The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the published aims of working to conserve biodiversity
and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices,
business practices and consumer behavior. It is based in New York City, and has offices throughout the United States and worldwide. The conservation NGO was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz (environmental activist), who is still involved in the organization. Day to day management is the responsibility of its president, Tensie Whelan.
Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Forestry
The Rainforest Alliance launched the world’s first sustainable
forestry certification program in 1989 to encourage market-driven and
environmentally and socially responsible management of forests, tree
farms and forest resources. The organization's SmartWood program helped
found the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a non-profit organization
that promotes responsible forest management
globally, in 1993. SmartWood is accredited to certify forestry
operations that meet the FSC's environmental and social standards.
Operations that earn certification can use a seal on wood products so
consumers know that the wood they are buying comes from forestlands that
are managed in a way that conserves biodiversity and ensures the rights
of workers and local people. SmartWood has certified more than 108
million acres (43,800,000 hectares)
of forest worldwide, making it the largest FSC certifier of forestlands
in the world. The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program was ranked
"top of the class" according to "Wood Products Legality Verification
Systems: An Assessment," an independent report compiled by Greenpeace, a global environmental organization.
The Rainforest Alliance also works to connect certified communities
and businesses to buyers of forest products. They work to build
sustainable livelihoods by helping certified communities and businesses
to market their products effectively and increase technical ability. By
promoting green building and helping companies that purchase forest
products to incorporate sustainability into their sourcing policies,
they are also working to increase the demand for certified products.
The Rainforest Alliance's forestry program also provides training and
technical assistance to small forestry operations on how to reach
certification and educates consumers and people in the forest products
industry about conservation and certification.
Rainforest Alliance Carbon Verification
The Rainforest Alliance verifies carbon offset projects to standards
that address greenhouse gas sequestration, biodiversity conservation and
sustainable livelihoods. The Rainforest Alliance verifies projects to the standards of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance, Chicago Climate Exchange and Plan Vivo.
Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture
The Rainforest Alliance's sustainable agriculture program oversees the certification of farms that produce tropical crops, including coffee, bananas, cocoa, oranges, cut flowers, ferns, and tea. To obtain certification, farms must meet a set of environmental and social standards, including agrochemical reduction, ecosystem conservation, and worker health and safety. The Rainforest Alliance first devised its sustainable agriculture standards in 1991 and certified the first banana plantation, owned by Chiquita, in Costa Rica in 1994. By 2000, all Chiquita-owned banana farms in Latin America had earned Rainforest Alliance certification. Daniel Esty, professor of environmental science and policy at Yale University, and Andrew Winston, director of the corporate environmental strategy project at Yale University, report that Chiquita spent $20 million over ten years to bring its farms up to Rainforest Alliance standards. Esty and Winston call the Chiquita - Rainforest Alliance partnership "one of the most strategic and effective in the world." Unilever, the world's largest tea company, plans to have all of its Lipton tea plantations Rainforest Alliance Certified by 2015. The Rainforest Alliance is the secretariat of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), a group including conservation organizations in nine countries in Latin America that work together to promote and increase the use of sustainable agricultural practices and manage the certification program. The Rainforest Alliance encourages businesses and consumers to support sustainable agriculture by buying products grown on certified farms. By February 2006, nearly 2,000 square kilometres (nearly 475,000 acres) of land on more than 4,500 farms and cooperatives in 12 countries had obtained Rainforest Alliance certification.Crop Standards and Criteria
Rainforest Alliance requires that 50% of criteria under a certain principle (group of criteria) be achieved, and 80% overall. Several of these criteria are "critical" and must be complied with for a farm to earn certification. They include an ecosystem conservation program, protection of wild animals and waterways, the prohibition of discrimination in work and hiring practices, the prohibition of contracting children under the age of 15, the use of protective gear for workers, guidelines about agrochemical use and the prohibition of transgenic crops.
Rainforest Alliance Certified Seal
The Rainforest Alliance Certified Seal appears only on products that meet the crop standards and criteria detailed above. Consumer Reports recently judged the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on agricultural products to be "highly meaningful." They noted that "The Rainforest Alliance Certified label is clear and meaningful in support of sustainable agriculture, social responsibility and integrated pest management. The label is consistent in meaning among all certified. The label does not consist of farmers and none of the members are certified by the Rainforest Alliance. In this sense, the organizations behind these labels are independent from the products they certify." In February 2008, Ethical Corporation called Rainforest Alliance certification a "rigorous, independently verified scheme."
Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Tourism
The Rainforest Alliance launched a sustainable tourism program in 2000 and provides small- and medium-sized tourism businesses in Latin America with training and tools
to minimize their impacts on the environment and local communities.
