Elizabeth Dlamini, herbalist and skincare adviser to a whole of local women, has skin that glows. She beams as she explains why. “Here in the Royal Kingdom of Swaziland we proud of our plants that we use in our traditional beauty regimes. Our grandmothers taught us how to prepare cosmetics from the oil of the Marula nut”. Now, Ubuntu Natural is bringing Swaziland’s best-kept beauty secret to the international cosmetics market.
Committed to neutralize the environmental impacts associated with its paper invoicing process, EDP has engaged in a compensation program based on (1) life cycle assessment and (2) externalities compensation through agroforestry good practices that restore the ecosystem service originally impacted by invoicing activities.
Owning large natural reserves as part of its forestry activities in Brazil, Fibria has chosen to register its most biodiverse lands as part of the Brazilian-specific Private Natural Heritage Reserves scheme. Recognition of Fibria’s conservation efforts is expected to further increase public and stakeholder awareness on company conservation activities.
New market mechanisms which aim to compensate unavoidable loss in biodiversity are currently being developed, and some are already up and running. Mitigation banking is a new way to foster biodiversity conservation initiatives in very large land areas, and represent business opportunities for companies such as Weyerhaeuser, that owns lands as part of their business activities.
As part of its reputational risk management, SITA France is developing different programs aiming to conserve biodiversity on its landfill sites. These initiatives include field programs, such as the Red Kite conservation project, and development of new methodologies designed to better assess impacts on biodiversity and consequently better monitor conservation and rehabilitation actions.
Highly dependent on water availability for its operations, Mondi leads a multi-stakeholder wetland restoration program in South Africa. The program has resulted in the loss of commercial forest for Mondi, a cost that is, nevertheless, part of the company’s social and environmental license to operate.
Relying on the natural ingredients it sources in Brazil for its cosmetic product manufacturing and R&D, Natura has engaged in strong partnerships with local communities, who are not only compensated for the supply of raw ingredients, but also rewarded for their knowledge through benefit sharing.
To answer freshwater supply challenges caused by population growth and increase of productive activities, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is designing new biodiversity protection and restoration projects that are to be financed by market mechanisms such as carbon credits and REDD+.
This feature enables you to find case studies and best practices from companies that have taken an active approach to biodiversity and ecosystem management. By sharing their experiences, companies can communicate their initiatives to customers, suppliers, investors and other relevant stakeholders. The content can be browsed (below) or directly searched by keyword, country and sector.