Rainforest Rescue

Illegal loggers return to Nigeria’s Ekuri forest – while police arrest its defender, Martins Egot. President Tinubu’s timber export ban promised to protect rainforests, yet local enforcement tells another story. Machines are cutting again under police watch.

President strengthens forest protection – but police arrest forest defenders President Bola Tinubu has banned timber exports to protect forests – yet rainforest defender Martins Egot has been arrested, accused of inciting young people to violence. The activists had stopped machinery belonging to the logging company Ezemac as it entered the Ekuri Community Forest. The case ...

A dusty forest road in Cross River State. A community‑approved checkpoint built to stop illegal logging. Then the police arrive. Our Nigerian partner Odey Oyama and his team are arrested and falsely accused of “conspiracy” and “inciting conflict between local communities”. What they truly threatened was not peace, but the profits of criminal logging networks and their allies. Instead of breaking him, that day strengthened Odey’s resolve.

The power of truth and community solidarity Odey Oyama is one of Nigeria's leading rainforest environmentalists. Director of the Rainforest Resource Development Centre (RRDC), Oyama has been our partner for nine years. In this interview – shortened for publication in Regenwald Report, our German print magazine – he shares his recent exper...

Please SIGN: Violence in eastern is a disaster for the forest and human rights. Neighboring is driving mining. Tell the to end its partnership with Rwanda on critical raw materials! https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1300/drc-europes-green-transition-must-not-cost-congos-blood-and-forests?t=25248

#petition DRC: Europe’s green transition must not cost Congo’s blood and forests! The violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not only a humanitarian catastrophe but also an environmental disaster. The exploitation of mineral resources and forests driven by neighboring Rwanda plays a significant role in this issue. The EU must end its partnership with Rwanda on critical r...