Communities

Certified Coffee Farms Help Conserve Habitat for Endangered Wildlife

Illegal coffee growing is destroying Indonesia's Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, home to the critically endangered Sumatran tiger. Illegal squatters have already converted nearly 20 percent of the park to farmland, and immigrant settlers are only increasing pressures on the protected lands.

Discover how certified coffee farms could provide the conservation key.

Colombian Cocoa Supports Farms and Families

Farmers in Colombia are hoping to make their country a leading cocoa exporter once again. And Rainforest Alliance partner Fundación Natura is helping them to do it sustainably, giving farmers, workers and communities the tools to increase their livelihoods and conserve the agriculturally-rich Santander landscape.

Read an interview with Fundación Natura's Elsa Matilde Escobar.

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More Stories Under the Canopy

A Wonder Nut-Based School Lunch Program
The Ramón Nut Holds Great Promise for Guatemala's Forest Families

The nutritionally-rich ramón nut may provide impoverished communities in Guatemala with a way to alleviate poverty, conserve forests and provide nourishment. Healthy Kids, Healthy Forests is a ramón nut school-based lunch program that is helping to feed more than 8,000 children, providing jobs for women and an incentive for forest conservation.

Learn more about the ramón nut's promising potential.

Communities in Nicaragua Combat Climate Change

Since 1990, about 20 percent of Nicaragua's forests have been converted to cattle pasture and farmland. California-based Paso Pacífico is selling credits to finance the reforestation of 1,000 acres in the country's southwest. The Rainforest Alliance verified the project, ensuring that it adheres to standards that support local communities, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Rainforest Alliance Launches New Photo Contest

Photos must be submitted by November 1, 2009 and winners will be announced on the Rainforest Alliance's Web site on December 15, 2009.

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The Understory

For over a million years, the Sumatran tiger has roamed the forests of Indonesia's island of Sumatra. But today, only a few hundred of these endangered felines survive in the wild. By supporting responsible forestry and farming, you can help conserve habitat for endangered wildlife around the world.

Fond out more about the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.

While forests may be rich in resources, millions of people who live in and near them are not.

By helping individuals use their lands wisely, by giving them the tools to run efficient businesses -- whether they grow coffee, collect nuts, make furniture, run hotels or provide carbon offsets -- and by linking them with buyers around the world eager to purchase their goods and services, the Rainforest Alliance is offering communities a solution: a way to improve their livelihoods, protect their lands and invest in their futures.

Be part of the solution -- look for the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal in supermarkets, bookstores, coffee shops and more. Products bearing the seal contain ingredients or materials from sustainably-managed farms and forests that protect the environment and ensure the well-being of workers and their communities. Look for the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on Guatemala Santa Isabel coffee from Peets Coffee & Tea.