Biodiversity

Importance

(GRI 3-3a., GRI 3-3b.)

Biodiversity is the foundation of ecosystem services that humans rely on for basic necessities, such as clean air and water, climate change and disaster regulation, habitat and culture of indigenous people, food production and income sources. In addition to being a key driver of economic growth, natural capital is also both an opportunity and a risk for important business operations. Therefore, maintaining a balanced ecosystem is crucial for sustainable business operations.
In 2024, the World Economic Forum highlighted the global economy’s dependence on nature, with 60% of world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dependent on ecosystem services provided by nature1. Also, it highlighted the importance for business to pay attention to biodiversity issues and take urgent action in response to the Global Biodiversity Framework, which has two targets: to reverse global biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve Nature Positive by 2050.
OR recognizes the importance of biodiversity as a fundamental aspect of its business operations, particularly for lifestyle businesses that rely heavily on agricultural products, such as coffee beans. Additionally, OR is cognizant of the environmental impact of its Mobility business, which operates numerous sites across Thailand. Therefore, in 2024, OR assessed biodiversity risks in OR’s own operations and across its value chain. This assessment aims to facilitate comprehensive risk management planning and promote sustainable business practices, in alignment with the OR SDG (Small, Diversified, Green) strategy, to effectively achieve the OR 2030 Goals. This is done by creating opportunities for a clean society, promoting green businesses for a sustainable environmental future (Green) to conduct business while caring for the environment.

2024 Targets

(GRI 3-3e.)

OR is dedicated to promoting biodiversity conservation in alignment with its goal of achieving net zero emissions (OR Net Zero Pathway) by 2050. This is done in accordance with the 3Rs operational strategy, including: Reduce, Remove, and Reinforce. The goal is to sequester carbon using Nature-based Solutions (NbS) by restoring natural resources through reforesting 10,000 rai of forest areas by 2030.

Management Approach

(GRI 3-3c., GRI 3-3d., GRI 3-3e., GRI 3-3f)

Biodiversity conservation

OR realizes the importance of operating responsibly to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and biodiversity. Therefore, OR has shown its commitment to the conservation of sensitive biodiversity as stated in the 2024 Biodiversity and No Deforestation Statement to operate its business in conjunction with the protection and management of biodiversity throughout the supply chain, committed to No Net Loss of biodiversity (NNL), promote the implementation of projects that achieve the goal of Net Positive Impact within the manageable scope, and avoid creating net impacts on forest areas by committing to reforestation or reforestation to compensate for forest loss from business operations (No Net Deforestation), covering key stakeholders, including OR’s own operations, Tier-1 and Non-tier 1 suppliers, as well as OR’s business partners.
Under Biodiversity and No Deforestation Statement 2024, OR has applied the Mitigation Hierarchy Principle into its biodiversity initiatives. This approach focuses on avoiding, minimizing, restoring and offseting for potential impacts on biodiversity throughout the value chain.
In addition, OR has reviewed its 2024 Quality, Security, Safety, Health and Environment (QSHE) Policy by establishing a commitment to protect and manage biodiversity through effective integration of biodiversity assessment and management.

2024 Biodiversity Risk Assessment

In 2024, OR conducted a comprehensive assessment of risks related to nature and biodiversity throughout the value chain, covering Mobility and Lifestyle businesses, with a total of 68 locations, consisting of 49 locations of OR’s own operations, 14 areas of suppliers (Upstream), and 5 areas of customers (Downstream). The assessment identified dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities related to nature using widely accepted and used tools, namely ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks, and Exposure) and WWF Risk Assessment. The assessment process was as follows:

Identify stakeholders: the scope covers the entire OR value chain, including upstream operations, OR own operations, and downstream operations.
Site selection: criteria for selecting important suppliers and customers were used in identifying study locations for the evaluation.
Assessment: this consists of a two-step tool: 1) ENCORE’s Impact and Dependency (I&D) Assessment to assess OR’s impacts and dependency on nature, and 2) WWF’s Biodiversity Risk Assessment to assess and identify potential biodiversity risks.
Monitoring: this step monitors and validates the mitigation hierarchy and discloses the progress of implementation according to OR’s Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP).
Engagement and Communication: the last step engages and communicates with stakeholders in business operations, considering identified biodiversity and deforestation risks.
The results of the risk assessment and mitigation measures is available in the 2024 Biodiversity Risk Assessment

