Humanity is still destroying its native forests. Since 1990, the world has lost about 178 million hectares of forests. In Brazil, over the past 30 years, 15.7% of forests have been lost, equivalent to 92 million hectares, corresponding to 52% of global area loss¹.  

Suzano's business has a direct relationship with natural resources and biodiversity. We are concerned about conserving, protecting and restoring ecosystems in all our operating units and we acknowledge how important ecosystem services such as clean water and fertile soil are for the continuous and renewable development of eucalyptus forests, in the same areas, cycle after cycle.

In this regard, our biodiversity strategy adopts as a premise the zero deforestation commitment, as established in the Wood Supply Policy (in portuguese), as well as in the sustainable forest stewardship guidelines of the forest certifications, which include the non-significant use of areas converted after 1994.

Under the Policy, as of 2020, we have undertaken a commitment not to plant eucalyptus or acquire wood from areas that have been deforested, legally or illegally.    
 

To this end, Suzano instituted and applies the Due Diligence System (DDS)² in 100% of the wood supplied from its own areas as well as from third parties. This assessment aims to certify compliance with the principles of its Policies, such as the commitment to zero deforestation; compliance with international regulations and the FSC and PEFC Forest Stewardship Standards; Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005); National Risk Assessment for Brazil (FSC-NRA-BR V1-0); and ABNT NBR 14790. The main stages of this process are:
 

• Document analysis that proves land use rights and native forest conversion assessment. If there is the occurrence of any conflict and/or restriction, it will be duly assessed by a multidisciplinary group and dealt with prior to the formalization of the timber supply contract and/or the use/acquisition of the area;
• Analysis of land use limits with officially demarcated Conservation Units, priority areas for conservation, indigenous communities and traditional communities.

Once legal and environmental validations have been made, the forest area is registered in a system called "Zenith", which includes relevant information, such as: geolocation of planting and conservation areas, rural property name, region, state, among others, and includes Suzano's own wood and that of third parties.
 

This registration stage is part of the Suzano Traceability Program³, pursuant to the commitment to ensure that 100% of products delivered to customers can be traced back to the origin of the wood. In other words, the Program monitors wood during planting, handling, harvesting and transport to the mill. The information gathered at the mill is recorded in a system that allows the connection with the production of the pulp lot and other products, such as paper and tissue.

Suzano adopts the FSC and PEFC Forest Stewardship certifications for the Forestry Units and the FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certifications for the Industrial Units, Distributors and Traders. All traceability controls are assessed during internal and external audits, conducted by the independent certifying body. 

Seeking to provide stakeholders with transparency about its activities, the company has been disclosing, since 2020, the Zero Deforestation Annual Report ( 2020 and 2021 ), which is based on a systemic analysis of public data about deforestation in Brazil, cross-referenced with its operational base. 

This analysis encompasses all regions where the company operates in Brazilian territory so as to assess deforested areas, including the following stages:

• Information gathering: documentary collections, history of land use and conservation, survey of relevant evidence;
• Deforestation analysis and assessment: review of reports, images of possible deforestation and collection of on-site evidence, if necessary; 
• Creation of action plans to address deforestation with third party involvement: real estate processes, contracts linked to third parties, lawsuits, registration of an occurrence report, eventual environmental licenses obtained by third parties, maps and photographic records collected in the field;

• Monitoring and control of the defined action plans: monitoring of the suppressed areas with revisits to the areas by the Property Surveillance, images, revision or even restitution of ownership, monitoring of legal actions and inclusion of areas in the Ecological Restoration Program.

The entire system is also verified by an independent auditor, so as to ensure that the entire process is credible, technically accurate and impartial in its analysis and reporting.

Suzano actively participates in initiatives to protect natural areas, in partnership⁴ with NGOs, local governments and research institutes, which combat deforestation, promote ecological restoration and create conditions to promote sustainable development.

Note

1. Niccolo Conte (2021), Mapped: 30 Years of Deforestation and Forest Growth, by Country

2. Learn more by accessing Percentage of wood suppliers assessed and/or contracted by company requirements indicator

3. Learn more by accessing Percentage of products with raw materials traceable origin indicator

4. Learn more by accessing Commitments and Partnerships indicator