Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance Certified seal
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| Formation | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Daniel Katz |
| Type | NGO |
| Headquarters | New York City |
The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization (NGO) working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Based in New York City with offices throughout North and South America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it operates in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, who serves on its board of directors, and is led by President Nigel Sizer.
The Rainforest Alliance aims to harness market forces to arrest the major drivers of deforestation and environmental destruction: timber extraction, agricultural expansion, cattle ranching and tourism. The organization trains farmers, foresters and tourism operators in sustainable practices that conserve land and waterways, improve livelihoods, and protect workers and communities. It also helps them access the financing necessary to implement sustainability changes. Farms and forestry enterprises are audited against rigorous standards maintained by the Sustainable Agriculture Network and the Forest Stewardship Council — international NGOs the Rainforest Alliance helped to found. Those farms and forestry enterprises that pass both annual and surprise audits are certified by the organization and earn the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. Tourism businesses that adopt established best management practices can use the Rainforest Alliance Certified mark as well. The seal helps consumers support responsible farmers, foresters and tourism businesses by identifying products sourcing ingredients from these farms and services that have implemented best practices.
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 helped to found the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the non-profit international body that manages the standard, in 1993. Through its certification arm, RA-Cert, the Rainforest Alliance is accredited to certify forestry operations that meet the FSC's strict environmental, social, and economic 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. The Rainforest Alliance has certified more than 113 million acres (45.9 million hectares) of forest worldwide, as of 2016, making it the largest FSC certifier of forestlands in the world. The Rainforest Alliance's forest certification 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.
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