The tobacco sector is a large global consumer of wood, much of it used in tobacco curing.  High levels of wood consumption contribute to deforestation and change or loss of habitat. Wood burning in tobacco curing also generates emissions of carbon dioxide, a recognized greenhouse gas and contributor to global warming.

Our a forestation programs aim to reduce the impact of our activities on wood consumption and global warming. We encourage the use of alternative energy and the building of fuel-efficient curing barns and, where wood is an important source of energy, our forestation programs provide wood sources for those tobacco farmers who rely on wood for curing and curing barn construction and aim to mitigate any loss in natural forests that may be occurring.

Since the 1970s, British American Tobacco companies have sponsored and promoted the planting of 281,800 hectares of managed woodlands worldwide, the equivalent of some 588 million surviving trees, covering an area larger than the islands of Singapore, Hong Kong, Barbados and Malta. The scale of the woodlands effectively means the Group is responsible for one of the world's largest tree-planting operations outside the timber and paper industries.

Not all tobacco farmers require wood for their operations, but in some countries, wood is burned as a fuel for tobacco curing or used for building curing barns, in the same way as it is used for other crops and building purposes. Where farmers are compelled to use wood, we encourage them to plant trees to supply their own needs and/or to use wood from woodlands grown for fuel supply purposes. Trees for this purpose are usually grown alongside tobacco farms as an environmentally sustainable coppice crop.

British American Tobacco, and Altadis are also actively involved in several community education programs worldwide on forestation.

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