Tell Congress to pass the FOREST Act – a bipartisan bill that will prohibit the importation of products sourced through illegal deforestation.
Forests are shrinking. In 2022 alone we lost more than 16 million acres. These sacred lands host the majority of species on land, provide livelihoods for billions of people, and are a vital line of defense in the face of climate change.
In addition to addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, this bill is an expression of solidarity with Indigenous peoples around the world, including those in the Amazon region of South America who have stewarded forests for millennia.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a letter with over a hundred faith groups in early February to legislators on key congressional committees urging representatives and senators to co-sponsor the FOREST Act of 2023.
As consumers and people of faith, please ask your legislators to support the bill which would guarantee that the food on our shelves – especially beef, soy, cocoa, and palm oil – are produced ethically and sustainably, in ways that do not resort to illegal deforestation.