Performance

Engagement and Collaboration on Biodiversity

OR collaborates with external agencies and organizations to operate in accordance with the commitment to restore and preserve natural resources, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The focus is on supporting forest restoration, including mangrove and wetland ecosystems. In addition to providing biodiversity benefits, these ecosystems also contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration benefits in the form of carbon credits registered with the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO). OR also promotes sustainable coffee cultivation using agroforestry model to promote biodiversity from upstream activities in the production of coffee beans used in OR’s Café Amazon business. These products are distributed directly to customers as downstream activities in the value chain. With ongoing collaborations in the following projects:

External organizations/agencies	Biodiversity cooperation
Royal Forest Department	OR has organized a voluntary forestation project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Program (T-VER) in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, represented by the Royal Forest Department. The project is in the national forest reserves of Chiang Rai and Phayao provinces, covering a total area of 1,518.90 rai. This is with the objective to support local communities’ employment and to restore forests to increase natural carbon dioxide absorption sources. This aligns with OR’s climate change mitigation approach with a target of reforesting 10,000 rai by 2030. In 2024, OR supported the management of the forest reserves by maintaining the forests and removing weeds from seedlings according to the forestry principles of the Royal Forest Department, resulting in a survival rate of seedlings in the project area of 61 to 99 percent, and supported project registration according to the T-VER-S-METH-13-02 methodology, Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. and increasing carbon sequestration in forest areas at the project level (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Sequestration in Forest Area Project Level: P-REDD+) with external assessment of project viability, including working with experts and universities to develop sustainable projects.
Mae Fah Luang Foundation	OR supports the forest carbon credit management project for sustainable development in collaboration with the Mae Fah Luang Foundation. Currently, it supports the maintenance of 8,100 rai of community forests and has reviewed the project’s feasibility from external assessors to register carbon credits using the Thai Voluntary Emission Reduction Project (T-VER) standards. In 2024, the project’s performance will be continuously monitored, including supporting communities to establish forest care funds and sustainable community development funds in 75 villages to provide communities with a budget for sustainable community forest management, including forest fire management in the area, and community forest registration in the T-VER project to continuously measure performance and share benefits sustainably.
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation	The project improves the quality of life for the stability of the local people in the forest conservation forest areas to live sustainably. This is in accordance with Section 64 of the National Park Act B.E. 2562 and Section 121 of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562, which covers an area of approximately 4.27 million rai, to participate in reforestation, forest conservation, and coexistence with the forest in a mutually beneficial manner, increasing its abundance and biodiversity. This will support the transition in agricultural practice from the current monoculture to the creation of ecological forests and sustainable agroforestry systems. This includes shade-grown coffee, creating forests and green areas, creating benefits from the ecosystems, reducing soil erosion, and reducing air pollution. OR will support tangible changes in the area, enabling people to live with stability towards the creation of a low-carbon society through sustainable production and consumption.
Café Amazon Park Carbon Credit Project according to VERRA standard	OR plan to developing Café Amazon Park in Lampang Province on an area of 615 rai for sustainable business development from upstream activities. Research and development (R&D) center will be established to develop coffee seedlings in supporting the expansion of Café Amazon branches both domestically and internationally in the long term. OR has also prepared the VERRA carbon credit project with shade-grown coffee planting standards to calculate carbon credits, which aligns with OR’s goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Biodiversity Study and Survey Project of Café Amazon Park	OR initiated a project to survey and study biodiversity in the Café Amazon Park area to serve as a biodiversity baseline for the project area’s sustainable development. In 2024, a survey of plant and wildlife species in the area, including the abundance of soil resources, was conducted. From the first biodiversity survey, a total of 381 species were found, consisting of 132 plants (35%), 141 insects (37%), 87 birds (23%), 11 reptiles (3%), and 10 amphibians (2%). These species can be classified according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for the risk of extinction, as follows: – Endangered (EN) 1 species: Burmese Padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz) – Vulnerable (VU) No species found – Near-Threatened (NT) No species found – Least Concern (LC) 194 species – Not Evaluated (NE) 184 species – Data Deficient (DD) 1 species For the conservation status at the national level by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, Red-whiskered Bulbul is classified as having a Vulnerable status (VU) at the national level.