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How Brands Exploit “Green” Certification

Brands and businesses may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications to garner a larger market share at the expense of integrity.

Around 400 #ecolabels 🏆 claim to provide #consumers with choice ⁉️ Yet they’re unreliable in holding #corporates to account for widespread #deforestation and #humanrights abuses and #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥 ⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6

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#Brands and giants of #FMCG may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications like #FSC, MSC and #RSPO to reassure consumers. Yet ecolabels have deep flaws in enforcement of standards. #ecocide #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6

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Written by Dr Arne Nygaard, professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.

Analyses conducted in the study indicate that while certifications can help prevent greenwashing, they can also contribute to eco-opportunism […] the theory of eco-opportunism warns that this can lead to free riding and greenwashing, where products are falsely advertised as sustainable but fail to meet certified standards.
Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…

As the global fight against climate change intensifies, certifications have become crucial tools for industries to address environmental, business and social challenges. Sustainability certifications promote eco-friendly practices, protect human rights and boost the credibility of environmentally responsible brands.

But although certifications often enhance the perceived value of sustainable products and services, challenges remain.

There are concerns about greenwashing and free riding plus the inability of certification systems to adapt to changes and failing to incentivise the adoption of newer, more sustainable technologies.

At the supermarket, a shopper carefully studies a label, thinking, “This product has a certification. Must be environmentally friendly. I’ll buy it.” And like that shopper, millions around the world make that same decision every day.

Greenwashing, where companies falsely claim eco-friendly credentials without meeting required standards, is a significant issue. Similarly, free riding allows businesses to benefit from the positive image of certifications without genuinely implementing sustainable practices.

The number of sustainability certifications has surged globally in recent years. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reports that more than 400 certifications now cover sectors such as food, agriculture, energy, environment, health and social responsibility.

Consumer awareness

This growth reflects increasing consumer awareness of sustainability and the desire of companies to showcase their commitment to eco-friendly practices.

Certifications serve as essential market signals, enabling businesses to distinguish themselves by adhering to recognised environmental and social standards.

Some of the internationally recognised certifications include the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for green buildings, the Forest Stewardship Council for sustainable forestry and the Fair Trade certification, which ensures that products meet strict social, environmental and labour criteria.

Another key example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification, which promotes the production of palm oil in a way that minimises environmental harm, protects biodiversity and ensures fair treatment of workers and local communities.

Certifications typically involve third-party evaluations to assess compliance with criteria such as environmental and economic impact or fair labour practices.

Despite widespread adoption, certifications face growing scrutiny.

For instance, consumer demand for eco-friendly products has led to companies charging higher prices for green products. While many consumers are willing to pay this premium, it can create perverse incentives for companies to engage in greenwashing.

Certifications, intended to assure consumers of a product’s environmental and social standards, can paradoxically encourage companies to exploit these authentications for profit.

When businesses realise they can charge a premium for eco-labelled goods, the temptation to stretch the truth or manipulate the certification increases.

Erosion of trust

Greenwashing erodes consumer trust and devalues the certifications of genuinely sustainable products.

As more companies exploit these eco-friendly claims without verification, it becomes harder for consumers to differentiate between authentic and deceptive environmental practices, potentially undermining the credibility of certification systems.

This highlights the urgent need for stronger mechanisms to mitigate these risks, ensuring that certification systems are not only effective but also resilient against exploitation.

Certification bodies can tighten standards, increase transparency and implement stronger verification processes to reflect evolving sustainability standards and prevent misuse. Additionally, independent audits and greater rigour throughout the supply chain would hold companies accountable for their claims.

Investigation into the root causes of greenwashing is necessary to understand how and why companies manipulate sustainable claims.

One key issue is that certification processes often focus on specific criteria and may not capture the broader environmental or social impacts of a product.

Selective compliance

A company may meet the minimum requirements for certification in one area, such as reducing carbon emissions, while ignoring other important sustainability factors such as labour conditions or biodiversity conservation.

This selective compliance allows companies to appear more sustainable than they truly are, feeding into the cycle of greenwashing.

Consumers can be educated on how to critically evaluate certification labels to avoid falling prey to greenwashing tactics.

By reinforcing certification systems with robust monitoring and compliance mechanisms, the credibility of sustainable products can be preserved, and the integrity of genuine sustainability efforts can be upheld.

