The Understory | Issue 9 | Stronger Together

Underst ry The

Stronger together Stronger

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

I n th IS e DI t I on :

A MESSAGE FROM OUR ALLIANCE

Miguel Ángel Laporta, Senior Director for Mesoamerica

SNAPSHOT

Cultivating Change From the Ground Up

OUR ALLIANCE IN ACTION

A Sustainable School of Fish & Leveraging Our Network in Chiapas

FEATURE STORY

Regenerative Farming Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

MEET OUR ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Juan Esteban Orduz & Alyssa Killingsworth

JOIN OUR ALLIANCE

Impact Report & Planned Giving

CONTACT US

9

SPRING 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

7.5 million +

farmers and workers on certified farms

62

countries with certified farms and/or programs

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.

projects with farmers and forest communities to improve livelihoods and protect nature

hectares of certified farmland

5.7 million + 87 7,600

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.

the Power of CollaboratIon

MIGUEL ÁNGEL LAPORTA | SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR MESOAMERICA

It’s no secret that our world is facing enormous challenges, including the climate crisis, rampant deforestation, biodiversity loss, and crushing rural poverty. Problems of this complexity cannot be solved by a single individual or organization, which is why we remain committed to the alliance model we first established 37 years ago. Our latest victory only underscores the value of what is possible when we come together.

But first, the backstory.

In previous issues of this newsletter and elsewhere, we’ve told you about our work in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve over the past 25 years. We’ve shared stories about our collaboration with local communities in the reserve and the forestry concessions they run. Together, we have celebrated the achievements that have come out of our partnerships with these communities and other key stakeholders. Among them: a near-zero deforestation rate in the concessions, increased income and jobs generated by sustainable forestry businesses, and the reduction of poverty levels to rates significantly lower than in other parts of the country.

An initiative this ambitious and innovative could only be forged from a strong alliance.

Despite these successes, however, our work in Guatemala is far from over. Forest areas adjacent to the reserve and elsewhere are still facing the same urgent threats. Since 2002, the country has lost nearly 35 percent of its tree cover, and its poverty rate (55 percent) is among the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. The situation is at a tipping point, and we must act swiftly to significantly scale up our impact, leveraging the full strength of our alliance.

The promising news is that our efforts are bearing fruit. The Rainforest Alliance has just received the largest institutional grant in the history of our organization—US$30 million dollars from USAID Guatemala. This money will fund a five-year initiative to reduce Guatemala’s land-based greenhouse gas emissions and boost carbon storage, while increasing the economic prosperity

and climate resilience of rural communities across the country. This will also provide us with the resources to expand our reach to 42 additional municipalities, bringing the total number of municipalities where we are active to 81.

An initiative this ambitious and innovative could only be forged from a strong alliance. Our project was developed and will be implemented in conjunction with our long-term partners in the country—the Association of Forest Communities of Petén, the Association of Organizations of the Cuchumatanes, and the Federation of Cooperatives of the Verapaces. Together with these allies and many others, we plan to support 500 nature-based enterprises and community-based organizations as they create 11,000 new low-emissions jobs for forest communities, Indigenous peoples, women, and youth. These businesses are projected to generate a minimum of US$80 million in products and services that reduce, store, or avoid at least 10.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent—a figure that will grow to 20.8 million tons by 2030, representing 41 percent of Guatemala’s total target for emissions reductions.

This initiative was designed to build on our past successes, making it possible to scale up our work quickly, but its impact is even greater than that. It serves as a model for what we plan to do in crucial forest landscapes around the world. Ultimately, it proves the effectiveness of the principle that’s at the very core of our organization: We are stronger together.

Photos: Sergio Izquierdo

CultIvatIng Change from the grounD uP

As the fourth largest coffeeproducing nation in the world, Indonesia relies heavily on its 1.8 million smallholder farmers, but the industry is facing its share of social and environmental challenges, from climate change to poverty.

