CONNECTIONS RAINFOREST ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 The Rainforest Alliance works to A LETTER FROM THE BOARD CHAIR AND PRESIDENT conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming Felicitas Sánchez, 24, is one of the Rainforest Alliance’s youngest of work—a critical consideration for Chatinos, whose language is on land-use practices, business practices allies, working with us to create a world where people can prosper and UNESCO’s endangered list. and consumer behavior. thrive in harmony with the land. Sánchez, a pensive young woman “I’m very happy to be part of the carbon-coffee project, given that I who switches easily between Spanish and the indigenous Chatino lan- grew up in the countryside,” Sánchez told us. “The project will benefit guage of her community, serves as a volunteer for the 400-member BOARD OF DIRECTORS the entire community as well as future generations...when they grow UNECAFE coffee cooperative in a poor, heavily deforested coastal up, they will still have trees, because we are conserving them now— Daniel R. Katz, Board Chair region of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Rainforest Alliance so that in the future these trees will provide clean air for our Roger Deromedi, Vice Chair Certified™ cooperative joined us in a partnership planet.” Wendy Gordon, Vice Chair with two local NGOs to create a community DS CO Peter M. Schulte, Treasurer O MM forest carbon project that will eventually O U Young people like Sánchez inspire us. And we are Labeeb M. Abboud sell credits on the voluntary carbon IH N proud to report that a growing number of compa- L I Tasso Azevedo market. E T nies around the world have committed to support- V Y I Marilú Hernández de Bosoms ing communities like hers by sourcing Rainforest L The project is unusual because it Daniel Cohen Alliance Certified coffee, tea, chocolate and involves smallholder farmers, rather Y Seth Cohen C other crops. In the following pages, you will read T than an organization or individual L I about many other ways in which the Rainforest Sonila Cook I S with massive landholdings. It is also a M Lawrence Lunt R Alliance is helping to build an economy that study in the connections that under- A E Count Amaury de Poret values people and nature at least as much as it gird our work: By training farmers in T V I does prosperity. The very survival of our species— David S. Ross reforestation methods, we are helping E C D indeed, of 80 percent of all living beings on Earth— Eric Rothenberg them stabilize their microclimates in the H IO depends on healthy forests for survival. We invite William Sarni face of increasingly unpredictable weath- A B N you to join our movement and walk with us toward a Kerri A. Smith er patterns. The carbon credits generated GE R TE brighter future for all. Annemieke Wijn by these reforestation activities are expected WA to create an additional revenue stream, buffering farmers against devastating price fluctuations in the EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS Adam Albright coffee market. And Sánchez and her peers are developing profession- al skills (including geo-mapping and carbon data collection) in their DANIEL R. KATZ TENSIE WHELAN Henry Davison own communities instead of migrating to northern cities in search BOARD CHAIR PRESIDENT Sudhakar Kesavan Patricia Scharlin Martin Tandler Alan Wilzig 1 ECONOMIC IMPACTS ON CERTIFIED COFFEE FARMS ACCESS TO CREDIT ON CERTIFIED FARMS IN BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, GUATEMALA, EL SALVADOR & PERU CERTIFIED FARMS NONCERTIFIED FARMS AVERAGE DOLLAR VALUE OF LOANS $5,562 $3,311 REPORTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF LOANS RECEIVED PER YEAR GREATER 1.36 75% EFFICIENCY & PROFITABILITY 0.66 KEEP BASIC RECORDS THAT IMPROVE ACCESS TO CREDIT 90% 31% GLOBAL POPULATION ( ) VS ARABLE LAND IN ACRES ( ) 4.5B 9B 7B 4B 1.6 billion 5B 3.5B PEOPLE DEPEND ON FORESTS 3B 3B FOR THEIR LIVELIHOODS WORLDWIDE 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 GLOBAL POPULATION EMPLOYED BY AGRICULTURE REVENUES & YIELDS ON CERTIFIED COFFEE FARMS 28 CERTIFIED FARMS NONCERTIFIED FARMS PERCENT PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LIVELIHOODS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS WHERE AGRICULTURE IS THE LARGEST SUPPORTER OF LIVELIHOODS $2,029 $813 3,153 1,922 Recognizing that the desperation of poverty fuels deforestation, the Rainforest Alliance promotes economic opportunities through sustainable REVENUE (USD) / HA YIELD IN LBS / HA agriculture, forestry and tourism. We create incentives for farming and 70% COLOMBIA NICARAGUA forest communities to protect our most precious ecosystems. Data sources: see inside back cover 3 GUARDIAN OF THE AMAZON Home to the Ese’eja and Shipibo indigenous who rapidly destroyed forestland in the region, as communities, the Madre de Dios region is Peru’s they have elsewhere in the Amazon. “There was gateway to the Amazon, whose rainforest is essen- always mining here, but it got to the point that tial to