Fair Trade & WFTO: Our Commitment
Fair Trade is a global movement that ensures ethical trade, fair wages, and sustainable livelihoods for marginalized producers. It promotes transparency, respect, and equity in trade.
The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) is a global network of social enterprises dedicated to Fair Trade. Last Forest has been WFTO-certified since 2016, embedding Fair Trade principles across our supply chain.
Ten Principles of Fair Trade we follow:
Read more and get to know about the Fair Trade movement here
FAQs about WFTO
The World Fair Trade Organization or WFTO for short changes all that. It is a global community focused on social enterprises that prioritises the welfare of the workers. It is a guarantee system, which attempts to create a new market for products that maintain Fair Trade Practices through its 10 Principles of Fair Trade. This ensures that members of WFTO prioritise the people, the planet and the product quality over the profits made. Being a guarantee system, it is based on the participation of these members to form trust, a social network and knowledge exchange. The WFTO relies on 10 core principles or goals, each of which is meant to be met through dialogue, transparency, and respect. This in turn promotes sustainable development. These principles entail opportunities for disadvantaged producers, fair and equitable payment, no child or forced labour, non-discrimination, gender equity, good working conditions, capacity building, promoting fair trade, respect for the environment, and accountability and transparency. By aligning to these principles, WFTO members and/or Fair-Trade Organisations (FTO) aim to create an equitable work environment that prioritises the welfare of the workers and the environment that the company works with. To know more, hop onto our WFTO page. You can also access these links: https://www.fairtrade.net/ https://lastforest.in/pages/fair-trade-1
As mass-marketing and consumption grows exponentially, the workers of the first and secondary sectors not only lose value but face insecurity and the alliance between Last Forest and the WFTO means to rid them of such financial insecurity. This is done by multiple methods. Firstly, producers are paid upfront for their contributions. This secures their financial output, no matter the success of the product, and a mutual loyalty grows between the company and the producers. Being a Fair Trade Oranganisation, Last Forest also grows their bond with producer and consumers. Through this process, even when understand and value of the marginal worker diminishes in the mass-market, their value remains or even increases with this alliance with the WFTO. Last Forest is also able to widen the customer base for any product sold.
A Fair Trade Organisation (FTO) is a locally focused guarantee system and products sold have a guarantee label. In the current market, where transparency and clarity is rare, customers are able to trust that the products are sourced and made ethically as well as genuinely have the value they claim. With this alliance, Last Forest is also able to spread awareness amongst customers, educating them on the process and tradition of a product sharing the understanding and value of the product.
In 2016, Last Forest Enterprises became a WFTO member. By becoming a member, WFTO certified Last Forest as a Fair Trade Organisation. Last Forest serves as a market platform for many groups from all over India. These small producers then have wider market access. While the non-profit institution, the Keystone Foundation, endeavours to make an impact on the market side, Last Forest is driven on a slightly different approach. It means to show everyone engaged in the value chain from producers to consumers that it is a profit-driven company but with a difference. The difference is, an atmosphere whose primary concern is ethics and value and development oriented where producers are shareholders. This structure enables producers to make decisions that benefit not just an individual but the whole community. By focusing on what they best do, they are able to control quality and the consumers learn to value the products more. The synergy between the two institutions and the producers work as a producer-led-enterprise that taps to India’s vast economy.
Slow Food: A Movement for Local, Sustainable Food
Slow Food is a global movement advocating for local, traditional, and sustainable food systems. Founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini in Italy, it stands as an alternative to fast food—preserving regional cuisines, supporting small-scale farmers, and promoting biodiversity. It also raises awareness of food waste, industrial agriculture, and the impact of globalization on local producers.
🔗 Learn more: Slow Food Official Website
Objectives of Slow Food:
- Preserve & Promote traditional foods and farming methods.
- Support Small Producers through local markets, seed banks, and grassroots networks.
- Educate & Advocate against fast food, monoculture, pesticides, and genetic modification.
- Encourage Ethical Consumption and sustainable agriculture policies.
Last Forest & Slow Food Nilgiris
Last Forest has been a key advocate for Slow Food principles in the Nilgiris, promoting local foods, sustainable farming, and biodiversity. It incubated Place to Bee, one of India’s first Slow Food restaurants (est. 2015), offering locally sourced, seasonal dishes and fostering community education. The initiative, led by Aritra and chef Abhijeet, featured a fusion menu curated with help from an Italian couple. Unfortunately, Place to Bee closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
🌿 Join the Movement!
Become a Slow Food member and support a sustainable food future.
📥 Download the Slow Food Pamphlet
Payments for Ecosystem Services
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)
PES is a market-based approach to conserving biodiversity by compensating landowners and communities for preserving ecosystem services like clean water, carbon storage, and biodiversity. It incentivizes sustainable land use while discouraging harmful practices like deforestation.
