Underst ry The
The Race Against Extinction
Welcome to The Understory
The Rainforest Alliance’s newsletter for the passionate supporters who share our mission to create a better future for people and nature.
un·der·sto·ry [noun]:
A layer of vegetation beneath the main canopy of a forest
in t H is edition :
A MESSAGE FROM OUR ALLIANCE
Daniel Katz, Board Chair and Co-Founder
SNAPSHOT
Indian Coffee Farmers Protect Biodiversity
OUR ALLIANCE IN ACTION
Where Bananas Meet Nature & Indonesian Farmers are Forest Guardians
FEATURE STORY
Assessing the UN’s 16th Biodiversity Convention
MEET OUR ALLIANCE MEMBERS
Rick Steves’ Europe & Jon McCormack
JOIN OUR ALLIANCE
CONTACT US
11
2024
OUR MISSION:
The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities.
ABOUT THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE:
7.5 million +
CERTIFICATION
We certify products that are grown in accordance with our standards, which support environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
SUPPLY CHAIN
SERVICES
We advise companies on how to drive sustainability within their supply chains, source responsibly, monitor progress, and innovate to accelerate transformation.
countries with certified farms and/or programs
hectares of certified farmland farmers and workers on certified farms
62 5.7 million + 87 7,600
projects with farmers and forest communities to improve livelihoods and protect nature
company partners working with us to source certified ingredients and improve their business practices
Our multifaceted approach to shaping a more sustainable world:
LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT
We work with farmers and forest communities to conserve and restore landscapes while improving livelihoods.
ADVOCACY
We work with companies and governments to advance policies that promote sustainability improvements, human rights (such as gender equality), and youth education.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR ALLIANCE
tHe race to conserve Biodiversity
DANIEL KATZ | BOARD CHAIR AND CO-FOUNDER
When I co-founded the Rainforest Alliance in 1987, my mission was simple: protect the rainforests. In college, I learned that a narrow band of tropical forests near the equator covered just two percent of the Earth’s surface but was home to over half of the world’s species. Yet they were—and still are—disappearing at an alarming rate. My passion for the natural world, fueled by the remarkable diversity of life that fills our forests, drove me to speak up for these plants and animals.
My calling became even more urgent when I first set foot in a tropical forest in 1989, on a trip to French Guiana with a group of ornithologists, ecologists, and ethnobotanists. It was nothing short of a spiritual experience. Surrounded by countless shades of green and a vibrant array of species, I felt like a guest in their home. The sights, the sounds, and the sense of interconnected life left an indelible mark on me.
The latest 2024 Living Planet Report from WWF reveals that 73 percent of the world’s wildlife has been lost since 1970. These species need forests— and each other—for survival. When we lose a forest, we don’t just lose trees; we risk the extinction
Our ultimate “customers” are the tree frogs, anacondas, and primates, alongside the farmers and forest communities.
of orchids, pollinators, birds, and other wildlife that exist in a delicate balance. This is how an ecosystem unravels, and when that happens, the communities of people that rely on that ecosystem unravel, too.
When I first learned about rainforests, hardly anyone talked about solutions to protect these ecosystems while also supporting the communities that depend on them to make a living. I wanted to reshape our relationship with nature, showing that human well-being and environmental health are inseparable. That is why the Rainforest Alliance’s approach mirrors the interconnectedness of the landscapes we protect.
From the beginning, we knew we had to partner with local communities managing farms and forests. We knew that the best way to help
them earn a living wage was by protecting their natural resources, and encouraging companies and consumers worldwide to support them. Our ultimate “customers” are the tree frogs, anacondas, and primates, alongside the farmers and forest communities. The communities, plants, and animals of the forests: They are who we work for.
Our green frog seal, found on tens of thousands of unique products worldwide, isn’t just a symbol for sustainable production. It’s a hallmark that speaks to the strength of collective action, a testament to the change that is possible when we work together. Alongside our allies, we’ve set standards for sustainable agriculture, championed wildlife protection, and helped farmers adopt climateresilient practices. Choosing certified products alone will not transform the world overnight, but there is no doubt that it can fuel lasting positive impact.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast challenges our magnificent planet is facing. Our individual efforts may seem small—but, together, our push for urgent action can become unstoppable. That’s why we are truly grateful to
have you as part of our alliance. Your support is what enables us to amplify our impact as we work together to address the many challenges that await us in this critical decade. This holiday season, I invite you to make a year-end gift to support the diversity of people, plants, and animals that depend on our forests. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our mission.
