Planting the Seeds of Conservation

From the cocoa fields of Ghana, Alex Morgan – senior manager of sustainable value chains for the Rainforest Alliance’s agriculture program in the US– writes about the beginnings of a conservation initiative that will benefit local people, wildlife, economies and the environment.

Ankasa National Park is an island oasis amidst degraded ecosystems and agricultural landscapes in the Western region of Ghana, where 55 percent of the country’s cocoa is now grown. Inside the park, forest elephants, leopards, 600 species of butterflies and 300 species of birds make their homes. Outside the park’s boundaries, much of the country’s biodiversity-rich forest has been lost to logging and conversion to palm oil and rubber.

Today, Eric Servat (manager of the Rainforest Alliance’s cocoa program), Christian Mensah (the Rainforest Alliance’s representative in Ghana through Agro-Eco), Arthur Steiner (from Läderach Chocolate), Yaw Osei-Owusu and Ernastina Doku-Mafo (both from Ghana’s Conservation Alliance), and I traveled to the borders of Ankasa National Park to visit an area where a new project will emerge through a Rainforest Alliance and Conservation Alliance partnership. The project will be situated about two hours north of Axim, on the Atlantic coast of Ghana where rain is a frequent and generous visitor. It will involve work with six communities outside the park, using cocoa to provide sustainable livelihoods for farmers and help restore a forest buffer around the national park.

With sunny skies and a nice breeze, the day was off to a good start. An hour and a half into our drive, however, the road deteriorated and the red clay street turned into a series of channels, deep ruts and puddles the size of Olympic swimming pools. Though it hadn’t rained for three days, the road was a mess and we were stopped in our tracks by a local truck bogged down in 18 inches of mud. With eight men working to dislodge the truck and still no movement, it was clear it wasn’t going anywhere. Eventually, we abandoned the truck and set off on foot.

Three of us were coming from fall climates, and we were no match for the scorching sun and oppressive heat. We hadn’t planned to walk the next 3 to 5 miles, dotted with hills and heavily logged fields, but we were committed to meeting the dedicated farmers who were taking part of their day off to meet with us.

Embarrassingly, we were not prepared for the heat, sun or isolation; we were without water, sunscreen, food or hats. But the moment we finally arrived at the first farm, the farmers welcomed us with a dozen or so coconuts and offered us shade under the cocoa trees. It was truly a delight and representative of the generous spirit and hospitality displayed by the farmers we work with across the globe.

Many of the farmers in this area are new to cocoa. They are planting new cocoa trees in landscapes that have been logged and are in the first phase of transition from degradation. Musumba trees, Yaw told us, are one of the first species to populate an area that has been severely degraded. In order to ensure these lands are protected and provide important environmental value by acting as buffers, the farmers and communities must gain sustainable livelihoods from farming crops other than oil palm or rubber. That’s where cocoa comes in; it’s an agro-forestry crop that can grow in unison with native tree species and under a canopy of shade trees, providing good incomes for local community members when farmed effectively.

Through the project’s training program, the participating farmers will learn how to eradicate black pod disease by separating and burying infected cocoa pods, how to limit agrochemical usage, the dangers of child labor and how to restore the environment of the region by adopting simple sustainable practices on their own farms.

These young farmers were eager to share their stores and excited to work with community trainers to improve their practices and see the fruits of the labor. While they are just beginning with the training program, their eagerness, dedication and hard work will undoubtedly lead to a significant impact on the ground. In addition, it will provide considerable long-term environmental value, as their farms will serve as important buffers for the national park.

We left the community late in the afternoon, feeling inspired by the farmers but aware of the long road ahead as they worked toward sustainable land management and Rainforest Alliance certification. With their passion and the added commitment from Ghana’s Conservation Alliance, I’m confident that this blossoming project will be successful and replicable.

The Climb to Cachalú

Maria Ghiso – education coordinator for the Rainforest Alliance – writes about a recent visit to Colombia’s Cachalú Biological Reserve. For a number of years, the Rainforest Alliance has been working to protect Cachalú’s gorgeous and diverse oak forest through a program that contributes funding to small conservation groups in tropical countries…

Our two-hour hike in the rain and mud was well worth it to reach the beautiful Cachalú Biological Reserve. This unique oak forest has been part of our Adopt-A-Rainforest program for many years.  Julianne Schrader, manager of the Rainforest Alliance’s education program, Al Stenstrup, director of education programs at Project Learning Tree, and I were spending the week with our Sustainable Agriculture Network partners at Fundación Natura. Andrés Avella from their research team was guiding us on our journey to Cachalú.

