Radio producer, Susan Cahill recently visited Liberia and Ghana to make a documentary on women’s rights for Irish national radio Newstalk 106-108 fm. As part of her trip, Susan visited Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa farms in Ghana and found out how sustainable farming practices are making a difference on the ground.
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Archive for March, 2011
Irish radio visits cocoa farm in Ghana
30/03/2011Not only are the hotels lovely, they’re sustainable too! The perfect getaway?
23/03/2011
Cloud forest of the Mombaco volcano, one of the many attraction to be found around Grenada
During the Frog Blog’s recent trip to Nicaragua we were able to look at another aspect of the work of the Rainforest Alliance and how it is benefiting both local people and the environment. Having visited a local Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee farm (see blog entry – Coffee on the slopes of a volcano) to see the benefits of certification we then went on to look at the sustainable tourism programme in action.
The city of Grenada, sitting on the north-western shore of Lake Nicaragua, is fast becoming the centre of Nicaragua’s tourism hub. This brings many exciting economic opportunities to a city, region and community who have traditionally relied on the timber, gold and silver mining industries. But as with any new economic development there is a cost as well as many potential benefits. Tourism is the world’s biggest industry and has the potential to have a huge positive impact upon sustainability. Currently much of it doesn’t. But thanks to the work of the Rainforest Alliance and others that is beginning to change.
In Grenada there are a number of hotels that have been verified under the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Tourism Programme. This offers training to tourism businesses — including hotels and lodges — that provides them with the tools and techniques they need to run efficiently and sustainably. Businesses that have completed the programme earn the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Verified™ mark on promotional materials. Read the rest of this entry ?
World Forestry Day and the Brazil Nut Tree
21/03/2011
To mark World Forestry Day, we’re taking a look at the giant of the Amazon – the Brazil nut tree. It sustains many forest-based communities, yet it can only reproduce in pristine forests. Famous for reaching heights of over 160 feet, the Brazil nut tree towers above other trees in the Amazon rainforest. During January and February, its fruit — which is the size of a baseball and can weigh up to 5 pounds — ripens and falls to the ground, reaching speeds of up to 50 mph on its descent. Inside the fruits’ hard, woody exterior are anywhere from 10 to 21 nuts arranged in a pattern similar to segments of an orange. The outer casing of the fruit is so hard that only one known animal — the agoutis, a large rodent with sharp, chisel-like teeth — can crack it open. In just one year, a Brazil nut tree can produce some 250 pounds of nuts.Stewards of India’s Western Ghats
14/03/2011In celebration of the International Year of Forests, we are highlighting those individuals, communities and businesses actively safeguarding the lungs of the planet.
For centuries, the dense forests of India’s Western Ghats provided food and shelter for tribal peoples and habitat for wildlife including Asian elephants, Bengal tigers and lion-tailed macaques. But the conversion of these verdant hillsides to coffee and tea plantations more than a century ago resulted in the fragmentation of one of India’s most biodiversity-rich areas. Within the plantations’ boundaries are remnants of natural ecosystems that act as refuges for many endangered and threatened species. Read the rest of this entry ?
Rainforest Alliance’s Green Guide to Mother’s Day
10/03/2011With Mother’s Day less than a month away, the Rainforest Alliance’s green guide to gifts will help you spoil your mum without spoiling the environment. By giving a gift with the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) seal you will be helping to protect the environment and wildlife, and promote sustainable livelihoods of farmers, farm workers and their families around the world. Read the rest of this entry ?
Women doing it for themselves
08/03/2011To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re taking look at a women’s project in Guatemala that is not only providing jobs for women, but is also helping to feed more than 8,000 children from rural communities.
Planted by the ancient Maya in their forest gardens and once found throughout Central America, the ramón tree (Brosimum alicastrum) towers above its neighboring trees in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, providing habitat for spider and howler monkeys, retaining soils and water and helping to regulate the climate. But it’s the fruit of the ramón that holds the greatest potential for communities within the reserve and could provide them with a key to alleviating poverty, conserving forests, improving health and nourishing their children. Read the rest of this entry ?
Coffee on the slopes of a volcano.
03/03/2011Every job has its perks, and being with the Rainforest Alliance those perks can be awesome. A recent visit to a Rainforest Alliance certified coffee farm in Nicaragua is a case in point.
Hacienda El Progreso coffe farm in Nicaragua
Hacienda El Progreso is a family owned and run coffee farm sitting between 700 and 850 metres on the slopes of the volcano Mombacho. It is part of the buffer zone that surrounds the national nature reserve, which makes up a large part of both the cloud and dry forests which blanket the volcano. A beautiful place to grow coffee, with both the farm and volcano overlooking the city of Granada and the spectacular Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.
With certification the farm has established a reputation for some of the finest coffee in Nicaragua and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. Unusually, the farm doesn’t just sell green beans into the market. Hacineda El Progreso grows, dries, roasts and produces the coffee, bringing it to market under the Café Las Flores brand. Unfortunately for us this coffee is mostly aimed at the domestic Nicaraguan market. But for real coffee fans the wonders of technology means that you can by it online. Read the rest of this entry ?
Ghana to England via the Netherlands to talk cocoa
01/03/2011Last week, our cocoa representative and expert in Ghana, Christian Mensah, visited the UK. We asked him to write a guest blog about his trip over. Here, Christian talks about his visit to our UK office, putting faces to names, and the need to engage businesses in sustainability. Read the rest of this entry ?