To drive positive change across the sector, we have been working with coffee farmers in the Poso area of Central Sulawesi. Their farms are located in the buffer zone of the Lore Lindu Biosphere Reserve—one of the largest remaining mountainous rainforests on the island of Sulawesi.

These farming communities are adopting practices such as intercropping their coffee plants with shade trees and reducing their use of agrochemicals— steps that can also help them earn Rainforest Alliance certification. To make their farms more

resilient to climate change, they are improving soil health, safeguarding their water sources, and protecting biodiversity.

But a thriving environment requires thriving people. That’s why we have also been working with Poso’s coffee growers to boost their crop productivity and create diversified income streams. Together, we are establishing community forest enterprises led by women and youth that focus on value-added products, such as ground coffee. We are also improving their access to markets and financial services to help their businesses succeed.

Finally, by “training the trainers”—providing comprehensive field training to agricultural trainers who can then pass on their expertise to local communities—we are creating a ripple effect that will be felt well into the future. Think of these folks as sustainability ambassadors who are sharing practical knowledge with farmers throughout the region.

One of Sulawesi’s most important natural sites, this national park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is home to many endemic plants and animals, including anoas (small water buffaloes), Tonkean macaque monkeys, and more than 250 varieties of birds. Spanning a densely forested mountain range, the park is also a watershed for three of the region’s main rivers.

POSO REGENCY

Our work in this part of Central Sulawesi is centered on coffee farms in the buffer zone around the Lore Lindu reserve. Together with local communities, we have been creating and implementing action plans that protect biodiversity and improve livelihoods—engaging 1,000 farmers, 30 percent of whom are women and young people.

LORE LINDU

LORE LINDU NATIONAL PARK

POSO REGENCY

INDONESIA

Photo: Brian Chiu

a SuStaInable SChool of fISh

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Monkoto Corridor serves as a bridge between different parts of the Congo rainforest, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. But the corridor’s natural resources are threatened by deforestation, overfishing, and illegal hunting, driven by high poverty rates among local communities.

To protect this landscape and boost local incomes, we have been partnering with the government to implement a locally led–forestry strategy. Currently in its pilot phase, the project focuses on providing training in sustainable agriculture, livestock farming, and aquaculture (also known as fish farming). This training aims to boost incomes, enhance food production, and alleviate pressure on wildlife and the surrounding forest.

Within the Monkoto Corridor, 300 farmers are integrating aquaculture into 12 rural associations. The combination of large-scale fish farming and the raising of pigs and poultry creates a circular system in which the animals’ manure serves as fertilizer for the fish, while the fish provide income and food for the community. We’ve also established a local mill and are training farmers to cultivate rice, soybean, and maize, which makes it possible for these communities to produce and grind their own feed.

Together, we are planting the seeds of a more sustainable future for the region. Approximately 50 households have begun to diversify their crops and apply sustainable agriculture practices on their land, and they will train their neighbors in turn. All told, we plan to reach 3,600 farming households, demonstrating what’s possible with a strong network of allies.

leveragIng our network In ChIaPaS

The power of our alliance is also made visible through our work with coffee farmers in Mexico.

Alongside global food company ofi, we have been collaborating with eight Indigenous communities in Chiapas. These farmers have planted 1.1 million fungus-resistant coffee plants and 600,000 native shade trees, restored 110 previously degraded hectares, and improved the management practices of 1,243 hectares. Some farmers have nearly doubled their coffee yields, while others have even surpassed that achievement.

Through our Community Listening Program, however, we discovered additional challenges. Fires were a huge problem, so we leveraged our relationships with the US Forest Service, CONAFOR (Mexico’s forestry commission), and the Mexican nonprofit FMCN, and asked local group BIOMASA to

lead training sessions on fire prevention and create community-specific fire protocols.

Community cooperatives also needed support with business processes, but instead of hiring a consultant to lead a one-day workshop, we built relationships with co-op leaders first. When we did finally send in our expert, it was for a four-week stay, followed by three weeklong visits over six months, to help with activities like streamlining invoicing procedures and managing a plant nursery.

