Preferred by Nature is a non-profit organisation creating sustainable impact in 100+ countries. Our work includes promoting sustainable standards in forestry, agriculture and global supply chains.

To create a more sustainable world by working with producers, businesses, small holders, legislators and civil society.

We drive impact through our own Preferred by Nature Standard and by supporting the audit processes of other certification standards. We also work with individual stakeholders, supporting their sustainability goals. The income generated by these activities have allowed us to complete more than 100 sustainability projects, benefiting people, nature and climate. 

We have developed a highly adaptable sustainability standard that is free to use for any business, producer, farmer or investor. The standard is versatile like a Swiss Army Knife, aligned with regulatory frameworks such as the EUDR and can be used by anyone, from smallholders to global brands. Learn more about the Preferred by Nature Standard here.

While anyone may use the Preferred by Nature Standard to improve their sustainable impact, only businesses and producers verified by Preferred by Nature may use the Hummingbird Seal on their products. Learn more about the Hummingbird Seal here.

Sustainable certification - and ecolabels - seek to leverage potential for change in the market by offering a premium to producers, who adopt sustainable standards. For instance, by introducing more sustainable farming methods, a smallholder will be able to get a better price for the crop, while the retailer can tap into a growing market of consumers sensitive to the environmental and social challenges in supply chains. 

No. Certification standards are completely voluntary and based on the goodwill of the businesses and producers, who wish to go the extra mile. This also makes the system vulnerable to abuse or ‘greenwashing’, as ressources to control and verify supply chains are limited. Some standards do not control the volume of certified material, which also makes fraudulent actions possible. However, ecolabels are often applied to commodities produced in regions with weak governance, poverty and vulnerable ecosystems. In this way, market based standards can drive change where legislation and control systems may not exist.

In our commodity strategy, we have identified eight high impact agroforestry commodities which we believe have the most potential for us to create sustainable change: Timber, Cocoa, Coffee, Palm Oil, Soy, Rice, Rubber and Biomaterials. Take a deep dive into our work with these commodities here.

We have integrated an impact strategy across all divisions and their work with forestry and agricultural commodities. In time, we hope this strategy will help us generate valuable impact data that can help us navigate and perhaps help to counter some of the most significant challenges the world is facing today. Lean more about our how we work with impacts here.