Search 
Search Protecting forests makes clear business sense for consumer goods companies. It is critical for ensuring a stable supply of commodities like palm oil and pulp and paper – and ultimately the longevity of businesses and livelihoods of consumers and suppliers.
While the global deforestation rate has slowed recently, we’re still losing 10 million hectares of forests annually, approximately the size of Portugal every year. Almost 75% of tropical rainforests have lost resilience, meaning they no longer have the ability to recover from events such as major wildfires and droughts. This is not just a huge threat for people and our planet: it is a global supply chain crisis.
We have reached a tipping point where we cannot just ‘do-no-harm’ and let forests restore themselves. We need something more proactive, more collaborative. This is where the landscape approach comes in.
A landscape approach refers to collaborations like setting up shared goals and knowledge sharing among stakeholders within a defined natural or social geography, such as a watershed (an area of land where all water leads into a common body of water), a biome (a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life) or company sourcing area.
By convening and engaging stakeholders to determine shared social, economic, and environmental goals, a landscape approach is vital to addressing the root causes of deforestation and involving local stakeholders and communities in solutions.
The sheer enormity and complexity of international supply chains means that no business can tackle deforestation alone. The challenge is shared, and the solutions must be too. Consumer goods companies are uniquely positioned to accelerate change through a landscape approach.
With less than eight months to go until COP30 in Belém, on the doorstep of the Amazon rainforest, here are three key reasons why consumer companies should prioritise a landscape approach to combat deforestation.
-
Mitigate future supply chain risks
When a company engages with stakeholders, it is building its foundations for more stable supply chains. A landscape approach can address environmental and social risks at scale, ultimately supporting company due diligence and compliance while increasing understanding of supply chain risks.
For example, companies can engage in a landscape initiative to support improvements in labour conditions for informal workers on plantations through formation of worker committees and strengthening dialogue between workers and management, consequently learning more about labour conditions in the supply chain and actively addressing risks.
-
Combine resources between stakeholders
A landscape approach involves different stakeholders early on, which strengthens collaboration through shared learning and resources. Sharing the costs of investment with other companies – especially those who are present in, or source from the production landscape – and other funding sources including government and financial institutions, means sustainability goals can be achieved in a more cost-efficient manner compared with limited supply chain interventions by individual companies.
As a case in point, in Brazil’s crucial Cerrado region, the Sustainable Landscapes Partnership – facilitated by The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF)’s Forest Positive Coalition alongside the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Soft Commodities Forum, with support from Proforest – $5.2 million has already been invested to incentivise farmers and support the emergence of forest positive and resilient production regions.
-
Achieve broader sustainability goals
The benefits of forest protection are far reaching. Thriving forests ensure emissions reductions, boost biodiversity and protect the livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. As more and more companies rightly have sustainability plans that span many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a landscape approach can support companies in effectively achieving these goals.
So, what does a landscape approach look like in practice? The CGF’s Forest Positive Coalition, uniting 22 of the world’s largest consumer goods retailers and manufacturers, has worked on a range of landscape initiatives. We have significant insights on how a landscape approach can support companies in sustainably increasing their supply through working with local stakeholders.
One of these initiatives was the Riau Initiative in Indonesia. Riau is a crucial province for agricultural commodity production: approximately 2.5 million ha of oil palm and 2 million ha of pulp & paper. Through collaboration between the Earthworm Foundation and a range of consumer brands like Reckitt, Nestle, Givaudan, Target, Colgate-Palmolive and Walmart, alongside local government bodies and civil societies, the initiative has formally embedded No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation (NDPE) commitments in district spatial plans and development regulations.
To date, the initiative has protected 9,668ha of forest areas outside concession and supported over 900 farmers to adopt Good Agricultural and Best Management Practices.
Taking a landscape approach offers businesses multiple benefits. Consumer goods companies are uniquely positioned to drive systemic change across environmental and social sustainability thanks to their vast supply chain networks. It is time to embrace a holistic, multi-stakeholder strategy that fosters collaboration across entire regions, balancing conservation, livelihoods and responsible production.
This content is was originally published with Edie under the same title. You can view the article online at https://www.edie.net/four-key-steps-fmcg-firms-can-take-to-protect-and-restore-forests/