The oak forests of Cachalú.

As we drove through the Colombian countryside, we passed spectacular and awe inspiring peaks.  Making our way up and down windy mountain roads, we passed through various ecosystems, coffee plantations, mountain forests and the páramo – a hillside steppe dotted with distinctive plants called frailejones that are huddled together like people trying to keep warm.

After many hours of driving, the road came to an end — from here, we would walk.  We were met by Pepe, the administrator of Cachalú, and two horses that would bring our bags up the steep mountainside trails while we walked.  Part of the precious cargo included new batteries for the solar panels in Cachalú’s  biological station – the batteries were purchased with funds from Adopt-A-Rainforest donors.  That night, we would get ready for bed by candlelight and wait for the batteries to be installed the next morning.

From left to right: Pepe, Camila, Al and Maria.

I woke to a calm and quiet dawn, the perfect reprieve for my busy New York City state of mind.  After a delicious breakfast, we gathered our supplies and set out on our hike with Pepe, Andrés and Pepe’s adorable six year-old daughter Camila, my favorite tour guide.  As we left the station, Andrés pointed out Cachalú  – a green mountain in the distance covered with trees.

Cachalú Biological Reserve was created to protect the Andean oak forests and the unique flora and fauna found there.  Before being designated a natural preserve, the area was part of a large cattle ranch; the biological station, where we were staying, was once the hacienda where the owner lived with his family.  The land where Cachalú stands was originally slated to be logged, but because of its distance from the main road, was  protected from further development until it became a nationally recognized reserve.

The team passed frailejones on the hike to Cachalú.

As we hiked deeper into the forest, we were surrounded by lush bromeliads, ferns, palms and other plants and shaded by the green canopy.  I was amazed at the way Camila navigated the narrow trails with speed and agility;  I walked the same trails with so much caution.  “She loves joining us on hikes,” her father told us.  She knew exactly where we were, could lead us back to the biological station, and even pointed out berries and edible plants to me along the way.

I could hear the bubbling sound of water nearby.  We passed by rivers, streams and waterfalls and the waters turned brown as we got closer to the area where the Andean oaks were.  The water was not polluted, but instead colored with natural tannins found within the bark of these majestic trees.

As we continued our hike, we saw that some of the trees were marked off and identified.  These are part of a research study conducted by Fundación Natura in various parcels of the reserve to study the growth of tree species and natural succession in this forest type.  The research team is also studying restoration and sustainable management of these forests as well as the growth rate of specific plant species.

Camila points out berries.

I felt a few raindrops and reached for my coat as we made our way back toward the biological station.  The sound of the raindrops hitting the leaves made for a peaceful backdrop. Camila sweetly pointed out a few roots in our path and held my hand as I carefully step over them.  I thought about how much fun she was having on our hike and it reminded me of the importance of getting kids out into nature to observe and explore the world.

Upon our return, Andrés and Pepe showed us the tree nursery with saplings of tree species found in the reserve that they are nurturing to plant back in the forest.  Camila’s mom waited with some juice and listened to her daughter recount the stories of our morning as we thumbed through a book with the birds of Colombia.  We looked at the photo of the distinctive cock-of-the-rock and although we didn’t see that bird, I felt lucky to have heard its song echoing through the forest.

Interested in contributing to conservation efforts in the Cachalú Biological Reserve? Take part in our Adopt-a-Rainforest program to support Cachalú and other deserving conservation initiatives.

You Say You Want an Evolution

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” More than two centuries have passed since the French writer Voltaire first coined this phrase, but the proverb is as true today as it was then.

We are proud of the accomplishments of the Rainforest Alliance Certified^TM program, which is jointly managed by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), an international coalition of conservation groups. The certification program has positively impacted millions of farmers and their families, protected countless wildlife species and spared thousands of acres of tropical forests from the machete and the torch. But despite the program’s considerable achievements, we also understand that the SAN standard upon which it is based is not perfect.

SalvaNATURA, a member of the SAN, audits a coffee farm seeking Rainforest Alliance certification.

