<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title><![CDATA[activism news from mongabay.com]]></title>
<link>http://www.mongabay.com</link>
<description><![CDATA[activism news.]]></description>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2006 mongabay.com</copyright>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:58:39 -0800</pubDate>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[No longer a fan of Earth Day]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[After April 22nd of this year, I am no longer a fan of Earth Day.  It has become a strange pseudo-holiday that allows individuals, governments, corporations, and the media to focus a miniscule spotlight on our environmental crises, and then breathe a sigh of relief over the following days and weeks as they to go back to their old ineffectual ways.  It is a day to stem the guilt of the sorry state of our natural&#8212;and 'civilized'&#8212;world.  It is not a day where environmental education actually reaches the masses, or when people wake to the need&#8212;not the luxury&#8212;to change our ways.  It is the opposite: a chance to feel good about our time's greatest crisis.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0501-hance_earth_day.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0501-hance_earth_day.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Judge suspends Amazon dam project due to legal questions]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[A Brazilian judge has issued a restraining order on a controversial dam in the Amazon basin, reports International Rivers, a conservation group.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0430-xingu.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0430-xingu.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[PETA offers $1M for lab-grown meat]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Animal rights' group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has offered $1 million to the first scientist who can create lab-grown meat in quantities large enough to be sold commercially and is indistinguishable in taste from the real thing.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0423-peta.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0423-peta.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Peru fails to investigate murder of Amazon environmental leader]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Peruvian authorities failed to respond to requests for protection from Julio Garcia Agapito, the environmental leader who was gunned down in southeastern Peru in late February, according to a new petition which calls for an investigation into his murder.  Julio Garcia's killing at the hands of an illegal logger set off international outcry and highlighted rising tensions over the paving of a highway in the Amazon rainforest.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0422-julio_garcia.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0422-julio_garcia.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[What you do to help save rainforests]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Most people understand that tropical rainforests are critically important in regulating rainfall and global climate, while providing habitat for millions of species and unique indigenous cultures.  Yet despite this significance, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a furious pace -- in 2008 Brazil and Indonesia are expected to each lose at least 8 million acres of forest cover.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0422-rainforests.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0422-rainforests.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Unilever admits it can't trace origin of palm oil used in its products]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Unilever has admitted to Greenpeace that it can't trace the origin of palm oil supplied by firms operating in Indonesia.  The relevation suggests that efforts to improve the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil have stalled as large tracts of rainforest continue to fall for the establishment of new oil palm plantations on the islands of Borneo, New Guinea, and Sumatra.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0421-greenpeace.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0421-greenpeace.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Photos by late Borneo rainforest hero, indigenous rights activist go online]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[On April 19th over 10,000 of Bruno Manser's photographs will be made available to the public on-line.  The pictures are rare documentation of the nomadic Penan peoples from the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo.  Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser proved an unflinching and passionate advocate for the Penans in the 1990s as their territory was increasingly deforested by industrial logging companies.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0417-hance_manser.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0417-hance_manser.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[The FSC is the 'Enron of forestry' says rainforest activist]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[On April 7th, Mongabay printed an interview with FSC International Communications Manager, Nina Haase, in which she defended the FSC against criticism leveled at it by various environmental organizations, such as The World Rainforest Movement and Ecological Internet.  The interview drew strong reactions on both sides, and Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation UK, requested a chance to respond to the FSC's interview in-depth.  In his response, he states that the FSC has created a "'race to the bottom' of certification standards", alleging that the "FSC really has become the 'Enron of forestry'".]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0417-hance_interview_counsell.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0417-hance_interview_counsell.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Rainforest peoples form alliance to demand payments for forest carbon credits]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Rainforest peoples from 11 nations have formed a coalition to demand a greater say in future climate negotiations.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0407-manaus_declaration.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0407-manaus_declaration.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[The FSC responds to its critics]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Last month, Mongabay.com reported on recent and various criticisms of the FSC (the Forest Stewardship Council).  The FSC is an international organization that certifies forest products which, according to their standards, have been harvested in an environmentally-sustainable and socially-responsible manner. Response to the article was significant.  