Non-governmental organisations and activist groups play a critical role in developing and implementing certification systems. These organisations provide valuable input during the creation of sustainability standards and help monitor compliance, ensuring that certification systems remain credible.

For example, the Forest Stewardship Council certification system for responsible forestry was developed in 1993 with input from environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.

NGOs advocate for higher sustainability standards, while certifications give them leverage to hold businesses accountable. By working together, NGOs and certification bodies can drive meaningful change toward a more sustainable future.

The interaction between state institutions, laws, and certification systems is also vital to ensuring the credibility and effectiveness of sustainability efforts.

Governments often set baseline sustainability requirements, while certification systems provide an additional layer of accountability. A clear example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification now used in 21 countries.

Resistance to change

One challenge facing certification bodies is internal structural inertia. This refers to resistance to change, preventing the adoption of innovative green technologies.

This occurs when certification bodies become too rigid in their processes, policies, or standards, making it difficult for them to quickly adapt to new environmental paradigms.

For example, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design initially focused on energy efficiency in buildings but was slow to incorporate newer technologies like green roofs or biophilic design which enhance sustainability.

Similarly, in the agricultural sector, government certification systems such as the United States Department of Agriculture Organic can be slow to recognise advancements in vertical farming or aeroponics, even though these methods significantly reduce land use, water consumption, and pesticide reliance.

This type of institutional resistance can delay the transition to more sustainable practices, as certification bodies may cling to outdated standards that fail to incentivise the latest green technologies.

To stay relevant and support ongoing environmental progress, certification organisations can work to overcome structural inertia and actively seek ways to update their standards in response to new innovations.

By updating their standards to reflect these disruptive technologies, certification systems can stay relevant and effective, driving sustainability across industries and supporting innovation while addressing evolving environmental challenges.

However, certifications, while essential tools for promoting sustainable practices, face limitations. Greenwashing, free-riding, and institutional inertia can undermine their value, posing challenges for businesses and consumers alike.

As markets evolve, certifications risk becoming obsolete unless they adapt to new environmental and technological challenges.

Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…

Dr Arne Nygaard is a professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.

ENDS

Read more about greenwashing associated with certified “sustainable” palm oil and other commodities

Oreo Maker Linked to Ongoing Deforestation and Human Rights Abuses

Mondelēz International who make Oreos keep sourcing palm oil from suppliers linked to violence and deforestation. Their RSPO certification is pure greenwash!
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Jaguars vs Cows: JBS Fuelling Biodiversity Collapse in Brazil’s Forests

Global Witness report finds JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in the Amazon and Pantanal putting jaguars at risk
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #brandCertification #Brands #consumers #corporates #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabels #FMCG #FSC #greenwashing #HumanRights #OrangutanLandTrust #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #RSPO #RSPOGreenwashing

Palm Oil Detectives

2026-01-20 14:51:00

Jaguars vs Cows: JBS Fuelling Biodiversity Collapse in Brazil’s Forests

A damning Global Witness investigation exposes how JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in some of Brazil’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including the Amazon and Pantanal. Despite greenwashing promises, JBS continues sourcing cattle from ranchers involved in illegal deforestation in areas that overlap with protected jaguar territory—pushing iconic species like the jaguar closer to extinction. The company’s failure to track indirect suppliers undermines greenwashing and zero-deforestation claims. JBS is financed by British Bank Barclays who made a whopping $1.7 billion from this decimation of the environment. This scandal highlights the urgent need to divest your wealth from Barclays until they stop funding JBS. Also in the supermarket you can #BoycottMeat and be #vegan for not only farmed animals but also for wild animals like jaguars and countless others. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

#Meat giant 🥩☠️ #JBS is driving #deforestation in the #Amazon🐆 ❌ Jaguars are losing their home to cows killed for burgers 🤮💰 Billions in profits to #Barclays and zero accountability 📣 Divest NOW! NO to #BigCat #extinction! #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan palmoildetectives.com/2026/01/…

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Global Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns…

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A Global Witness investigation has found that jaguars, vital guardians of Amazonian ecosystems and critical apex predators — are under siege as Brazil’s forests are cleared at alarming rates. New findings from Global Witness show that over 27 million hectares of the jaguar’s historic habitat in Brazil have been razed for industrial agriculture, particularly cattle ranching, between 2014 and 2023.

