Actions in this pledge

• Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes

  Supporting actions

  Assisted natural regeneration

  Actions that support natural regeneration without tree planting, such as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, forest soil remediation, exotic species control, disease prevention, and wildfire protection

  Reforestation

  Re-establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding on land classified as forest, that has been degraded or where trees are unlikely to regenerate naturally

  Agroforestry

  Activities that establish and manage the integration of trees into agricultural landscapes, silvopastoral systems, farming in forests and along forest margins and tree-crop production

  Watershed protection and erosion control

  Establishment and enhancement of forests on very steep sloping land, along water courses, in areas that naturally flood and around critical water bodies

  Other restoration and tree growing activities

  AZ Forest opportunities and broader nature-based solutions are still being explored and may extend to include mangrove restoration and urban tree planting in the future.

  Additional details

  The expansion of AZ Forest in 2023 and commitment to plant and maintain 200 million trees by 2030 included new or expanded projects across Africa, Asia and South America.
  • Brazil
  A 30-year AZ Forest partnership with Biofílica Ambipar and Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPE) called “Corridors for Life” will plant 12 million trees in the Atlantic Forest, with over 100 native species planned in each project area. Creating ecological corridors between fragmented pockets of forests in the west of São Paulo state, this programme will build an important habitat for vulnerable and endangered species.
  • India
  A 30-year AZ Forest partnership with Earthbanc and local implementation partners in the state of Meghalaya in north-east India will plant an estimated 64 million trees, focusing on a diverse mix of species. The project is expected to be the largest of the CBA’s “Living Labs for Nature, People and Planet”. It will restore nature in this degraded biodiversity hotspot while supporting farming livelihoods.
  • Ghana
  An expansion of the existing AZ Forest programme in Ghana with the CBA, New Generation Plantation Technical Assistance (NGPTA) and other partners will see an additional 2.2 million trees planted, bringing the total targeted number of surviving trees to 4.7 million, and restoring 8,000 hectares of degraded areas in the Atebubu-Amantin and Sene West districts of central Ghana. This community-led programme, part of the network of “Living Labs”, seeks to boost forest restoration, agroforestry, biodiversity and nature-based business models for small-holder farmers.
  • Rwanda
  AstraZeneca has provided funding for the pilot phase of an agroforestry project with smallholder farmers to help accelerate the development of a new 30-year project in partnership with the Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) and Reforest’Action. The project will plant more than 5.8 million trees, with a focus on agroforestry and agricultural land management which will benefit local communities and improve livelihoods. With the aim to be another “Living Lab”, the “MuLaKiLa” project will help more than 30,000 farming households in what is one of the largest forest restoration initiatives in Rwanda.
  • Vietnam
  AstraZeneca has committed to planting 22 million trees across 30,500 hectares to restore Vietnam’s forests and landscapes. This investment will allow biodiversity to flourish, provide sustainable livelihoods for an estimated 17,000 small-holder farmers, improve diets and nutrition, and conserve soil and water.

  As part of AstraZeneca’s initial commitment to planting 50 million trees by the end of 2025, over 10.5 million trees including over 300 species were planted by the end of 2022.
  • Australia
  In partnership with Greening Australia and One Tree Planted, more than four million trees have been planted (total programme of 25 million), including 260 native tree species, supporting vulnerable and endangered wildlife species.
  • Indonesia
  In partnership with One Tree Planted and Trees4Trees, more than three million trees have been planted (total programme of 10 million), with over 13,000 farmers opting into agroforestry activities in 2022.
  • Ghana
  Over one million trees have been planted out of an initial commitment to plant three million surviving trees, driving ecological and community resilience through the community-led “Living Lab” project in partnership with CBA.
  • France
  AstraZeneca has replanted 450 rare oak trees lost in the devastating storms of 1990 and 1999 at the Palace of Versailles. The oak trees provide a natural habitat for butterflies, birds, fungi and mammals, promoting biodiversity and bringing life back to the iconic gardens of Versailles.
  • UK
  More than 470,000 trees have been planted (total programme of >1 million trees) in Scotland and England with Forestry England and Borders Forest Trust Scotland, to create high-quality woodland areas that provide additional green space in support of physical and mental wellbeing.
  • US
  More than 100,000 trees have been planted to date (total programme of 1 million trees), restoring more than 100 kilometres of riverside woodlands in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).

  

  Restoring & Growing

  Trees

  200 million surviving by 2030

• Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes

  Supporting actions

  Nursery and seedling development

  Establish tree nurseries, including actions such as identification and collection of seeds and/or growing seedlings

  Sustainable forest management

  Activities that support the stewardship and use of forests (including by local communities and indigenous peoples), to maintain their biological diversity, productivity, and regeneration capacity, as well as their potential to fulfil relevant ecological economic and social functions

  Market development for sustainable forest products

  Activities that create markets and demand for ecologically and socially responsible timber and non-timber forest and agroforestry products, e.g. capacity-building for the harvesting and processing of agroforestry products, forest certification standards, etc.

  Education and capacity building

  Forest / tree species conservation and restoration education programmes, targeted educational and behaviour change campaigns, training and capacity building, including promotion of local and traditional knowledge and practices

  Community mobilisation

  Community mobilisation and engagement activities for conservation, restoration and reforestation, including enabling systems of community governance, etc.

  Youth engagement

  Engagement of young people and/or youth networks to catalyse a restoration generation

  Data collection, management and technological tools

  Activities that provide data and/or technological tools to support conservation and restoration (e.g. monitoring etc.)

  Financial innovation

  Activities that create additional financial opportunities and incentives for conservation, restoration and reforestation (e.g. blended financing vehicles, etc.)

  Additional details

  AZ Forest is enabling large scale restoration, and we aim to demonstrate the social, economic and environmental benefits of forest landscape regeneration. Establishing tree nurseries, including the collection of genetically diverse seedstock and growing locally appropriate seedlings are key activities underpinning our reforestation activities.
  We are actively working with communities, landholders and planting partners to support activities that ensure the long-term stewardship and use of forests; this includes developing forest systems that are ecologically and economically resilient by:
  (i) integrating local tradition knowledge and approaches with science-led best practice and new technologies
  (ii) developing diverse agroforestry systems which will increase food security and community resilience whilst creating diverse habitats,
  (iii) supporting innovative bio-based value chains, and
  (iv) providing regeneration focused training, skills and employment opportunities.
  We are supporting technological innovation in remote sensing, utilising drone and satellite imagery, and deploying remote monitoring tools such as eDNA and bioacoustics to track ecosystem changes.

  

  Enabling