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Dear OCCRP Reader,

At OCCRP, we investigate the behind-the-scenes forces that fuel major damage to forests, oceans, and wildlife. What I call “criminal angel investors” finance and orchestrate natural resource destruction all over the world, frequently enabled by unscrupulous politicians and authoritarian regimes.

Investigative reporters can play an important role in stopping organized crime and corruption from harming the environment by recognizing criminal patterns, making connections to larger illicit systems, and exposing these illegal infrastructures on a global scale.

Credit: Raimundo Paccó
Logs being transported from the Amazon rainforest.

We are increasing our focus on environmental reporting and using tools like satellite imagery and drones to support our investigations. We used satellite data in two recent stories to show the alarming impacts in forests over time: in Nicaragua, we revealed how a deforestation crisis is fueled by grand corruption ([link removed]) inside President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian regime. And in Brazil, our look inside the Amazon rainforest’s illicit timber trade ([link removed]) traced how endangered Ipê — a native tree to the intertropical forests of South America — was disguised using fake permits by an alleged international drug trafficker and sold by companies with long records of environmental crimes.

It is impossible to fully protect ecosystems around the world without exposing the criminal and corrupt undercurrent that undermines conservation efforts. With our local reporting partners, we have the experience, skills, and tools to bring these stories to light. But we can’t do it alone.

Will you help sustain and expand our global environmental investigations?
BECOME AN OCCRP ACCOMPLICE. DONATE TODAY. ([link removed])
Thank you for your support.

Paul Radu
Co-Founder and Chief of Innovation

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