regulating Earth’s climate. The Rainforest there were miners here 24 hours a day,” recalled Alliance began working with leaders from the Juana Payaba Cachique, who joined with other region's Tres Islas community in 2009 to conserve community leaders to fight a successful three- 76,000 acres (31,000 hectares) of land through the year legal battle to close the road used by illegal development of forest-based enterprises, including miners. In 2012, the case reached Peru’s Supreme the sustainable production of Brazil nuts, timber Court, which reaffirmed the land rights of the and the fruit of native oil palms. Ese’eja and Shipibo, providing an important precedent for Peru’s 1,500 indigenous tribes and Soon afterward, however, the community was legal support for sustainable economic growth in besieged by an influx of unscrupulous gold miners Madre de Dios. ACRES (31,000 HA) IN MADRE DE DIOS UNDER SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT, “The miners were EQUIVALENT TO THE AREA OF 57,476 76,000 AMERICAN FOOTBALL FIELDS destroying trees because they didn’t CONSERVATION THROUGH FOREST live here, and they COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE didn’t care about Communities that derive their livelihoods from healthy forests are often the first line of defense against deforestation; they are in the best position the land the way to monitor, report and fight destructive activities like illegal logging or mining. This is why the Rainforest Alliance works with local communities we did.” to develop viable forest businesses and increase their access to local, MADRE DE DIOS JUANA PAYABA CACHIQUE PERU regional and international markets. 4 5 SOCIAL & COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENTS ON FARMS AFTER RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFICATION HIGHER TEST SCORES AT OUR PARTNER SCHOOLS FARMS NOW BETTER ORGANIZED IN JACKSONVILLE, FL 87% GREATER ACCESS TO EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES 85% OF SCIENCE 100% INDICATORS FAMILIES AND EMPLOYEES NOW HAVE BETTER HEALTH 55% RETURN OF SEASONAL WORKERS (INDICATES GOOD WORKING CONDITIONS) 71% OF READING 60% INDICATORS WORKING CONDITIONS ON BUILDING A GLOBAL NEW CONSUMER ATTITUDES CERTIFIED FARMS IN NICARAGUA COMMUNITY OF "I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE RESPONSIBILITY TO PURCHASE PRODUCTS MINDFUL CONSUMERS CERTIFIED FARMS THAT ARE GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY" NONCERTIFIED FARMS 150 K 65% 140 K 49% 82% "I OFTEN ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO BUY FROM COMPANIES THAT ARE SOCIALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE" 94% 52% 44% 100 K 34% 70% K 75 ALL MARKETS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WORKERS PROVIDED WITH HOUSING 50 K “This is a poor area, and there used to be no parks for the children. The company built parks. There are many areas that don’t have a library or even books. COMMUNITY 99% So the company brought in books for the children. 65% And the community is pleased with the company.” The well-being of workers, their families and local communities is central to the JAN DEC Rainforest Alliance philosophy. The farms, forestry enterprises and tourism 2013 HECTOR CHAVARRÍA GUZMÁN businesses with which we work provide decent housing, access to health care FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS FORESTRY WORKER FOR THE FSC® / RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED PINE and safety equipment and training to their workers, as well as educational ACCESS TO POTABLE WATER TWITTER FOLLOWERS FOREST FARM RESFORESTADORA EL GUÁSIMO IN YARUMEL, COLOMBIA support and economic development opportunities for local communities. 7 INVESTING IN A NEW GENERATION OF CONSERVATIONISTS Bolstering local conservation ex- Neny Sartika to teach farmers about pertise is an imperative in South composting, sanitation and how to Sulawesi, Indonesia, where rampant protect delicate cocoa trees from deforestation threatens the island’s the sun. At the same time, students astonishing wealth of endemic learned to gather the baseline data on species, including the nearly extinct farm productivity needed to evaluate babirusa (a pig with four tusks) and the economic benefits of our training the crested black macaque, a critical- initiatives. ly endangered primate. Yet many of Indonesia’s most promising forestry “I learned about public speaking, and agriculture graduates find it working with the local government, difficult to secure jobs in their fields and educating adults and children for lack of real-world experience. about the importance of conserva- tion,” Sartika said. After graduating, In 2013, to give this local talent the she went on to work in Sulawesi for the field experience that can launch Sustainable Cocoa Production Pro- their careers, the Rainforest Alliance gram of Swisscontact, a Swiss NGO. trained more than 20 students like A NEW GENERATION OF particularly important for female students, who 50% SUSTAINABILITY AMBASSADORS are often relegated to office