A single supplier to JBS, the world’s largest meat company, illegally cleared over 1,200 hectares of protected jaguar habitat in just a decade. Across the jaguar’s range in Pará and Mato Grosso states, 75% of farms linked to JBS’s supply chain broke environmental laws in the past five years. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation have devastated jaguar populations, classified as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.

Jaguars are a keystone species, crucial to maintaining ecosystem health. Their decline ripples throughout the Amazon and Cerrado, triggering wider biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, financial institutions in Europe, China, and the US continue backing JBS despite its environmental breaches, profiting while forests fall.

With Brazil hosting COP30 this year, Global Witness is calling for world leaders to show real commitment. They must strengthen laws regulating supply chains and finance to protect remaining forests and Indigenous territories, or risk missing the 2030 deadline to halt deforestation.

Without urgent action, jaguars — once revered as guardians of the rainforest — could vanish forever.

The Global Witness investigation found over 27 million ha of jaguar habitat – an area larger than the UK – had been converted to agricultural land in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará as of 2023.

“We decided to investigate the loss of jaguar habitat driven by industrial agriculture because jaguars are a keystone species. They play a crucial role in stabilising ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity in areas such as the Amazon and Cerrado. When their territories are destroyed, the entire ecosystem suffers,” said Marco Mantovani, a Global Witness investigator leading the data analysis.

A road in Brazil which drives deep into jaguar habitat. Ricardo de O. Lemos/ShutterstockJaguar Panthera onca by Ecuadorian artist Juanchi PérezA jaguar in the jungle of southern Mexico. Mardoz/Shutterstock

“Deforestation is a solvable issue, but it’s one where there is stalling, a lack of political will to actually meet the global agreement to end forest loss by 2030,” said Global Witness’s Reid, referring to the landmark pledge reached at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021.

She told Mongabay that she hopes that at COP30 countries will put forward plans “to actually deliver [on] their commitments when it comes to forest loss.”

British banking giant Barclays was a main financier of the megaproject and made an extraordinary $1.7 billion from financing JBS, surpassing 30 other global financial institutions bankrolling the meatpacker. A key way to take action is to not only boycott meat in solidarity to cows and jaguars, but to also divest your funds from Barclays.

Global Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns…

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Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

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Jaguars and Pumas Eat More Monkeys in Damaged Forests

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Barclays #bigCat #bigcat #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #deforestation #extinction #Jaguar #JaguarPantheraOnca #Jaguars #JBS #meat #meatAgriculture #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #meatDeforestation #News #PalmOil #vegan

Jaguars vs Cows: JBS Fuelling Biodiversity Collapse in Brazil’s Forests

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”

Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite imagery for the entire Amazon region with data from the Brazilian national census, our new study found that deforestation in areas protected by #Indigenous communities was up to 83% lower compared to unprotected areas.

Results demonstrate that returning lands to Indigenous communities can be extremely effective at reducing deforestation and boosting #biodiversity to help address #climatechange. Yet, forest conservation should not come at an economic cost to people living in Indigenous-managed lands.

The world’s largest #rainforest the #Amazon 🫁🌳🌿 is vanishing. Yet a bright spark of hope finds #deforestation in #Indigenous protected areas is 83% lower. They are the KEY to saving the #forests and animals! #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycott4Wildlife wp.me/pcFhgU-8SM

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Written by Johan Oldekop, Reader in Environment and Development, University of Manchester; Bowy den Braber, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, and Marina Schmoeller, PhD Candidate, Ecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)vThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tarcisio Schnaider/Shutterstock
Despite this win for indigenous-led conservation, our results also show that Indigenous communities had the lowest levels of socioeconomic development. Incomes in Indigenous territories were up to 36% lower compared to other land uses.

Indigenous people are among the most disadvantaged groups of people in the world. Although Indigenous communities in Brazil have strengthened their political representation in recent years, 33% of people living below the poverty line are Indigenous.

Improving the economic wellbeing of Indigenous people is not only the socially just thing to do but can also be environmentally effective. Research in Nepal showed that communities with higher levels of socioeconomic development are less likely to trade off development with deforestation. Providing communities with the ability to protect and conserve their local forests and develop economically can be a win-win for both people and the environment.

In 2022, governments across the world agreed to protect 30% of the planet’s surface by 2030. To meet the commitments of this 30×30 agenda, many countries need to drastically increase their conservation efforts to reverse deforestation in the Amazon and beyond.

