Round Table on Responsible Soy Association

RTRS is developing general, global guidance for creating national, macro‐scale maps that indicate four categories of land. Among those are areas where no soy expansion may occur and areas where High Conservation Values (HCV) assessments are still needed to assess whether soy expansion can take place. Using input from the HCV Resource Network, RTRS will also develop global guidance for on‐farm HCV assessments.
The work will be led by an RTRS technical advisory group with help from process facilitators and technical assessors. Outcomes will be reviewed, amended and (ultimately) endorsed by a multi‐stakeholder working group with representatives from all three RTRS member constituencies.
At the national level, the global guidance will be interpreted for local circumstances. On macro-scale national maps, various types of land will be marked: a) areas available for expansion, b) areas where no expansion may occur, and c) areas for which an HCV assessment first needs to be done.
Also, specific country- or region‐specific guidance on carrying out HCV assessments and biodiversity-friendly practices will be developed. Such work will be overseen by national multi‐stakeholder groups and will be implemented by national technical groups and/or specialist mapping organizations.
National projects will commence first in Brazil, and in the second phase in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, respectively.