Since there are almost 70 existing sustainable tourism certification
initiatives worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance decided that it would be
more productive to support local certification programs (rather than
creating its own certification body), help increase their international
recognition and establish regional networks of certification programs to
share resources and information and create standards for certification
criteria. They also provide marketing support, training and technical
assistance to certified businesses and businesses in the process of
becoming certified. In addition, they work internationally to create
partnerships with tour operators (hotels,lodges, travel agents, etc...)
to green all elements of the tourism supply chain. In March 2008, the
Discovery Channel
noted that "the Rainforest Alliance has been a leader in developing a
sort of meta-analysis of the various programs operating in the Americas -
possibly leading to a world-wide standard for what ecotourism ought to
achieve."
Sustainable Tourism Certification
The Rainforest Alliance also works to integrate sustainable tourism
certification programs in the Americas, through a coalition known as Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas.
The mission of the Network is to promote sustainable tourism in the
region through: strengthening tourism initiatives based on mutual
respect and recognition; joint efforts; harmonizing systems; sharing
information and experience.
Sustainable Tourism Index
The Rainforest Alliance has developed an index of sustainable tourism destinations. According to the New York Times, "The Eco-Index of Sustainable Tourism is a new Web site developed by the Rainforest Alliance that lists environmentally and socially responsible tourism businesses, including hotels, throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Listings are in English and Spanish. To be included, businesses must be certified by an ecotourism certification program or be recommended by a known conservation organization."The Rainforest Alliance Education Program
The Rainforest Alliance works to help people of all ages understand
the role that every person plays in biodiversity conservation. They do
this through their education site—developed in conjunction with
education experts—and their Adopt-a-Rainforest program. They also work
with several schools around the country, to help teachers implement the
lesson plans.
The Learning Site
The Rainforest Alliance developed free, on-line curricula
that offers complete lesson plans, stories (in English, Spanish and
Portuguese), presentations, posters and articles about societies and flora and fauna in Latin America, plus on-the-ground conservation projects for kindergarten through eighth grade.
Adopt-A-Rainforest
Through the Rainforest Alliance's Adopt-A-Rainforest
program, individuals and school groups can donate money to support the
programs described in the lesson plans. These donations can be made on
the Rainforest Alliance website and describe exactly where the money
goes and offers fundraising ideas..
The Eco-Index
The Rainforest Alliance developed the Eco-Index
Web site, a bilingual (English and Spanish) database of more than 1,250
profiles of conservation projects in North, Central and South America
and the Caribbean. The site provides users with information about
project summary, objectives, contact information, project budget and
funders, accomplishments and goals, lessons learned, and reports and
related Web sites. Users can search the Eco-Index by country, category,
organization, funder, and/or project name. The site helps to create a
cohesive network of conservationists by providing them with a space to
share project data and reports, lessons learned, and best practices
across language and geographic barriers. All information on the Web site
is available in English and Spanish; profiles of conservation projects
in Brazil are also available in Portuguese.
A sub-section of the Eco-Index is the Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative Pathway,
a bilingual Web site that matches priority migratory species
conservation needs with the projects, tools, and resources that are
available to address them.
An additional site called the Eco-Index of Sustainable Tourism,
launched in January 2006, is a bilingual database of small and
medium-sized, sustainable tourism operations in Latin America and the
Caribbean. All operations are certified by an independent, third-party
sustainable tourism certification program, or recommended by a reputable
conservation organization.
Forest Now Declaration
Rainforest Alliance have also endorsed the Forests Now Declaration, calling for new market based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.
Timeline
1987- 1988 • Rainforest Alliance is incorporated. First large-scale conference on rainforest destruction is held.
1990 • SmartWood certifies its first forest in Indonesia. •
Banana standards are introduced and sustainable agriculture program,
initially called ECO-O.K is launched.
1992 - 1993 • Adopt-A-Rainforest is launched to channel donations to grassroots conservation projects in Latin America. • First Rainforest Alliance agriculture certification goes to two banana farms in Costa Rica and Hawaii. • Forest Stewardship Council, an international sustainable forestry management accreditation body, is established.
1994 • SmartWood expands to temperate and boreal forests in the US and Canada. • The first two Chiquita-owned banana farms are certified.
1995 • First coffee farms are certified in Guatemala. • The
Rainforest Alliance receives the Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-profit
Innovation.
1996 • SmartWood Rediscovered for reuse of old wood is launched. • SmartWood certifies forestlands owned by indigenous peoples in Mexico and Wisconsin. • Work with Gibson USA results in the world’s first certified guitars.
