Olympics Campaign launched by Rainforest Alliance for Rio 2016

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in just over one week, over 10,000 top athletes from all over the world will be competing in the 2016 Olympic Games. The Rainforest Alliance’s UK Frog Blog will be writing a series of blog posts exploring how some of the biggest Olympic events are reflected in different themes from their work.

We’ll be diving in to show you our efforts to preserve Brazil’s rich biodiversity and the future livelihoods of forest and farming communities. Not only is Brazil home to the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, it also clocks in at number one in so many ecological contests: freshwater origination, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity, to name just a few. Brazil has the world’s greatest unbroken segment of the Amazon within its borders, making it an environmental treasure worth highlighting and saving.

The Olympics’ CEO Leonardo Gryner has confirmed that key themes for this year’s games will be celebration and transformation. As such, Rio 2016 is guaranteed to be a fortnight of personal bests, gold medals, and festivities. The Rainforest Alliance has a long track record in Brazil, and we’d like to take this occasion to celebrate our personal bests (the first-ever cattle ranch was certified in Brazil) and plethora of medals (346 Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms in Brazil).

We’ll bring you a head-to-head analysis of the Rainforest Alliance vs. the Olympic Games, and we’ll also take a look at our work as it relates to individual sporting events. As the Olympic Torch makes its final journey to the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, for the opening ceremony, keep checking back in for stories about our work in Brazil.