Time and experience are great teachers, and since the program’s launch in 1992, some of the science, research and cultural norms associated with it have changed—as the SAN fully expected they might. For this reason, the standard was never intended to be a static thing. Built into its very foundation is the ability and obligation to improve on what has gone before.

Back in its earliest days, the SAN established various committees to periodically re-examine the standard and the way it is applied and monitored. Comprised of a cross-section of network staff, consultants and internationally respected experts in their fields, these committees meet on a regular basis to debate even the most minute details and determine the best ways to address any unresolved issues or new needs.

Take, for example, the concept of minimum wage. Under the fifth of the SAN’s ten guiding principles (“Fair Treatment and Good Working Conditions for Workers”), the standard requires that “farms pay salaries and benefits equal or more than the legal minimum, and the workweek and working hours must not exceed the legal maximums or those established by the ILO [the UN’s International Labor Organization]”.

A worker on a Rainforest Alliance Certified tea farm in India.

At first glance, this requirement might seem straightforward, but it is actually quite complex. How do you apply this criterion to jobs that pay for piecework instead of using an hourly or day rate? By their very nature, farms are places where work is seasonal; how do you evaluate salaries over time, when there might be dramatic ebbs and flows in income? What about vacation pay and overtime?

Perhaps the biggest issue of all regarding minimum wage is the most basic: its very definition. Wage standards can vary widely from country to country. “In Africa, for example,” says Kathrin Resak, a Rainforest Alliance technical coordinator, “a number of countries have no minimum wage or poorly formulated ones, meaning that they’re completely outdated or set extremely low.” This sentiment is echoed by Winnie Mwaniki, a Rainforest Alliance regional projects manager for East Africa. “In places like Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda,” says Mwaniki, “the wages can be below one US dollar per day,” lower even than the World Bank’s 2005 extreme poverty line of $1.25 per day, per person.

In cases where there are region-specific issues, the SAN tries to address them through its local interpretation guidelines while still maintaining the primacy of the overall SAN standard. If, for example, there is no set minimum wage in a particular region, the local guidelines must define the term in cooperation with all stakeholders.

When a problem cannot be resolved through local guidelines, the SAN considers changes to the overall standard. But before any modifications can be made, the proposal must first be discussed, researched, field-tested and put through a process of public consultation.

A bunch of bananas from a Rainforest Alliance Certified farm owned by Chiquita.

“Although no standard-setting and auditing agency can claim infallibility in either role, the SAN is proud of its record thus far and has scheduled significant and continuing upgrades in both roles,” says Dorianne Beyer, a member of the SAN’s International Standards Committee and a lawyer with 30 years of experience in the field of labor rights. Though Beyer was specifically referring to the issue of workers’ rights, her statement can be applied across the board.

Some may see any revisions to the SAN standard as an indication of failure, but in actuality, they are proof of its strength. An effective certification program must be willing to adapt and grow according to changing needs and conditions if it is to remain viable. Rainforest Alliance certification may not be perfect, but that doesn’t mean the SAN won’t keep trying to make it so. And in the interim, the program is already doing a world of good.

Read about the SAN Standard and find out what makes the Rainforest Alliance Certified program unique.

In the Wake of a Hurricane: Indigenous Communities in Nicaragua on the Road to Recovery

Lara Koritzke — former associate director of development for the Rainforest Alliance and current director of development and communications at ISEAL Alliance — writes about the Rainforest Alliance’s work with a group of indigenous communities in Nicaragua. Devastated by a 2007 hurricane, they are recovering from damage to their homes, crops and natural forests with perseverance, hard work and collaboration.

Awas Tingni children play atop the sawn boards of timber that will be sold into local furniture markets and provide increased income to pay for school improvements and teacher salaries.

On September 4, 2007, Hurricane Felix struck Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN, for its name in Spanish) and left major ecological and socioeconomic damage in its wake.  More than 25,000 impoverished families – mostly from the Moskito and Mayagna indigenous communities – were affected. Estimated damages to homes, crops and natural forests surpassed USD $1.3 billion and more than 3.7 million acres of biodiverse tropical forests were impacted.

