Diamond Water is proud to support the Rainforest Alliance and provide Rainforest Alliance products.

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

 

Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

 

More than 25 million people in the tropics depend on coffee, a crop that is the economic backbone of many countries and the world's second most traded commodity after oil. A decade ago, the Rainforest Alliance and its partner groups in the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) demonstrated that traditional, forested coffee farms are havens for wildlife. Now, coffee lovers everywhere can support farmers who maintain these rainforest refuges simply by buying beans stamped with the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal of approval.

 

Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee is grown on farms where forests are protected, rivers, soils and wildlife conserved; workers are treated with respect, paid decent wages, properly equipped and given access to education and medical care. The Rainforest Alliance seal ensures that experienced inspectors have verified that the farms meet demanding social and environmental standards, and are on a path toward true sustainability.

The certification program is managed by the SAN, a coalition of leading conservation groups in Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States. Thousands of farms and cooperatives have been certified in 19 countries, benefiting tens of thousands of farmers and workers and ensuring that 520,977 hectares (1,287,362 acres) of tropical farmland is managed to conserve natural resources and protect wildlife.

 

The SAN also works with banana producers. About 15 percent of all the bananas in the international marketplace come from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

With growing worldwide interest in agriculture that is easy on the Earth and socially responsible, the demand for sustainably certified coffee is booming. Specialty coffee companies led the way, and mainstream roasters and supermarkets are increasingly supporting sustainability.

 

Supporting Farmers and Farmworkers

Rainforest Alliance certification helps farmers bear the erratic swings in the global market by giving them the keys to improved farm management, negotiating leverage and access to premium markets. By implementing the SAN sustainable farm-management system, farmers can control costs, gain efficiencies and improve crop quality.

 

The Birds and the Beans

For more than 150 years, coffee was widely grown under the leafy canopy of native rainforest trees. In the 1970s, agronomists began promoting a new farm system where the sheltering forest is cleared, and coffee bushes are packed in dense hedgerows and doused with agrochemicals. These monoculture farms produce more beans, but at a tremendous environmental cost. The traditional, agroforestry system is good wildlife habitat. The new monocultures have little habitat, accelerate soil erosion and pollute streams.

Biologists in the SAN have shown that certified, forested coffee farms can be bio-rich buffer zones for parks, protect watersheds and serve as wildlife corridors. These "coffee forests" are also important sources of firewood, construction materials, medicinal plants, fruits, flowers, honey and other goods. Many farms in the certification program protect native forest reserves and community water supplies. Certified farmers in ecosystems that are not naturally forested, such as the "cerrado" in Brazil, are required to conserve the native habitat.

The biodiversity on coffee farms can be awesome. One certified cooperative in El Salvador holds more than 100 tree species. SAN biologists have spotted dozens of species of rare birds, wild cats such as ocelots, postcard-size butterflies, Technicolor frogs, seldom-seen orchids, monkeys and (once) an endangered giant anteater. Certification is one way to guarantee that coffee farms maintain wildlife habitat and other environmental benefits.

 

Saving the "Coffee Park"

How much tropical forest can be saved in the coffeelands? Coffee is farmed on about 12 million hectares (30 million acres) worldwide, an area larger than Portugal and nearly the size of England. Most of the farms are in areas regarded as high priorities for conservation. Our goal is give farmers economic incentives to save wildlife habitat on their lands and to restore ecosystems and reforest where possible.

 

Everybody Wins

Certification guides and rewards continual improvements on the farms, links sustainable farm management with coffee quality, and connects responsible producers and traders with responsible buyers and better markets. Savoring a cup of certified sustainable coffee can improve livelihoods for farm families and conserve tropical ecosystems -- a rare "win-win" opportunity.

 

 

Growing Sustainably

The Rainforest Alliance and associated NGOs in the SAN began talking to farmers about sustainable farming practices more than 15 years ago. Our biologists proved that traditional, forested coffee farms were refuges for wildlife. We developed guidelines for managing farms in ways that are good for farmers, workers and wildlife.