Governments and philanthropic organisations pledged unprecedented political and financial support for forests and Indigenous peoples and local communities at the 2021 COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. These pledges have helped raise the voices of Indigenous peoples and ushered in a new era of commitments to return ancestral lands.

Yet, forests and their resources across the world remain coveted by many different interest groups, including mining and large agribusiness. The Supreme Court in Brazil is currently debating the constitutional validity of the controversial “Marco Temporal” or time limit framework which could substantially limit the ability of Indigenous peoples across the country to make claims for lands. This legal theory states that Indigenous peoples are only entitled to make claims for lands if they can prove that they were in possession of them on or before October 5 1988 when the Brazilian constitution came into effect.

Perhaps surprisingly, our results show that agricultural business development of the Brazilian Amazon is unlikely to provide greater socioeconomic benefits for local, non-indigenous communities than protection-focused alternatives that preserve forest cover but allow sustainable resource use by rural communities. But the agribusiness lobby in Brazil, who are often in direct conflict with Indigenous people, often argues that agricultural expansion will provide economic development for the region.

Our results demonstrate that returning lands to Indigenous communities can be extremely effective at reducing deforestation and boosting biodiversity to help address climate change. Yet, forest conservation should not come at an economic cost to people living in Indigenous-managed lands.

Access to land and opportunity

Indigenous communities need to regain access to their ancestral lands while also gaining access to development opportunities. Indigenous people in Brazil are eligible to receive support from social welfare programmes, such as the family allowance scheme (or bolsa familia in Portuguese), which is credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and reducing inequality.
Protesters hold placards expressing their opinion during the demonstration. The Marco Temporal thesis, indigenous, and supporters of the indigenous movement met in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May 2023. ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo

However, many rural and isolated communities face substantial difficulties accessing support. For example, fuel costs to take long boat trips from remote communities to urban centres to collect payments are high and many communities lack access to technology to even apply for such schemes.

President Lula Da Silva’s government is considering developing an Indigenous family allowance programme to address access problems faced by Indigenous communities in Brazil. As efforts to return rights to land ramp up in the wake of the 30×30 agenda, more governments and nongovernmental organisations should support the many other rights that Indigenous peoples have and reduce the structural barriers that prevent rural communities from claiming them.

Written by Johan Oldekop, Reader in Environment and Development, University of Manchester; Bowy den Braber, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, and Marina Schmoeller, PhD Candidate, Ecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)vThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Amazon #AmazonRainforest #biodiversity #BoycottGold #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Brazil #climatechange #deforestation #forests #humanRights #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousMedicine #indigenousRights #landRights #PalmOil #rainforest #Yanomami

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-11-29 13:21:00

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

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In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.

Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-924

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Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.

News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.

In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.

As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia

Fanning the flames

On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”

The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”

While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.

May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.

More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.

Indigenous knowledge undermined

Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.

youtu.be/ok787HRp_gA

Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.

In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.

Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.

Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.

In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.

Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.

Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.

Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.

Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?… A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.

Planting seeds of collaboration

Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.

Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.

Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.

Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.

Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

---

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Planetary Health Film Lab 2023: Belize Edition for COP28

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Indigenous Farming: Science, Not Superstition

What does it mean when you encounter snakes slithering along paths or find a bird nest with eggs? For Indigenous peoples in Malaysia, these are tell-tale signs passed down by their ancestors discouraging them from using the land. Instead, they must protect the area from unscrupulous developments.

The #Indigenous people’s respect for the land and their traditional #agriculture and #farming methods can teach us all to adapt to extreme weather and #climatechange. Take action and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🩸🚜☠️🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2023/12/…

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Written by By Dr Su-Hie Ting, Dr Gabriel Tonga Noweg, and Dr Yvonne Michelle Campbell, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in Kuching for 360Info.org and republished under the Creative Commons Licence.

The Indigenous people’s respect for the land and their traditional agricultural practices can teach us to adapt to extreme weather conditions.

In 2021, Malaysia lost 123,000 hectares of natural forest. This is equivalent to 87 million tonnes of carbon emissions. The destruction ruined thousands of food, energy and livelihood sources for Indigenous communities.

