Posted on October, 23 2025

Companies know that they need to act on biodiversity, but it is not always clear how. If done right, biodiversity projects not only support threatened species and ecosystems, but also translate into operational and strategic benefits for companies – even revenue opportunities.

Whether a company is looking to assess the feasibility of a biodiversity project to be implemented by a third party, or embarking on designing a project themselves, WWF’s new guide ‘Biodiversity project guide for companies: A WWF seven-step approach to design and assess forest projects’ provides an accessible and easy-to-use blueprint.

Companies are becoming increasingly involved with initiatives such as Science-Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) and Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which promote biodiversity conservation and/or recovery at a company level. There is a need for practical guidance on the design and assessment of biodiversity projects on the ground that are relevant to companies’ operations and aligned with sustainability priorities.

“Biodiversity is not just the backbone of our environment, it’s also the backbone of our economy,” says Tim Cronin, WWF Forests Forward Global Lead. “Conserving and restoring nature is not just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. This guide walks you through the why, where, what, and how, to help you maximize your return on investment.”

A WWF-recommended approach

Informed by the experience of WWF conservation and restoration teams across the world, these seven steps can give companies the confidence to embark on biodiversity projects with predictable and impactful outcomes for nature and people.

The guide steers companies across three different phases – preparing, scoping and developing a biodiversity project. This structure is flexible, allowing it to be adapted to different contexts, priorities and data availability – ensuring that companies can complete the guide with a pitch-ready project concept, aligned with science-based and stakeholder-supported goals.

WWF also recommends that companies integrate biodiversity action into multiple levels of their business, including landscape-based action, operational practices, and market-based approaches.

Examples of use:

The guide supports all companies looking to make a positive impact on biodiversity but is especially relevant to companies in the forestry or agrifood sectors working on:

• Environmental Social & Governance (ESG)
• Safeguarding nature-related dependencies
• Mitigating nature-related risks
• Natural resource management & conservation
• Sourcing and procurement

For example:

• An agro-commodity company facing land degradation and associated sourcing risks can use the guide to design recovery projects that restore ecosystems and strengthen its supply chains. The project may create opportunities to access biodiversity credits.
• A timber company used the Science-Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) framework to understand its biodiversity impact on now-degraded, high-biodiversity areas within its concessions. The company can use the guide to develop a recovery project on degraded concessions, addressing risks, and meeting sustainability commitments.
• A tech company, with office presence in a forested region, seeks to support local environments and communities and can use the guide to design projects that also build stakeholder relations, ESG performance and a positive reputation.
• An investor or retailer wants to fund biodiversity recovery projects, implemented by external partners, and uses the guide to screen proposals and ensure investments deliver credible, lasting outcomes.

This guide was made possible thanks to the support of IKEA through the Forests For Life programme of the WWF and IKEA partnership.