Since 2005, the Rainforest Alliance has been helping communities in the region to manage their forests sustainably. In the wake of the hurricane, we also began working to build local businesses and encourage economic recovery. Four years later, 30 communities comprised of more than 2,000 people have benefitted from this work. In addition, seven new forestry cooperatives have been established with smart management plans and alliances with domestic wood product companies. A few highlights of this work…

Salvaging Post-Hurricane Wood and Fostering Natural Forest Re-Growth

A key aspect of working in the post-hurricane area: salvaging fallen or damaged timber while promoting the natural regeneration of the forest.  Salvage operations are producing saleable commercial wood that provides immediate income for indigenous families while also forestalling the risk of permanent forest loss from fire, pests and conversion to other land uses.  These risks will persist unless communities have an alternative revenue stream over the long-term and a real incentive to maintain forests in the face of growing pressures to convert them for livestock and agricultural operations.

Mahogany and other boards sustainably salvaged from Awas Tingni forestland await pickup from North American Wood Products, a broker providing timber for Gibson guitars in the United States.

The Awas Tingni Community: Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in Action

The Rainforest Alliance has been working closely with the Awas Tingni indigenous community to improve the livelihoods of its nearly 300 affected families (about 1,800 people) through the creation of a forest management plan for low-impact salvage harvesting operations.  Such salvage operations reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ensuring that downed wood does not rot or burn. The Rainforest Alliance has also trained the community in value-added processing, and helped to facilitate the acquisition of small-scale carpentry equipment and a portable sawmill.  Now, community members are employed in their own villages, producing pre-sawn boards made of mahogany and other high-demand hardwood species that command higher prices than raw logs alone.

Market Linkages with Wood Buyers Focused on Sustainability

With the Rainforest Alliance’s support, Awas Tingni has also developed alliances with buyers and brokers of wood products, including Nashville-based Gibson Musical Instruments and Maderas Preciosas Indígenas e Industriales de Nicaragua S.A. (MAPIINICSA), a Nicaraguan wood buyer focused on domestic furniture markets.  Both companies are committed to purchasing sustainably harvested timber for their products.

The Rainforest Alliance has also helped the Awas Tingni community to create a new enterprise for their wood harvesting operations: the community-owned Yamaba forestry cooperative, now governed by a board made up of elected community members.

Job Creation and Other Benefits for Women and Children

The Yamaba cooperative and its salvage operations are also creating new jobs in the community. In 2010, the cooperative employed just 60 people; by 2011, that number had reached nearly 200, including 36 female employees. Sales of timber from the cooperative reached US $98,000 in 2010, and are projected to top US $400,000 by the close of the year. In addition to helping to develop the cooperative and increase incomes, the Rainforest Alliance is working with the group to ensure the effective and responsible allocation of newly generated funds.

Yamaba Cooperative Board Member Chavela Maklin (top right) and members of the Women’s Association of Awas Tingni.

Presently, the cooperative’s board of directors and its (newly created) Women’s Association are carefully considering the potential uses of the increased income. They include: re-investing in timber operations to increase sustainability; creating a fenced boundary to protect traditional lands from illegal loggers and poachers; providing additional support for the community school and its teachers; providing materials for the Women’s Association to create small artisan products for sale in local markets; and purchasing a community vehicle that can bring sick or pregnant community members to Puerto Cabezas  —  Awas Tingni is a 3-hour walk to the nearest bus stop, and Puerto Cabezas, the nearest town, is only accessible by bus.

Troubled Waters

Oliver Bach, senior manager of standards and policy for the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) — the coalition of leading conservation groups which manages the standard required for Rainforest Alliance agricultural certification — talks about farming’s devastating impact on rivers, streams and oceans, and the Rainforest Alliance’s work to ensure that certified farms protect these vital waterways…

When we talk about sustainable agriculture, we often focus on the land itself, on the ways that Rainforest Alliance certification impacts trees, soil and the wildlife that live on or near farms. But there are other less-obvious benefits of our work, including the protection of rivers, streams and oceans as well as the plant and animal species that rely on those bodies of water for their survival.

The need to protect water resources has never been more urgent. According to a recent report, scientists are predicting that the Gulf of Mexico is facing the largest “dead zone” in its history—between 8,500 and 9,400 square miles, about the size of Lake Erie—caused by runoff from the Mississippi River Valley. And the Gulf is not alone. Similar problems have plagued other coastal regions, including Mexico’s Yaqui River Valley and the Sea of Cortez.

