At least 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics, and nearly half of all deforestation takes place in Brazil and Indonesia, with the Amazon rainforest being the most affected area. Brazil accounts for 33.12% of tropical forest deforestation, the main cause being expansion of pasture lands for beef production.

Natura & Co wants to change this narrative. The organisation produces a wide array of products, such as cosmetics, soaps and creams. Their ingredients are sourced from the richly biodiverse Amazon rainforest. Natura boasts an untraditional business model: they follow the ‘standing forest’ economic philosophy, which advocates that a tree, in and of itself, has much more value standing up than being chopped down. What's more, to source ingredients from the Amazon, Natura employs 7,000 local families and strives to emphasise their local knowledge by combining it with research for product innovation.

The ‘standing forest’ economic model has preserved nearly 2 million hectares of Amazon rainforest, while funnelling a majority of Natura’s profits into the local communities managing the forest’s resources. One example of Natura’s positive environmental impact is the Ucuuba tree. This variety of tree was once an endangered species, cut down to supply timber for usage in broomsticks. Instead of using the tree for timber, selling Ucuuba seeds for cosmetic uses preserves forests and has the potential to increase farmer profits by up to three times. Because the possibility of making profit is directly linked with sustainable forest management, farmers are more inclined to use land more purposefully and regeneratively. Natura hopes to create space for more species to thrive within these sustainably managed areas.

To align and work towards its sustainability agenda, Natura collaborates with established and trusted global foundations such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy by working with businesses, governments, policy makers and transnational organisations.

To further increase brand visibility and have an impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Natura is part of the board of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) which works collectively with like-minded organisations to find ways of making plastic packaging more circular and sustainable. In alignment with the SDG agenda, Eva Zabey, Executive Director of Business for Natura, asserted the importance of urging governments to adopt ambitious nature policies in order to create a level playing field and stable operating environment for businesses.

Photo by Alenka Skvarc on Unsplash.