The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.

www.rainforest-alliance.orgOU R M I SS ION

Rainforest Alliance Overview

Around the world — in forests and on farms, in kitchens and supermarkets, in classrooms, pressrooms

and boardrooms — the Rainforest Alliance is helping to protect biodiversity, conserve natural resources,

reduce climate change and offer economic opportunities to populations in need.

Responding to a Changing World

During the next four decades, the human population is expectedto grow from roughly 6.9 billion to more than 9 billion. In theirstruggle to feed, clothe and house their families, people every-where will continue to exert pressure on the Earth’s limitedresources, particularly in and around our planet’s most sensitiveand unique ecosystems. Simply designating areas as parks andpreserves is not enough. Although 10 percent of the world hasalready been declared protected, local people continue to rely onthe resources within protected zones to earn their livelihoods.

But there is a solution. The Rainforest Alliance is helping peopleto transform their land-use practices by championing standardsthat promote the sustainable use of resources and conserve theplanet’s biodiversity for future generations.

Saving Forests

Over the last four centuries, half of the world’s forests have beencleared. In response to this significant loss, the Rainforest Alliancepioneered the idea of market-driven forestry certification in 1989with the launch of SmartWood, the first global sustainable forestrycertification program, and in 1993 we helped establish the ForestStewardship Council (FSC), now considered the global standard-setter for responsible forestry. To encourage the environmentallyand socially sound management of forests, tree farms and forestresources, we award the FSC and Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM

seals to businesses that follow strict standards for sustainability.

FSC/Rainforest Alliance certification guarantees consumers that aproduct — whether it’s a guitar, paper or raw lumber — comesfrom a forest or tree farm that is responsibly managed to conserve biodiversity and ensure the rights and well-being of workers andlocal communities. From the cool forestlands of the northwesternUnited States to the lowland tropics of Papua New Guinea, theRainforest Alliance works in all forest types and has certified morethan 163 million acres (66 million hectares) worldwide. With offices

The Rainforest Alliance works around the globe to conserve biodiversity.

and partner organizations around the world, our on-the-groundcertification services are global in scope.

Through FSC certification, we also promote recycling by certifyingrecycled paper and responsibly procured reused, reclaimed andsalvaged wood. And to help prevent the trade of illegally harvestedtimber, we work with forest product companies to verify that theirraw material is of legal origin and/or in compliance with a broaderrange of environmental laws, an achievement that earns theRainforest Alliance VerifiedTM mark.

While local and indigenous people depend directly on forestresources for their livelihoods, they may lack the technical knowl-edge and tools to manage these resources sustainably. Over thepast 20 years, governments everywhere have been turning over

Rainforest Alliance certification ensures that farmers, forest workers and their families have access to housing, health care and education.

forested areas to local communities, a trend that is expected tocontinue. To help these communities develop sustainable methodsand earn a living from the wood and non-timber forest resourcesthat they harvest — such as palm fronds, nuts, rattan, latex andresin — the Rainforest Alliance ensures that community and indige-nous forestry businesses have access to our certification services,and to markets for their goods.

The Seeds of Change

Farming is the leading destroyer of wildlife habitat, a principal causeof species extinction and the largest user of fresh water. More thanone quarter of the Earth’s land is already devoted to agriculture.As population pressures intensify and the conversion of forests tofarmland increases, current agricultural practices will only acceler-ate the cycle of poverty that so many farmers already experience.

To integrate productive agriculture, biodiversity conservationand human development, we established Rainforest Alliance agri-cultural certification in conjunction with the other members ofthe Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) — an internationalcoalition of leading conservation groups. On more than 250,000farms, covering approximately 2.7 million acres (nearly 1.1 millionhectares), farmers have reduced their use of herbicides andpesticides, invested in recycling and provided their workers withimproved training, housing, health benefits and education, therebyearning the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal of approval.

The seal is awarded to well-managed farms of all sizes throughoutLatin America, Africa and Asia for the production of crops such ascoffee, cocoa, tea, fruit, sugar, flowers, nuts, tubers and cattle. In2012, the SAN launched a two-year initiative to develop standardsfor the certification of spices, focusing on pepper, chili, ginger,turmeric, vanilla, clove and cassia. Sowing the New GreenRevolution is a tremendous challenge, but the farmers, scientistsand activists involved in the SAN are planting the seeds of change.

Bringing Sustainable Products to Market

The Rainforest Alliance is rapidly progressing toward a futurewhere producers and retailers bring a full range of sustainablegoods and services to market, and consumers are empowered tomake choices that contribute to a socially just and environmentallysound economy. Recognized across industries, the RainforestAlliance Certified seal is displayed on products ranging from paperand beauty products to food and furniture. Items bearing the sealare sold by giants such as Walmart, IKEA, McDonald’s, Costco,Home Depot, Staples and Whole Foods Market, while hundreds ofsmall businesses use the seal to market their specialty products to

eco-savvy customers. By displaying the seal on products, compa-nies can quickly and effectively communicate their commitment toa healthy planet and the just treatment of workers, their familiesand communities.

Tourism With a Conscience

With more than one billion people traveling every year, tourism isbig business, but it’s also a growing source of revenue for peoplewho live in areas rich in biodiversity. While the tourism industrycan negatively impact the environment and local communities, itcan also provide powerful incentives for conservation and socialdevelopment.