Dead zones are areas where massive algae blooms have killed off other ocean life. Studies have shown that the main culprit is runoff from farms into nearby rivers and streams. As a result of fertilizer and animal manure, freshwater becomes excessively nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich, and when it flows downriver and reaches coastal areas, this nutrient-rich water can produce algae blooms—known as red or brown tides—which release toxins that poison mollusks, crustaceans and fish. When the algae decompose and are consumed by bacteria, they deplete the area of oxygen, asphyxiating the other living creatures that share the space. In addition to the obvious environmental impacts, these dead zones also threaten fishing, tourism and other maritime-based industries, depriving coastal communities of their livelihoods.

Rainforest Alliance certification helps to prevent this problem in a variety of ways. The program’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard – managed by the SAN, a coalition of NGOs based in the tropics — is built on ten guiding principles, one of which is water conservation. This includes more than just the reduction of water consumption; farmers must also monitor water quality, treat wastewater and avoid contaminating springs and rivers on and near their properties.

The SAN standard encourages farmers to eliminate agrochemicals, choosing biological and mechanical alternatives whenever possible, and any chemicals they do use must be handled in a way that safeguards human health and the environment. Workers on Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms are trained to reduce and manage waste, and certified farms are also required to be good neighbors—to wildlife and surrounding communities.

Another key principle of the SAN standard – ecosystem conservation – also puts a premium on protecting streams and waterways. Farmers are required to establish protected zones on the banks of rivers, streams, springs, wetlands and other natural bodies. In doing so, they help to protect aquatic ecosystems from erosion and agrochemical drift. Farm workers are also prohibited from altering natural water channels to create new drainage or irrigation channels.

On Nicaragua’s Finca La Bastilla, a Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee farm, all wastewater is treated in anaerobic biodigestors and released into a system of collection ponds for purification before it is returned to the ground. In Guatemala, the owner of Finca Buenos Aires has replanted native trees on his certified coffee farm, and a 33-foot buffer zone of natural forest protects the farm’s ten springs and two rivers against erosion and water pollution.

Rainforest Alliance certification proves that clean, healthy bodies of water can coexist with economically viable farms.

A Photo Tour Through the Vanilla-Farming Communities of Madagascar

Auditor, trainer, blogger and photographer Noah Jackson is back and sharing a few of his best photos from a recent diagnostic audit on a group of vanilla farms in Madagascar.

A boy stands with his father in a river after a morning bath.

Our audit team walks a river that runs through communities and leads to a series of vanilla farms.

While some of the hillsides in this region of Madagascar are denuded from upland rice production, there are still vast stretches of connected forest. Part of my role on the diagnostic audits is to discuss strategies for maintaining existing high quality forests and their connectivity.

This local forest trail leads to vanilla forest farms and rice planting lands.

Vanila beans on their vines. Here, they are just getting large but have not yet been marked by farmers. After harvest, both farmers and members of the cooperative will cure the beans. This process can take months.

Parting shot: A chameleon climbs the stalk of a vanilla plant and momentarily rests. I found this chameleon by accident. When assessing one of the vanilla farms, I came upon a wasp nest and tried to photograph it with my macro lens. I got a bit too close and the wasps started stinging me, forcing our group to run from the commotion. I took shelter in the vanilla and stumbled across this chameleon.

To learn more about Noah’s adventures conducting diagnostic audits on vanilla farms in Madagascar, read his most recent Frog Blog posts:

• The Missing Bee in Secret Gardens: Cultivating the Vanilla of Madagascar
• Madagascar, Part II: Never-Ending Farm Walks and Diagnostic Audits

The Missing Bee in Secret Gardens: Cultivating the Vanilla of Madagascar

Noah Jackson — the newest voice on the Frog Blog and an auditor and trainer for the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable agriculture and forestry programs – issues his second report from the field. Here, he describes his arrival in a remote Malagasy village, where he’s been sent to conduct a diagnostic audit on a group of vanilla farms. (Using a systematic process of obtaining and evaluating evidence from farms, diagnostic audits help auditors to determine the social, environmental and economic changes a farm needs to make in order to be eligible for Rainforest Alliance certification.)

Noah Jackson: a trainer and auditor for the Rainforest Alliance's agriculture and forestry programs, and our newest blogger.

