A Change Is Brewing in Argentina
One of the largest remaining fragments of South America's Atlantic Forest is home to endangered species such as the golden lion tamarin monkey and the Brazilian rosewood tree, but it is also home to thousands of acres of tea farms. Although we often associate the production of tea with China and other Asian countries, the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is grown commercially in many places around the world, usually where rainfall is heavy and accompanied by warm days and cool nights -- such as in the highlands of northeastern Argentina. Even though tea farming didn't begin there in earnest until the 1950s, Argentina currently exports around 110 million pounds (50 million kilograms) of tea per year, mostly to the United States. Now, several tea estates are the first in that country to become Rainforest Alliance Certified™.
In 2008, six different producer groups -- representing 90 farms, nearly 200 small farmers and 16,000 acres (6,474 hectares) of tea plantations in Argentina's Misiones province -- were certified according to the environmental, social and economic standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), an international coalition of conservation groups coordinated by the Rainforest Alliance.
The certifications, which were carried out by auditors from IMAFLORA, SAN's Brazilian member, mean that farm workers are guaranteed access to safety training, medical care for themselves and their families and school for their children. And the environmental benefits are just as great. In addition to the reforestation of areas along streams and rivers, better management of soils and the implementation of waste reduction and recycling plans, the certifications are significant on a larger scale, according to lead auditor Marina Piatto of IMAFLORA: "They help avoid further deforestation of a critically endangered rainforest and improve the farming practices of these small producers."
Piatto's views are echoed by the tea producers themselves. "Our farmers are proud of the certification because it distinguishes them as people who view their farms as part of a sustainable way of life, not just for themselves but also for future generations," says Victor H. Tschirsch, the head of Koch Tschirsch. "One of them told me that he was surprised to see how many species -- even some that are threatened, such as the incienso tree -- are flourishing within his farm's protected area since he began monitoring the natural regeneration of his land a year ago." Walter Hinz, another farmer who also runs a rural tourism project on his farm, noted that the certification adds value to his entire operation and allows him to show tourists a sustainably managed tea plantation.
And these farmers won't have to search long to find a buyer for their tea. The multinational corporation Unilever, which was already purchasing the tea and encouraging them to get certified, will continue to buy from them as it works toward its own pledge to source all of the tea it sells in teabags -- including Lipton and PG Tips -- exclusively from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by the year 2015. "It is exciting to see certification spread throughout our supply network and the world," says Michiel Leijnse, Lipton's global brand development manager. "The first certification of tea estates in Argentina is a landmark achievement."