Aloe vera production is vital in Campeche — a biodiverse region in
Mexico where landowners, cutters and suppliers are all indigenous people,
mostly Maya. Employment is limited and young people often migrate away from
their families.
“By creating a source of income near their families, we give young people a way
to find work within their communities and not leave their place of origin,” says
Guadalupe Bojorquez, general manager of Mexialoe Laboratorios — a leading
supplier of aloe vera to the cosmetics, food, pharmaceutical and personal care
industries globally.
The aloe vera story is featured in a new
report
launched this week by the international non-profit, Union for
Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), which puts forward the top 10 lessons learned by a group
of more than 50 businesses that are leaders in sourcing with respect for people
and biodiversity. The report includes cases from large cosmetics companies
including Natura, Weleda, The
Body
Shop, Givaudan and Yanbal
Unique; as well as from global food companies such as the Martin Bauer
Group.
The Big Shift: Business for Biodiversity offers a practical and tested set of
lessons from their experience on the ground, with examples as diverse as
chamomile from Croatia to murumuru (used in hair products) from
Brazil. Among the lessons shared are that companies should meet rising
consumer expectations for ethical sourcing, work on the ground with local
people, share economic benefits of research and development of raw materials
with local communities, and contribute to restoring local biodiversity.
Humans consume 7,000 plant species as food and use almost 20 percent of plant
species for medicinal purposes. Growing awareness of the importance of
biodiversity,
especially among younger consumers, has made the market for natural products
among the fastest growing in various industries. Healthy biodiversity is
therefore central to companies’ ability to provide new and best-selling products
in food, cosmetics, fragrances, and natural pharmaceuticals.
Eder Ramos, Global President of the Cosmetic Ingredients Division
at Symrise — a major producer of flavors and fragrances — notes that “for
Symrise, biodiversity is a valuable source of innovation and inspiration for
creating fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic and functional ingredients that
improve health, nutrition and well-being.”
The report states that halting biodiversity
loss
is not just the right thing to do, it is also necessary to ensure long-term
business success. Companies that move to address conservation, sustainable use
and regeneration of biodiversity are those ensuring availability of their key
ingredients into the future.
Among the key lessons learned in the report:
-
Biodiversity is our business. Businesses that undertake efforts to
improve their impact on biodiversity along their supply chains do so because
they see a strong economic case for their action, among other reasons.
-
Biodiversity means engaging on the ground. While company commitments
have risen significantly, corporate action often lags behind commitments.
Implementation and public reporting of concrete action on the ground is a
significant challenge.
-
People and biodiversity are inherently linked. Long-term investments in
communities are necessary to lift people out of poverty and ensure
preservation of local biodiversity.
-
Biodiversity regeneration is the next step. Companies are beginning to
think not only of reducing harm to biodiversity, and conserving species that
are threatened or endangered, but also about regenerating biodiversity in
and around the sourcing areas.
-
Biodiversity means working in partnership. In the supply chain, close
collaboration with suppliers and farmers or field operators is essential,
since these local actors have important knowledge, must have buy-in for the
actions and are the only ones that can make changes on the ground.
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Maria Julia Oliva is Deputy Director of the Union of Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), where she has worked since 2009. She is a trained lawyer and a global expert on access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. She provides training and technical support on legal and policy issues linked to innovation and sourcing of biodiversity; and collaborates with international organizations, governments and companies.
Published Sep 4, 2020 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST