EU regulation on deforestation: a nueva app de Plant- for-the-Planet gives hope to small farmers
He EU regulation for deforestation-free supply chains shows that ambitious forest protection is possible. If we want to achieve our climate goals, we must do everything we can to make this law a success so that the US and China follow the European example. But we must not forget the subsistence needs of the local population.
Many food producers in Europe have not yet found a solution to implement the EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains. The situation is dramatically aggravated by the inaction of European companies towards producers.
The companies, which still do not have a solution, are endangering the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers. European companies must not limit themselves to shifting responsibility to producers.
If companies act too late, they will end up taking blanket action and excluding entire cooperatives and farms from trading, even if there are other options.
Although some companies have already developed their own control systems, they do not share their data with producers, which, according to Fairtradewill cause even more inequality in the market.
According to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 90% of cocoa is grown by small farmers. Often, the land is barely enough to ensure the livelihood of farming families. However, exclusion would be an economic disaster for many of these families, who are already struggling due to the consequences of global warming.
Plant-for-the-Planet’s Tracer app helps smallholders implement EUDR
Plant-for-the-Planet is committed to ensuring that forest conservation in the Southern Globe is carried out with local communities. The protection of forests cannot function in a sustainable manner without taking into account their economic interests.
Due to the above, the team Plant-for-the-Planet has been thinking about how to help small farms. The result is a new application that farmers can use for free.
Tracer App It offers small farmers and cooperatives the opportunity to document their lands themselves and consult with their partners or NGOs in the case of negative results. With Tracer App of Plant-for-the-Planetsmall producers gain time and control over their information and the destination of their funds.
Cooperatives can identify potential risks themselves and take measures to avoid being excluded from trade with Europe. The app can also serve as an information and consultation tool, as it provides users with the details of the new EU regulation.
The initial tests carried out with the software Tracer, were carried out, using thousands of real data from small agricultural farms that showed that about 5-10% of producers were not complying with the new European Union directive. Many of the small producers in Ghana and Mexico who were part of this pilot test had never heard of this new regulation. They did not know that forests cannot be cut down if they want to continue exporting to the EU. Therefore, it is urgent to act.
How does the Tracer app work?
To register in Tracer app, users must enter the geographic data of their farm polygon into the application. Its veracity is then checked by comparing it with the database to avoid errors when entering data.
The database contains, for example, detailed information on the growing regions of 7 agricultural products. ESA satellite images from today are then compared to those from before 2020 to determine that no deforestation has occurred after 2020 and that production on the plot is therefore EUDR compliant. It is also determined whether the exploitation is located within one of the 95,000 nature reserves in the world.
A satellite image in the app shows which areas do not comply with EU regulations (see graph above). The data can be consulted permanently through the link and thus made available to partners. The app can be used for all seven products covered by the new regulation, but is primarily intended for small cocoa and coffee producers.
Tracer app It is the latest tool Plant-for-the-Planet for forest restoration and protection. FireAlert App was only introduced in 2023 and is now used to monitor a large area of Brazil.
European regulation on deforestation-free supply chains
According to the European Union, in the three decades since 1990, 420 million hectares of forests have been destroyed worldwide, an area larger than that of the EU itself. Forest loss is having a devastating impact on the climate crisis and the earth’s biodiversity.
The European Union regulation on food-free supply chains deforestation (EUDR) is the most ambitious trade regulation to date for international forest protection. It is an essential element of the package of measures necessary to completely stop deforestation by 2030. This is an absolutely necessary step if we still want to achieve our climate goals.
The EU recognizes in the regulations that around 10% of the deforestation world between 1990 and 2008 is linked to the consumption of seven agricultural products in the community countries: beef, soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber and wood.
The EUDR holds European importers responsible. From December 30, 2024, they will have to demonstrate that crop land cleared after 2020 or located in nature conservation areas is not used to manufacture their products. In the event of violations, these may lead to import bans and severe sanctions by the EU.