ABSTRACT
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to protect biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. Farmers, companies, cooperatives and landowners who participate in the programme meet comprehensive, rigorous social, economic and environmental standards. This chapter discusses how the Rainforest Alliance is directly supporting sustainable consumption and production by encouraging transformative approaches to implementing best management practices in farms, forests and tourism businesses and encouraging consumers. In the Sustainable Agriculture programme, the Rainforest Alliance provides farmers with incentives to meet its standards and encourages companies and consumers to support those farms making improvements toward sustainability. The Rainforest Alliance together with the Sustainable Agriculture Network set up a transparent and rigorous standard and certification programme that helps farmers 'get on the sustainability track'. The credibility and relevance of the Rainforest Alliance relies not only on the standard but also on the high quality of the auditors it uses to conduct the annual farm audits.