“You know,” my new friend Stuart said as he turned to me, “we could get lost in those forests. We can drive in, but the rivers might be high. At the very least, we’ll be stuck there for the next week. We might have to walk.”

I’ve heard that before. I’ve heard it in Borneo, where I work on projects with local communities. I heard it in Alaska on a side excursion, when I passed a group of hikers who had already traveled part of my route.  Nearly every time I hear it, I wind up ignoring it. Usually there is a good reason: like having an interesting community to visit or spending time in a unique farm or forest. Learning is high on the list. It’s the firsthand learning – hearing directly from farmers – that makes the walking worth it. It’s also practical.

It has always been my philosophy that to understand the challenges of farm and forest management, you need to walk the land.  In practice, this can be tedious. Its means I need not only to look at the soil, but to look at the soil in individual valleys and drainages. Understanding the land as a whole helps me to understand its people and the challenges they face.

Called by the Rainforest Alliance to conduct a diagnostic audit — to evaluate a vanilla-producing cooperative’s compliance with the social, environmental and economic standards required for Rainforest Alliance certification– I wasn’t about to let a hard-to-reach location stop me.

While I’m an aficionado of coffee, cocoa and cloves, there is always something missing.  Vanilla completes the spectrum of flavors.  Together, these crops are the rock stars of a commercial sustainable agriculture harvest.

In addition to being a trainer and auditor for the Rainforest Alliance, I am also a flavor junkie. If I were talking to a child, I might even call myself a flavor explorer.

It’s a nice job title.

Madagascar happens to be one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. It is also home to the greatest number of endemic species in the world — plants and animals that do not exist anywhere else.  Vanilla grows in the northern part of the country, where coastal and montane rainforests thrive. In a place as biodiverse as Madagascar, growing and cultivating crops like vanilla in harmony with nature is particularly important –  irresponsible farming could threaten the integrity of this incredible landscape.

Madagascar is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

There is another secret here.  Unlike any other food or flavor crop I know, vanilla is sometimes hand pollinated. Vanilla originated in Mexico, where its small flowers were pollinated by tiny, indigenous bees.  These bees are only found in Mexico. In other parts of the world, vanilla can also be pollinated by humming birds; that is not the case in Madagascar.

This is skilled, delicate work and requires someone with practiced hands. Each blossom lasts for only one day.  While an experienced person with small hands can pollinate as many as 2,000 plants per day, vanilla farms are spread across large distances and flowers can only be pollinated in the morning, when the flowers are wide open. It’s precise, labor-intensive work.

Vanilla is a special crop; the individual beans are so valuable that farmers sometimes scratch their initials onto the beans to identify their origin. Prior to my trip, vanilla was a mystery to me; I was looking forward to learning from the farmers who work with it every day.

Upon my arrival in coastal Madagascar, I learned that farmers use nearby rivers to transport vanilla from forested farms to market. The rivers are nestled along the coast and flow both ways — with the tide and against the tide. If I was to learn anything about the potential and challenges of producing vanilla, I’d have to follow one of these rivers.

"As we set out down the vanilla river, I captured this image of a boy swimming."

Surrounded by mountains, I set out down a nearby river with my group, knowing that this trip would undoubtedly change me. We might get a little lost along the way – in fact, that was a given  — but the trip held incredible promise and opportunities for learning. I was entering a new world, forests and farms connected by a vanilla river that flows both ways.

In his next blog, Noah will take us on a walk through the vanilla  farms of Madagascar, discuss his work advising farmers about sustainable agriculture and explain how he got a little too close to a group of pollinators.

Save the Frogs Day: A Call to Protect Our Favorite Little Amphibians

Today marks the 3^rd annual Save the Frogs Day. Find out why the Rainforest Alliance is celebrating…

Here at the Rainforest Alliance, frogs are especially close to our hearts. The little green frog is our unofficial mascot, and we feature it prominently on the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal and the Rainforest Alliance Verified™ mark. For conscientious consumers, the frog is a symbol of sustainability – a guarantee that a product contains ingredients that were grown or harvested with respect for people, wildlife and the environment.

