Drawing inspiration from trees, Suzano has learned that life always renews itself. Trees are part of the solution for society's challenges, such as climate change, the scarcity of natural resources, the loss of biodiversity and increasing social inequality. For this reason, the company believes that it is its duty to strengthen this movement of regeneration, oxygenation and renewal of the world, living every day its purpose of renewing life inspired by trees.
In Brazil and around the world, one of the main threats to biodiversity loss is habitat fragmentation. This phenomenon occurs when a continuous natural area of environmental value is subdivided into smaller, unconnected areas. This is due to several reasons, such as the uncontrolled growth of urban areas and the expansion of the agricultural border. Fragmentation alters ecological interactions in the landscape, isolates species which may contribute to their extinction and interferes with the loss of territorial resilience to climate change and the provision of ecosystem services, among other adverse effects.
With this in mind and aware that the areas of native vegetation in the biomes where Suzano operates have different levels of fragmentation, in 2021 the Commitment to Renew Life was launched as a long-term goal aimed at biodiversity conservation, encompassing three of Brazil's six biomes, considering the extent and impact of the company's entire territory.
The Commitment's premise is to reduce the biodiversity loss and generate a net positive impact on nature. Suzano has pledged to connect, through ecological corridors, half a million hectares of fragments in the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Amazon biomes by 2030 - the equivalent of four times the size of the city of Rio de Janeiro. This commitment goes beyond the company's gates and focuses on the territory where biodiversity is most threatened, according to the Ministry of the Environment's (MMA) definition of Priority Areas for Biodiversity Conservation. The creation of ecological corridors connects isolated fragments, allowing the movement of animals, an increase in vegetation cover and, as a result, the regeneration of biodiversity.
To accomplish the Commitment, Suzano has subdivided it into three pillars of activity: Connect, Engage and Protect. Based on these pillars, the company acts strategically through ecological restoration and sustainable production management within corridors designed to connect important protected areas, creating a network of Protected Areas (PAs), which conserve fauna and flora, and establishing business models that generate shared value and biodiverse production, as well as working on initiatives to reduce pressure on biodiversity as a result of human activity.
In this respect, and considering this to be a basic principle for any action aimed at biodiversity conservation, Suzano is committed to a zero deforestation policy and the adoption of best forest management practices, besides only using wood from plantations established exclusively in previously degraded areas and outside legally protected areas.
The company understands that for its efforts to be effective in terms of biodiversity conservation, it is necessary to act as a network, considering the landscape composition in the territory. As such, the company also reinforces the importance of biodiversity in its business strategies through the Brazilian Business Commitment for Biodiversity, launched by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), in addition to being part of the creation and development, as a private initiative, of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Capitals Coalition.