Description and challenge
Agricultural expansion is the primary driver of forest conversion across the tropics. The production of internationally-traded forest risk commodities, such as palm oil, timber, pulp and paper, coffee, copra and rice, plays a key role in land use change in Indonesia, driven both by large-scale developments and small-scale expansion by smallholder farmers.
Despite underpinning the productivity of entire sectors, smallholders often have limited access to training, inputs, finance and markets and tend to be the most vulnerable actors in the supply chain. Deforestation not only threatens the future of Indonesia’s forests and the unique biodiversity and vital ecosystem services that they support, but future agricultural productivity and the livelihood security of rural communities.
A number of high-profile commitments to addressing commodity-driven deforestation and halting global forest loss have been made by the public and private sector, yet agriculture continues to pose a major threat and the world’s forests continue to disappear.
Our approach
WCS is developing landscape partnerships in priority areas for conservation to support farmer livelihoods and reduce deforestation pressures around forest frontier areas. This builds on WCS’s long-term engagement and collaboration with the government in key landscapes in support of forest and biodiversity conservation. By working together with government, communities, and the private sector, we are developing new approaches that support forest protection and restoration, while incentivizing and supporting farmers to transition to deforestation-free agricultural production. This includes through training in good agricultural practices (GAP) and organizational capacity building, as well as through performance-based incentives, such as preferential access to finance and markets.
WCS is promoting the engagement and support of multiple companies along the length of the supply chain in landscape partnerships. Through collaboration and collective action, companies can actively address deforestation and support farmers and forest conservation, while mitigating supply chain and sectoral risks.