Tell  me  about  the  Rainforest  Alliance

It is an independent, international non-profit NGO that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods.

It does this by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour.

What  has  it  done?

A 228 per cent rise in the number of Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT farms is benefiting some two million farmers, farm workers and their families, and helping to mitigate carbon emissions by conserving forests in developing countries. In the past year, the rise means a total of 32,897 farms are now certified.

To  what  standards  do  farms  have  to  comply?

Nearly half a million hectares of farmland in 19 countries now comply with the environmental, social and economic standards defined by the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal.

Support  and  growth

Coffee drying: at a certified farm

Business and consumer support for certified sustainable products, particularly in Europe, has helped to drive the growth the Rainforest Alliance has seen in its sustainable agriculture, forestry and tourism programmes in the last 12 months.

"In the past year, the Rainforest Alliance has seen a groundswell in interest in sustainability from companies and consumers," said Rainforest Alliance president Tensie Whelan.

"The organisation set out two decades ago to challenge and encourage market forces to lead the way in changing how they work.

"It is exciting to see that idea catching on in the mainstream and having major impacts on the ground in conserving biodiversity and ensuring sustainable livelihoods."

How  do  you  get  certified?

Workers: their rights and welfare must be looked after

To be awarded the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, farms must meet specific standards balancing all aspects of production, including
· Protecting the environment
· The rights and welfare of workers
· The interest of local communities

The Rainforest Alliance, an independent, international environment organisation, and other conservation groups that comprise the Sustainable Agriculture Network, developed the standards.

More  companies  are  taking  part

In a bid to meet rising consumer and market demands, more and more companies are opting to sell products that have been produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

As a result sales of coffee from Rainforest Alliance farms have almost doubled year on year since 2003.

In the UK, for example, McDonald's has reported a 22 per cent increase in coffee sales since switching to Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee in January 2007. The company has since added PG tips tea, 50 per cent of which comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified tea estates, to their menus.

The Rainforest Alliance continues to work with a greater number of companies concerned about their environmental and social impact.

In the UK in 2008 alone, support of sustainable farming by major companies has included:

. Commitment from Costa Coffee
The UK's largest and fastest growing coffee shop, to convert its entire coffee supply to sustainably grown beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT farms by 2010

. Ethical fruit juice, Good Natured
Carries the Rainforest Alliance's CertifiedT seal, being awarded Best New Juice and Best Sustainability Initiative at the Beverage Innovation Awards earlier this year

. Commitment from PG tips
To source all of its tea from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT farms by 2010. PG tips has also made a massive £12m marketing investment for 2008

. The expansion of the partnership between Rainforest Alliance and Kenco Coffee Company
Who is aiming to source 75 per cent of its entire freeze-dried coffee range from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT farms by the end of 2008. Kenco's ultimate goal is to source its entire coffee range from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT farms by 2010, as supply becomes available. This amounts to approximately 60 million cups of coffee a week.

SmartWood

It is not only in agriculture that the Rainforest Alliance says it is delivering real change.

As the world's largest not-for-profit certifier to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards for sustainable forestry, the Rainforest Alliance has also seen growth in all of its forestry activities and services.

The FSC recently estimated the value of wood products labelled with its logo to be about $20 billion globally.

The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood programme, in collaboration with partners NEPCon (based in Denmark) and IMAFLORA (based in Brazil), has certified about 44 per cent of the 243 million acres of FSC-certified forestland.

Chain-of-Custody

On top of this, nearly a quarter of the FSC Chain-of-Custody certifications issued globally were completed by the Rainforest Alliance for a total of nearly 2,000.

SmartStep

In addition, the area of land enrolled in the Rainforest Alliance SmartStep program, a stepwise programme for forestry operations to achieve FSC certification over five years, increased by 118 per cent over the past year to nearly 260,000 hectares.

The Rainforest Alliance is also working with more than 60 community and indigenous forest enterprises that manage more than one million hectares of forestland.

Tourism

Spreading: more companies are buying goods from certified farms

In tourism, the number of Latin American businesses taking part in the Rainforest Alliance's training courses - focused on improving the sustainability of their operations - increased by 41 per cent in 2007 to reach a total of 257 businesses.

Additionally, the number of agreements the Rainforest Alliance has signed with tourism operators, focused on greening their supply chains, grew by 130 per cent last year to reach a total of 62 agreements in 10 countries.

It also signed agreements with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism.

Companies of all sizes are increasingly buying goods that come from certified, sustainably managed farms and forestlands.

Some of these companies include
· Café Bom Dia
· Chiquita
· Gibson Musical Instruments
· IKEA
· Innocent
· HarperCollins Publishers
· Kraft Foods
· KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
· McDonalds in Europe
· Sainsbury's
· Tchibo
· Tesco
· Tetra Pak
· Unilever
· Whole Foods Market
· Xerox Corporation
 

Further  information

For more information visit the Rainforest Alliance online.