Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1987 with offices and partner groups in 10 countries worldwide, providing on-the-ground programs that promote sustainable forestry, agriculture and tourism.

Our Mission
The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.

Based in New York City, with offices throughout the United States and worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers. From large multinational corporations to small, community-based cooperatives, we involve businesses and consumers worldwide in our efforts to bring responsibly produced goods and services to a global marketplace where the demand for sustainability is growing steadily.

We set standards for sustainability that conserve wildlife and wildlands and promote the well-being of workers and their communities. Farms and forestry enterprises that meet our comprehensive criteria receive the Rainforest Alliance certification seal. We also work with tourism businesses, to help them succeed while leaving a small footprint on the environment and providing a boost to local economies.

Our Conservation and Social Benefits

In Forests
In more than 50 countries around the world, the Rainforest Alliance is helping communities, businesses and governments to change their land-use practices.

On Farms
Because agriculture uses more land and water than any other human activity -- and is the leading cause of habitat destruction and species extinction -- the Rainforest Alliance is working with environmental organizations throughout Latin America to help farmers implement sustainable agricultural practices.

At Sea and in Lodges
With 700 million people traveling every year, tourism is a growing source of revenue for people living in areas that are particularly rich in plant and animal species -- and threatened with destruction.

In United States Schools and at Conservation Project Sites
The Rainforest Alliance's Education program reaches more than 10,000 children in hundreds of classrooms throughout the United States. Our Adopt-A-Rainforest program raises raises thousands of dollars in contributions that are directed to small conservation groups in the tropics that are working to stop deforestation.

Visit the Rainforest Alliance Web site at: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/

» Click here to learn more about the other organizations that The CREO Institute is supporting.