Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 metres and a canopy cover of more than 10%, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or other land use. Forest includes natural forests and tree plantations. For the purpose of implementing no-deforestation supply chains, the focus is on preventing the conversion of natural forests.

• Quantitative thresholds (eg, for tree height or canopy cover) established in legitimate national or sub-national forest definitions may take precedence over the generic thresholds in this definition.
• The Accountability Framework should not be interpreted as weakening or qualifying any protection or provision of national forestry laws, including when these laws apply to legally classed forests that are tree plantations or presently have little or no tree cover.
• As stated in Core Principle 3.4, company commitments are additional to applicable law, and when both apply to the same topic, the highest (more protective) standard prevails.
• The AFi advocates that natural forests be distinguished from tree plantations for the purpose of conducting forest inventories and quantifying forest loss and gain. This will facilitate comparability between government forest monitoring and the tracking of supply chain commitments focused on human-induced conversion of natural forests.^*

^{* Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), with further elaboration and clarification provided for the Accountability Framework}