[MPWG] Example of multi-stakeholder approach to sustainability & consrvation

[Plant Conservation]

This project is another example of partnering for sustainability and
conservation.  While it does not pertain specifically to medicinals, there
are inherent similarities in their approach that can be valuable learning
tools for other multi-stakeholder groups, such as the Medicinal Plant
Working Group.  Please contact them directly (via the contacts they listed
at the beginning of the article) if you have questions about their
project.

If you are aware of any long-standing projects involving U.S. partners and
native species, especially medicinals, please let us know!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2004
CONTACT:
Bina Venkataraman, 212.677.1900, bvenkataraman at ra.org
Stephen Kent, 845.758.0097, skent at kentcom.com

USAID AND THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE TO BRING SUSTAINABLE FOREST AND FARM
PRODUCTS TO MARKET

New York, NY -- The New York-based Rainforest Alliance announced today its
partnership with the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) in the establishment of the Certified Sustainable Products
Alliance, a major, three-year effort to significantly promote and increase
the sale of sustainably produced certified timber, banana and coffee from
Central America and Mexico. By strengthening the competitiveness and
sustainability of agriculture and timber operations, this partnership will
bring new investment and trade to the region while supporting practices
that benefit the environment as well as protect the rights and resources
of workers and local communities.

Funded with an $8.6 million grant from USAID, the Certified Sustainable
Products Alliance supports certification and links certified products with
markets. The goal of the partnership is to transform the way that
participating companies source products, thus establishing alternative
ways of doing business that the companies can replicate after the
completion of this effort.

The Certified Sustainable Products Alliance, developed and funded as part
of the USAID Global Development Alliance initiative, is expected to become
a showcase development effort in Latin America and beyond.  The Alliance
will achieve results on several critical business, social and
environmental fronts including responsible business practice, improved
wages and conditions for workers employed in plantation and rural sectors,
enhanced participation and income for farmer associations and reduced
environmental degradation in production systems.  As Glenn Anders, USAID's
mission director for Guatemala and Central American Programs states,  "By
linking responsible buyers for certified products with responsible
suppliers in these global markets, the Alliance constructs and seals a
circuit in which all players -- producers, purchasers, distributors and
consumers -- are winners."

During the three-year activity period, over 300,000 acres of forest and
farmland are expected to be certified as sustainably managed.  Over four
million board feet of certified timber, 90 million boxes of certified
bananas and 30,000 metric tons of sustainable coffee are expected to be
sold through valuable sourcing contracts provided to local operations.
Partners include NGOs and producers as well as international manufacturers
and retailers such as IKEA, Gibson Musical Instruments, Kraft Foods,
Millstone and Chiquita Brands International. These partners have committed
to increasing the amount of certified sustainable products into the supply
stream, and in certain cases, to providing technical assistance to farms.

"By increasing the supply of certified products, by promoting
on-the-ground conservation and by improving conditions for workers and
communities that neighbor farms and forestry operations, communities and
cooperatives involved in the Certified Sustainable Products Alliance will
see an increase in income that will provide them with an added incentive
to practice sustainable agriculture and forestry," notes Rainforest
Alliance executive director Tensie Whelan.

Through its forestry and agricultural certification programs, the
Rainforest Alliance brings together industry, environmentalists,
scientists, local communities, workers and governments into mutually
beneficial arrangements that foster sustainable production methods that
benefit both Latin America’s economy and environment. The Certified
Sustainable Products Alliance project is focusing on areas of Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama,
especially on the outskirts of parks, in priority watersheds and as part
of biological corridors.

The Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation organization, is a
leader in developing best management practices for sustainable land use
and offers third-party certification and ecolabeling services to forests
and farms that are managed in ways that reduce environmental impacts and
increase social benefits.  As the first organization in the world to
utilize market forces to conserve tropical forests, launching a
sustainable forestry division in 1989 and a sustainable agriculture
division in 1991, the Rainforest Alliance pioneered a worldwide
certification movement.  Over 30 million acres are now managed according
to the highest standards through the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood
program.  The Rainforest Alliance has recruited over 1,000 companies in
this effort and improved the quality of life of some tens of thousands
workers and their families.  The Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable
agriculture certification program has certified almost 1,000 farms and has
benefited over 95,000 farm families in the tropics.

United States Agency for International Development
Since its establishment as an independent federal agency by President John
F. Kennedy in 1961, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
has been helping developing countries to fight hunger, poverty and disease
and provide opportunities for their peoples.  The U.S. foreign assistance
programs have a long and distinguished record of accomplishments achieved
with one half of one percent of the federal budget.  Over more than 40
years, USAID programs have made significant contributions to promote
democratic governance, driving economic growth, mitigating and managing
conflict, and providing humanitarian aid in over 200 countries worldwide.
More than ever, US foreign policy toward the developing world plays a
vital role in the global balance between conflict and peace.  Our national
security challenges are increasingly complex and the role of development
increasingly recognized as pivotal.

The Global Development Alliance (GDA) is USAID's business model for the
21st century.  In the words of Secretary Powell (July 12, 2002), USAID had
"established the Global Development Alliance to combine the assets of
government, business and civil society to work in partnership on
implementing sustainable development programs."  USAID Administrator
Andrew S. Natsios on July 24, 2002 said: "We will now make investments in
tandem with NGOs and PVOs, with the private sector, and with foundations.
USAID has not done this on a very large scale in the past, and that's what
we have begun to do now."

The USAID/G-CAP (Guatemala and Central American Programs) Mission is
located in Guatemala and manages programs in the six Central America
region countries.  USAID/G-CAP will manage the grant to Rainforest
Alliance to implement the new Certified Sustainable Products Alliance.

The mission of the Rainforest Alliance is to protect ecosystems and the
people and wildlife that live within them by transforming land-use
practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Companies,
cooperatives and landowners that participate in our programs meet rigorous
standards that conserve biodiversity and provide sustainable livelihoods.