Recognizing extensive cattle ranching as one of the principal drivers for deforestation, the government of Colombia together with a coalition of private sector actors and representatives from the civil society, are working together in the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA) framework to halt tropical deforestation.

Colombia was the first national state in Latin America to sign zero-deforestation agreements with key agricultural sector actors and civil society. Barriers hampering the implementation of the agreements consist, amongst others, from the lack of deforestation monitoring systems and supply chain traceability (Also see: Complying with zero-deforestation agreements in Colombia: Barriers and opportunities).

With support from TFA, Climate Focus and its partners GANSO, Solidaridad, and Fundacion Ecosocial developed a pilot project to monitor deforestation and traceability systems in the Meta department (Orinoquía region, Colombia). This study provides key tools and findings to address deforestation monitoring and traceability implementation challenges in the beef value chain, including:

• Deforestation monitoring tool: Pragmatic methodological framework for deforestation monitoring and estimated implementations costs.
• Scale-up road map: 4 recommended actions at regional and local levels to scale up the engagement of all stakeholders towards monitoring implementation, and
• Links with traceability: Deforestation monitoring harmonization with public and private traceability systems. Traceability design options and implementation costs.

Download the deforestation monitoring tool here.