Tempo Magazine has just published an in-depth investigation into why the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry gave a construction permit to a tycoon-owned company to build a mining road through a forest in Sumatra that is the habitat for several endemic plant and animal species. They've found several suspicious moves, business entanglements, and inconsistencies, which may be signs of corruption playing a role.

To start this week's issue, we have a Q&A from the team that brought you our Wildlife Study Group series, that we held in June and July. Hundreds participated in four communal discussions including a live-streamed meeting with Malaysia’s first captive-born pangolin and a conversation with its human handler, and intense discussions on demand for endangered species in Chinese traditional medicine, commercial pangolin farming, and indigenous hunting and wildlife conservation.

After a short break, we have a very special issue for you this week, with an interview from the cross-border team of journalists that just published a year-long mammoth investigation on palm oil.