Finally, to combat malnutrition and obesity in two communities, we brought in food-science professor Gilber Vela-Gutiérrez, who led classes on nutrition, food handling, and storage in both Spanish and Tzotzil (the first language of many participants). These are just a few examples of how working hand-in-hand with communities can have great results for people and the planet.

regeneratIve farmIng IS a marathon, not a SPrInt

A farmer’s life is one of constant adaptation, whether it’s to climatic conditions or market demands.

The story of Trinh Tan Vinh is a case in point.

At the age of 17, Vinh moved to the Di Linh district in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. With its rich soil and terraced hillsides, the region is known for tea and coffee production. But while his new surroundings offered him a slower pace of life, his job also required him to be flexible.

The first major change he faced was his choice of crop. When he arrived in Di Linh in 1983, his plan had been to set up a tea plantation, but low market prices for the crop made it difficult to support his family, forcing a switch to coffee.

Like many growers at the time, Vinh was practicing intensive single-crop farming, relying heavily on toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, which he sprayed about six to eight times per year. But in his attempt to kill pests, he found that the sprays were also eliminating the pest’s natural enemies. Additionally, these substances depleted his soil and made his farm dependent on products that were not only expensive but also a threat to his family’s health.

In 2008, he adapted again, but this time, he was no longer doing it alone. On his way to earning certification, Vinh participated in the Rainforest Alliance’s training in sustainable growing practices. Thus began Vinh’s shift toward regenerative farming—an approach to farming that focuses on restoring and enhancing soil health and natural ecosystems, aiming to improve the overall resilience of the farm system.

First, he planted a low-growing crop known as the Pinto peanut, to reduce erosion and improve soil health. Following our guidance on Integrated Pest Management techniques, he regularly applied organic manure and “bioinoculant” (eco-friendly microorganisms) and monitored pest populations and weather patterns. He also planted durian and macadamia trees alongside his coffee plants to provide his beans with shade, increase biodiversity, and boost his income.

Although Vinh’s resolve was tested—the shift from monoculture farming to additional crops forced his coffee plants to compete with shade trees for water and nutrients—he realized that the decreased spraying and watering had not negatively affected his farm’s productivity. His decision was further confirmed when he saw that the price he was receiving for his Rainforest Alliance Certified beans was better than what he’d earned previously.

The third year of his regenerative journey was marked by more positive change. As Vinh reduced his costs by 25 percent, his profits increased by 35 percent. Now, his farm draws regular visits from sustainability experts and other farmers, who see it as a model, allowing him to share his knowledge and uplift his peers. These days, 70 percent of Vinh’s beans are sold to the market, and he roasts, packages, and sells the remaining 30 percent directly to visitors. When added to what he earns from his macadamia and durian harvests, his total annual income is about 40 percent higher than that of other farmers in the area.

Climate change will only intensify farmers’ ongoing need to adapt, but Vinh’s example shows that success is possible when communities are supported in these shifts. The first step in the journey is often a change in mindset, to one that views the land itself as an ally. As Vinh puts it, “We need to see soil as a living system.”

MEET OUR ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Juan eSteban orDuZ

“Our mission is to work towards prosperity, sustainability, and happiness for communities worldwide.”

JUAN ESTEBAN ORDUZ

COLOMBIAN COFFEE GROWERS FEDERATION & RAINFOREST ALLIANCE BOARD MEMBER

After more than 20 years as the CEO and president of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation in North America, Juan Esteban Orduz is certainly an expert on the coffee industry, but that description only scratches the surface of his extraordinary biography.

A native of Colombia, Orduz is an attorney and finance specialist who has also served as the deputy chief of the Colombian Embassy in Washington D.C. In 2002, he was awarded a fellowship from Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. From there, he went on to a career that has spanned both the corporate and nonprofit sectors, wielding his expertise in trade, international cooperation, corporate affairs, and global development.

