Forests Newsroom

Getting your kid a book this holiday season? Before you pat yourself on the back for not buying some plastic crap destined for the dump, consider this: The book you bought might actually be destroying the rainforest.

HarperCollins, a division of News Corp, has been accused by a conservation group of using materials sourced from Indonesia's endangered rainforests.

Independent forensic fiber tests commissioned by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), showed that some of HarperCollins' children's books were printed with rainforest fiber.

Until recently, one could be forgiven for not being aware of the direct connection between the consumption of palm oil and the imminentthreat of extinction facing orangutans in Indonesia. But for companies like Cargill that are at the center of this controversy, this excuse is running out.

One of the RSPO’s principles is to abide by local regulations, meaning member palm oil producers have committed to avoiding planting on peat lands. However, RSPO members have not agreed to a definition for peat land for the purposes of CSPO.