Rainforest Action Network: Sustainable Economies

Sustainable Economies

Small family farmers have farmed for centuries without slashing and burning woodlands or destroying habitat. Healthy forests can be logged sustainably and without harming Indigenous communities. Renewable energy sources can meet four-fifths of America’s energy demands. American automakers can produce clean vehicles such as plug-in hybrids, and mass transit systems can be made more accessible to all. Implementing these solutions will create jobs, boost our economy, and save the environment and climate.

Support small-scale family farmers

Small family farms can coexist with healthy ecosystems; factory farms can’t.

The massive soy and palm plantations U.S. agribusinesses are establishing in rainforests around the world squelch nearby subsistence farming and deprive local and Indigenous farmers of their traditional means of feeding themselves. Industrial farming does far more damage to the environment than small-scale family farming; it also displaces communities and corrodes traditional cultures. Support small-scale family farming in your purchases.

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Don’t Bag Indonesia’s Rainforests

Many luxury brands and fashion leaders in the U.S. and Europe are unknowingly contributing to this tragic pattern of destruction in Indonesia. Research shows that almost 100 fashion and luxury products companies buy their custom packaging products from Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and their affiliate Pak 2000.

The Sinar Mas group is perhaps Indonesia’s biggest forest destroyer, with APP alone responsible for clearing more natural forest in Sumatra than any other company. Aggressive logging practices and continued conversion of standing forests to plantations is devastating local communities and threatening elephant, tiger, and orangutan populations with local extinction.

More: Don't Bag Indonesia's Rainforests [PDF]

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Buy good wood

RAN encourages wood and paper buyers to understand the origin of the products they buy. Look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo as a tool to promote environmentally, socially and economically responsible management of the world's forests.

Beware of imitations. Multinational loggers armed with multi-million dollar Public Relations contracts are pushing imitations, such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), designed to evade higher standards and mislead consumers.

Learn more about certification standards at the links below.

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Banking as if climate mattered

Dirty coal plants, industrial agrofuels, destructive oil extraction and pipelines, and unsustainable logging operations all depend on one thing: the financial support of major banks.

By balancing boardroom negotiations with grassroots pressure, RAN’s Global Finance team is holding banks accountable for the climate-changing industries they finance. Don’t let Wall Street use your money to bankroll climate change. See how you can become a part of the solution.

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Spread the word about the destructive impact of tar sands development

The desperate scramble for dirty oil in Canada's tar sands is pushing a massive expansion of pipelines throughout North America. Learn how to take action in your community.

Use our fact sheets to spread the word in your community about what many have called the most destructive industrial project on earth.