It was picked up by the Ecological Internet's email campaign and was mentioned on numerous environmental web sites and blogs. At the time of the publication, the FSC had not responded to requests for comments.  But in the following interview, FSC International Communications Manager Nina Haase answers each criticism separately and addresses several other issues, such as the FSC and climate change, the organization's monitoring capabilities, and its adaptation to new environmental concerns.  Ultimately she responds to the big question raised by critics: is the FSC stamp still credible?]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0407-hance_fsc_interview.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0407-hance_fsc_interview.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Amazon soy ban seems to be effective in reducing explicit deforestation]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[An industry-led ban on soy production in the Amazon appears to be proving effective at reducing new clearing for explicit soy production, according to a survey published Monday by Greenpeace and the Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association. The moratorium, which was signed by some of the largest soy crushers in the Amazon in response to a campaign by environmental group Greenpeace, went into effect in October 2006. While soy is believed to be having an indirect impact on deforestation by driving up land prices and competing with the dominant form of land use in the Amazon &#8212; cattle ranching &#8212; the news is a hopeful sign for conservationists.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0403-amazon_soy_ban.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0403-amazon_soy_ban.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[FSC has 'failed the world's forests' say critics]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has come under increasingly harsh criticisms from a variety of environmental organizations.  The FSC is an international not-for-profit organization that certifies wood products: its stamp of approval is meant to create confidence that the wood was harvested in an environmentally-sustainable and socially-responsible manner.  For years the FSC stamp has been imperative for concerned consumers in purchasing wood products.  Yet amid growing troubles for the FSC, recent attacks from environmental organizations like World Rainforest Movement and Ecological Internet are putting the organization's credibility into question.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0325-hance_fsc.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0325-hance_fsc.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Ecosystems in the Philippines bounce back from the brink]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Philippines has often been an example for the worst-case-scenario in environmental degradation.  Some scientists have even concluded that environmental efforts should put elsewhere, claiming the Philippines to be a lost cause.  In his book Requiem for Nature John Terborgh writes the "overpopulated... Philippines are already beyond the point of no return."  However, a recent paper entitled "Hope for Threatened Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons from the Philippines" argues that there are enough positive environmental and conservation trends in the Philippines to have hope and continue working for a better tomorrow.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0319-hance_philippines.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0319-hance_philippines.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Amid accusations of bribery by loggers, Borneo chief's remains to be exhumed]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Police have announced that they plan to exhume the body of Kelesau Naan to discover the cause of death.  The Penan chieftain and passionate activist against logging disappeared in October while checking animal traps.  His body was found on December 12th of last year.  Several bones were broken, leading some to believe that Naan was assassinated because of his longtime work against loggers.  Kelesau Naan had been one of the key figures in the Penan community's fight against logging.  He was also a plaintiff and witness in a land rights claim that has been awaiting trial since 1998.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0219-hance_kelesau.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0219-hance_kelesau.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[How activists and scientists saved a rainforest island from destruction for palm oil]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[In mid-January, Mongabay learned that the government of Papua New Guinea had changed its mind: it would no longer allow Vitroplant Ltd. to deforest 70% of Woodlark Island for palm oil plantations.  This change came about after one hundred Woodlark Islanders (out of a population of 6,000) traveled to Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province, to deliver a protest letter to the local government; after several articles in Mongabay and Pacific Magazine highlighted the plight of the island; after Eco-Internet held a campaign in which approximately three thousand individuals worldwide sent nearly 50,000 letters to local officials; and after an article appeared in the London Telegraph stating that due to deforestation on New Britain Island and planned deforestation on Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea had gone from being an eco-hero to an 'eco-zero'.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0212-hance_woodlark.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0212-hance_woodlark.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Staples dumps Asia Pulp &amp; Paper over its destruction of virgin rainforests]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Office supply giant Staples Inc. dropped Asia Pulp &amp; Paper Co. Ltd. (APP), one of the world's largest paper companies, as a supplier due to concerns over its environmental performance, reports Tom Wright of the Wall Street Journal.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0208-staples.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0208-staples.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[France blocks controversial rainforest gold mine in French Guiana]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Environmentalists declared victory after the French government blocked approval of a controversial gold mine bordering the Kaw wetland, an ecologically rich site in French Guiana.  The decision was handed down last week following an environmental assessment by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development based on work by local scientists.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0205-french_guiana.