1997 • All Chiquita-owned farms in Costa Rica become
Rainforest Alliance Certified. Chiquita commits to certifying all its
farms throughout Latin America. • Cocoa program is launched in partnership with Conservación y Desarrollo. • First Rainforest Alliance certification of citrus groves goes to Del Oro in Northwestern Costa Rica.
1998 • The Conservation Agriculture Network, later renamed the
Sustainable Agriculture Network, is formed to develop guidelines for
sustainable farming. • First shade-grown cocoa certification awarded to El Progreso cooperative in Ecuador.
1999 • SmartWood certifies its first non-timber forest products operation. • The Coffee and Biodiversity Project is launched to address environmental degradation in El Salvador by using shade-grown coffee farms to buffer ecologically sensitive land.
• Rainforest Alliance receives the American Society of Association
Executives (ASAE) Gold Circle Award for excellence in nonprofit
communications.
2000 • Daniel Katz steps down as executive director and
becomes board chairman. Tensie Whelan becomes executive director of the
organization.
• SmartWood certifies all of New York State’s multiple-use public
forestlands. In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, five community
forestry operations are certified. • Fifteen percent of bananas in trade are grown on Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. • SmartVoyager tourism certification is launched in partnership with Conservación y Desarrollo. • Eco-Index is launched.
2001 • SmartWood certifications expand to include municipal forests, state parks, maple syrup, pencils and snowboards. • 100 percent certification of Chiquita's company-owned farms earn certification. • Fern and flower certification program is launched in Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
• Training Research Extension Education Systems (TREES) program is
established to give small, community and indigenous forestry operations
access to certification.
2002 • Twelve hundred companies and cooperatives have adopted Rainforest Alliance sustainable practices. • SmartWood expands certification to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. • First two banana farms in South-east Asia. • The first nine fern farms are certified in Costa Rica.
2003 • Total area of certified forestland reaches 25 million
acres (100,000 km²). SmartWood certifies its first US company , the
first North America boreal forest, the first certification in Russia and
the largest certified forest in Japan. • Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas is established to accredit tourism certification programs. • Rainforest Alliance Learning Site is launched.
2004 • Total area of forests certified reaches 33 million acres (130,000 km²). • Total combined area of certified coffee farms roughly doubles over 2003 levels—from 46,000 to 93,000 acres (190 to 380 km²).
• Procter & Gamble's introduction of Millstone Rainforest Reserve
coffee in the US and Kraft's launch of Kenco Rainforest Alliance
Certified coffee in the UK. Gloria Jean's entire line of flavored
coffees is certified. Certified coffee becomes available in Belgium,
Japan and Canada.
• "Cupping for Quality" is the first formal coffee competition where
the emerging field of "certified-sustainable" coffee receives gourmet
evaluation by leading coffee experts.
• Certified Sustainable Products Alliance is launched with the aim of
bringing to market increased quantities of sustainable bananas, coffee
and timber.
2005 • JP Morgan, Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson,
McDonald's, Nike, the HSBC Bank and others print their annual and
corporate social responsibility reports on certified paper. • Certified coffee production doubles over 2004 levels.
• Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee wins first place in the World
Barista Championship and the second "Cupping for Quality" event. • Chiquita sells 50 million bananas bearing the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal each week in nine European countries.
2006 • The area of Forest Stewardship Council/Rainforest Alliance Certified forestland reaches 100 million acres (400,000 km²). • Certified coffee volumes double again for the third year in a row. • First African coffee farms are certified in Ethiopia. • Launch of African cocoa program in Côte d'Ivoire. • Launch of www.eco-indextourism.org, a database of sustainable tourism businesses. • Launch of Migratory Species Pathway. • Pineapple certification criteria are established.
2007 • Launch of standards for tea — Unilever announces that it is converting all the tea used in its Lipton and PG Tips brands to Rainforest Alliance certified sources. Certification will start in Kenya.
2008 • McDonald's New Zealand and Australia switches all McCafe restaurants to Rainforest Alliance certified coffee beans
Criticism & Response
Greenwashing
Rainforest Alliance agricultural certification has been criticized by a range of academics and media sources. The Manchester Evening News notes that critics have dubbed the Rainforest Alliance "Fairtrade lite" therefore offering companies such as Chiquita and Kraft a cheap way to tap into the ethical consumer market. This is known as greenwashing, as it allows companies and products to appear more ethical and environmentally friendly without actually being either. Alex Nicholls, professor of social entrepreneurship at Oxford University, called Rainforest Alliance certification "an easy option for companies looking for a "flash in the pan at a cheap price".
Beyond the price issue, Michael Conroy, an independent consultant on
certification for sustainable development and chairman of the board of
Transfair USA, criticized Rainforest Alliance in his 2007 book Branded! for having "little tangible impact on the actual conditions under which work is done and workers are paid".
