Scaling forest-friendly businesses
in Latin America

Partnerships for Forests (P4F) aims to drive transformational change and long-term growth across tropical forest landscapes. Building on the strong foundations of P4F Phase I (which ran from 2015 to 2024), Phase II will catalyse investment into inclusive, sustainable businesses that support growth and livelihoods, protect and restore forests, and ensure value flows back to forest-based communities and smallholder farmers.

Phase 1: Building the foundations for forest-friendly investment in Latin America

During Phase I (2018 to 2024), P4F’s transformative work across Latin America was successful in providing both grant finance and technical support to develop alternatives to conventional practices in the land use sector across Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The programme facilitated partnerships among the private, public sectors, and local communities to foster deforestation-free initiatives and improve livelihoods. Those initiatives paved the way for greater innovation, scale and impact across the region.

A lot has changed since we first launched the programme over seven years ago. Despite the current geopolitical and environmental challenges both globally and within Latin America, the conditions for forest-positive investments are more favourable than ever.

The sustainable commodity market is more mature, stakeholders are technically better equipped, the policy environment is supportive, and investors are beginning to recognise the high impact potential and positive economic returns of investing into sustainable business models.

Phase II: Harnessing the momentum to mobilise investment at scale

In Phase II, launched in August 2025, the P4F team initiated a strategic transition focused on scaling impact through proven models that foster holistic landscape transformation.

This phase places greater emphasis on delivering results at scale. The overarching goal is to harness the growing momentum and greater maturity of forest-positive businesses to mobilise investment at scale, reducing structural inequalities and environmental vulnerabilities in the region.

With a strong commitment to social inclusion and gender equality, the programme’s strategy places people and forest dependent communities at its core.

The P4F strategy is structured around the forest transition curve

% of area with forests

85%

50%

30%

1

Where there are undisturbed forests at risk, the programme focuses on increasing the value of standing forests to incentivise their protection.

2

Where forest cover has been converted to agricultural land, the programme adopts a produce-protect approach, promoting more sustainable agricultural practices.

3

Where landscapes have been degraded through unsustainable practices, the programme approach prioritises restoration measures that create value through forest regeneration and growth.

1

Where there are undisturbed forests at risk, the programme focuses on increasing the value of standing forests to incentivise their protection.

2

Where forest cover has been converted to agricultural land, the programme adopts a produce-protect approach, promoting more sustainable agricultural practices.

3

Where landscapes have been degraded through unsustainable practices, the programme approach prioritises restoration measures that create value through forest regeneration and growth.

Type of landscape

Smallholder farmers are both essential contributors to and primary beneficiaries of forest-positive change.

Carbon credits, payments for ecosystem services (PES), and innovative finance mechanisms are seen as complementary income streams that can make restoration and sustainable production more attractive to smallholders. Protected areas, meanwhile, offer the territorial and institutional foundation for many regional interventions.

Cross-cutting strategy

The strategy also focuses on four cross cutting pathways that drive greater reach, impact, and sustainability

Accelerate, scale up investment-focused incubators and accelerators by using P4F support to reach more start-ups, reduce risk, and promote financial sustainability – especially for emerging technologies and innovative products.

Support national and sub-national governments in implementing their sustainability goals(e.g.,forest concessions, restoration targets, cattle traceability, etc.) fostering the exchange of successful results and replication to other geographies.

Support the structuring and implementation of productive hubs by bringing together businesses from different value chains and creating the right conditions in the same region, advancing a holistic and sustainable land-use approach at a landscape level.

Support nature-focused investment funds to set up Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems to increase transparency and strengthen their capacity to attract funding.