Investigations by environmental groups have found new evidence that companies linked to deforestation in Borneo are likely controlled by First Resources, a Singapore-listed plantation firm that produces palm oil marketed as sustainable. A report by Rainforest Action Network (RAN) cites shipping records, internal accounting documents and employee testimonies that link palm oil producers in Indonesia, the Kalimantan Agro Sejahtera (KAS) Group and FAP Agri, to First Resources, which is run by Indonesia’s billionaire Fangiono family. The investigation, conducted from January to July 2026, found that crude palm oil from mills run by the three businesses was transported to a First Resources storage and shipping facility on the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan province, where it was mixed then shipped to refineries for processing. A separate report by NGOs the Environmental Investigation Agency and Kaoem Telapak also suggests ties between First Resources, FAP Agri and KAS Group with evidence of these firms operating as a single corporate group. The findings echo long-held concerns that major agribusiness firms are using opaque corporate structures to gain access to palm oil sourced from plantations that flout sustainability commitments. First Resources adopted a No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation (NDPE) policy in 2015 and is a long-standing member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a global certification body for sustainably produced palm oil. FAP Agri adopted an NDPE policy in 2019. Across the industry, NDPE policies represent a commitment to stop clearing any natural forest and to stop buying from other companies…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SINGAPORE — As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires originated, while the other half went to Singapore-based entities with ties to them. Of the 10 Indonesian plantation companies identified, three of them — PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau and PT SBA Wood Industries — have had separate investigations open against them by Singaporean authorities since 2015, with no public outcome. All three are tied to the Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) conglomerate, as is PT Buana Megatama Jaya, which was also issued a notice to extinguish fires in its concession. The other six companies issued the notices requiring them to act against fires are PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT Hutan Lestari Raya, PT Bangkanesia, PT Mananjung Hayak and PT Baratama Putra Perkasa. A spokesperson from Singapore’s National Environmental Agency told Mongabay by email it could not disclose further details into existing investigations. The agency did not respond to questions as to whether it would escalate against repeat offenders. Based on the government’s current investigations, Singapore-headquartered APP, Singapore-listed First Resources and Bumitama Agri, and privately held First Borneo Plantations, whose ownership is tied to Singapore, already appear to be linked to the haze-causing fires in Indonesia, Singapore’s senior…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SHENKENG, Taiwan — Ten kilometers east of Taipei’s high-rises and dense traffic, the city gives way to a succession of steep, forested ridgelines sheltering villages in the valleys below. The subtropical mist that cloaks these slopes at dawn has already thinned, and by 9 a.m. the heat is climbing. Li Chao-shiang, an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design at China University of Technology in Taipei, winds upward on a narrow stone path, pausing to wipe his brow. Rounding a bend, he stops at an opening in the brush. Half the hillside before him is covered in dark-green ribbons, the regular corduroy of cultivated land. The other half looks like something took a bite out of it. “This jungle has a secret,” Li says. “If you look closely at the hills all around us, you can still make out faint lines that run through the forest. It may not be much to look at now, but what you are seeing are stone terraces — the remnants of one of the world’s great empires of tea.” For much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tea made these hills valuable. By 1897, tea accounted for 22% of Taiwan’s export earnings, four times the value of sugar, with 96% of the island’s Formosa oolong sailing for New York and Chicago. Shenkeng’s own signature style, the lightly oxidized Wenshan pouchong, came on the scene around 1912 and was refined through the 1920s, becoming Taiwan’s leading export to Southeast Asia. “The soil,…This article was originally published on Mongabay