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Forests
Forests are vital for life on Earth. They are carbon strongholds that sustain the majority of the world’s biodiversity on land and support the livelihoods of over a quarter of all people on the planet. Sadly, native forests are being lost at an increasing rate across much of the globe.
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Investing in forest protection
Deforestation is the second-largest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels, emitting around 12% of human-caused carbon emissions each year. Avoiding these emissions could help us curb the worst impacts of the climate crisis and secure the health of millions of people.
Vast areas of forest have already been degraded, driven by the expansion of farmland, roads, urbanisation, and logging for timber and fuel. These deforested areas increase the risk of infectious disease, malaria and reduce clean water and food availability for people. Deforestation also threatens wildlife. It is estimated that the world is losing over 135 plants, animals and insects every day due to deforestation - this means around 50,000 species become extinct each year.
In order to reverse these alarming impacts, we need to both protect the forests we have and restore those forests that have been destroyed.
The numbers speak for themselves
99,000
Hectares protected
62,365
CO2 emissions avoided
680
People employed
31,236
Trees planted
The forests we currently protect and restore
We partner with high-quality forest protection and restoration projects across three continents. Our forest protection projects conserve some of the world’s largest rainforests, including the Amazon, home to globally threatened animals and plants, and Lake Mai Ndombe, supporting some of the most important wetlands on the planet. We also support forest restoration projects that are creating forests in heavily degraded lands, and recovering forests that have been destroyed by human activities (logging) and natural disasters (fires).
How can businesses have the most impact?
Businesses can have the most impact by investing in a mixture of forest protection and forest restoration. When choosing which forest protection projects to support, businesses can ensure a positive impact by investing in areas heavily threatened by deforestation. When supporting forest restoration, the projects that are most likely to survive and thrive are those bringing back biodiversity and restoring areas that used to be forests in the past. In both cases, the greatest impact can be achieved by projects that include and support local people, reducing deforestation and stewarding the forests collaboratively in the long-term.
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Forest protection
There are many ways to design a forest protection initiative; the most important aspect is to ensure that the drivers of deforestation are fully understood and tackled by the plan. Successful examples of projects that have reduced deforestation include the creation of markets for forest products like fruits and nuts so that local people have a sustainable income and no longer rely on illegal logging and mining for fuel and money. For indigenous and forest-dependent peoples, forests are often deeply linked to religions, faiths and traditional practices. Supporting indigenous peoples to regain their land rights can allow them to protect and steward forests as they have done for generations before.
Protecting forests ensures huge stores of carbon remain locked away, as forests currently hold more carbon than has ever been emitted by industry.
Intact forests are hotspots for biodiversity, preserving rare animals, plants and undiscovered genetic resources that could help cure diseases.
Forested areas support the water cycle, helping to supply fresh water to rivers, control rainfall, and form clouds that cool the earth by providing shade from the sun.
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Forest Protection - The Luckaitz Valley forest adaptation project in Germany
The initiative aims to transform a vulnerable monoculture pine forest, susceptible to storms and pests, into a biodiverse and climate-resilient mixed ecosystem. By planting diverse tree species, promoting natural regeneration, and adjusting wildlife management practices, the project fosters a healthier and more resilient forest. This transformation significantly increase carbon sequestration (estimated at 23,684 tonnes of CO2e) and promotes biodiversity with a projected 470% increase, while preserving over 680 hectares of forest for recreational and tourism activities. By supporting this project, you contribute to a greener future while promoting sustainable forest management practices in Germany.
Forest Protection - The TIST agroforestry project in Kenya
This innovative initiative tackles climate change, biodiversity loss, and rural poverty simultaneously. By training smallholder farmers in agroforestry practices, TIST empowers them to integrate trees into their lands. These trees not only sequester carbon (estimated at 98,967 tCO2 annually) but also improve soil health, boost biodiversity (including planting endangered Meru Oak trees), and provide farmers with a sustainable income source. This project has positively impacted over 68,400 farmers and increased forest area by 5438 hectares.
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Forest restoration
Forests can regenerate naturally over time if left alone, but we can increase the speed of this process through tree planting. By assisting forest recovery, we can ensure all of the benefits forests provide to people, wildlife and climate are brought back as soon as possible. Tree planting involves much more than putting seeds in the ground. The right trees must be planted in the right place at the right time and with support from the right people. This means choosing native tree species adapted to local conditions and working with local communities to restore soil health and steward seedlings' growth so they are protected in the long term.
Planting trees can remove carbon from the atmosphere, as well as improve air quality, when done with the right initiative.
Forest restoration creates critical habitat for species whose numbers are dwindling, bringing benefits like corridors, which allow animals to move between protected areas.
Planting trees can block and slow down rainfall, which helps to reduce the impacts of flooding from storms and protect the health of the soil.