To secure our forests, we need corporate leadership now more than ever
© Richard Lisboa/WWF-US
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.
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:
HP INC.: "Through our partnership with WWF, we are focused on large-scale, long-term landcape conservation that involves investing in innovative, durable forest conservation solutions and building partnership with environmental organizations that prioritize the needs of local communities and ecosystems." -- Alex Michalko, Director of Climate & Responsible Sourcing, HP Inc.
THE PROCTOR & GAMBLE COMPANY: "As we celebrate more than 15 years working with WWF, P&G continues our long-term collaboration with WWF through Forests Forward to strengthen our responsible sourcing efforts. Forests Forward reflects P&G's ongoing commitment to provide consumers with responsibly sourced products that support our forests, wildlife and local communities." -- Tonia Elrod, Vice President, Sustainability, The Proctor & Gamble Company
SYLVAMO: "Our entire business depends on the sustainability of forests, and our longstanding partnership with WWF executes a shared commitment to sustaining them through conservation, restoration and responsible sourcing. Together, we’re advancing nature-based solutions so forests can continue to thrive for future generations while supporting the communities and biodiversity that depend on them." -- James McDonald, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sylvamo"
INTER IKEA: "The whole forest industry must step up and share the wood they are using, where it is from and where the forest is managed. For IKEA, it doesn't end with our own supply chain. We are proud to have supported WWF's conservation efforts over 23 years in a total of 22 countries, including long-term support for critical landscape programmes and enabling innovative new approaches to improve forest management." -- Ulf Johannson, Global Raw Material Manager, Inter IKEA
SIG GROUP: "We turned to WWF to work with us to go beyond our achievement of sourcing 100% of our paperboard responsibly as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified. Our partnership with WWF has unlocked huge potential for SIG to create positive impacts for local communities globally. We want to show others how they can contribute best to supporting thriving forests by investing in landscapes." -- Samuel Sigrist, SIG Group
CANDELA PERU: "When we strengthen local value chains, we don't just conserve forests, we also create decent jobs, empower indigenous and rural communities and bring real value to biodiversity. Investing in inclusive and sustainable projects is a commitment to a future where conservation and development go hand in hand." -- Gaston Vizcarra, President, Candela Perú
INTERHOLCO AG: "We want to be leaders in responsible forest management in the Congo Basin, and, together with WWF, we are demonstrating that healthy standing forests can help biodiversity and people thrive." -- Tom van Loon, Head of Sustainability, Interholco AG
Additional Resources: