Campaigners

The resources here are specifically designed for use by campaigners and activists.

As well as information, these resources all contain ideas for actions you can take. You can also find purely information based materials in the general readers and experts sections.

Campaign guides

How to win: Saving wildlife sites
2001
An introductory guide providing practical advice to help you campaign for areas at risk. Invaluable for seasoned campaigners and those just interested in wildlife.

Briefings

Agrofuels: Fuelling or Fooling Europe?
(PDF† 174K) October 2007
Friends of the Earth Europe's position on agrofuels/biofuels.

The RTFO consultation response
(PDF† 35K) May 2007
Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland's full response to the Government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation consultation. Biofuels are a particular focus of the response.

The Environmental Liability Directive Consultation
(PDF† 63K) January 2007
The environmental liability directive offers the opportunity to implement the "polluter pays" principle in UK law. Currently the Government is consulting on proposals how to implement the directive into UK law. This briefing outlines why the Government's proposals are insufficient to protect biodiversity in the UK and it advises on how to respond to the consultation.

The use of palm oil for biofuel and as biomass for energy
(PDF† 67K) August 2006
Friends of the Earth's position on the use of palm oil for biofuel and as biomass for energy.

Broken Promises
(PDF† 79K) June 2006
This briefing outlines how Shell's non-compliance with the OECD Guidelines harms people and the
environment, and why voluntary self regulation is not enough to protect them from the activities of companies like Shell.

Palm oil, the survival or the orang-utan and UK company law reform
(PDF† 56K) May 2006
This briefing explains why the failure of hundreds of UK companies to ensure that they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources is a classic example of how the voluntary approach to corporate responsibility has failed, and why the Company Law Reform Bill must be strengthened.

Asia Pulp and Paper
(PDF format - 132K) August 2001
This briefing examines the destructive practices of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and the Indonesian pulp and paper industry.

European League Table of Imports of Illegal Tropical Timber
(PDF format - 620K) August 2001
The UK is the worst importer of illegally sourced timber in the EU.

It Could Happen Here: What Must Happen In the Wake of the Erika Oil Spill
March 2000
Details what must be done to prevent another oil spill of this type, calling on the UK government to take a lead on shipping safety and environmental liability issues in Europe.

Wildlife Act 1998
April 1998
Our wildlife wealth is being traded for the short term profit of developers, farmers and industrialists. Indeed most of the country's natural habitats have already gone. The scale and rate of habitat loss in the UK has been officially described as catastrophic.

Lowland raised bog SSSIs threatened by commercial peat extraction
April 1998
With our peatlands still being mined to boost the profits of peat firms and garden centres, less than six per cent of Britain's original lowland raised peat bog habitat remains in a near natural condition.

Indonesian forest fires
October 1997
Forest fires are burning out of control in forest, plantations and scrub-land chiefly in Sumatra and Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo); it is now estimated that up to 1 million ha is burning.

Sustainability and the Trade in Tropical Rainforest Timber
October 1997
The purpose of this briefing is to describe some of the underlying technical issues concerning 'sustainability' in tropical forests and thus to assess the validity of claims currently being made by companies involved in the trade in tropical timbers.

Going Under - UK Coastal Habitats Threatened by Sea Level Rise
July 1997
Global sea level is predicted to rise by up to a metre over the next hundred years as a result of climate
change.

The Bakun hydroelectric project: Impacts on the indigenous people
November 1996
For many years, the indigenous peoples of Sarawak have been engaged in a well documented struggle for
recognition of their land rights and the freedom to practise their traditional way of life.

The Bakun hydoelectric project - Malaysia
August 1996
First proposed in the 1980s as part of a series of dams to exploit the hydroelectric potential of Sarawak's rivers.

Timber - Mahogany
August 1996
Outlines the issues behind Friends of the Earth's 'Mahogany is Murder' campaign. Types and distribution of mahogany are explained and the devastating impacts on the Brazilian rainforest and its people, due to the mahogany trade between Brazil and the UK, are outlined.

Wildlife, Planning and Developments
October 1995
This briefing gives an outline of how to use the planning system to stop a damaging development.

Out of the woods - Reducing wood consumption to save the world's forests
April 1995
The UK is one of the world's largest importers of wood
products from the temperate and boreal forests of North America and Scandinavia, as well as the tropical rainforests.

Reports

Sustainability as a smokescreen
(PDF† 1.4MB) May 2008
An assessment of the expected effectiveness of applying sustainability criteria to agrofuel and animal feedstock production in the Mercosur region.

Executive Summary - Losing Ground: The human rights impacts of oil palm plantation expansion in Indonesia
(PDF† 153K) February 2008
This report by Friends of the Earth, Sawit Watch and LifeMosaic has revealed how Indonesian government policies and palm oil industry practices are harming the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples. This summary highlights the importance of these findings to policy makers in Europe and argues that in the face of such evidence, targets to increase agrofuel use in the UK and the rest of the EU are misguided, risking environmental damage and human rights abuses on an even bigger scale.

Can't see the forest for the TR€£$
(PDF† format 1450K) November 2005
This report looks at how trade talks to open up markets for timber and wood products could speed up destruction of the world's forests, devastating the livelihoods of millions of the poorest people in the world and undermining efforts to tackle climate change.

The oil for ape scandal: How palm oil is threatening the orang-utan
(PDF† 448K) Sept 2005
This summary report links the demand for palm oil to the impending extinction of the orang-utan, rainforest destruction and human rights abuses.

Greasy palms - The social and ecological impacts of large-scale oil palm plantation development in Southeast Asia
(PDF - 767K) January 2005
This report looks into the social and environmental impacts of the palm oil industry in Southeast Asia.

Greasy palms - Palm Oil, The Environment and Big Business
(PDF - 832K) March 2004
Palm oil, the hidden ingredient in thousands of everyday products, is driving rainforest destruction. This report summarises the connection between palm oil, the environment and big business.

Greasy palms - European buyers of Indonesian palm oil
(PDF - 508K) March 2004
This report covers a research project undertaken for Friends of the Earth in 2003 into the palm oil industry in South East Asia, its links to the European market and the involvement of European companies in the palm oil trade.

Paper Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(PDF† format - 1.76MB) August 2001
A Friends of the Earth Report detailing the responsibility of international financial institutions for Indonesian forest destruction, social conflict and the financial crisis of Asia Pulp and Paper.

Plunder for profit - The UK and Brazilian mahogany trade
(PDF† format - 695K)
Mahogany is still being plundered from Indian reserves and other protected areas. In addition, this report shows that to this date there is no sustainable extraction of mahogany in the entire Brazilian Amazon.

Articles

From passive to positive - the Countryside Act 2000 and British wildlife
April 2001
This article aims to introduce some of the act's most striking provisions and some of the challenges to which the wildlife agencies must respond in the next few years.

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