Experts flag unintended harms from EU deforestation law

curbing forest loss, but it could unintentionally harm smallholders, disrupt agroforestry systems, and shift deforestation into other ecosystems, Mongabay contributor Sean Mowbray reported. The EUDR requires producers to provide GPS information and proof of land tenure, but many smallholders lack those formal documents or the resources to comply. Experts warn that excluding these producers from the EU market could deepen rural poverty and inequality. “The [EUDR] provisions on smallholders are really scarce … the legislation is basically smallholder blind,” Fanny Gauttier, European public affairs lead at the Rainforest Alliance, a nonprofit, told Mowbray by email. “It’s the marginalized groups, ethnic minorities and women’s groups, who will face the largest potential exclusion,” said Martin Greijmans, senior program officer at the Regional Community. The EUDR’s strict definition of a forest could risk misclassifying agroforestry systems as noncompliant. Ethiopian coffee grown under ...