The international conservation charity recently signed an agreement with the Criollo people of the Caura basin in Venezuela in partnership with Givaudan, regarding the sustainable sourcing of the tonka bean.

Partnerships such as this can benefit the private companies that enter into them, the local communities involved and the conservation efforts in the region, according to the charity.

Such agreements are a very important part of the future for conservation efforts, said Juliette Crepin from Conservation International.

"It is not just a movement or a fashion, it is a reality. We need to change the behaviour of the people, now," she said.

Involving the private sector in conservation

"Involving the private sector on these projects is the way we need to go to protect the environment," Crepin told CosmeticsDesign.com.

Communities need to be provided with other income generating activities as an alternative to logging, and providing a market for raw materials from the area is a real alternative.

"We need to be able to bring real economic incentives to the table. We need to be able to say 'stop logging', but in exchange we have clients who will pay well for the ingredients," she explained.

The company also benefits as it gains a secure high quality ingredient source as well as profiting from the positive publicity associated with ethical and sustainable business practices.

Commenting on the recent agreement with Givaudan Crepin said: "Givaudan is really committed and involved with the project; it is a win-win situation for all concerned."

Need to find where interests overlap

The partnership with Givaudan is the first that Conservation International has entered into with a fragrance company.

However, it follows the completion and further extension of a partnership with cosmetics company Aveda focusing on the sustainable sourcing of Brazil nuts and the charity is constantly looking for other areas where such partnerships might be beneficial, said Crepin.

The first step is to identify situations where the interests of the private sector overlap with those of conservation efforts, she said.

Regarding the Givaudan partnership, she explained that the tonka bean was identified as a possible marketable ingredient from the Caura basin and Givaudan were one of the fragrance companies contacted that used the ingredient and were keen to get involved.

Small companies can also get involved

Such partnerships are not just reserved for the big players, said Crepin.

However, she did maintain that partnerships need to be long term.

With such agreements expectations are raised in the local community and conservation efforts initiated - a situation that could be detrimental if it was cut short.

The tonka bean is a classic ingredient for the fragrance industry and is unlikely to go out of use, she explained.