The WBCSD Forest Solutions Group (FSG) publishes a new framework for community engagement

This document proposes operational principles and concrete recommendations to help forestry companies strengthen their relationships with local communities, create shared value, and consolidate their “social license to operate.”

Presented at the Forest Pavilion at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, this report highlights that social issues are central to the performance and sustainability of forest-wood value chains: local trust, territorial resilience, and business continuity are closely linked.

Why this report is important for the industry

The FSG puts forward a clear message: community engagement is not a peripheral activity, but an economic and strategic imperative. Forestry operations take place in inhabited landscapes, where interactions with local populations determine risk management, the long-term stability of concessions, and the credibility of sustainability initiatives.

The report highlights three major contributions in particular:

· A structured economic argument for integrating community engagement into corporate strategy and investment models.

· Practical guiding principles, inspired by real-world experiences in the forestry sector, for moving from a compliance mindset to an impact mindset.

· A long-term approach aimed at generating mutual benefits for communities and businesses: local development, social stability, productivity, and attractive supply chains.

Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Empresas CMPC and member of the FSG, emphasizes that this report is “a call to place community engagement at the heart of forestry operations in order to create shared value that secures both social resilience and business continuity.”

An international coalition of 17 industry leaders

The Forest Solutions Group is a global coalition of 17 forestry and investment companies, brought together within the WBCSD to accelerate sustainability, innovation, and collaboration across the industry.

Current members are: Sumitomo Forestry, Manulife Investment Management, International Paper, Stora Enso, The Navigator Company, Mondi Group, Smurfit Westrock, JM Huber Corp., BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, Weyerhaeuser, Drax, Sappi, Philip Morris International, Enviva, Olam Agri (Congolaise des Bois), Empresas CMPC, and Suzano.

This diversity of profiles—industrial processing, concession management, forestry investment, and biomass—gives the report broad sectoral scope and strong operational legitimacy.

Points of convergence with ATIBT priorities

For ATIBT and its members, this new report resonates strongly with several key priorities:

· sustainable management of tropical forests, which cannot be separated from social dialogue and local development;

· long-term security of supply, which depends on territorial stability and stakeholder buy-in;

· the credibility of legality, traceability, and certification initiatives, which is strengthened when local benefits are visible, shared, and monitored.

Beyond a framework of best practices, this reference document is a useful tool for informing field initiatives, ESG requirements, and market exchanges—particularly in a context where regulations are rapidly evolving and increasingly emphasizing the social dimension of supply chains.