ANNEX CHAPTER 6:
Environment
Document SA-S-SD-24
Version 1
EnglishBinding from July 1st, 2022
Published on July 1st, 2022

Included in this document:
S12 Additional Details on Requirements for No-Conversion
S15 Additional Details on Conservation and Restoration Areas
Outside Farm Boundaries© 2022 Rainforest Alliance. All rights reserved.

The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces toprotect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities.

Name of the document

Date of first publication

Expires byAnnex Chapter 6: EnvironmentJuly 1st, 2022

Until further notice

Linked toSA-S-SD-1 Rainforest Alliance 2020 Sustainable Agricultural Standard, Farm Requirements
Replaces

Applicable toSA-S-SD-13-V1.1 Annex S12: Additional Details on
Requirements for No-Conversion, published onJune 30, 2020

Farm Certificate Holders

SA-S-SD-16-V1.1 Annex S15: Additional Details on
Conservation and Restoration Areas Outside FarmBoundaries, published on January 31st, 2021

Farm Certificate Holders

Annexes are binding and must be complied with for certification.
More information
For more information about the Rainforest Alliance, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org, contact info@ra.org or
contact the Rainforest Alliance Amsterdam Office, De Ruijterkade 6, 1013AA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Translation Disclaimer
For any question related to the precise meaning of the information contained in the translation, please refer tothe official English version for clarification. Any discrepancies or differences in meaning due to translation are notbinding and have no effect for auditing or certification purposes.
Any use of this content including reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication, without the prior writtenconsent of Rainforest Alliance is strictly prohibited.

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OVERVIEW OF KEY CHANGESThe replaced document has been shortened to make it more user friendly.
One change in the content has been made:SectionSubjectChange

S12 Section 2

Minor
conversion
allowed in group
certification

Adapted text: For group certification, conversion offorests or other natural ecosystems to agricultural
production or other land uses that occurred afterJanuary 1st, 2014 must not comprise more than 1% of
the total land of the group or more than 10 hectares(whichever is smaller).

TABLE OF CONTENTS
S12 Additional Details on Requirements For No-Conversion ................................................................. 4
1.

Identification of conversion ........................................................................................................... 42.

Minor Conversion That Has Already Occurred ........................................................................... 43.

Minor Conversion for Infrastructure Management ..................................................................... 5

S15 Additional Details on Conservation and Restoration Areas Outside Farm Boundaries .............. 7
1.

Conditions for conservation or restoration area outside the certified farm boundaries ....... 72. Conditions for the auditability of conservation or restoration areas outside the certified farmboundaries ............................................................................................................................................... 7SA-S-SD-24-V1

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S12 ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON REQUIREMENTS FOR NOCONVERSIONRequirement 6.1.1 sets January 1, 2014, as the cut-off date beyond which no-deforestation andno-conversion occurs. Any deforestation or conversion occurring beyond this date may render agiven area or production unit as non-compliant with the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable
Agriculture Standard and may be cause for decertification or non-certification. However, for themanagement of infrastructure and for minor cases of deforestation that can be remediated,some flexibility is provided as detailed below.

1. IDENTIFICATION OF CONVERSIONThe Rainforest Alliance’s geodata risk maps give an overview of whether there is evidence ofconversion or encroachment on a farm for which geodata has been provided. Rainforest Alliancerisk maps are updated each time the geolocation data is updated. The risk maps are available
to certificate holders on the RACP.
The risk maps show:• a risk indication of farms where deforestation may have occurred since 2014.
• a risk indication of farms which may be encroaching into protected areas.
Farm and group managers must use the Rainforest Alliance risk maps to identify areas andproducers at particular risk of non-compliance, assess this risk and take steps to manage itappropriately.
It is important to note that geolocation data cannot always distinguish between conversion andother forms of legitimate land use change such as:•Forest plantations that are harvested and converted to agricultural use but do not involve
conversion of natural ecosystems;•

Harvesting of shade trees that does not involve conversion of natural forests•Tree cover loss that occurred before the 2014 cut-off date;

Farm and group managers will need to investigate identified risk to determine the mostappropriate management solution.

2. MINOR CONVERSION THAT HAS ALREADY OCCURRED
Large Farms and individual farms
For large farms (including those certified as part of a group) and individual farms, conversion offorests or other natural ecosystems to agricultural production or other land uses that occurred
after January 1st, 2014, must not comprise more than 1% of the land of the farm or more than 10
hectares (whichever is smaller). For conversion that has occurred below this threshold, farmmanagement must develop a restoration/compensation plan showing how the conversion offorest or ecosystem will be remediated in collaboration with an ecologist. The planned restorationmust be:•Proportional: The area to be restored must be at least as big as the converted area. Thisrequirement can be met by taking the converted area out of production and restoring it,
or by restoring and/or providing compensatory conservation benefits on a nearby area.

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•Equivalent: The ecosystem to be restored must be equivalent to the lost natural ecosystemin ecological value. If the value of the restored area is or will be lower than that of theconverted area, then a larger area must be restored.

•Additional: The restoration activities must be additional to the activities planned for otherreasons,
includingcompliancewith
the Rainforest
Alliance requirements on natural vegetation.

