Protecting Forests

Ending deforestation is our best chance to conserve wildlife while defending the rights of forest communities. It is also one of the quickest, most cost effective ways to slow the effects of climate change.

We are fighting to protect forests around the globe from destruction—and set them on a path to restoration. Working together with Indigenous Peoples, allies, and supporters like you, we're calling out the industries and companies destroying our forests, and the governments who have failed to protect them.

Forests are our life support system. They help stabilize the climate, sustain a diversity of life, provide economic opportunity, and are vital to the livelihoods of many Indigenous Peoples and rural communities. Yet, forests and other critical ecosystems are hanging in the balance, being wiped out and converted to croplands, pasture, and plantations. Existing laws remain deeply inadequate, and the regulations in place are poorly enforced. 

From the Amazon to Canada to Indonesia, half of our global forests have already been lost to unsustainable industrial practices. The need to protect remaining forests is more urgent than ever. The loss of these vital ecosystems is displacing communities, threatening the habitats of rare and endangered species, and spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In 2019, two United Nations science reports, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Land-use Report, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services underlined the urgency of saving forests in order to curb the extinction crisis and fight the climate crisis. To avoid further catastrophic consequences, we urgently need to protect and restore forests and recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The food system is broken

Industrial agriculture contributes to 80% of deforestation across the globe, posing a threat to communities and the planet. Greedy companies are literally setting tropical forests on fire to clear land and expand their cattle grazing and feed, fueling the climate crisis.

Campaign Issues

In the face of the crisis, inspiring solutions and compelling arguments are not enough. We need to build a movement of people calling for forest protection, species survival and taking action against climate change. A movement that can support Indigenous Peoples rights, call out corporate exploitation of the planet and expose government inaction.

This is where you come in.

Rang-tan: the story of dirty palm oil

The Amazon is the world’s biggest rainforest, home to more than 340 thousand Indigenous Peoples and half of the planet’s terrestrial species. Cattle ranching, soya plantations and timber extracting are some of the key drivers of deforestation in the Amazon. Greenpeace has been working with our Indigenous allies to guarantee the demarcation of their lands and exposing the atrocious violence against forest defenders by loggers and land grabbers. We have also been campaigning for zero deforestation and putting pressure on the government to increase forest protection.

After receiving criticism from Greenpeace for its irresponsible practices, Resolute Forest Products (Canada’s largest logging company) decided to sue Greenpeace Canada, and then years later also sue Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International. Three Greenpeace Forest campaigners who were individually named in the suits describe what this experience has been like. They also talk about their own connections to nature, the importance of the Boreal forest, and how a lawsuit against Greenpeace could end up endangering free speech everywhere.