Impact in the Forests: The potential for business solutions to combat deforestation

According to a report by World Wildlife Fund (WFF), small and medium-sized Asian businesses specialising in forest and ecosystem services can play a key role in reducing deforestation in the region.

The report “Impact in the Forests: The potential for business solutions to combat deforestation in large forest landscapes in Asia’’; perceives that there is strong potential for innovative green business approaches. Sectoral analyses in the study show the kinds of enterprises that might contribute positively to addressing deforestation, such as rubber, cocoa, rattan, essential oils and medicinal plants.

Analysing the policy and entrepreneurial context in three landscapes across Asia, the report highlights how supporting innovative small-scale green businesses could help reverse the current trend where business incentives for promoting deforestation remain greater than those for preventing it. The study shows that this trend persists despite recent deforestation-free commitments made by several countries and the UN push to halt deforestation by 2020.

The report is as a result of collaboration between WWF, Ennovent, Impact Hub, Clarmondial and GreenWorks Asia.

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(WFF/Ob)