The ultimate risk for businesses, even beyond recession, is to be judged individually and collectively by consumers and civil society as responsible for the destruction of the commons, with an inevitable trail of disastrous consequences for the economy and ecology at large.
The responsibility of deforestation in the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently going through shows us that the private sector has no choice but to urgently take a fundamental step forward by moving away from its "business as usual" model. Companies will have to make a bold commitment to protect the commons, to preserve forests and to restore degraded soils for a healthy and sustainable agriculture to take place, and to restore soils to their full carbon storage potential.
The collective cross-commodities and landscape approach to stop deforestation
Our efforts to combat deforestation are still very fragmented by sector and the few local initiatives remain too timid. As individual actions are no longer sufficient, we need more consultation on the very same territories in which we operate: the Amazon, a major soybean, cocoa and coffee production area; Southeast Asia, where palm oil and rubber are produced; and the Congo Basin for the cultivation of cocoa, rubber and palm oil. It is these cross-commodities and landscape synergies that should be exploited to stop deforestation.
The Alliance for the Preservation of Forests aims to move forward with an innovative approach. Created in 2018, this alliance intends to implement joint projects and to share resources through the new capabilities that we have. In Borneo, for example, we work with planters and NGOs. Together, we aim to promote the coexistence of palm oil plantations and great apes throughout a mapped territory, by creating preserved forest corridors and linkages that facilitate the movement of animals from one forest to another.
The Alliance for the Preservation of Forests will be present at the IUCN World Conservation Congress
The Alliance will be present at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, from 11 to 19 June 2020, in Marseille, through a 150m2 Forest Village located in the “Espaces Générations Nature” (Nature Generation Areas). The Forest Village is designed to raise visitors' awareness about their forest footprint, but also to explain the complex journey of raw materials and the private sector’s efforts to stop deforestation.
Several events bringing together panels of experts are scheduled throughout the Congress, which we invite you to follow, including a session on "Preservation of tropical forests and terrestrial biodiversity: How to mobilize actors to efficiently tackle imported deforestation?" in the Nature Generation Areas.
The Alliance also supports the motion on combating imported deforestation, to which we have contributed along with many NGOs and scientific experts.
For more information: https://www.alliance-preservation-forets.org/
Follow us on Twitter: @allianceforets
About the author
Guillaume Réveilhac is one of the founding members of the Alliance for the Preservation of Forests. Game changer in his own company, he is also a forester in his personal life. Within Cérélia, he actively participates in programs to restore local forests and regenerate soils in France, in connection with the company’s supply chains. He believes change can come from businesses collectively, together with other stakeholders in the same playing field.
Guillaume is the founder of Cérélia, where he managed to bring together several small to mid-cap companies with similar profiles and ambitions. Cérélia is now the leading dough and pancake manufacturer with a presence in Europe, North America and Asia. Guillaume is a social entrepreneur and Cérélia, through a number of initiatives, promotes the principles of shared-value creation.