Researchers say agriculture is a significant contributor to anthropogenic global warming and reducing agricultural emissions — largely methane and nitrous oxide — could play a significant role in climate change mitigation. American economist William R Cline believes global warming reduces yields because crops speed through their development, producing less grain as higher temperatures interfere with the ability of plants to retain moisture.

In large-scale farming, using bulldozers and other mechanised farming equipment compacts the soil, reducing the soil’s water storage capacity and increasing surface runoff during heavy rain. According to the German environmental organisation BUND, soil structure and humus levels in the soil are vital for flood protection.

The Indigenous peoples in Malaysia have great respect for the land. The Bidayuh’s folktales or dondan teach the people that the land they inhabit does not belong to them, but to the spirits of the land.

Their folk wisdom on agricultural practices is based on that respect for the land. They don’t act as masters or owners of the land. To them, the land is a shared treasure, passed down from generation to generation.

The Bidayuhs will perform a ‘ngawah’ ritual on a selected piece of land a few months before carrying out any paddy planting activities. A traditional priest performs the Gawai ceremonies and presents offerings to spirits.

When they notice a particular creeping plant, the Indigenous people will not disturb or use that area. This isn’t mere superstition. There is science behind it.

Companion planting is when two plants are grown close together for the benefit of one or both plants. The presence of certain plant species can indicate that the land is not suitable for crops, like paddy. Some plants compete for nutrients or space if they are planted too close together. Other plants like sunflower seeds contain a toxin that prevents potatoes from growing fully, and since insects such as tomato hornworm and certain types of fungus thrive on corn and tomatoes, planting them together can contribute to a massive fungus attack.
Indigenous farming knowledge is science, not superstition

The Indigenous communities in Sarawak have adopted environmentally responsive farming practices to adapt to extreme climate changes

A big issue is declining water resources due to unpredictable rainfall patterns. In the past, the farmers in Sarawak knew that there would be the northeast monsoon season at the end of the year until February and there would be dry weather from March to October. Floods, if any, would occur during the monsoon season.

However, in recent years rainfall has become unpredictable. Serious flooding in urban areas has been more prevalent in the middle of the year. This is because consecutive rainfall for two to four hours may cause flash floods. Indigenous farmers have ways to adjust their farming activities in anticipation of floods but they don’t have extensive irrigation systems to handle drought. Dry weather can cause crop failure, decrease crop yield and disrupt access to drinking water for livestock.

The land needs water to flourish. Soil cover is important to prevent or reduce erosion and flooding. It also acts as a sponge to soak up excess water and stabilise temperature. Soil moisture affects the weather, affecting both temperature and precipitation. As the temperature rises, the evaporation rate of soil moisture increases. The increased soil moisture evaporation helps cool the ground.

The Indigenous people know that the forest acts as a sponge

It retains water during rainy days, and gradually releases the water during dry periods. The traditional response is to improve the condition of the forest in their catchment area by planting more trees such as timber trees, bamboo, rattan and wild fruit trees.

Indigenous communities use plant resources for furniture and construction, consumption and medicinal purposes although different communities use plants in different ways. The Bidayuhs use Tongkat Alior ‘longjack’, as a remedy for hypertension while the Malays use it to enhance male sexual performance.

Planting more trees helps increase soil cover. In the long run, it will improve the capacity of the forest and water catchment areas to retain more water. This will ensure a more sustainable source of drinking water for the villages and maintain a stable temperature for the environment.

One of the main means of livelihood for the Indigenous people is wet paddy farming in lowland areas near rivers. The lower floodplain has fertile soil but is subject to flood damage during extreme weather conditions. Villagers use streams to irrigate their fields by making weirs or small dams to divert water to the paddy fields. However, this has become difficult as floods are becoming more frequent and unpredictable.

Paddy farmers have two traditional responses to flooding based on traditional knowledge. They farm on the slightly higher ground less likely to be affected by major and prolonged flooding. But since they avoid the lowland, they are left with a smaller area to plant paddy. In addition, paddy planted on higher ground does not grow well due to poorer irrigation and less fertile soil.

Farmers also adjust to changing climatic conditions by predicting the likelihood of a wet or dry year. By observing weather trends in the few months before planting season (normally between April and August), they decide whether to plant on the floodplain or higher ground.

This Indigenous knowledge for forecasting weather relies on signs from the environment. At the start of the dry season, usually after March, if there is a mist or fog early in the morning, it means it will be a dry year.

