News

In early November, the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) travelled to the Vohimana Experimental Nature Reserve in Madagascar to further explore the use of biocultural community protocols as a means to enhance the relationship of UEBT members with indigenous and local communities from whom they source natural ingredients.

Vohimana Experimental Nature Reserve is in the East of Madagascar

Community protocols generally emerge from internal reflection processes that encourage communities to consider their own development objectives and biocultural values. In the Ethical BioTrade context, such reflection is valuable in clarifying the social, cultural and environmental context of the partnership between communities and UEBT members.  In addition, these processes can reinforce the dialogue between communities and UEBT members, ensuring collaboration occurs within shared values, as well within the principles of Ethical BioTrade.

Part of a joint project between UEBT and Natural Justice, supported by GIZ, the activities in Madagascar involved the work of Aroma Forest, a UEBT trading member since 2010. Aroma Forest produces essential oils that are used in aromatherapy, cosmetics and perfume and are recognized for their exceptional quality.  With the support of the local NGO L’Homme et L’Environnement, an affiliate member of UEBT since 2009, Aroma Forest prioritizes work with local communities, strengthening capacity, promoting sustainable use of biodiversity and contributing to local sustainable development.

Aroma Forest distils essential oils in Vohimana

This project focused on the relationship between Aroma Forest, L’Homme et L’Environment and one of the collaborating associations, APPUI PAM Manara-penitra, which includes collectors, harvesters and distillers working in and around Vohimana. Discussions between the actors were dynamic and during the meetings the association presented its expectations in terms of the social, environmental, productive, and commercial aspects of the supply chain, as well as its own engagements towards improving all these aspects. For example, the association expressed the need for support from its partners in more clearly defining the collection areas (such as through the use of GPS) and its commitment to improve internal coordination among members.

The dialogue among Aroma Forest, L’Homme et L’Environment and the APPUI PAM Manara-penitra association will continue, in order to further define expectations and commitments, and Aroma Forest will take into account points identified during the workshop in Vohimana for its work under the Ethical BioTrade verification system.

Finally, UEBT and its partners will continue to explore how the approach and methodologies of biocultural community protocols can be further developed and systematized in the Ethical BioTrade context.

For more information on a case study on biocultural community protocols in the Peruvian Amazon, please click here

The Union for Ethical BioTrade will be in Paris next week at the Food Ingredients Europe tradeshow, in order to award the winners of the Biodiversity in Food Awards.

This is the second year of the awards, which are designed to recognise the efforts of companies to promote biodiversity conservation, its sustainable use and the equitable sharing of benefits, throughout their supply chains.

Companies active in the food sector were invited to apply to the Innovation or the Leadership award. The leadership award is destined for a company that promotes sustainable practices and a respect for biodiversity in a way that will influence other businesses to adopt similar practices. The Innovation award will go to a product created in a sustainable way, with respect for the environment and surrounding biodiversity.

The Union for Ethical BioTrade will announce 2011’s winners at a ceremony on November 29, 2011. Winners will be announced here shortly after.

The first draft of the IUCN Explanatory Guide to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) will be presented at a meeting in Montreal on November 10, 2011.

The IUCN Guide, which is being drafted by a team of experts, including María Julia Oliva, Senior Adviser on ABS at the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), will help readers examine the meaning and practical implications of the provisions in the ABS Protocol.

The intended audience includes countries that have signed the Protocol and need to understand their obligations, as well as businesses and civil society looking to support the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

For more information on this guide and event please contact the UEBT Secretariat.

Weleda, a world-leading manufacturer of natural and organic cosmetics and pharmaceuticals for anthroposophic therapy, has joined the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), a non-profit organisation that promotes the ‘Sourcing with Respect’ of ingredients from biodiversity.

In becoming a member of UEBT, Weleda commits to the principles of Ethical BioTrade and will apply the Ethical BioTrade Standard to its sourcing practices. This means ensuring that sourcing practices promote biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as making sure that benefits are shared equally along the supply chain.

“UEBT has a very high expertise in the field of biodiversity and fair trade and its standard provides a model fully in line with our values. UEBT enables Weleda to implement a defined standard within the organisation and towards our stakeholders such as suppliers and processors,” explained Bas Schneiders, Head of Corporate Sustainability and International Strategic Sourcing for Weleda.

For more information please download the press release.

The Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) explored the importance of biodiversity for the cosmetics industry, as well as consumer’s awareness of the issue, at this year’s Natural Beauty Summit held in Paris.

As the inspiration for many new products and ingredients, biodiversity is an important resource for the cosmetics sector. Working to protect this resource should, therefore, be a priority for companies who wish to secure it for future innovation.

In addition, biodiversity is becoming increasingly well known among consumers, as can be seen by the results from UEBT’s Biodiversity Barometer, and pressure on companies to address this new challenge is mounting.

According to the most recent figures over 70% of consumers have heard of the term biodiversity and just over 30% can define it correctly. An overwhelming 88% of consumers would like to know more about how companies are sourcing their natural ingredients and 84% would boycott a brand if its practices didn’t respect ethical and environmental principles.

For more information on consumer awareness of biodiversity, please download the barometer here:  Biodiversity Barometer 2011.

To access a copy of the presentation: Biodiversity Barometer Presentation – French

This presentation was given by Katie Bird at the Natural Beauty Summit in Paris on September 13. In order to place biodiversity in the more general context of the green trend, the presentation was introduced by Leila Rochet Podvin of marketing and trends agency, Cosmetics Inspiration and Creation.

Last week, UEBT was in Cajamarca, Peru to visit UEBT-member Villa Andina as part of a project to improve benefit sharing practices of UEBT members. The aim of the project is to increase awareness of benefit sharing, learn more about current practices, and assess the related challenges that UEBT members experience.

Villa Andina is a small Peruvian company whose main activity is the export of the edible fruit of Physalis peruviana, a plant native to the Peruvian Andes, locally known as “Aguaymanto” or “Tomatillo.”  Villa Andina established and works with a network of over 200 producers in rural areas around Cajamarca, providing them with productive and technical support (through NGO partner CEDEPAS) to grow organically certified Physalis.

Benefit sharing practices

The assessment of Villa Andina’s benefit sharing practices focused on the elements of the Ethical BioTrade standard, particularly issues such as equitable prices, other monetary and non-monetary benefits for local development and negotiations based on dialogue and trust.

Discussion of benefit sharing principles

During the visit, UEBT interviewed Villa Andina staff and local partners, as well as holding two consultations with producer groups to determine what they think about working with Villa Andina and how it was affected their daily lives. In addition, two training sessions on fair and equitable benefit sharing were organized, one for Villa Andina’s staff and another for one of the largest producer associations, located in Cumbico. Based on these activities, UEBT will be preparing a report detailing its findings and providing recommendations for Villa Andina to take forth in the context of its work plan as a member of UEBT.

Training sessions on benefit sharing

Initial findings include the existence of solid practices of information sharing and discussion, as well as prices that have been established to cover sustainable production and provide a living wage.  There are also significant benefits at the local level, including employment, increased capacities and long-term supply relationships.