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Environmentalists gather for a workshop on the rainforest crisis
The public is unaware of the extent of the crisis, 50 acres (20 hectares) of rainforest disappear every minute, and two dozen species go extinct every day. Environmentalists gather at a small workshop on rainforests held in New York City. From this workshop grows a major conference on the rainforest crisis, which helps break the story of the crisis and results in the first feature on rainforest devastation in The New York Times. Conference organizers incorporate into the non-profit Rainforest A -
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Rainforest Crisis
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First Major Conference about rainforest destruction
The first major rainforest conference open to the American public draws 700 people, and tropical rainforest destruction becomes a hot media topic. Membership grows quickly to 5,000. Elysabeth Kleinhans donates midtown office space and endows a fellowship for scientists studying alternative uses of forest products. -
SmartWood is founded
The Rainforest Alliance founded its forestry certification program, SmartWood, to improve forest management by providing economic incentives to businesses that practice responsible forestry. -
SmartWood certification expands to Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Indonesia, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea.
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SmartWood expands to include work with temperate and boreal forests in the US and Canada.
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Launch "SmartWood – Rediscovered" for reuse of old wood.
Launch "SmartWood – Rediscovered" for reuse of old wood -- the first certifications go to International Hardwood Flooring, Inc. of New Jersey and Into the Woods of Petaluma, California. SmartWood certifies forestlands owned by indigenous peoples, including UZACHI (Union of Zapoteca and Chinanteca Forestry Communities in Mexico) and Menominee Tribal Enterprises in Wisconsin. -
SmartWood certifies its first non-timber forest products operation.
SmartWood certifies its first non-timber forest products operation (a chicle enterprise in the Yucatán), its first underwater log recovery operation (Wet Wood Underwater Fiber Recovery Ltd. of British Columbia) and its first medium density fiber board (MDF) production plant. -
About 15 percent of all bananas in the international market are grown on Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
About 15 percent of all bananas in the international market are grown on Rainforest Alliance Certified farms; total production of bananas exceeds 60 million boxes. More than 25 percent of the banana farms in Costa Rica, and 41 percent of those in Panama, are now certified, as are all Chiquita-owned banana farms in Latin America. Ecuador's Reybancorp certifies all 33 of its farms. -
SmartWood certifications grow in size.
SmartWood certifications grow in size, scope and diversity to include municipal forests, state parks, maple syrup, pencils and snowboards. -
SmartWood certifications expand to include US Department of Defense-controlled forests.
SmartWood certifications expand to include US Department of Defense-controlled forests, university forests, producers of furniture and kitchen utensils, and large scale pulp and paper operations. European expansion leads to new certifications in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on state and private lands. SmartWood certifies first community forest in China and Brazil (the Amazon forest where rubber tapper Chico Mendes lived and died). -
Total area of certified forestland reaches 25 million acres.
Total area of certified forestland reaches 25 million acres (10 million hectares). New SmartWood "firsts" and landmarks include the first US company to certify the entire manufacturing process for certified paper, from forest to finished product (Finch, Pruyn & Company, Inc.); the first certified US printer (Harris LithoGraphics, Inc.); the first boreal forest to be certified in North America (Tembec's five million-acre Gordon Cosens Forest); the first SmartWood certification in Russia (Priluzje -
377,852 acres of tropical farmlands are certified.
By 2005, a total of 377,852 acres (153,000 hectares) of tropical farmlands are certified, sustainably producing bananas, coffee, cocoa, citrus and ferns. Together with certified forestlands, the aggregate number is 70 million acres (28.2 million hectares) of certified farms and forestlands, located in more than 40 countries. -
The Rainforest Alliance joins the Clinton Global Initiative.
The Rainforest Alliance joins the Clinton Global Initiative and pledges to work with three global forest products leaders -- Domtar, Gibson and Time Inc. -- on increasing their use of wood from FSC-certified forests. For our part, we aim to certify 170 million additional acres of forestland. -
Rainforest Alliance shows that forest concessions managed in compliance with FSC-certification standards have seen fewer wildfires and less deforestation.
A new study by the Rainforest Alliance shows that forest concessions managed in compliance with FSC-certification standards have seen fewer wildfires and less deforestation compared with protected and other areas within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, an area of tropical forest in Guatemala's northern Petén region. -
Mars Incorporated, commits to getting its entire cocoa supply certified as sustainably produced by 2020.
One of the world's largest chocolate makers, Mars Incorporated, commits to getting its entire cocoa supply certified as sustainably produced by 2020. The company will start in early 2010, getting enough certified cocoa so that its popular Galaxy chocolate bar can bear the little green frog seal. The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program certifies the first biomass pellet mill in the US to the Forest Stewardship Council standards, a significant step in its entry into renewable energy sources. -
All of the coffee served on American Airlines flights is now from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
All of the coffee served on American Airlines flights is now from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. The Rainforest Alliance sends a delegation of 18 representatives to the UN’s Conference of Parties 16 climate treaty conference in Cancun, Mexico to advocate for decisions on key fronts in the fight against climate change.