Studies Illustrate the Benefits of Certification
Workers and their families are living testaments to the benefits that certification can bring to people and the planet. Still, we’re always happy to see studies that demonstrate, more tangibly, the difference that our work is making in communities around the globe. Two new reports from IMAFLORA, the Rainforest Alliance’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) partner, do just that.
The first is a case study that examines how the standards of the SAN have impacted farmers, communities and the environment in the southern region and cerrado areas of the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The benefits chronicled include training and capacity building, reduction of toxic agrochemical use and reforestation with native species.
The second study investigates the impact of Forest Stewardship Council certification on community forests in Acre, Brazil. Here, the impacts appear to be lower than anticipated and researchers come to several interesting conclusions about the reasons behind this, and the way in which benefits may be more significant in the future.
Send a Gift of Compassion to Someone Special
Align your spending choices with your personal values through a Gift of Compassion from the ABC Home & Planet Foundation. By giving a Gift of Compassion to someone special in the name of the Rainforest Alliance, you’ll be contributing to the conservation of the world’s temperate, tropical and boreal forests. We’re working in places like Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve -- home to endangered jaguars and scarlet macaws -- to help locals harvest wood and botanicals responsibly, maintaining critical wildlife habitat and providing an ongoing source of income. We help these communities sell their products to businesses and consumers; earnings from their sale allow locals to invest in education, health care, potable water and adequate housing.
Gift recipients are notified that they’ve received a Gift of Compassion with a personalized certificate ensconced in a vintage silk sari envelope. Why not give one today?
Weakening of Endangered Species Laws Proposed
A new proposal from the Bush administration recommends that federal agencies be permitted to decide for themselves whether highway, dam, subdivision and other projects have the potential to threaten endangered plants and animals. Such a mandate would significantly reduce the compulsory, independent reviews that government scientists have been executing for nearly four decades.
Concerned environmentalists fear that the changes would dramatically weaken protections of endangered species if approved.
Agencies in addition would be prohibited from considering a project’s contribution to global warming in their decision making.
Members of the public may submit comments about the proposed changes to the United States Department of the Interior until September 15th.
Spice Up Your Computer
Spice up your computer with exquisite photographs from Michael P. Turco, award-winning nature photographer, and Second Nature Software. These stunning images -- perfect for screensavers and desktop wallpaper -- capture frogs in every color and hue, from eye-popping metallic gold, to deep indigo, to vermillion red. Download for just $14.99. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from every purchase will be donated to the Rainforest Alliance, helping to advance our work to ensure a more sustainable future.
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