Birds can predict weather too. To the indigenous, if the ‘Burung Kangkok’ (hawk-cuckoo) chirps loudly and noisily when the fruit trees are about to blossom, it means it will be a good fruiting year. Researchers have discovered birds can detect rising and falling barometric pressure and can predict bad or cold weather when they detect a low-pressure centre or a cold front approaching.

Indigenous agricultural practices are different and interesting as a sustainable way of living because they are based on paying respect to the land. The main issue they have to contend with is the lack of water, and they have to develop farming strategies to effectively work with the land – rather than conquering or damaging the land.

Traditional agricultural practices can teach us to adapt to extreme weather conditions. However, Indigenous mitigation measures are difficult to implement because their traditional practices are at odds with large-scale farming.

Large-scale farming will increase to cater to the global population. Feeding a population of 9.1 billion in 2050 would require raising overall food production by some 70 percent between 2005 and 2050. Large-scale farming causes a reduction of the water storage capacity of the soil and, among other factors, will lead to rising temperatures. Large-scale farming contributes to climate change. Yet it is a necessity to feed the global population.

Professor Dr Su-Hie Ting is a lecturer at the Faculty of Language and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Her research interests include ethnic groups and their language and culture.

Professor Dr Gabriel Tonga Noweg has a background in natural resource management, forestry, environmental conservation, biodiversity management and ethnobotany. He is currently a Principal Fellow at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, UNIMAS. His current research interests include ethnobotany (medicinal plants), ecology of conservation areas, conservation of community-owned forests, ecotourism and biodiversity assessment. He is a registered consultant with Natural Resource and Environment Board (NREB) in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Dr Yvonne Michelle Campbell from the Faculty of Language and Communication, UNIMAS researches ethnolinguistics and Indigenous worldviews and has published journal papers on folk wisdom and cultural practices of the Bidayuh in Sarawak.

Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

Written by By Dr Su-Hie Ting, Dr Gabriel Tonga Noweg, and Dr Yvonne Michelle Campbell, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in Kuching for 360Info.org and republished under the Creative Commons Licence.

ENDS

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Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

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Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Agriculture #agroforestry #Boycott4Indigenous #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #climatechange #farming #humanRights #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousMedicine #indigenousRights #landRights #PalmOil #ReasonsToBeHopeful

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-11-29 13:21:00

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

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In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.

Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-924

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Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

---

Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.

News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.

In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.

As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia

Fanning the flames

On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”

The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”

While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.

May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.

More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.

Indigenous knowledge undermined

Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.

youtu.be/ok787HRp_gA

Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.

In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.

Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.

Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.

In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.

Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.

Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.

Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.

Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?… A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.

Planting seeds of collaboration

Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.

Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.

Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.

Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.

Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

---

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries

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Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

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Read more

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Read more

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Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

Read more

Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

Read more

Load more posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

---

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,174 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Belize #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #community #goldMining #humanRights #hunger #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Maya #Mexico #PalmOil #poverty #slavery #wildfires

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^{Youth Climate Report (YouTube)}

Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo

On April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), (formerly known as Feronia) environmental rights defenders were arrested, and a journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC. Take action in solidarity of these people and #BoycottPalmOil when you shop!

In April, environmental defenders in the #DRC were arrested and kidnapped at a shareholder meeting for highlighting #PalmOil #HumanRights abuses 🔥🌴⛔️ Since then no action has been taken! Stand with them 💪 #WorkersRights #BoycottPalmOil wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX @palmoildetect

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#PalmOil giant #PHC formerly #Feronia, violently silences environmental defenders in the #DRC #Congo. Protesters arrested, journalist kidnapped, workers left without justice. Take action for #HumanRights #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX

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youtu.be/Vp03S3v4r5Y

Zongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.

Arrests and Abduction at PHC Shareholders Meeting

On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), environmental rights defenders were arrested, and an environmental journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC.

Who are Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC)?

Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) are a palm oil company that operate extensive palm oil plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company produces palm oil used in many products like food, cosmetics, and biofuels. PHC has faced numerous protests and criticism for its detrimental impact on the environment and local communities.

The people versus Feronia: Fighting palm oil agrocolonialism in the Congo

This powerful #comic is by Didier Kassai and Dieudonne Botoko Kendewa is about a community in the #Congo 🇨🇩 living next to the #Feronia #palmoil plantation. They faced #violence…
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by Palm Oil Detectives

The Protesters’ Demands

The protest was sparked by a letter from the Réseau d’Information et d’Appui aux ONG (RIAO – DRC), a network supporting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the DRC. This letter led PHC to hold an urgent meeting in Kinshasa.

