The Rainforest Alliance has published the ‘Regenerative Agriculture Standard – Farm Requirements (v1.0)’, a document aimed at maximising the ecological and social impact of agricultural production.

This new standard, which officially comes into force on 1 March 2026, goes beyond traditional notions of sustainability to aim at restoring ecosystems and improving producer well-being.

The new standard is built upon four key pillars that will shape the future of agricultural production:

Soil Health: Enhancing soil fertility and carbon sequestration capacity.

Biodiversity: Protecting and restoring species diversity within farm ecosystems.

Climate Resilience: Production models resilient to changing climate conditions.

Water Management: The efficient and responsible use of water resources.

The Rainforest Alliance integrates robust social standards alongside environmental criteria into the system. The standard mandates critical areas such as the protection of human rights, the provision of safe working conditions, and the support of decent livelihoods.

The Regenerative Agriculture Standard can be applied either as an addition to the existing Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard or as a standalone framework. This flexibility facilitates the tracking of measurable improvements at farm level and the global scaling up of long-term, regenerative production systems.