The importance of forests can’t be underestimated.

Forests matter – they help keep our climate stable, are home to 80% of terrestrial life on Earth, and provide 2.4 billion people with their basic needs and livelihoods. Yet despite their vital importance to all life on the planet, an area the size of a football pitch is destroyed every second.

We’re working with local partners in Europe, South America, Africa and South East Asia to tackle deforestation, protect wildlife and secure the rights of forest communities.

2.6bn

tonnes of carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world’s forests every year.

90%

of the world's forests have already disappeared.

How we're preserving forests

We work for forests to be used sustainably and protected. There are three important strands to this effort: improving laws, empowering forest communities and fighting illegal logging and trade.

Sunlight shining through dense forest

What we've achieved

We played a key role in designing the world’s first illegal logging law – the EU Timber Regulation - which stops illegal timber being sold the EU. We spent eight years working with local campaigners and forest communities to reform the Republic of Congo’s Forest Code, for the first time ensuring the rights of local forest communities. We’ve trained thousands of people, from those living in the forest to charities and government staff, to make sure the laws protecting our forests really work.

Preserving the iconic Atewa Forest

We are supporting A Rocha Ghana and other local partners in Ghana to preserve the iconic Atewa Forest, currently threatened by a foreign-owned bauxite mining proposal. A unique biodiversity hotspot, Atewa supports some 100 threatened and endangered species and is the primary water source for almost 5 million people.

Building on our work in Ghana for almost a decade, we are supporting this first of its kind legal intervention in Ghana, with potential ripple effects throughout the region and beyond.