaches of existing EU timber laws and implement the #EUDR

Bootleggers, Brokers, and Buyers - EIA A new investigative report from EIA documents a major illegal logging operation in Munduruku Indigenous Territory, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, and shows how illegal timber from the region is...

📢 @eia-news.bsky.social has uncovered a huge illegal logging operation in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory in Pará, northern Brazil

Satellite imagery shows 1200 m³ of illicitly harvested logs piled along roads across the Territory
Read the report ⬇️
eia.org/report/bootleggers-brokers-and-buyers/

Read the full national security assessment ⬇️
bit.ly/4qW5yva

UK consumption drives biodiversity loss through our imports of forest-risk commodities. This report must be a wake-up call.

The UK must urgently implement Schedule 17 of the Environment Act to prevent imports of goods produced illegally and expand its scope to cover all deforestation.

Our response to the UK government’s National security assessment on global ecosystems. The UK government’s national security assessment released yesterday underscores a stark reality: accelerating nature loss is not just an environmental issue, it is a foundational threat to global s…

🚨 BREAKING: A report from UK intelligence chiefs on national security and biodiversity loss has concluded: “Global ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity.”

Read the UK NGO Forest Coalition's response here: bit.ly/4bKzGW7

Recently cleared areas of peat forest in the concession of PT Mayawana Persada, West Kalimantan, 2024 (c) Auriga Nusantara

Timber company PT Mayawana Persada – the worst deforester in Indonesia’s plantation sector in recent years – has been granted a ‘sustainable’ label under the global wood certification scheme #PEFC

We’re calling on PEFC to revoke the certification and improve their standards to stop greenwashing

Blood-stained Birch Introduction

Blood-stained Birch showed how illegal plywood worth billions of €s was flooding into Europe, with Poland a top destination.

This response is welcome, but our research shows how traders adapt to new entry points. Strong enforcement is needed everywhere! www.earthsight.org.uk/blood-staine...

⚠️ Polish authorities have detained people accused of importing Russian & Belarusian plywood in violation of EU sanctions, and they are now facing charges of up to 30 years.

Read more: 24brussels.online/top-stories/...

Image credit: Polish Ministry of Finance – National Revenue Administration

JOB ALERT📢

We’re hiring 2 researchers/campaigners in our Latin America & Southeast Asia/Africa teams to work on cutting-edge investigations exposing environmental and social crime.

Apply if you have research experience, strong analysis and writing skills ⬇️ www.charityjob.co.uk/organisation...

New research reveals large-scale illegal logging linked to deadly Sumatra floods Earthsight and Auriga have found evidence pointing to a specific company as having contributed to the deadly floods in Sumatra in November 2025

Our new research has revealed illegal logging of protected virgin forests in a mountainous area within the concession of an Indonesian pulp giant.

The activity, we found, contributed to the deadly landslides and floods in Sumatra late last year. www.earthsight.org.uk/news/sumatra...

Monday's attack occurred during an ongoing operation to remove 1,300 cattle across 45 locations in Apyterewa.

It's a stark reminder of the danger illegal ranching poses to enforcement agents & Indigenous people, and the urgent need to strengthen enforcement of Brazilian law.

The hidden price of luxury: What Europe’s designer handbags are costing the Amazon rainforest Leather suppliers to luxury fashion brands are linked to illegal cattle ranching in the Amazon rainforest, where COP30 will take place this year

Apyterewa is one of the most heavily deforested ITs in Brazil & has been the target of invasions from cattle ranchers for decades.

Our investigation in June traced leather from cows raised inside Apyterewa to luxury fashion supply chains in the EU. www.earthsight.org.uk/news/hidden-price-luxury

“Crime bárbaro”, diz Marina Silva sobre assassinato de funcionário do Ibama | CNN Brasil Vítima sofreu emboscada e foi morta a tiros durante operação de desintrusão na Terra Indígena Apyterewa, no sudeste do Pará.

On Monday, Marcos Antônio Pereira da Cruz, a vaqueiro (cowboy) contracted by Brazil's environment agency, was killed during an operation to remove illegal cattle from the Apyterewa Indigenous Territory in Pará state.

We can and should expect commodities to be deforestation-free, legal and traceable. Lawmakers must focus on implementing the EUDR in 2026 – the world’s forests have no time to wait.