Protesters had several demands:

• Release people who were unjustly imprisoned.
• Compensate workers for accidents and retirees.
• Reopen the Lokutu and Boteka ports, which they argue are public roads, not PHC property.

Call to Action and Strong Suppression

The protesters wanted to push state authorities to act on an open letter from RIAO – DRC and its partners. This letter discussed mediation claims funded by the German Bank (DEG) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) to help communities affected by PHC. Unfortunately, security forces were called to stop the protesters, damage their equipment, and kidnap the journalist and environmental defender.

An Urgent Appeal for Support

RIAO-RDC, a national support network for NGOs, made an urgent call to security authorities and stakeholders to find their members, Dieumerci Mpay Ngomba, and a cameraman journalist from Numerica TV in Kinshasa. They called these actions “kidnapping” and stressed that defenders of forest community rights should not face political or rights abuses.

An Alarming and Unjust Situation for Environmental Defenders

The situation for environmental defenders in the DRC is worrying. RIAO-RDC said Dieumerci was arrested because of a complaint by PHC. At the General Prosecutor’s Office near the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa Gombe, protesters were charged with inciting breaches against public authority under article 135 of the Congolese penal code.

Targeting Environmental Advocates

RIAO-RDC believes that PHC is mainly targeting Jean François Mombia Atukua, who previously led a disguised march against RIAO and its director at the Lokutu base. The organisation urges the judiciary to ensure the safety of those arrested and uphold press freedom and human rights.

Company Response

Following publication PHC did not respond to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s request for comment regarding these allegations.

References

• La Rédaction. (2024, May 3). DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals. Kilalo Press.
• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals.
• Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, February 3). Research: Small Room for Compromise Between Oil Palm Cultivation and Primate Conservation in Africa.
• Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, September 1). Africa’s Rainforests Are Different: Why It Matters That They’re Protected.
• Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, February 14). As Palm Oil Production Ramps Up in Africa, Communities Work to Avoid Problems Plaguing Other Regions.
• Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, January 18). Africa: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation
• Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, June 16). The People Versus Feronia: Fighting Palm Oil Agrocolonialism in the Congo. palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/…

Zongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
Read more

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

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Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #Congo #corruption #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #DRC #Feronia #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #PalmOil #palmoil #PHC #slavery #workersRights #WorkersRights

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-11-29 13:21:00

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

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In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.

Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-924

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Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.

News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.

In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.

As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia

Fanning the flames

On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”

The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”

While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.

May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.

More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.

Indigenous knowledge undermined

Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.

youtu.be/ok787HRp_gA

Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.

In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.

Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.

Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.

In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.

Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.

Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.

Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.

Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?… A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.

Planting seeds of collaboration

Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.

Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.

Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.

Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.

Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

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Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

Read more

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An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

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Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,174 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Belize #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #community #goldMining #humanRights #hunger #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Maya #Mexico #PalmOil #poverty #slavery #wildfires

Planetary Health Film Lab 2023: Belize Edition for COP28

This compilation showcases six films made by youth from Belize. The films examine the impacts of climate change and other planetary health issues on these co...

^{Youth Climate Report (YouTube)}

#Germany and #Italy want to continue #GazaGenocide:

"#EU member states could not rally the support necessary to suspend Israel from the Horizon #Europe fund in response to the war in #Gaza. The proposal needed a qualified majority of member states to pass it. But two of the largest countries - #Germany and #Italy - said they need more time to examine it.

A European Commission proposal to deny #Israel partial access to the EU's €95 billion Horizon Europe research fund failed to garner the necessary qualified majority support when EU ambassadors met in #Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

If agreed, Israel would lose access to €200 millions' worth of future grants and investments in Horizon's European Investment Council (EIC) which specialises in so-called disruptive technologies.

...The Commission's motion to suspend Israel's participation in Horizon is in response to an EU report finding the country had breached #humanrights obligations in the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

After this finding the two sides came to an agreement that Israel would "substantially" increase access to civilians for food and medicine within the enclave to prevent the EU taking action for the breach.
However, the EU says there has been no material improvement for Palestinians.
euronews.com/my-europe/2025/07…