The Rainforest Alliance has long collaborated with a wide varietyof organizations and experts around the world to help make theindustry more sustainable. We’ve developed best managementpractices for tourism businesses, and we conduct training andtechnical assistance workshops to teach tourism entrepreneurshow they can implement these practices, obtain certification andmarket their services to conscientious consumers. Businessesthat comply with our criteria earn the Rainforest Alliance VerifiedTM

mark. We help create demand for their services by encouragingtour operators to partner with responsible businesses and by pro-viding travelers with resources — such as our SustainableTrip.orgwebsite — that make it easier for them to identify and supportlegitimately sustainable companies.

We also collaborate with the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, the United Nations World Tourism Organization andthe United Nations Foundation on the Global Sustainable TourismCouncil (GSTC), an international initiative that fosters the adoptionof universal sustainable tourism principles through education andtraining, and endorses certification programs that are in compli-ance with established Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.

Curbing Climate Change

From altered growing seasons and greater incidences of extremeweather events to increases in disease and pest outbreaks, theeffects of climate change are already being felt. The RainforestAlliance is working with farmers, foresters and tourism entrepre-neurs throughout the tropics, providing innovative market-basedtools to help them reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint,adapt to the impacts of climate change, conserve forestlands, andincrease carbon storage.

The Rainforest Alliance Certified seal has been awarded to coffee, cocoa, tea, sugarcane, citrus, fernand flower farms in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Photos: J. Pietruszka, J. Fair, C. Watson, R. Reeves, C. Trewick

The Rainforest Alliance is a leading validator of forest-based carbon-offset projects, ensuring that they meet rigorous, interna-tionally recognized carbon standards. We only work with projectsthat have the potential to significantly benefit local peoples andenvironments. Our methodology assessment services provideguidance for all types of forest carbon projects and help bringnew ones to market. As of January 2012, we have issued 34 carbonvalidations or verifications, representing nearly 2.5 million acres(1 million hectares) of land validated and over 35,000 acres(14,000 hectares) verified across 17 countries.

To help farmers benefit from carbon markets, we’ve created aguide for small-scale growers of certified coffee and cocoa to helpthem develop carbon-credit generating reforestation projects. Wehave also introduced the SAN Climate Module, which aims to makefarmers more aware of the risks that climate change poses to theirfarms and communities and to promote the adoption of good agri-cultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,increase carbon sequestration and enhance the capacity of farmsto adapt to climate change. The first farms achieved verificationunder the SAN Climate Module in early 2012.

Because tourism has a large carbon footprint, we are advising theindustry on ways to decrease emissions, and recommending suit-able carbon-offset programs for those emissions that cannot bereduced.

The Rainforest Alliance is also active in international efforts toensure that the reduction of emissions from deforestation anddegradation combined with forest conservation (known asREDD+) plays a meaningful role in mitigating the effects of climatechange. In Mexico, we work to strengthen REDD+ policies andstrategies, and in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru we are helping tocreate landscape-level REDD+ pilot zones, focused on establishingcommunity-based forest monitoring systems, implementing sus-tainable forest and land management practices, and enhancingregional and national capacity for REDD+.

The Rainforest Alliance educates consumers about making sustainable choices.

Sustainable tourism protects the planet’s natural resources.

USA • Bolivia • Canada • Costa Rica • Ecuador • Guatemala • Indonesia • Mexico • Nicaragua • Spain • United Kingdom665 Broadway, Suite 500 • New York, NY 10012-2331 • Tel: 212/677-1900 • Fax: 212/677-2187

www.rainforest-alliance.org

Engaging the Public

All of our efforts on behalf of conservation and social welfare willproduce few long-term benefits without the understanding andsupport of the public — which is why communication and educa-tion have always been integral to our work. We collaborate withindustry leaders, journalists, conservation colleagues and govern-ment officials around the world, and we interact with hundredsof thousands of concerned consumers, children, parents andteachers, both in person and through a wide range of educationalresources — including our website (www.rainforest-alliance.org),available in several languages, and an active social networkingpresence. Consumers can now browse our online marketplace(www.rainforest-alliance.org/marketplace) to find retailers ofRainforest Alliance Certified goods. Our Eco-Index (www.eco-index.org) and WHMSI Pathway (www.whmsi-pathway.org) web-sites are helping to connect conservationists in the Americas byproviding them with a place to share their data and experiences.And the Rainforest Alliance’s education program (www.rainforest-alliance.org/education) provides an online curriculum in Englishand Spanish and a range of multilingual resources designed tobuild environmental values and empower students to protect theworld’s most diverse and threatened ecosystems.

By reducing the damaging impacts of forestry, agriculture andtourism — particularly in ecologically critical regions — andimproving the lives and livelihoods of the people who live andwork in these areas, the Rainforest Alliance is raising the bar andmaking a difference. With more than 35,000 members, 20 globaloffices, a budget of $47.5 million, and projects in more than 80countries, we are recognized as a world leader in the successfuldevelopment and implementation of innovative conservationmeasures and tools, designed to sustain the Earth’s people andplaces for years to come.

For more information about the Rainforest Alliance, please visit www.rainforest-alliance.org