Community: The Secret to Stopping Deforestation in Guatemala
The forest concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve have boasted a near-zero deforestation rate for 20 years.
Article
Tropical forests absorb more carbon than any other kind of forest. They also provide shelter, food, and livelihoods to millions of Indigenous and local people, while housing two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity. But we are losing them at an alarming pace (mostly to agriculture): In 2019, we lost a football pitch of tropical forest every six seconds. Stopping deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics is critical to the survival of humanity.
This page features information about the Rainforest Alliance's work to stop tropical deforestation and links to all our related content and resources.
Stopping deforestation in the tropics has been at the heart of the Rainforest Alliance’s mission since its founding more than 35 years ago. Working with companies, civil society organizations, and local governments—all while centering the voices of the rural communities we partner with—we promote community forestry and regenerative agriculture throughout the tropics. Our decades of experience have demonstrated that these are the most effective strategies to keep forests standing and restore biodiversity.
Quick Links
Deforestation position paper
This paper outlines our principles and strategies for stopping deforestation (and other forms of ecosystem conversion) in vulnerable tropical regions.
Forest Allies
Learn how joining our Forest Allies community of practice will help your company have a greater impact on forests.
Seven agricultural commodities linked to deforestation
World Resources Institute (WRI) estimates the extent to which seven commodities—oil palm, soy, cattle, plantation wood fiber, cocoa, coffee, and plantation rubber—are replacing forests, and maps their impacts.
Rights-Based Conservation: The path to preserving Earth’s biological and cultural diversity?
This Rights and Resources Initiative report examines the potential of community rights-based conservation to prevent biodiversity collapse.
Our Work: Deforestation
Project Profile: Championing Community-led Landscape Management in Cameroon
Community-led landscape management is the best long-term solution to environmental and social challenges.
Project Profile: Stopping Deforestation and Advancing Sustainability in West Kalimantan
Since 2018, the Rainforest Alliance has been working in the Sintang District of West Kalimantan to promote an Integrated Landscape Management approach around oil palm and natural rubber production.
Project Profile: The Business Case for Collective Landscape Action
Through this initiative, the Rainforest Alliance will work with several organizations to address global environmental challenges associated with commodity-driven deforestation in some of the world’s most important tropical ecosystems and sourcing regions.
All resources for Deforestation
4 ways companies can limit deforestation now
Rainforest Alliance experts Kerry Daroci and Fanny Gauttier weigh in on the EU's proposed 12-month delay of its regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) and its implications for companies' compliance progress.
Top deforestation drivers could dodge ‘high risk’ tag under EU benchmarking
Fanny Gauttier, Public Affairs lead at the Rainforest Alliance, comments on the delay of the anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR).
Daria Koreniushkina, Rainforest Alliance: Protecting biodiversity through EUDR compliance
Our Senior Manager Corporate Communications, Daria Koreniushkina, highlights the crucial role of businesses in addressing the climate crisis and protecting biodiversity.
How the Rainforest Alliance Deforestation Risk Assessment Tool Supports EUDR Compliance
In order to support your EUDR compliance efforts, the Rainforest Alliance will soon launch our Deforestation Risk Assessment Tool in September 2024. Learn all about the tool in this explainer article.... Continue Reading
‘Check-the-box’ approach to EUDR fails producers and the fight against deforestation
In an opinion piece for Euronews, Fanny Gauttier, our Public Affairs Lead for Europe, explains why a ‘check-the-box' approach to EUDR fails producers and the fight against deforestation.
The key to EUDR compliance for the coffee sector
Tea & Coffee Trade Journal publishes a blog from Miguel Gamboa, Rainforest Alliance Coffee Sector Lead, outlining how certification supports coffee farmers with EUDR requirements.