Rainforest Alliance

Across the UK, our sustainable forestry program is making a big splash through collaborations with two leading businesses -- Marks & Spencer and Unilever.

Angling to be the "world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015," merchant Marks & Spencer has committed to working with the Rainforest Alliance to get all of its wood from sustainable sources by 2012.

What does that mean, exactly? Simply put, that 100 percent of its wood will come from Forest Stewardship Council-certified, recycled or -- in cases where the former are not available -- 'green rated' sources.  (A new risk assessment tool developed by the Rainforest Alliance and Marks & Spencer will be used to categorize the company's suppliers as 'red,' 'amber,' or 'green.' Those that do not earn a 'green' rating will be removed from Marks & Spencer's supply chain.)

To ensure that Marks & Spencer is on track to meet its ambitious goals, the Rainforest Alliance is training the company's employees and suppliers on key forestry sourcing issues and conducting annual verification audits to check its progress against established goals.

Unilever, which owns the first Rainforest Alliance Certified™ tea estate in the world and has pledged to source all of the tea in its Lipton tea bags from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2015, is also taking important first steps to evaluate the sustainability of its forest products' supply chain

Conscious of the significant environmental impact of the paper and cardboard it uses to ship and package popular food, home, body and beauty products, Unilever has signed an agreement with the Rainforest Alliance's SmartSource program to review its suppliers' sourcing practices and identify challenges and opportunities. While still in nascent stages, Unilever aims to eventually source all of its paper and packaging material from recycled or sustainably-managed sources.