Considering our connection to the frog, it’s only natural that we whole-heartedly support efforts to conserve these incredible creatures, whose populations have been declining at unprecedented rates. The causes of their decline are numerous. Among them: infectious disease, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, over-harvesting and climate change. (Sadly, frogs aren’t the only amphibians under threat. Close to one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction and nearly 200 species have disappeared since 1980.)

Pictured: Red-eyed tree frog. Credit: Cory Thomas.

What makes frogs special enough to be the centerpiece of the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal and the Rainforest Alliance Verified mark?  Well, frogs are considered an “indicator” species, meaning that the health of frog populations is believed to be demonstrative of the health of the biosphere as a whole.  Frogs have porous skin that can easily absorb toxic chemicals, making them especially vulnerable to environmental disturbances — and,  as a result, accurate gauges of environmental stress. They’re also a vital part of the food chain – adult frogs eat huge quantities of insects, while providing a vital food source for an number of predators.

Join the Rainforest Alliance today, as we celebrate Save the Frogs Day! Not sure what to do? Check out Planet Green’s great list of 7 ways you can save the frogs. And remember…selecting products bearing the Rainforest Alliance Certified green frog seal is a great way to ensure that your choices are positively impacting the environment, and the people and wildlife (frogs included!) that depend on it.

Learn more about what the Rainforest Alliance is doing to protect biodiversity  around the globe. Read more about Save the Frogs Day.

Report from India (Part 3): Protecting Wildlife on Tea Farms

Rainforest Alliance president Tensie Whelan continues her trip to India’s Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM coffee and tea estates with T.R. Shankar Raman and Divya Mudappa from the Nature Conservation Foundation.

India’s Valparai plateau in the Western Ghats is a biodiversity hotspot, and our hosts Divya and Shankar live and work there.  The plateau is planted with tea and coffee and surrounded by a rich rainforest reserve that is home to elephants, monkeys, endangered birds, tigers, and as I discover firsthand, leeches.

Biologists by training, our hosts have been active in the area for more than a decade, identifying and tracking wildlife and working to protect their habitat.  Over the years, as they watched the wildlife venturing onto the plateau become threatened by unsustainable farming, they reached out to the Rainforest Alliance Today their organization, the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) is a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (which sets the standards for Rainforest Alliance certification) and is our primary partner in India.

On our first morning in the Western Ghats, we wade our way through Indian savory donuts, flat bread rolled into cones, dhal, vegetable curry and lots of milky sweet tea before rolling out the door ready for anything.  And anything happened to be a troupe of endangered Lion-tailed Macques hanging out together in a forest remnant on the tea plantation.  NCF has hired a guard who stays on the estate to educate people about the macques as well as to protect them.  The group of ten or so monkeys gambol in the trees—the small ones playing, the larger ones grooming.  One older animal sits apart from the rest and when a car stops and its occupants get out to look, the monkey runs over and jumps though the car window looking for food.  The primates are characterized by a white “mane” around their faces, which are black/brown.

We don’t stay too long, however, as our hosts receive news of an elephant sighting on a tea estate. We drive over small windy tracks until we reach the top of a tea-covered hill, from where we can look down  and see a large female and smaller male with impressive tusks foraging in the forest area.  The two elephants gather up large swathes of grasses and tree branches (they don’t like tea) and stuff it down at regular intervals.  They look rather placid as we watch them from a goodly distance, and indeed, they are unlikely to attack humans unless surprised or feeling threatened.

The NCF staff know most of the elephants in the area and keep records of births, deaths, movements, etc.  They are working on an educational film for workers and farm managers about the elephant and how to live and work in harmony with them.

After the elephant sighting, we also saw giant multi-hued squirrels, a pair of   mongooses playing on a felled trees, and on our way home that night we saw a flying squirrel soar across the black sky.

The Valparai plateau and surrounding mountains is a magical spot and we are reluctant to leave our new friends, but it is time to head back to Bangalore. On our way down the 42 hair-pin turns (yes, they number them) that traverse the mountain, the monkeys wave good-bye, and an iridescent blue bird peers out at us from the heavy tree cover.  We will be back one day; I feel certain.

Q&A with Wilson Sucaticona

A few days ago, we celebrated the the UN’s International Day of Cooperatives. To mark this Katy Puga from the Rainforest Alliance talked to Wilson Sucaticona an award winning Peruvian coffee farmer and cooperative member about how he manages his farm and the benefits of being Rainforest Alliance certified™.

