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Celebrating 20 Years Rainforest Alliance 2007 Annual Report Celebrating 20 Years SQN job no: 0709010 Client: Rainforest Alliance Project: 2007 Annual Report Date: 30APR08 Stage: Dr10 Size: 11 x 8.5 inches Ink: 4/4 Stock: cream uncoated When the Rainforest Alliance first conceived of forestry certification, we didn’t really imagine that in 20 years 100 million acres would meet our standards for conserving biodiversity and promoting sustainable livelihoods, or that 15 percent of the bananas sold around the world would grow on Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, or that hundreds of lodges and hotel owners with properties located along some of Latin America’s most magnificent coastlines and mountainsides would be walking the road toward sustainability. Or that thousands of teachers and parents across the U.S. would be In the U.K., this year we began working with McDonald’s, which using our environmental education curricula. is now exclusively selling coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. We started partnering with Unilever, the world’s largest tea But two decades later, here we are. Not to imply that we’ve company, which has committed to making all its tea sources sustain- arrived. Sustainability is not a pinnacle; it’s a path that evolves able by 2015. We certified the first cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire, over time. And thanks to our work and that of our partners, more and we will soon be expanding our cocoa work to Ghana in a new than 15,600 farm and forestry businesses have embarked on that partnership with Mars, Inc. In New York City, we have been work- path and are reaching for that goal. They are managing resources ing with Goldman Sachs to procure certified wood for the company’s for long-term sustainability and giving people the economic new global headquarters. Thirty tour operators are working with us to incentive — and reward — for doing so. market sustainably managed hotels and other travel businesses. By putting one foot diligently in front of the other, by being scru- By doing what we do best for 20 years — keeping forests The Rainforest Alliance works pulous about what we do so that businesspeople, stakeholders and standing — we have arrived at a new opportunity. Because cli- consumers know that they can trust us, our programs and our com- mate change is stimulating interest in the conservation of tropical mitment, we have helped place sustainability squarely on the global forests — which sequester carbon, protect water and biodiversity to conserve biodiversity and map and within reach of a tipping point where sustainable practices and provide jobs — we are now facilitating partnerships between become the norm in key economic sectors and where sustainability communities that sell credits for the carbon sequestered in their is inherent to the definition of successful economic activity. forests and the businesses around the world that are offsetting their greenhouse emissions through the purchase of those carbon credits. ensure sustainable livelihoods The Rainforest Alliance has successfully impacted key resource- intensive sectors, conserved biodiversity on millions of acres We have laid the groundwork for a sustainable revolution, creating a of sensitive land and improved the lives of more than a million new, transparent and responsible approach to producing goods and by transforming land-use practices, workers and their families. In 2007, sales of Forest Stewardship services. While in this annual report we focus on our accomplishments Council-certified wood products reached $2 billion and sales of of the past year, the work reflects two decades worth of a passionate Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee, bananas and chocolate topped dedication to changing what we can to better our world and a deeply business practices and consumer behavior. $1 billion, with market shares for many certified products growing held belief that it’s entirely possible, inevitable and necessary. at double-digit rates. Rainforest alliance 2007 annual report SQN job no: 0709010 Client: Rainforest Alliance Project: 2007 Annual Report Date: 30APR08 Stage: Dr10 Size: 11 x 8.5 inches Ink: 4/4 Stock: cream uncoated Helping Responsible Foresters Evaluating the Impact of Our Work Telling our Story Along the Road to Certification How have working conditions on tropical farms changed as This year, the Rainforest Alliance reached out to thousands of More certified wood will be available to consumers a result of certification? How many miles of waterways are journalists globally and organized field visits and media events in — and more forests will benefit from certification protected in certified forests? Do shade coffee farms serve as several countries. Our press coverage increased by nearly 50 percent — thanks to SmartStep, a Rainforest Alliance program biological corridors? Through our new research and evaluation from fiscal year 2006 to 2007, keeping pace with the increased designed for forest managers who face challenges program, the Rainforest Alliance is providing the answers to these impacts of our program work. In an effort to broaden the age range meeting Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification questions and more as we work to better quantify, understand of our target audience, we ventured into the realm of social media, requirements. Designed especially for use in developing and communicate the impacts of our work to partners, businesses, spreading our message through social networking Web sites such as countries, where managers may need additional time consumers and donors. MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia, Change.org, Rethos, Wiserearth. to resolve conflicts with stakeholders or conduct org, YouTube and others. We also initiated our own Frog Blog with biodiversity surveys, SmartStep allows companies up to In Mexico, where Rainforest Alliance training is significantly entries featuring a behind-the-scenes look at our activities along five years to attain certification. Participants work with improving the efficiency and increasing the income of forest with pithy and personal stories related to our work. New and lively the Rainforest Alliance to determine what they need to communities, the 230-person, 84,500-acre (34,000-hectare) ejido videos focus on our education and sustainable agriculture programs. do to eventually qualify for certification. SmartStep has San Pablo in Durango has seen a 66 percent increase in annual been endorsed by The Home Depot, Lowe’s and IKEA, income due to an 18 percent improvement in wood product To mark our 20th anniversary, we launched a timeline on www. and several forestry businesses in Bolivia, Ghana and quality and a 30 percent increase in processing efficiency — all rainforest-alliance.org and posted interviews with people whose China have already joined the program. without the harvesting of additional trees or negatively impacting contributions have been key to the growth of the organization the land. This is the type of data that we haven’t had before, and during these past two decades. the statistics promise to be particularly valuable in demonstrating Our press releases and global media outreach work resulted in an the effectiveness of our work. Data collection is focusing on water, worker treatment, biodiversity, community health, environmental average of 60 press clips and broadcasts in nine countries each month degradation, the cost and benefits of certification, threatened and — including the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Germany, France, Costa endangered species and mapping of certified operations in relation Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Brazil, Linking Community Forests to protected areas. Colombia, Australia, Ireland, Indonesia, Canada, Japan and others. with End Consumers The most dramatic change has probably been in The Rainforest Alliance launched SmartSource Launch of the Sustainable Business Forum peoples’ minds … Nobody has been able to escape in 2006 to help retailers and manufacturers of wood and paper products assess and manage risk by moving To help companies ensure that their supply sources are the influence of ideas on environmental, social their supply chains towards legal, ethical and sustainable responsible, legal and ethical, the Rainforest Alliance has and economic sustainability and this change in forest products. We offer corporate executives and launched the Sustainable Business Forum (SBF), a corporate staff training on responsible sourcing, assistance in membership program. As businesses view social responsibility attitude has become very much embedded within developing sustainable procurement policies and analysis as an opportunity rather than a cost, interest in sustainable of supply chains. With clients in the furniture, flooring, practices has entered the mainstream. The SBF offers guidance the company. retail and musical instrument industries, SmartSource — G EORG E JAKSCH, S ENIOR DIRECTOR OF COR PORATE to companies that have yet to integrate sustainability into their R ESPONSIBILITY AN D PU B LIC AFFAI R S, is creating direct links between Rainforest Alliance existing operations, as well as to those companies that want to CH IQU ITA I NTERNATIONAL field projects and the end consumers of wood and make ongoing improvements. Member companies have access paper products. to a dedicated Rainforest Alliance staff member who advises them on sustainable business practices, how to publicly promote their progress and build supply chains for sustainable products. Goldman Sachs and Pfizer are SBF founding members. Rainforest alliance 2007 annual report
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