The vast continent of Asia contains an astonishing diversity of landscapes and distinct ethnic groups—as well as wildly divergent threats to its forests, people, and wildlife. Asia’s abundance of plant and animal species, as well as its wealth of indigenous knowledge, hangs in the balance.
The world’s third largest tropical forest, after the Amazon and Congo rainforests, is in the archipelago of Indonesia. But forests here have been cleared at an alarming rate to make way for paper pulp and oil palm plantations. And every fall, fires set to clear forests for agricultural expansion rage, threatening not only precious forests and wildlife, but the communities in the region.
The Rainforest Alliance works across many commodities in Asia, from forestry to tea and coffee production. Despite centuries-old challenges in some countries, we’ve achieved substantive gains in livelihoods and the health of forests and biodiversity.
on certified farms vs. noncertified farms*
In Tamil Nadu, India, a study of 300 farmworkers on seven Rainforest Alliance Certified tea estates and one noncertified estate found a significantly higher percentage of workers on certified estates had contracts and annual paid leave, sick leave, and maternity leave. Read the report
*Source: 2013. Assessing the poverty impact of sustainability standards: Indian tea. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, London.
on FSC certified forests in Kalimantan*
In Kalimantan, Indonesia, FSC® certification significantly reduced deforestation by five percentage points and air pollution by 31 percent, compared to the rates of control villages in noncertified logging concessions. Read the report
*Source: 2015. Social and Environmental Impacts of Forest Management Certification in Indonesia. PLoS ONE
The Rainforest Alliance works with farm and forest communities across Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, Myanmar, and China. While training and certification cannot solve entrenched poverty or systemic inequities, they are powerful tools for widespread, incremental improvement to the health of ecosystems and communities.
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