Through PES, beneficiaries—such as consumers—pay for the protection and sustainable use of ecosystems. The system involves three key players:
- Service providers: Those who conserve and manage natural resources.
- Service users: Beneficiaries who rely on these services.
- Intermediaries: Facilitators ensuring smooth transactions between the two.
Why PES Matters
✔ Conservation – Encourages sustainable management of natural resources.
✔ Economic Support – Provides income to landowners and communities, especially in developing regions.
✔ Climate Action – Helps mitigate climate change by preserving forests and carbon sinks.
✔ Water Security – Enhances water quality through conservation efforts.
Challenges
- Monitoring – Ensuring proper implementation and impact measurement.
- Equity – Preventing benefits from being skewed toward large landowners.
- Costs – Managing transaction expenses for PES programs.
- Additionality – Verifying that PES contributions lead to real, added benefits.
PES at Last Forest
Last Forest markets honey from the Giant Rock Bee (Apis dorsata), a keystone species in tropical forests. These bees play a vital role in pollination, supporting biodiversity and sustaining ecosystems. PES enables consumers to contribute directly to forest conservation through their purchases.
Your purchases support:
🌱 Planting native trees to expand bee habitats
🐝 Promoting beekeeping within indigenous communities
📚 Training young Adivasis in traditional, sustainable harvesting methods
🌿 Ecological monitoring by barefoot ecologists
While the premium on PES products is not based on the exact cost of ecosystem services, it reflects a commitment to environmental stewardship.
A Growing Global Movement
With over 550 active PES programs worldwide, Last Forest—alongside Keystone Foundation, Nilgiri Natural History Society, and Aadhimalai—actively promotes PES. Through dedicated branding and awareness campaigns, we aim to make conservation a shared responsibility.
How can you be part of PES?
By choosing PES-backed products, you invest in a sustainable future—one where environmental conservation and economic well-being go hand in hand.
FAQs about PES
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is one of the most commonly used mechanisms to generate market-based revenue for biodiversity conservation. PES aims to provide benefits to landowners and land-users who preserve ecosystem services (ES). The recognition of and valuation of the ES also works to disincentivize from land use which degrades the land, such as deforestation. Payments are used to incentivize land users to properly manage and conserve their natural environment, thus ensuring the flow of ecosystem services (Pagiola and Platais, 2002). Through PES, beneficiaries of ecosystem services, i.e., consumers, pay for the conservation and sustainable use of the ecosystems they benefit from. The concept is based on the idea that ecosystems provide valuable services to society – such as water, air, and land – and that valuable resources are reusable or regenerated. PES can allow for an ecosystem to be reused or regenerated, via natural processes and social efforts such as through water purification, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and biodiversity preservation. The benefits of PES are: Conservation and management of natural resources Economic benefits Climate change mitigation Improved water quality PES in Last Forest’s context : Honey marketed by Last Forest is from the Giant Rock Bee (Apis dorsata), which plays an important role in the forest ecosystem. Bees pollinate many species of these tropical forests, thus enabling the cycles of nature. Many other plant and animal species thrive in these forests. Many springs and streams emerge from these areas – enabling the survival of all life forms. When you buy the honey and beeswax products, you support the symbiotic relationship that exists between man and nature. The amount will be used to support the following activities: Planting tree species that increase bee habitats and colonies. Promoting beekeeping with communities. Training and knowledge exchange for the younger generation of Adivasis to imbibe traditional values and sustainable harvesting methods. Undertake Ecological monitoring in these forests with barefoot ecologists. The premium charged is not based on the actual costs of ecosystem services rendered by bees, it is a notional amount to determine willingness to pay. For further information, please access these website links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_for_ecosystem_services https://lastforest.in/pages/pay-for-ecosystem-services-pes What will PES do for you?
Pay for Ecosystem Services (PES) is a promising solution for environmental conservation that can provide economic incentives for sustainable management of natural resources. PES has the potential to address environmental challenges while also promoting social and economic development. However, PES also faces challenges and limitations that need to be addressed–by each organization, the global PES community, and consumers–to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability. As a consumer, as a business, as a beneficiary and user of resources like water and air, PES offers a regenerative path forward for you. PES is principled, yet flexible–how could you fit PES into your spaces?
Last Forest & Mountain Partnership
Since April 2021, Last Forest has been a proud member of the Mountain Partnership under the FAO, dedicated to supporting mountain communities in the Nilgiris.
As part of this initiative, Last Forest created specialized labels for its lip balms and honey, highlighting the region’s rich traditions, biodiversity, and sustainable practices. Additionally, a grant from the Mountain Partnership has enabled key projects, including:
- Digital marketing to expand reach
- Sourcing coffee & beeswax balms from the Nilgiris
- Implementing PGS Wild in the Pillur region for sustainable certification
- Organizing exhibitions to showcase local craftsmanship
Through these efforts, Last Forest continues to empower Nilgiris communities while preserving their unique environment.
Learn more about Mountain Partnership and the movement here.
