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International Paper and WWF-US collaborate to develop science-based targets for Brazilian forests

How much forest land—and what quality—is needed to ensure forests can continue to provide people, plants and animals worldwide with clean air and water, food and the goods and services they need to thrive? A new collaboration between the World Wildlife Fund for Nature US (WWF-US) and US-headed global pulp and paper industry major International Paper Company, helps create the first-ever science-based targets for forests and scale-up forest restoration in Brazil.

Spanning Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the Atlantic Forest is one of the 11 deforestation fronts identified by WWF. A new collaboration between WWF-US and International Paper seeks to create the world’s first regional and global science-based targets for forests as well as invest in a major Atlantic Forest restoration project in Brazil (photo of Atlantic rainforest in the Carlos Botelho State Park, São Paulo, Brazil, courtesy Adriano Gambarini / WWF).

The collaboration signals that investing in the long-term sustainability of natural resources, including forests, makes economic sense. According to International Paper (IP), the outputs of this work will be used to help create the world’s first regional and global science-based targets for forests, as well as the first comprehensive set of guidance on actions that can be taken to sustain the world’s forests.

Such ‘forest positive’ actions include investing in responsible forest management, supporting forest conservation, restoring forestland, and raising awareness about the importance of forests with consumers.

Our entire business depends on the sustainability of forests. We are excited to build on our participation in WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) program through a significant and strategic initiative to advance conservation and restoration actions in forest ecosystems beyond our existing fibre supply chains, said Sophie Beckham, IP Senior Manager of Natural Capital Stewardship.

Atlantic Forest restoration project

In addition to delivering on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the global level, the collaboration also will bring one local action to life—investing in a new ambitious restoration project in the 1.4 million ha Mogi Guaçu river basin of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Spanning Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the Atlantic Forest is one of the 11 deforestation fronts – areas where most deforestation is expected by 2030 if new approaches to forest conservation are not adopted – identified by WWF. The Atlantic Forest provides water for 60 percent of Brazil’s ≈ 208 million population and is home to many species, including pumas, anteaters and woolly spider monkeys, as well as several bird species found nowhere else on the planet.

IP has operations and is already investing in restoration in this region, work that will ideally inspire other organizations to invest in forest restoration in Brazil and beyond. The hope of WWF-US, WWF-Brazil – which will be coordinating the restoration work – and IP is that this work will inspire other entities to invest in forest restoration in Brazil and beyond.

IP’s investment and leadership will drive and deliver a better understanding of what forests need to stay well above their ecological tipping points. Given the large-scale and fast pace of forest loss and degradation globally, bold and inspiring actions like this within the private sector are needed to sustain forests, said Kerry Cesareo, Vice-President for forests at World Wildlife Fund.

Through this expanded collaboration, IP says it demonstrates that “investing in the long-term sustainability of natural capital makes economic sense.” As a company that transforms renewable resources into fibre-based products that people depend on every day, IP will continue to promote “responsible” forest stewardship, both within and beyond its supply chains, to ensure healthy and productive forest ecosystems for generations to come.

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