Wilson Sucaticona, a young farmer of indigenous Aymara descent, inherited a tradition of coffee farming from his parents and is growing some of the best coffee in the world on his farm, Tunkimayo.

In the December 2009 Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality event, Tunki came in second place overall, beating farms from Brazil, Indonesia, and East Africa. Most recently, Tunki coffee won the Best of Origin for Peru at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s 2010 Roasters Guild Coffees of the Year Competition. Tunki has also won first prize in the Peruvian National Coffee Contest — twice.

From his farm in Sandia, located in the Puno department near the border with Bolivia, Sucaticona discusses how he grows the best coffee in Peru.

Question: How many years have you been a coffee farmer?

Sucaticona: I’ve been doing this for 17 years — my parents and grandparents were coffee farmers and I was raised in this tradition. During school vacations I used to help with washing the beans and removing the pulp, which was how I began to learn how to grow coffee.

My father retired, leaving me in charge of our small, seven-acre (three hectares) farm. At 34 years old, I’m still a coffee farmer and I want my children to grow coffee as well.

Q: Are you a member of any coffee cooperatives?

Sucaticona: Yes, I belong to the San Jorge Cooperative and also the Central de Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras de los Valles de Sandia (CECOVASA).

Q: What kind of support do these cooperatives offer?<a

Sucaticona: Support from the cooperative has been very important to me. The certification programs in Peru work closely with producers who have organized into cooperatives and associations. These organizations are key entities to support farmers in the certification process and are the best way to reach international markets.

The Peruvian National Coffee Board has also had an important role in strengthening coffee organizations and promoting the participation of small producers in the different certification programs.

Q: Your farm has been Rainforest Alliance Certified since 2006. How has this certification helped you?

Sucaticona: I obtained Organic and Fairtrade certifications in 2003 and Rainforest Alliance certification in 2006. These certifications taught me many things about managing my farm. For example, before we used to cut down trees and hunt animals, but now we have learned how to take care of the forests, to stop logging, and to care for the animals and the water. We protect the environment and now we have our house in order.

Certification from the Rainforest Alliance has given me very good benefits. For example, I learned how to improve the quality of the coffee plants and how to better dry the beans, which is crucial because drying affects the quality of the beans.

Q: What is the key to maintaining quality?

Sucaticona: It is difficult and care must be taken during the entire process because any slight changes can affect quality. Everything is important, from planting, to harvesting, to drying…if something isn’t right, it harms the coffee.

For example, to make sure that quality is not affected, I take my product to the stocking center by wheelbarrow. It’s a three hour walk from my farm but I do it because I know that the aroma of the coffee changes if I take it by mule or horse; these animals sweat and their odor affects the beans. Since I want my coffee to be perfect, I am always looking for better ways to do things.

Q: You won the national coffee prize for the second time. What does having the best coffee in Peru mean to you?

Sucaticona: The first time I won was very exciting because frankly, I wasn’t expecting it. The truth is that this year I did expect to win. I already had experience from the last time, I knew exactly how long to dry the coffee to make it perfect and when to submit the sample to participate in the contest. I worked very hard and spent a lot of time preparing.

Later I realized that my coffee competed against more than 300 coffees and I won first place in a very competitive event! This makes me very proud and happy. Now my coffee is being auctioned and I hope to get a good price.

These awards prepared me for the Specialty Coffee Association of America award that I just won. These recognitions motivate me to continue improving the quality and reputation of Peruvian coffee.

In Peru, coffee is an important source of income for thousands of small and medium-size farmers, who export around 95% of their beans to international markets thanks to their high quality, aroma, and flavor. Peruvian coffee is produced in 12 of the nation’s 24 regions; many are located near protected areas, making sustainable farm management essential. Currently, some 30% of Peru’s coffee production is certified as sustainable.

Thanks to support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon, a regional project that supports the creation of economic alternatives for local communities, Rainforest Alliance is helping coffee farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices, and creating important international market linkages. As a result, more than 70,000 hectares of land have been brought under sustainable management and Peru boasts the largest number of Rainforest Alliance CertifiedT coffee farms in the world. And, more than 50 coffee roasters across four continents source their beans from these sustainably managed farms.

This interview first appeared in Eco-Index: Connecting Conservationists Across the Americas in April 2010.