Forests

A force for planetary health

What's at Stake

Source of air, water, food, shelter, medicine: Forests are critical to the survival of every living thing on Earth. 1.6 billion people live near forests and depend on them to live. Yet, alarmingly, deforestation rates are accelerating—triggering a global chain reaction of increased greenhouse gas emissions, rising temperatures, and devastating forest fires.

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Trees: Our Best Defense Against Climate Change

Forests are a powerful natural climate solution. As they grow, trees absorb carbon emissions, converting them into clean oxygen. In fact, conserving forests could cut an estimated 7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year—the equivalent of getting rid of every car on the planet.

Our Impact

The Rainforest Alliance has developed innovative, farm and landscape-level strategies to tackle tropical deforestation—a proven, 360-degree approach that addresses not only immediate environmental threats, but also the underlying economic pressures that contribute to them.

Strong Forests

0.4% deforestation rate

in the forest concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala*

In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, nine forestry concessions safeguard around 353,000 hectares of the largest and most important tropical forest north of the Amazon. These community-run concessions have boasted a near-zero deforestation rate since 2004—a remarkable feat given that adjacent areas suffer some of the highest deforestation rates in the Americas.

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*Community forestry concessions in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve have demonstrated a near-zero deforestation rate, since data collection began in 2000. Data accurate as of December 2019.

Our Crisis Mobilization to the Amazon Fires

USD $1.2 million

raised in emergency funds*

Following the catastrophic fires that engulfed the Amazon in 2019, we raised more than US $1.2 million to help scale up the crisis mobilization of frontline organizations across the region—including essential fire-combat equipment for community fire brigades, and efforts to tackle the root cause of the fires: deforestation.

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*Data accurate as of May 2020

Our Work: Forests

Together with forest and farming communities, Indigenous leaders, companies, governments, and global citizens, the Rainforest Alliance works in 70 countries to promote more sustainable land management practices and cultivate thriving rural economies—the most widely proven strategy to keep our tropical forests standing.

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Our Work to Prevent Forest Fires

Protecting forests is at the heart of the Rainforest Alliance’s mission, which is why our interventions work to prevent forest fires in precious tropical landscapes.

Media Coverage

Can a new triple alliance save rainforests from ruin?

| Al Jazeera

Brazil, Indonesia, and DR Congo have now formed a tripartite alliance aimed at better preserving tropical rainforests amid the worsening global climate emergency.

Article

Thriving Communities, Healthy Landscapes

We're helping more than two million farmers embrace more sustainable growing practices that can help build resilience to climate change and boost yields.