PARTNERING WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO
KEEP RAINFORESTS STANDING
PROJECTS
COUNTRIES
HECTARES
FUNDED
The state of forests
The world’s forests are disappearing at a record rate.
Despite hundreds of corporate "deforestation-free" commitments, we are still losing nearly 30 million hectares of forest every year.
Why current efforts are failing:
A Gap in Protection: Less than 25% of forests are inside protected areas. Hundreds of millions of hectares are at risk of deforestation for agriculture—including 6 million in Indonesia currently slated for conversion to farming.
A Crisis of Funding: Even when forests are legally recognised, more than 50% of protected areas globally do not have enough funding to hire guards and wardens to effectively protect them, leading to illegal logging, poaching, and even conversion to farming.
A Real Human Cost: Indigenous communities, who have lived in the forests for millennia and are the best protectors of their land, are unable to conserve these areas because they lack the legal and financial support to defend their territories.
The Solution is Within Reach
We can’t wait for corporate policies to trickle down through supply chains.
The Forest Conservation Fund provides a direct link between companies, consumers, and the forest frontier. For less than 2% of the cost of the commodities they source, companies can move beyond "neutral" to become Forest Positive.
What is the forest conservation fund?
Decentralizing conservation. Empowering communities.
FCF is a Switzerland-based non-profit that bridges the gap between global markets and the forest frontier. We empower local communities and landholders to protect the forests under their care, moving resources directly into the field.
We are governed by an independent Board of Directors and an expert Grants Committee responsible for approving projects based on strict quality requirements.
Our Model
Protecting an area of forest equivalent to the land needed to grow commodities (like cocoa, palm, or coffee) typically costs just 1-2% of the purchase price of those commodities.
Targeted Funding: Donors contribute $40 per hectare annually. We link these funds directly to conservation projects within their specific sourcing landscapes. By leveraging technology, we minimize overhead and maximize the amount of every dollar reaching the ground.
Result-Based Payments: Funding is dispersed only based on verified field results. We use satellite imagery and biodiversity monitoring to ensure forests stay standing and we provide coaching and support on conservation management to ensure that the forest stays standing and that conservation goals are being met.
Intentional Transparency: Every project undergoes an annual financial audit and we report back to companies about how their donations are being used.
Expert Governance: All projects are vetted and approved by an independent Grants Committee based on strict quality and conservation requirements.
Past and Present FCF Donors
The FCF Philosophy:
‘Insetting’ not ‘Offsetting’
Every product has a footprint. We help you balance it.
Whether you are an individual or a CEO, your consumption has a footprint in tropical forests. Every plantation was once a forest. Our solution is to "inset" your annual footprint by protecting an equivalent area of forest in the same landscape your products are sourced from.
The "Nature Needs Half" Approach
If a coffee house sources 45,000 tonnes of beans, they require roughly 9,405 hectares of land at average yield rates. By protecting an equal 9,495 hectares of wild forest through FCF, that company moves beyond "deforestation-free"—they join the Nature Needs Half movement - using half of the Earth for humans’ needs, and protecting half for nature.
Or maybe your favourite shampoo contains palm oil? FCF can help connect you to a project protecting forest that may otherwise be converted to oil palm. Click here for more information on how FCF can work for individuals!