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0205-french_guiana.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[New Jersey scraps plan to buy Amazon rainforest timber]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The city council of Ocean City in New Jersey voted 6-0 last Thursday to cancel a $1.1 million purchase of ipe timber originating in the Amazon rainforest.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0122-jersey.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0122-jersey.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Tropical islanders win battle against palm-oil]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Mongabay has confirmed that the Milne Bay government has pulled plans to allow Vitroplant to log 70% of Woodlark Island for palm oil plantations.  The Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Hon John Hickey, stated in a press release that "Vitroplant did do a feasibility study and were keen to invest on the island. However due to landowner objections on the development of the oil palm industry on the island, the company has decided to pull out."  Vitroplant has yet to comment.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0116-hance_woodlark.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0116-hance_woodlark.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Palm oil developer abandons plan to log 70% of Woodlark Island]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Vitro Plant, a developer that planned to log 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's Woodlark Island for oil palm plantations, has pulled out of the project reports The National, a Papuan newspaper.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0114-woodlark.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0114-woodlark.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Paper giant illegally destroying orangutan habitat in Indonesia says WWF]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[In a report released Monday, environmental group WWF has accused forestry giant Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) of illegally logging endangered orangutan habitat on the island of Sumatra.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0109-app.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0109-app.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[New York City ends use of Amazon rainforest hardwoods in parks]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[In a meeting with representatives of environmental groups Rainforest Relief and New York Climate Action Group, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe unveiled a plan to phase out the use of hardwoods logged from the rainforests of the Amazon, which the agency uses for benches, boardwalks and the decking of bridges in the thousands of parks and areas overseen by the department. Celia Peterson, director of the Specification Office of NYC Parks, stated that as of last month, Parks will no longer specify tropical hardwoods for benches.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0108-nyc.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0108-nyc.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Video game-makers score low on sustainability]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[While environmentalists, scientists, development exports, and policymakers across the political spectrum are ethusiastic about the idea of offsetting carbon emissions by preventing deforestation (a concept known as "avoided deforestation" or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)), the concept still faces many challenges, especially in implementation.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1127-games.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1127-games.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Environmentalists announce support for carbon trading]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[A coalition of environmental groups announced it will support the development of carbon trading policies that help protect tropical rainforests and other important ecosystems, noting that "conservation alone has proven no match for commerce."]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0914-gcp.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Sep 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0914-gcp.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Environmentalists may use Endangered Species Act to pressure gov't on global warming]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The addition of elkhorn and staghorn corals to the Endangered Species Act due to threats from climbing ocean temperatures, may be environmentalists' best weapon for levering the U.S. government into action on global warming, writes Mark Clayton of The Christian Science Monitor.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0907-esa.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0907-esa.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Groups demand AES withdraw from Panama dam projects]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[More than 50 green groups demanded Thursday that AES Corporation withdraw from three controversial hydroelectric projects that are threatening La Amistad International Park in Panama.  Environmentalists say the dams threaten to displace wildlife and local communities -- the Naso and Ngobe people -- in the World Heritage site.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0823-aes.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0823-aes.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Set back for AES on rainforest dam project in Panama]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The World Heritage Committee moved to assess threats to La Amistad International Park, a World Heritage site shared by Panama and Costa Rica, from AES Corporation's planned construction of four hydroelectric dams on the park's border.  The decision was based on an April 2007 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 30 other organizations in the United States, Panama, and Costa Rica.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0626-panama.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0626-panama.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[World's largest movement has no leader but 100M employees]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The world's largest movement has no name, no leader, and no ideology, but may directly involve more than 100 million people, said a green business pioneer.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0611-hawken.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0611-hawken.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Tasmania agrees to logging moratorium]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Forestry Tasmania, the forest service of Tasmania, has signed an agreement with environmental activists to cease logging activities in the Upper Florentine Valley of the island.  