Leveraging deforestation-free supply chains to deliver resilient landscapes and durable conservation

As global markets advance toward tighter sustainability regulations, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the urgency to move from pledges to proof has never been greater. Despite progress, deforestation and human rights violations persist in global commodity supply chains.

On Forest Action Day at UNFCCC COP30, the AFi announced a landmark global effort to ensure that new investments in deforestation- and conversion-free supply chains translate into nature-positive, resilient, and equitable rural landscapes. Spanning 10 countries, the three-year project will launch in January 2026 under Activation Group 6: Nature-based Solutions of the UNFCCC Plans to Accelerate Solutions platform. It will help scale models that are already delivering impact while solidifying market norms, incentives, and investments that extend these results broadly.

From 2026 to 2028, the project will map and analyse over 30 production landscapes across key commodities—including beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and timber—where deforestation- and conversion-free practices are already being implemented. Together, these landscapes will create a global evidence base revealing what drives success, where challenges persist, and how effective models can be scaled.

Covering countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, France, Gabon, Ghana, Germany, Indonesia, and Spain, each landscape will be assessed through the perspectives of local actors, including governments, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and companies engaged in the production and trade of key commodities. The project will also engage companies in consuming countries and major processing hubs, such as China and Vietnam, to better align market signals of commodity buyers with successful ground-up initiatives to conserve forests and improve livelihoods in production origins.

Based on common success factors, the AFi will lead a consensus-based process with its global Coalition and other stakeholders to consolidate guidance and good practices company investment and engagement in sourcing landscapes. The process will also define success factors for sourcing area- and landscape-level systems to reduce sourcing risk while supporting durable conservation, resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. Findings will be validated with stakeholders in the landscapes and through learning processes across multiple supply chains and landscapes to ensure that solutions are effective, scalable, and transferable.

“This is a pivotal step towards ensuring that investment in sustainable supply chains translates into real, scalable improvement and durable ecosystem conservation on the ground,” said AFi Director Jeff Milder. “By connecting supply chain accountability to landscape-level outcomes, we can make nature-positive production measurable, investable, and beneficial for local communities.”