Photos: iStock, Sergio Izquierdo
indian coffee farmers Protect Biodiversity
Near the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, the Western Ghats mountain range is one of the world’s most treasured biodiversity hotspots—its forests rich with species found nowhere else on Earth, including the largest population of Asian elephants in the wild.
But the future of this majestic place is endangered by deforestation, human-wildlife conflict, and climate change, which pose threats to area wildlife as well as to the thousands of smallholder farmers that call the region home.
To protect biodiversity and build a climate-smart future for this landscape, the Rainforest Alliance has teamed up with the Global Environment Facility, UN Environment Programme, IUCN, local organizations, and rural communities on an ambitious fiveyear project across the region. Together, we are training area smallholders—particularly women—in sustainable farming practices, helping them to restore degraded forests and boost their livelihoods at the same time.
A foundational element of this work is the establishment of local land-management bodies, which bring together coffee farmers, community representatives, civil society organizations, businesses, and policymakers to plan and implement activities such as tree planting. As it turns out, what’s good for biodiversity is also good for smallholders, whose shaded coffee farms thrive under the canopy of newly planted trees while enriching the soil and ecosystem.
As part of our multilayered approach, we are also connecting these smallholders with companies committed to responsible sourcing and environmental stewardship, to boost farmer incomes and incentivize ecofriendly practices that protect biodiversity. The project has the potential to serve as a model that could be scaled up across other regions of India.
WESTERN GHATS
One of the country’s major watersheds, the Western Ghats mountain range is home to some of India’s rarest wildlife, including tigers, lion-tailed macaques, and the Asian elephant. Across its nearly one million hectares, you’ll also find thousands of small farms, where communities cultivate everything from coffee to spices on the dramatic slopes.
KARNATAKA
Our work in the Western Ghats is focused on this southern Indian state, where we are collaborating with Humane Society International to reduce human-wildlife conflict: monitoring elephant populations, engaging with local communities, and fostering a culture of peaceful coexistence. We’ve also teamed up with One Tree Planted to support the planting of 326,000 native trees and establish two tree nurseries and eight plant-distribution centers.
WESTERN GHATS
KARNATAKA
INDIA
Photos: Humane Society International
WHere Bananas meet nature: A Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica
A nutritional powerhouse, bananas also drive the economies of several tropical countries, but the industry’s track record has not been as bright as the fruit itself.
A long history of worker abuse is compounded by deforestation, water pollution, and conventional pesticide use. But in Costa Rica, one of the world’s top banana-exporting countries, two Rainforest Alliance Certified farms prove that it doesn’t have to be this way. When properly managed, banana farms can safeguard communities and protect area wildlife.
In 1992, Platanera Río Sixaola became one of the first farms in the world to earn Rainforest Alliance certification. Located on Costa Rica’s Caribbean
coast, it has become a refuge for wild animals, which frequently appear on cameras set up to monitor their populations. Although the farm is vulnerable to flooding—a growing threat due to climate change—its lush ground cover safeguards fertile soils, while the trees that line the banks of local streams prevent waterways from overflowing during heavy downpours.
Moving west, Finca Esmeralda (“emerald farm”) has also lived up to the green in its name, as the first banana farm to meet the rigorous requirements of our 2020 updated standard. It has done this by using nature as an ally. The farm’s rich biodiversity and well-nourished soils make it harder for diseases to thrive, which reduces the need for agrochemicals. The journeys to certification for both of these farms have not only been a boon for their communities but have also helped to protect the flora and fauna that share their home.
Photo: Sustainable Agriculture Network
indonesian farmers are forest guardians
The rainforests of Indonesia’s Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park provide essential habitat for critically endangered species like the Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhino, and Sumatran tiger, but this biodiversity-rich region is threatened, in part by agricultural activities.
That’s why the Rainforest Alliance has been working with coffee-farming households in the park’s buffer zone, providing training in practices that protect wildlife and boost farmer incomes, and jointly implementing conservation initiatives.
Acting as forest guardians, farmers have planted thousands of trees in an area that borders the national park, including plants that the elephants enjoy and pollinator-friendly species that provide bees with nectar. Working with one of our NGO
partners, these rural communities were taught how to manage human-wildlife interactions to promote everyone’s safety, and received birdwatching training, binoculars, and field guides to record species and locations.
