Guidance on Human Rights Grievance Management in Landscape and Jurisdictional Initiatives (LJIs)

This guidance was originally published by Proforest.

A grievance mechanism is a key component of safeguards and is increasingly recognised as a minimum element of social safeguards in Landscape and Jurisdictional Initiatives (LJIs). It is reflected in the Core Criteria for Mature Landscape Initiatives and in the due diligence approaches of funding companies, including members of the Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition.

This guidance from Proforest supports LJI implementers in designing, establishing and strengthening their human rights grievance mechanisms as part of their broader social safeguards process. It offers practical recommendations aligned with the effectiveness criteria of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), while remaining proportionate to each initiative’s scale, governance, resources and context. It follows three phases: design and establishment; receiving, processing and responding to grievances; and monitoring and evaluation. The guidance focuses on grievances linked to the initiative’s own activities, decisions and implementation, and it recommends building on existing mechanisms rather than creating parallel systems. It was developed with input from implementers and funded by Nestlé.