Natural lands around the world are being converted and degraded at unprecedented levels. Three-quarters of land has been significantly impacted by humans through pollution, urban expansion, conversion to crop or livestock production, intensive logging in natural forests and other activities. These changes contribute to climate change, threatening biodiversity and disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities. In fact, the rate of species extinctions is also accelerating, with some experts warning that a sixth mass extinction is under way.

To mitigate emissions from land cover changes, build resilience for supply chains and working lands, and protect habitats and the communities and wildlife that depend on them, it is more important than ever to limit human conversion of natural lands.

Commodities sourced from land are a major driver of this conversion, but now a new tool can help companies that source these commodities change the way they operate: Land & Carbon Lab has collaborated with World Wildlife Fund and Systemiq to lead the development of an open source Natural Lands Map. This map uses the best available global and local geospatial data that establishes a common baseline companies can use to visualize the extent of natural land in 2020, and through target setting, to assess whether they may be responsible for conversion after 2020. The Natural Lands Map can also help companies make decisions around acquisitions and the impacts on natural land from future business activities.

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