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Our Mission
The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests for the benefit of the global community. Our mission is to develop and promote economically viable and socially desirable alternatives to the destruction of this endangered, biologically diverse natural resource. We pursue this mission through education, research in the social and natural sciences, and the establishment of cooperative partnerships with businesses, governments, and local peoples.
Conservation Programs
Allies in the Rainforest is an easy way for individuals, school groups and classes, and community organizations to directly help grassroots conservation efforts in the tropics. Listed are several locally based initiatives worthy of support.
The Catalyst Grants program channels small grants to locally based, grassroots conservation groups that need a quick infusion of funds to meet an unexpected need or advance a promising initiative.
The Conservation Agriculture Network, winner of the 1995 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, is transforming the social and environmental impacts of tropical agriculture, including bananas, coffee, cocoa, oranges, sugar cane and other export crops. ECO-O.K. certification standards promote conservation of wildlife, reforestation along waterways and roads and a safe, healthy environment for workers and their families. The program has certified tens of thousands of acres of tropical farms,
including a large percentage of Chiquita's banana operations.
The Conservation Media Center is the tropical conservation news hub of the Americas. It publishes a bi-monthly, bi-lingual newsletter, Eco-Exchange, covering conservation issues in Latin America, organizes field workshops for environmental journalists and spearheads public information campaigns with local grassroots partners.
The SmartWood Certification Program is the first timber certification program in the world. The SmartWood Network encompasses natural and planted forests in tropical, temperate, and boreal (far northern) forest regions. Millions of acres worldwide are now SmartWood certified as sustainably managed forest land.
SmartVoyager, a joint program of the Corporación de Conservación y Desarrollo in Ecuador and the Rainforest Alliance, certifies responsible management of tour boats in the Galapagos Islands. The SmartVoyager seal of approval gives travelers the assurance that they are supporting operators who care about the environment, wildlife conservation, tourist safety and the well-being of workers and local communities.
Research Projects & Fellowships -- including our Kleinhans Fellowship for research in tropical non-timber forest products -- are a complement to our conservation objectives. In particular, we promote and encourage scientific and social research as well as new methods of tropical conservation.
Our Programs in Development explore new initiatives for future Rainforest Alliance conservation programs. These projects demonstrate our continued commitment to the creation of new program emphases and the investigation of new and innovative conservation tools.
Facts
Members & supporters: 14,000
Annual budget: $4.5 million (2000)
Total number of employees: 40
Board Chair and Co-Founder: Daniel R. Katz
Executive Director: Tensie Whelan
Incorporated as a nonprofit organization: 1987 |
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| Newsletters: |
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Canopy, bi-monthly, circulation: Rainforest Alliance members |
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Eco-Exchange, bi-monthly, bi-lingual, circulation 2,000 journalists, conservation groups, scientists, government agencies |
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| Recent publications by Rainforest Alliance staff: |
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The Catfish Connection (1997) |
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So Fruitful a Fish (1997) |
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Floods of Fortune (Columbia, 1996) |
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Greening the College Curriculum (Island Press, 1996) |
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Valuing Local Knowledge (Island Press, 1996) |
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Tales from the Jungle (Crown, 1995) |
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Biodiversity Prospecting (WRI, 1993) |
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Various journal / magazine articles |
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| Memberships |
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$15 Student/Senior |
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$25 Individual |
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$35 Family |
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$100 Supporter |
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$500 Patron |
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$1,000 Canopy Associate |
About the Rainforest Alliance
Our Mission | Conservation Programs | Partners in Marketing
Facts | Annual Report | Staff | Board of Directors
Our History | Position Announcements | Internships
Web Site Awards
Search | Site Map | Home
Contact the Rainforest Alliance: canopy@ra.org
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