To Secure Our Forests, We Need Corporate Leadership Now More Than Ever

The inaugural Forests Forward Impact Report, released today, lands at a critical moment for our planet. In 2024, tropical primary forest loss surged 80% over the previous year — a sobering reminder that while we’ve made progress, the path ahead demands even greater ambition.

WWF launched the Forests Forward corporate engagement program in 2021 to meet this urgency head-on, building on WWF’s extensive experience partnering with businesses and enlisting the private sector in efforts to reduce deforestation, improve forest management and invest in nature-based solutions.

Just four years in, 26 companies, including many based in the United States, are actively participating, and the program is already delivering meaningful benefits for nature and people.

According to the new report, Forests Forward partners are now positively impacting 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of forest around the world, an area roughly the size of four Yellowstone Parks. Critically, this includes nearly 2.7 million hectares (7 million acres) that are either Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)-certified or moving toward certification, plus 1.3 million hectares (3 million acres) of forest conservation projects that Forests Forward partners support worldwide. 

Those are impressive numbers, but acreage alone doesn’t fully capture the significance of these companies’ efforts. The volume of wood purchased by Forests Forward partners represents a significant percentage of global production in certain key product categories (e.g., 7% of paper and packaging). That kind of market signal for responsible sourcing can ripple across entire sectors, improving the health and resilience of production forests across the globe. In addition, companies’ support for priority forest landscapes is translating into demonstrable benefits for nature, climate and Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Through Forests Forward, WWF’s technical experts help companies understand their forest footprint and forest-related commodity sourcing risks; set robust sourcing policies and targets; engage with suppliers to mitigate risks; and support nature-based solutions that align with business goals, including through WWF's Nature-Based Solutions Origination Platform (NbS-OP). The NbS-OP is an innovative vehicle to drive impact at scale for people, climate and nature across key tropical forest landscapes. Supporting a variety of conservation approaches — such as forest protection, improved management and restoration — the NbS-OP provides companies and other funders with opportunities for high-quality investments that generate quantifiable impacts.

Forests Forward also convenes partner companies to discuss approaches to shared challenges and to lend their voices to forest policy priorities. The program is aligned with global initiatives, including the Science Based Targets initiative, Science Based Targets Network, Accountability Framework initiative, and Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Tune in to WWF's Nature Breaking podcast to learn more.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Forests regulate our climate, safeguard water supplies, house most of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity and provide livelihoods for millions. They also generate more than a trillion dollars annually in global trade. As more than half of those forests are either wholly or partly managed for production, how companies engage is critical.

The business case is clear: Healthier forests mean more resilient supply chains, less climate risk and stronger connections with communities and consumers. Companies that take the time to understand their forest footprint and take action to mitigate risks and keep forests thriving will have a business advantage. That’s why an array of companies have leaned in, each bringing their respective strengths to bear on challenges ranging from jaguar habitat restoration in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest to Indigenous-led wildfire recovery efforts in Canada.

Despite this progress, WWF is sounding a clarion call to action: More companies in more sectors and regions must step up and match the equally important actions of the public sector and other forest stakeholders if we’re going to reach a tipping point where global deforestation is halted and responsible forest management becomes the norm, not the exception.

The Forests Forward Impact Report doesn’t just highlight what’s been done. It’s a blueprint for what’s possible if leadership continues to grow. The future of forests requires all of us: governments, communities, conservationists and businesses. Because now more than ever, one way or another, every business is in the forest business.

Reactions From Forests Forward Partner Companies:

Additional Resources:

• Download the Forests Forward Impact Report here.
• Read the press release here.
• Download the Nature Breaking podcast here.
• Learn more about WWF's Forests Forward Program here.