•Permanent: The restoration activities must be designed in a way to ensure long-term
viability, including funding, management responsibilities, and clear land designations andland rights.

The plan shall include intermediate time bound targets, clear responsibilities of activities, and aplan for monitoring at least once every three years.
Group certification
For group certification, conversion of forests or other natural ecosystems to agricultural production
or other land uses that occurred after January 1st, 2014 must not comprise more than 1% of thetotal land of the group or more than 10 hectares (whichever is smaller). For conversion that has
occurred below this threshold the group must implement measures to remediate and avoid furtherconversion. These measures may include:•Establishment of a sanctioning system for group members to prevent further deforestation.

•Implementation of awareness raising measures or training for group members.

•Development and implementation of an agroforestry plan to mitigate loss of priorconservation values by transitioning an area at least three times the converted area. The
plan includes intermediate time bound targets, clear responsibilities of activities, and aplan for monitoring at least once every three years with the goal of reaching theagroforestry targets within 6 years. This plan is included in the farm management plan.

•Plan to collect polygons of farms units of all producers of medium and high risk ofdeforestation and encroachment to protected areas.

No conversion may ever take place in a Protected Area or their officially designated buffer zones,(except where this is allowed by applicable law), or in a place and manner that violates therequirement in the standard or applicable law.

3. MINOR CONVERSION FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT
Conversion of natural ecosystems up to 1% of the total certified land area to maintain or expand
infrastructure essential for farm or processing operations may be permitted under the following
conditions:i.

Conversion may take place only for the reason of installing new farm infrastructure orrepairing or modernizing existing farm infrastructure (e.g., roads or irrigation
infrastructure, including pumping facilities, channels, ponds, reservoirs, dams, andimpoundments), permanently installed machinery, or facilities for washing, processing,or packing.

ii.

Farm or group management documents the plan for the installation in advance,
including the reason why the proposed infrastructure installation or repair cannot be
carried out without converting the relevant area.

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Polygons of the overall certified land as well as the converted area are collected todemonstrate that the land area to be converted is below the allowed threshold of 1%
of total certified land. NB The 1% threshold is the cumulative total allowable area fromthe first date of application for certification.

iv.

The conversion fully complies with Requirement 6.1.2 so production or processing does
not occur in protected areas or their officially designated buffer zones, except where
it complies with applicable law.

v.

The conversion fully complies with applicable law.

vi.

The conversion is consistent with any designations or recommendations regarding High
Conservation Values contained in any HCV assessment(s) of the site or area.

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S15 ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON CONSERVATION AND
RESTORATION AREAS OUTSIDE FARM BOUNDARIES
1. CONDITIONS FOR CONSERVATION OR RESTORATION AREA OUTSIDETHE CERTIFIED FARM BOUNDARIESThe following conditions are applicable regarding requirement 6.2.3 when it is not possible toachieve the percentage of natural vegetation on the farm without a reduction in the productiveagricultural area. Producers have the option to complement the area of on-farm vegetation withconservation or restoration areas outside the farm boundaries under these conditions:i.

Producers can have conservation or restoration areas outside the farm boundaries only ifthey are not able to reach the required percentage of natural vegetation on their farms.

ii.

Producers do not convert existing natural vegetation on the farm into other land uses.
Conservation areas outside farm boundaries can only be used to complement existing
and additional on-farm vegetation. Eternal conservation areas cannot be used to replace
on-farm vegetation.

iii.

Producers can have part of the required percentage of natural vegetation on their farmand a percentage of natural vegetation as conservation area outside the farmboundaries. For instance, a producer may have 5% of natural vegetation on the farm and
5% outside the farm.

iv.

The conservation or restoration area outside the certified farm boundaries effectively
provides long-term protection of that area for at least 25 years.

v.

The conservation or restoration area outside the certified farm boundaries yields additional
conservation value and protection status relative to the status quo: the area is maintained
or improved in terms of biodiversity value.

vi.

The conservation or restoration area outside the certified farm boundaries is in a similarecosystem to the certified farm. For instance, if the certified farm is in an area whererainforest is the predominant ecosystem, the conservation area is located in an area inwhich rainforest is predominant.

2. CONDITIONS FOR THE AUDITABILITY OF CONSERVATION OR
RESTORATION AREAS OUTSIDE THE CERTIFIED FARM BOUNDARIESi.

Certificate holders provide polygon data for the conservation or restoration area(s)outside farm boundaries.

ii.

Certificate holders indicate the size (ha) of the conservation or restoration area(s) as wellas the percentage this represents in relation to certified farm area.

iii.

Certificate holders show documentation demonstrating that the conservation orrestoration area(s) can be provided with effective long-term protection of at least 25years.

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iv.

Certificate holders may provide drone images and/or high-resolution satellite images asevidence to show that the conservation or restoration area(s) yields additional
conservation value and protection status relative to the status quo. The auditor has theauthority to define whether the evidence is sufficient and whether there is a need to visit
the conservation or restoration area.
The auditor visits the conservation or restoration area outside farm boundaries at least
once every six years. Certificate holders pay any extra costs of auditing the conservation
or restoration area outside the certified farm boundaries, e.g., for auditors to travel to theconservation or restoration area(s) for verification.

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