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.
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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
Integrated Community Forest Management Monitoring and Evaluation Tool
This tool has been developed by the Rainforest Alliance with support from IIED (Victor Milla, Duncan Macqueen) and field tested by the Rainforest Alliance in Indonesia, Guatemala and Cameroon, to implement community based monitoring in our community forest projects, in particular those supported by the Forest Allies initiative. It is based on the four pillars […]
Five Coffee Farmers Who Inspire Us
Coffee farmers protect forests and biodiversity, build their farms’ climate resilience, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. Here are five remarkable individuals who motivate us even more than the coffee they grow.... Continue Reading
Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa
We work with almost one million cocoa farmers to build thriving livelihoods and climate resilience through certification and training.... Continue Reading
Join Forest Allies
Through the Forest Allies community of practice, we can help your company: Invest in forest conservation and restoration beyond your operations. Recognize Indigenous Peoples and local communities as effective forest stewards and future business partners. Collaborate with a range of stakeholders to leverage the impact of your investment. Forest Allies brings together companies, regional civil […]
Project Profile: Stopping deforestation and improving livelihoods with community forestry in the Congo Basin
Sitting in the heart of the Congo Basin, the 36,000 square kilometer Salonga National Park (SNP) is the largest protected area of dense rainforest on the African continent.... Continue Reading
CEO Santiago Gowland on CNN’s Call to Earth Broadcast
CNN’s Julia Chatterley spoke with the Rainforest Alliance’s CEO Santiago Gowland about what our frog seal represents, the connection between thriving nature and livelihoods, and the importance of climate adaptation.... Continue Reading