Coffee farming is a grand and noble tradition that is deeply ingrained into the cultures, economies and politics of most producing countries. Millions of families have depended on coffee for generations. Like any farming, growing coffee is risky business. Coffee farmers face difficult challenges: over-supply and low prices, inclement weather, pests and diseases, rising costs and sometimes unhelpful government policies. There is a lot of tradition, passion and pride in coffee farming; producers in the Rainforest Alliance sustainable coffee program want to add profitability and environmental and social responsibility to the blend.

The trend toward "modernized" coffee farming, which began in the 1970s, increased supply and also marked a departure from the historic, eco-friendly traditions of farming in harmony with nature. The new methodologies put more beans into an already overstocked market and converted coffee farms from self-sustaining sanctuaries into stark and lifeless monocultures. Wildlife disappeared, soils washed downhill, streams choked on silt and agrochemicals.

Many farmers sought a balance between the traditions they learned from their grandfathers and the new, high-production, high-cost and high-impact techniques coming out of the agronomy schools. The Rainforest Alliance and its allies worked for years with these forward-thinking farmers, scientists, agronomists, environmentalists and others to develop farm-management guidelines that maintain the eco-friendly traditions, add a growing awareness of social responsibility, and ensure economic sustainability.

 

A Sustainable Response

The complex challenges facing today's coffee producers require a comprehensive response. The Rainforest Alliance offers a positive, science-based and market-driven solution: Certification of sustainable production. This includes:

• Developing sustainable farm management guidelines with input from farmers, scientists, industry experts and others.
• Helping farmers meet social and environmental standards while increasing production and quality.
• Training local specialists to review farms according to the standards and "certifying" those that comply.
• Applying the Rainforest Alliance Certified green seal of approval to coffee from outstanding farms. This gives producers leverage in the marketplace and offers consumers a way to support sustainable agriculture.

 

Guaranteed Change

The Rainforest Alliance is now certifying coffee farms in Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Ethiopia through its partner groups in the SAN. Markets for Rainforest Alliance Certified sustainable coffee are growing steadily in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Setting standards, evaluating farms, applying the seal of approval and developing market linkages are integral parts of a comprehensive program that are linked together by the certification process.

Certification is an excellent tool for:

• Guiding and rewarding continual improvements on farms.
• Monitoring, documenting and guaranteeing change.
• Linking sustainable farm management with coffee quality.
• Connecting responsible producers and traders with responsible buyers and premium markets.

 

Many Benefits of Certified Sustainable Coffee

Environmental benefits:

• Special efforts to protect wildlife and endangered species
• Integration of farms and farmers into conservation initiatives
• Pollution control
• Soil conservation
• Streams are protected; water is used wisely
• Control and reduction of agrochemical use
• Waste management
• Reduced vulnerability to flooding, landslides and weather

Social benefits:

• Improved conditions, equitable treatment and assured wages for workers
• Workers informed of their rights
• Cooperative production, processing and marketing
• Certified farms benefit the whole community
• Certified farms join in the conservation and management of shared resources, such as streams, watersheds and woodlots
• Well-managed farms have a reduced "environmental footprint" and are good neighbors to communities and wildlands
• Training and environmental education for farmers and farm workers
• Forested farms serve as a "corner store" for farm workers and neighbors, providing firewood, fruits, fibers, medicinal plants and other needs.
• Certified farms are refuges for wildlife and scenic sanctuaries for people, which are important to residents and also attract ecotourists.

Benefits for farmers, traders and roasters:

• Certified farms have management plans and controlled operating costs.
• The ecolabel gives negotiating leverage.
• Certified products command better terms of trade, including price.
• Improved access to technical assistance and favorable credit.
• Potential for direct market linkages.
• Credibility in promotion; third-party verification of claims.
• Risk reduction and management.
• Collaborative marketing.
• Diversification on the farm and in the market.
• Stability and sustainability.
• Chain of custody assurance, traceability -- verification of origin.

There is no simple answer to the economic, social and environmental challenges in the coffee lands. We must respond with solutions that combine the economics of good farm production and better trading practices, improved livelihoods for farm families and environmental conservation. These are the three pillars of sustainability: Economics, Ethics and Environment. Sustainable certification is a way to help farmers, conserve wildlife and rainforest habitats, protect farm workers and give consumers an easy and tasty way to contribute to eco-friendly farming.