Forests, partnerships and progress

There are now more MPs in Westminster than there are Sumatran tigers left in the wild. It's a striking statistic, but one that captures the true scale of the challenge nature is facing.

By Rob Comley, Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager, Chester Zoo

Across South East Asia, forests continue to disappear at an alarming rate. As habitats are lost and fragmented, species such as Sumatran tigers, orangutans and hornbills are being pushed ever closer to extinction. More than 80% of orangutan habitat has been altered or destroyed over the past two decades, contributing to the loss of up to 3,000 orangutans every year – that’s eight every day.

Preventing extinction is at the heart of Chester Zoo's conservation mission. It is why we continue to use our voice to highlight the impacts of deforestation on wildlife, people and the climate.

I'm part of the delegation currently attending COP17 in Yerevan, and it is clear that halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 will require action on some of the biggest pressures facing nature, including deforestation.

With countries gathering to review progress towards the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the focus is increasingly on where action is succeeding, where it is falling short, and what more needs to be done.

It's therefore no surprise that forests are featuring prominently in many of the conversations taking place across the conference.

Healthy forests support wildlife, regulate water supplies, store carbon, underpin food systems and sustain the livelihoods of millions of people.

They also sit at the heart of many of the Framework's goals and targets, from restoring ecosystems and promoting sustainable agriculture to encouraging more sustainable business practices.

Picture courtesy of Hutan

Through our work with Hutan in Malaysian Borneo, we've seen first-hand that protecting forests is about more than wildlife. The most successful projects recognise that people and nature depend on one another, with supporting communities just as important as restoring habitats or protecting species.

That same principle sits at the heart of our six-year partnership with Ferrero UK, an industry leader in responsible palm oil sourcing. Together, we raise awareness of the importance of sustainable palm oil and support biodiversity understanding and action through conservation projects, education and policy advocacy.

Since 2020, the partnership has helped deliver an unbranded biodiversity education programme to more than 100,000 students across the UK, equipping young people with a better understanding of the role informed consumer choices can play in helping to support wildlife.

More recently, the partnership has expanded into pioneering field-based conservation science through the Biodiversity Research Forest in Borneo's Kinabatangan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Delivered alongside HUTAN, the three-year programme is generating evidence on how wildlife uses and moves through mosaic landscapes, helping build a better understanding of how people, nature and food production can thrive.

Early findings have already confirmed orangutans, Bornean elephants and other iconic and indicator species using habitats across the landscape, with insights intended to help inform future conservation and landscape-management approaches.

Partnerships like this show what can be achieved when conservation organisations and businesses work towards a common goal and highlight the role supply chains must play in tackling biodiversity loss.

However, to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework, collaborative partnerships must be combined with supportive policies to create the right conditions for action.

That is why we hope COP17 provides fresh momentum for the UK's long-awaited Environment Act due diligence regulations. This legislation will make it mandatory for any business in Great Britain with an annual turnover of more than £1million to check back through the supply chains of commodities that put forests at risk, such as cocoa, coffee and palm oil, to make sure production adheres to local laws.

This week in Yerevan, we have been highlighting to UK Parliamentarians and policymakers the importance of publishing and implementing the Schedule 17 regulations without further delay, alongside the need to move towards a fully deforestation-free standard as soon as possible



The enabling legislation has been in place for five years and we know businesses are ready and want the certainty these measures would provide. At a conference focused on implementation, bringing forward these regulations would demonstrate UK leadership on deforestation while creating a level playing field for businesses committed to more sustainable supply chains.

As conversations continue here in Yerevan, one message keeps coming through: we already know much of what needs to be done. From community-led on-the-ground conservation to partnerships with businesses and stronger supply-chain regulation, the tools are there. The challenge now is moving faster and at greater scale. If we are serious about halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, protecting and restoring the world's forests must be part of the solution.