The moratorium will last through federal elections this in October..]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0530-tasmania.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0530-tasmania.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Uganda abandons rainforest logging for palm oil]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Ugandan government abandoned plans to log thousands of hectares of rainforest on Bugala island in Lake Victoria for a palm oil plantation, Reuters reported Saturday.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0527-uganda.html</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0527-uganda.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Chinese support shark conservation, but still demand shark fin]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[There is growing public support in China for shark conservation measures, but little understanding of the role of shark finning in declining shark populations, reveals a survey by WildAid, an environmental group.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0525-sharks.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 25 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0525-sharks.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[ITTO has failed to end tropical forest destruction says Greenpeace]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Greenpeace activists today abseiled from the top of the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Port Moresby, where delegates were gathering for the start of the 42nd International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) committee meeting, and unfurled a banner which read 'ITTO Stop Forest Destruction'.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0507-greenpeace.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0507-greenpeace.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Savvy environmentalists challenge corporations to go green]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Increasing rates of tropical deforestation in the 1970s and 1980s helped trigger the rise of several forest activist groups specifically interested in rainforests.  Among the earliest of these organizations was the Rainforest Action Network (RAN).  Founded in 1985 by Randall Hayes, RAN lead its first direct campaign in 1987 against Burger King, which at the time was using beef raised on deforested lands in Central America.  In response to the nationwide boycott, which caused sales to drop 12%, Burger King canceled $35 million worth of beef contracts from the region and announced they would no longer import beef from the rainforest.  Hailed as a major victory for rainforest protection, RAN initiated consumer boycotts of other firms engaged in destructive practices, eventually developing an effective strategy for promoting change at the corporate level. Today San Francisco-based RAN has expanded well beyond its original mission of protecting rainforests.  Recently dubbed "the most savvy environmental agitators in the business" by the Wall Street Journal, the small but efficient organization (36 staff members and a $3 million budget) pressures some of the world's largest and most respected firms -- including Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, and Boise Cascade -- to adopt wide-ranging green policies that impact everything from where they source their energy to how they finance development projects.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0130-ran.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0130-ran.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Activists ditch tear gas neutralizers for suits at trade talks in Hong Kong]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Some activists have taken a different tack at this year's World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong according to an article from Dow Jones Newswires.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1213-wto.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2005 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1213-wto.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Dodging bullets in Brazil with Greenpeace]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[When self-confessed hippie and Innocent smoothies entrepreneur Richard Reed travelled to the Amazon, he wasn't sure what to expect. But it certainly wasn't Greenpeace activists with bullet-proof vests and night-vision goggles. This is his travel journal.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1002-independent.html</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 2005 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1002-independent.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Grassroots Movements in Rainforest Conservation]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Non-governmental organizations are a driving force behind conservation efforts today. These non-profit groups fund and support all aspects of conservation from initial research to protected-area initiatives to implementation through park management and community-based conservation schemes to alliance building between government agencies and private interests. They support and coordinate grassroots movements, promote communication between all parties, and sponsor education initiatives in both developing and developed countries..]]></description>
<link>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1022.htm</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2005 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1022.htm</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Communication, What the Individual Can Do to Help Save the Rainforest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[One of the most essential parts of saving the world&apos;s rainforests is keeping an open line of communication between all parties. Communication from all parties, including indigenous peoples, local populations, business interests, governments, scientists, and conservationists, is key to understanding how to best approach balancing conservation with development. The information gained from conferences can be used to help devise a plan that will be acceptable to all parties. No group should be excluded or misrepresented and every effort should be made to keep conferences open and non-threatening. Conferences should meet regularly and have some legislative muscle so that decisions can be implemented. So far no such ideal conference has taken place, but in all fairness the whole rainforest conservation issue is relatively recent as a worldwide concept.]]></description>
<link>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1023.htm</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2005 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1023.htm</guid>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