Together with Indonesia’s University of Lampung, farmers also conducted a biodiversity assessment in an 800-ha area of the park’s buffer zone. Teaming up with lecturers from the university’s science department, they learned how to record their wildlife sightings. While initially asked to write down the local species names and locations, farmers were later equipped with a digital tool that they could use on their cellphones, augmenting the data and photos they provided to scientists. When the assessment was concluded, the university published a book featuring about 100 verified species (out of 300 recorded). The book was shared with the provincial government as well as the farmers themselves so that they could see the fruit of their efforts.
assessing tHe un’s 16 tH Biodiversity convention with Adriana Cortes
On November 1st, 2024, the United Nations concluded its 16th Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP) in Cali, Colombia, a two-week event that drew representatives from all over the world to discuss conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change.
The Rainforest Alliance’s delegation included seven regionally based team members, led by Adriana Cortes, our senior director for South America. Cortes oversees our programs and partnerships in the region and has spent more than 25 years working on sustainability issues for NGOs and companies.
Let’s start by explaining how the COP is structured. Essentially, three tracks happen concurrently. The first is the negotiations between governments and other key parties, on action toward targets for conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change. The second is where diverse stakeholders— including official national delegations, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs, the private sector, and investors—convene to discuss what they are doing, the challenges we face, and how we can work together. A record 3,000 businesses and financial institutions attended this COP, which signals impressive growth and highlights increased corporate engagement in biodiversity conservation. The third track, which is open to everyone, aims to facilitate conversations among stakeholders and raise public awareness of biodiversity loss.
Why did the Rainforest Alliance attend and what impact did we have?
Beyond being a thought leader, we have a long track record in the field—specifically, collaborating
Photo: Prokopim Setda Luwu Utara
with farming and forest communities to craft and implement programs to protect biodiversity, create climate resilience, reduce deforestation, and improve livelihoods. We wanted to share our expertise and find additional ways to collaborate.
As an example, we presented the $19 million USAID “Business Case for Collective Landscape Action” initiative, which we’re working on with three implementing partners. It’s about unlocking international finance for sustainable production and channeling it to critical landscapes, to stabilize deforestation rates and protect biodiversity.
We also emphasized the importance of collaboration, on both implementation and investments. When donors work together more closely, it allows NGOs to pool funding toward shared goals and coordinate our roles more effectively, avoiding duplication and working toward unified targets. This could be one of the most valuable outcomes to emerge from this Biodiversity COP.
What other discussions stood out for you?
The discussion on the finance gap was striking. Despite new funding from governments and international banks, there are still limited mechanisms to channel these billions to communities, slowing impactful results in key landscapes. Should the funds be sent directly?
And, crucially, do these communities have the necessary systems in place to manage these funds effectively? How can we measure returns on green investments? Though technical, these discussions are critical to bridging the gap between available resources and meaningful, sustainable impact.
Private-sector interest in solutions continues to grow. When companies realize how close we are to the tipping point, they want to take further action. After 15 days of discussions, there seemed to be a stronger collective understanding of the urgency. Many of the attending companies want to support the Amazon, for example, even if it’s not directly related to their supply chains. They are finally realizing that a future without the Amazon is not a good future for anyone.
What impacts did the COP have on our work?
When you learn more about what others are doing, it inspires solutions and helps grow our alliance. As a global society, we are not lacking resources, but we are not organized enough. Many are working in isolation, solving small pieces of the puzzle, but we need to continue collaborating with NGOs, governments, companies, international agencies, researchers, investors, and others to achieve deeper impact. The Rainforest Alliance is uniquely qualified to do that. Ultimately, there’s hope, but we need to act faster, smarter, and together.
rick steves’ euroPe
“The Rainforest Alliance’s work in Ghana perfectly demonstrates how entrepreneurial, farmer-centered projects can make a huge difference.”
CRAIG DAVIDSON RICK STEVES’ EUROPE
Based in Washington State, Rick Steves has been the go-to expert on European travel since 1975, after a listless and disappointing lecture on how to journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu ignited his passion for teaching smart travel skills. Now, he and his merry band of travelers at Rick Steves’ Europe inspire countless Americans to step out of their comfort zones and make their travel dreams a reality with the company’s best-selling European guidebook series, TV and radio shows, podcasts, syndicated newspaper column, social media posts, free online travel resources, merchandise, and small-group bus tours.
Yet the company’s mission goes beyond sharing must-see sights. As one of the world’s most recognized travel brands, Rick Steves’ Europe understands that true leadership means considering travel’s broader impact. “Membership in the global community comes at a price,”
says COO Craig Davidson, “and we can’t ignore the fact that every trip we take negatively impacts the environment.”
