ATIBT and Rainforest Alliance Join Forces to Preserve Tropical Forests

The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization working in 70 countries at the intersection of business, agriculture and forests. Its alliance includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together, they work to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people. Their global objective converges with that of ATIBT: to protect tropical forests through the development of sustainable, ethical and respectful markets for biodiversity products.

Already in contact for several years, ATIBT and the Rainforest Alliance now wish to join their efforts. For various reasons, our Association is mostly active in the Congo Basin, although it promotes sustainable forest management and certification in all tropical basins. ATIBT hopes to intensify its support to stakeholders committed to the preservation of tropical forests in other regions, particularly in Latin America: in recent months, new exchanges have been initiated with Latin American stakeholders. During the ATIBT 2022 Forum, held in Nantes last June, we invited members of the Rainforest Alliance and representatives of FSC-certified community forests from Mexico to present their actions during a round table entitled "Leave no one behind".

The Rainforest Alliance works with FSC-certified community forests in Latin America to support responsible production and trade in forest products and improve people's incomes. Members of our Association also work with FSC-certified community forests, such as Precious Woods.

 Crédit : Carlos Estrada (Rainforest Alliance Mexico) / « Leave no one behind » June 1, 2022 at the ATIBT Forum in Nantes with Rainforest Alliance and FSC

ATIBT and the Rainforest Alliance are currently considering a number of joint actions, including:

• Include on ATIBT-managed platforms (e.g. Fair&Precious and the Timber Trade Portal) presentations of forest products from FSC-certified community forests in Latin America.
• Explore funding opportunities to implement actions in the Congo Basin and consolidate ATIBT's support for community forests and FSC-certified products in Latin America.
• Explore opportunities to expand revenues from FSC-certified community forests via the landscape approach in concessions managed by ATIBT members in Latin America.
• Similarly, explore the possibility of expanding revenues from FSC-certified community forests through sustainable trade in non-timber forest products and cocoa.
• Improve interactions between forest concessions and FSC-certified community forests to develop the landscape approach.
• Extend the promotion and marketing of FSC-certified wood to wood from FSC-certified community forests in Latin America, and consider how to support communities in the certification process.

By combining our efforts to fight illegal logging, biodiversity loss and global warming, we can make them all the more effective. This is why ATIBT is convinced of the need for partnerships to act as concretely and effectively as possible.