Rainforest Alliance responds to Amazon wildfires

In response to the horrific surge of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon, the Rainforest Alliance says it’s mobilising its broad network of partners to fight the ongoing destruction of the ecosystem. “Through its 30-year history, the Rainforest Alliance has focused on preventing deforestation at the nexus of agriculture and business. Forests, better agricultural practices, and holistic land management are a crucial component to reducing the effects of climate change,” says Han de Groot, CEO of the Rainforest Alliance. “While that certainly means changing land management practices to be more environmentally sustainable, it also must entail a change in how farmers are remunerated for their hard work, the way companies source their ingredients, and what we consume. We need holistic, long-term change.” The Rainforest Alliance is working to leverage our longstanding relationships in the public and private sectors to pressure the Brazilian government to reinstate the environmental enforcement that is essential to defending the Amazon against illegal logging, destructive slash-and-burn agriculture, and other existential threats. In addition, the Rainforest Alliance has pledged to redirect 100 per cent of the funds donated in response to its social media alert to frontline groups in the Brazilian Amazon, including the Brazil chapter of Indigenous federation partner COICA and long-time sustainable agriculture partner IMAFLORA; as well as the Instituto Socioambiental and Imazon. “The fires in the Amazon are the result of complicated political, financial, and social factors,” said Henriette Walz, Deforestation Lead for the Rainforest Alliance. “We need continued collaborative effort from governments, companies, and consumers to send a message. We know the links between climate change, deforestation, and human welfare are there. We need to keep moving towards a more sustainable agriculture and land management system and reap the many benefits such a system would provide.” Follow Global Coffee Report on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for up-to-date news and analysis of the global coffee industry.