To address these impacts, the company levied a “self-imposed carbon tax” on its bus tours and uses the proceeds to fund climate-smart projects around the world. Since 2019, Rick Steves’ Europe has supported the Rainforest Alliance’s work with the cocoa-growing communities of Ghana’s Sui River region.
The Sui River landscape covers 244,000 hectares, encompassing five forest reserves. This area is one of West Africa’s prime cocoa hotspots, with Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire supplying two-thirds of the world’s beans. Yet despite cocoa’s crucial role in the Ghanaian economy, its future is threatened by the twin crises of deforestation and climate change, putting farming communities and wildlife
at risk. These farmers lack access to the resources and knowledge they need to protect their farms against climate impacts like extreme weather and outbreaks of pests and diseases.
Thanks to generous funding from Rick Steves’ Europe, the Rainforest Alliance has been able to provide crucial support to Sui River’s forests and farmers. This support has helped us train 6,800 farmers across 106 communities in climatesmart agricultural practices, fostering sustainable livelihoods and resilience to climate change. We’ve also promoted forest restoration efforts—planting over 71,000 trees across 2,100 hectares, including degraded lands and buffer zones along waterways. Through the establishment of 23 tree nurseries, we’ve produced 508,000 tree seedlings, thereby enhancing biodiversity, improving cocoa quality, and increasing farmers’ yields and incomes.
The initiative has been so successful, in fact, that Rick Steves’ Europe has pledged a new round of support for 2025. This funding will help us expand community nurseries, including the cultivation of fruit trees that provide farmers with income and improve food security. Additionally, we are working to secure vital tree-tenure rights for more than 6,800 farmers. In a country where the government owns all “naturally occurring trees,” including those on private land, formal registration of their trees incentivizes Ghana’s smallholders to protect them, and the trees return the favor by providing crucial shade to farmers’ cocoa plants.
Our work in the Sui River landscape illustrates the complexity of regions where nature and agriculture intersect, but it also demonstrates the rewards of getting it right. The team at Rick Steves’ Europe understands the value of this integrated approach. As Davidson says, “Too often, the connection between climate change, food production, and smart development seem unrelated, but the Rainforest Alliance’s work in Ghana perfectly demonstrates how entrepreneurial, farmercentered projects can make a huge difference.”
Photos: Nu Image Communications
Jon mccormack
If you had to find the thread that runs through Jon McCormack’s long and varied list of achievements, it’s that he’s helped change the way we see the world—whether that’s through technology, education, or photography.
For over three decades, our newest board member has held executive roles at some of the world’s biggest technology companies, like Apple, Amazon, and Hewlett-Packard. He’s led teams that have created groundbreaking products, such as Amazon’s Kindle and FireTV, and contributed to the development of the iPhone’s camera, the lens through which so many of us capture our daily lives.
Beyond his corporate accomplishments, McCormack also co-founded The Kilgoris Project, a network of 12 schools in Western Kenya that serve the Maasai community. Over the past 20 years, the project has provided tens of thousands of students with education and healthcare, and all students receive breakfast, lunch, and clean water.
As a leading wildlife photographer, McCormack’s stunning images have appeared in the world’s top publications, including The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and The Guardian, to name just a few. Through his photographs, he directs our gaze to the wonders of our planet and inspires us to recognize the importance of conserving nature.
It’s that same big-picture vision that drives his support for our work. “I’m proud to be on the Rainforest Alliance’s board of directors,” he says. “I love the way the organization works all across the supply chain, from consumer to farmer and everywhere in between. Only approaches like this can bring about sustainable environmental change.”
Photos: Jon McCormack
Join our alliance
Let’s win big for people and nature
This year started out warmer than any previously recorded. Extreme heat. Devastating hurricanes. Relentless forest fires. The unfortunate truth is that it often takes tragedies to expose our reality: Climate change is on our doorstep.
Let’s not wait for the next calamity to take action. It’s time to act now.
The good news is that we’re not facing the climate crisis alone. A global crisis calls for a global alliance. That’s where the Rainforest Alliance—and you!—come in.
Just this past year, our alliance members have helped:
• Provide climate-smart agriculture training for 6,800 farmers in 106 communities in the Sui River landscape in the Western North region of Ghana.
• Sequester 2.7 million tons of carbon by protecting and restoring critical tropical forests, thanks to the Rainforest Alliance’s 300 community partners in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve.
• Certify over 50 percent of the world’s cocoa supply.
Your financial support is critical as we set our sights on 2030. Our ambitious vision? To reach 100 million people in farming and forest communities around the world.
Through the end of the year, your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling its impact. There is no better time than now.
Commit to deep-rooted change for people and nature today.