The amendments delay the law’s start date by yet another year and grant exemptions that weaken the traceability of goods linked to deforestation or human rights abuses 🔗 bit.ly/3XZnZCY

🎄As Europeans decorate their Christmas trees, the EU Parliament has passed amendments to delay and weaken the EU Deforestation Regulation, threatening thousands of hectares of forests.

Green labeler PEFC under fire for certifying Indonesian firm clearing orangutan habitat JAKARTA — A major global forestry certification body is under scrutiny for endorsing one of Indonesia’s largest recent deforesters, raising concerns that consumers may be misled about the origins of t...

Our research into one of Indonesia’s worst deforesters becoming PEFC certified - despite years of documented environmental harm - was covered this week by @mongabay.com.

Read the full article here 🔗 news.mongabay.com/2025/12/gree...

⚠️ This outcome reflects the deliberate political choices made by EU policymakers and must be a wake-up call. The future of EU policymaking must not be dominated by far-right politics and powerful corporate interests.

Today, the EU parliament passed the first Omnibus Package, weakening the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: delaying it to 2029, covering fewer companies, diluting supply chain monitoring and making justice harder to access. #CSDDD

One of Indonesia's worst deforesters certified as ‘sustainable’ Voluntary certification has time and again failed to protect the world’s forests; only legislation can force companies to prioritise sustainability

Indonesia’s #2 deforester has been granted a ‘sustainable’ label under PEFC despite clearing almost 22,000 hectares of rainforest between 2016 and 2022, including orangutan habitat.

This isn’t forest protection. It’s greenwashing. ♻️
www.earthsight.org.uk/news/pefc-pa...

Weltspiegel: Europa: Illegaler Holzimport aus Russland - hier anschauen Russland ist einer der größten Holzproduzenten der Welt. Nach Beginn des Angriffskrieges gegen die Ukraine hat die EU-Sanktionen gegen das Land verhängt. Doch Recherchen zeigen, dass das Importverbot ...

📺 Watch the ARD news segment here: bit.ly/3XCwRON

So gelangt russisches Holz über China in die EU - trotz Sanktionen Trotz internationaler Sanktionen gelangt weiterhin russisches Birkenholz im großen Stil auf den europäischen Markt - über Umwege über China. Das zeigen SWR-Recherchen. Eine Spur führt zu einem deutsch...

Our undercover investigation featured on ARD last night, showing how Russian timber reaches the EU – despite sanctions.

EU policymakers need to do more to stamp out this trade, including getting serious about implementing the #EUDR. www.tagesschau.de/investigativ...

Parliament has also tasked the @ec.europa.eu with a ‘simplification review’ of the law next year; this could trigger even more uncertainty.

The #EUDR is too important to be carved up and picked apart. The Commission must withdraw its proposal and implement the law on time.

EU Parliament votes to water down and delay vital deforestation law European Parliament voted for another 12-month postponement to the already-delayed EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a law which aims to prevent EU consumption from driving forest loss and associate...

🚨The EU Parliament has voted to water down the EU Deforestation Regulation and delay it by another year.

The changes let large retailers off the hook for selling goods linked to deforestation and create a loophole for small European farmers and foresters. www.earthsight.org.uk/news/eudr-pa...

Risky Business: EU timber imports linked to the destruction of Borneo's forests With some of Indonesia’s last remaining orangutan strongholds being flattened at an alarming rate, we've traced the timber companies buying deforestation wood and their biggest European clients

Our latest report, Risky Business, shows just why the EUDR is urgently needed: wood from some of the worst examples of deforestation in Borneo has been imported into the EU.

The EUDR would ban this and finally limit the EU’s complicity in the destruction of precious tropical forests.

This week, the EU Parliament will vote on amendments that could weaken and delay the EUDR, leaving the door wide open for products of deforestation to legally enter EU markets.

‼️We're calling on the EU Parliament to reject attempts to delay or weaken the EUDR and ensure it is fully implemented.

Earthsight reaction: EU Council supports delay and weakening of the EUDR As world leaders gather at COP, EU Member States have agreed to stall and weaken the bloc’s most significant anti-deforestation measure

EU Member States have supported a move to delay & weaken the EU Deforestation Regulation—in the final days of #COP30. 🌳🪓

The one-year delay alone means deforestation equivalent to emissions from 18 million cars.

Read our reaction: www.earthsight.org.uk/news/council...