Minimum price issues
Rainforest Alliance sustainable agriculture certification, like the certification scheme UTZ Certified and organic, does not offer producers minimum or guaranteed price,
therefore leaving them vulnerable to market price variations: as an
example, in the 1980s, a pound of standard-grade coffee sold for around
US $1.20. In 2003, a pound sold for about $0.50, which was not enough to
cover the costs of production in much of the world. The price of coffee has since rebounded somewhat, with prices for arabica reaching $1.18/pound by the end of 2007.
In March 2007, Ethical Corporation reported that due to higher coffee
market prices, Rainforest Alliance Certified farmers on average receive
$1.20 per pound, or 9% less than the Fairtrade minimum price and
premium and 20% less than the average price paid to Fairtrade certified
producers. The same article, however, notes: "And Fairtrade's premiums
are not what they were. As commodity prices rise, premiums farmers
receive for sustainable coffee diminish in value" and quotes Chris Wille, chief of sustainable agriculture at the Rainforest Alliance: "'It's more than about price … it's about margins.'" In 2008, the publication named Wille one of 10 "ethical leaders."
Michigan State University
professor of sociology Daniel Jaffee has criticized Rainforest Alliance
certification, claiming that its standards are "arguably far lower than
fair trade's" and saying "they establish minimum housing and sanitary
conditions but do not stipulate a minimum price for coffee. Critically,
they require plantation owners only to pay laborers the national minimum
wage, a notoriously inadequate standard."
The Economist,
however, seems to favor the Rainforest Alliance's method and notes that
"guaranteeing a minimum price [as Fairtrade does] means there is no
incentive to improve quality." They also note that coffee drinkers say
"the quality of Fairtrade brews varies widely. The Rainforest Alliance
does things differently. It does not guarantee a minimum price or offer a
premium but provides training advice. That consumers are often willing
to pay more for a product with the [Rainforest Alliance] logo on it is
an added bonus, not the result of a formal subsidy scheme; such products
must still fend for themselves in the marketplace."
Minimum price programs, which ensure that farmers receive no less
than a given, predetermined amount, regardless of the commodity price,
have been criticized by some economists as artificially manipulating markets and counter-intuitively limiting
the impact of minimum price goods, by making them too expensive for some
consumers to afford.
Crop prefinancing issue
The lack of crop prefinancing has been another point of contention
regarding Rainforest Alliance standards in the past years: Rainforest
Alliance standards do not require importers to offer crop pre-financing,
a key condition described by Whitni Thomas, head of the Access to Finance Initiative at NEF (New Economics Foundation), as a "cornerstone of the Fair Trade
philosophy". Thomas further describes crop pre-financing in "Financing
Fair Trade" as particularly critical for commodity producers, especially
in the context of the recent collapse of formal lending programs in
many developing countries.
Use of seal
Rainforest Alliance certification has been criticized for allowing
the use of the seal on coffee containing a minimum of 30% of certified
coffee beans According to Michael Conroy, chairman of the board for TransFair USA,
this use of the seal is the "most damaging dimension" of [Rainforest
Alliance's] agricultural certification program and "a serious blow to
the integrity of certification": "Yuban coffee, a very popular
lower-grade canned coffee available nationwide in the US, proudly
advertises on the front of its cans that 30% of the contents are
Rainforest Alliance Certified. What are consumers to believe about the
other 70% of that coffee? That it is pesticide-laced and irresponsible
in its water use? In neither of the other certification systems with
which [Rainforest Alliance] is associated, FSC forest certification and
the Sustainable Tourism certification, would it allow the use of its
logo with such a low bar."
The organization counters that this approach encourages larger
purchases of beans from certified farms, having a greater global impact
on the environment and livelihoods of farm communities as large roasters
blend the beans into mainstream brands. Consumer Reports
counters Conroy's implication that the label is misleading, judging it
to be "clear and meaningful," and calling the Rainforest Alliance
Certified label on agricultural products "highly meaningful." On an
episode of Britains Really Disgusting Food presented by Alex Riley, the comedian questioned the Alliance about its seal of approval for Galaxy chocolate, from 2010, since the product uses palm oil
that is sourced through methods destructive of rainforests. The
spokesperson replied that the seal of approval was for the cacao used in
the product. Critics maintain that the seal will look to consumers like
an endorsement of the bar, and not solely the cacao used in its
production.
Focus on plantations
Michigan State University
professor Daniel Jaffee has criticized Rainforest Alliance
certification for targeting large and medium coffee plantations, unlike Fairtrade's focus on small peasant coffee farmer cooperatives.
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