Orduz also leads the World Coffee Producers Forum, an organization that he co-founded. The forum’s mission is to enhance the social and economic well-being of coffee farmers worldwide. He explains his motivation this way: “There is no doubt in my mind that poverty remains the greatest threat to both communities and the environment.”

It’s that same sense of purpose that drove him to join the Rainforest Alliance board of directors, on which he’s served since 2018. “We share the same values and goals,” he says. “Ultimately, our mission is to work towards prosperity, sustainability, and happiness for communities worldwide, especially rural ones, ensuring that each generation progresses beyond the last while living in harmony with nature.”

alYSSa kIllIngSworth

When it comes to protecting the environment, sometimes it helps to listen to it, and that is exactly what researcher Alyssa Killingsworth is doing. The Rainforest Alliance’s 2023 Kleinhans Fellow has deployed automatic recording units to monitor the presence of wildlife in the upper Andes of Ecuador, an area rich with species. “The high elevations of this region actually have greater plant and animal biodiversity than the Amazon,” says Killingsworth.

The tough environmental conditions—including high levels of solar radiation during the day, often freezing temperatures at night, and abundant rain— force wildlife to adapt, resulting in more species variety over time.

But the downside is that land-use changes can isolate them. Deforestation has reduced the region’s forests to approximately 10 percent of their historic range, fragmenting valuable habitat.

“The high elevations of Ecuador’s upper Andes region actually have greater plant and animal biodiversity than the Amazon.”

Two local nonprofits and several Indigenous communities have been working to restore these forests and protect wildlife, but it’s been a challenge to monitor their impacts. Extensive in-person surveys of wildlife are expensive, time-consuming, and often incomplete. Killingsworth’s approach, however, is cost- and time-effective, and can detect many shy and nocturnal animals that might not be active during a traditional survey.

The fellowship’s two-year span will help her support the development of wildlife corridors and other restoration efforts in the region. “It has given me the security to invest more time in the project rather than re-applying for grants and hoping I get the chance to finish it out.”

together: our 2023 aChIevementS

We are proud to share with you our 2023 Impact Report, which highlights incredible achievements from the past year. Like this issue of The Understory, the report’s theme revolves around the power of our alliance. It will take all of us working together—including rural communities, companies, governments, nonprofit organizations, and supporters like you—to protect the future of all life on Earth. Every success story in this report is possible because of the vision, passion, and trust of donors and partners like you!

The report is divided by region, featuring stories about the communities and ecosystems that we serve in each area, alongside statistics that highlight our measurable global impacts:

2.7 million tons of CO2 sequestered in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve

19,000 Mt. Kenya coffee farmers received training on the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard

45,000 trees planted by Rainforest Alliance–supported smallholder farmers in Indonesia

Thank you for your commitment to nature, farming and forest communities, and our shared future!

leave Your legaCY!

Have you included the Rainforest Alliance in your estate planning?

By naming the Rainforest Alliance as a beneficiary of your hard-earned estate, you’ll leave behind a meaningful legacy of positive impact for nature and rural communities. Donors who include the Rainforest Alliance in their estate plans or will provide the organization with stability and a long-term source of funding, allowing us to sustain our programs, expand our impact, and ensure financial stability in the future.

Join today and receive lifetime benefits including updates on our work, invitations to special events, and recognition in our annual report.

To learn more, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org/giftplanning or contact Maria Wassum at mwassum@ra.org

“When my time comes to leave this beautiful world, I want to leave it like a tree, channeling my remaining resources back into the life of this planet. That’s why I have chosen to be a Legacy member of the Rainforest Alliance.

To save the whole, we must save all its parts. Rainforests are critical parts of this planet, so we must foster their health. Bequests to the Rainforest Alliance feed this effort just like a fallen tree feeds the life of the forest.”

SANDY SZANDEREK RAINFOREST ALLIANCE LEGACY SOCIETY MEMBER AND NATURALIST