Data or statistical facts on the situation and perspectives of agri-food systems and the impact of policies
89% of the analyzed VSS (8 out of 9) require producers to restore natural areas, excluding only Fairtrade which has it as recommended (Larrea et al., 2021).
100% of the analyzed VSS include prohibitions on converting areas with high biodiversity, conservation value or carbon storage with specific cut-off dates (Larrea et al., 2021).
89% of the analyzed VSS (8 out of 9) include required criteria for spatial planning to avoid biodiversity loss, excluding only Fairtrade (Larrea et al., 2021).
100% of the analyzed VSS include required criteria to maintain critical and sensitive ecosystems, except Fairtrade which has it as recommended (Larrea et al., 2021).
4 main forest commodities (cocoa, palm oil, soybean and timber) have been identified as drivers of deforestation and are subject to various VSS (Larrea et al., 2021).
5 years is the period prior to certification that the Organic standard requires farmers to show they have not converted valuable natural environments to agricultural land (Larrea et al., 2021).
2005 is the cut-off date established by RSPO for not certifying operations that have converted areas with high biodiversity conservation value after this date (Larrea et al., 2021).
80% of terrestrial biodiversity is home to forests according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Larrea et al., 2021).
4.7 million hectares per year represents the global net loss of forest area from 2010 to 2020, a reduction from 7.8 million hectares annually in the 1990s (Larrea et al., 2021).
December 31, 2020 represents the cutoff date from which the regulation applies to deforestation and forest degradation that occurred thereafter (Sarmiento, 2025).
