PLANET DIARIES: RAINFORESTS MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND

Classified into two categories, there are temperate rainforests - growing mainly in mountainous, coastal areas - and tropical - found nearer the equator with higher temperatures and humidity. 

We believe tropical regions produce some of the most nutritious and effective plants in the world, which is why we sustainably source our ingredients from these exotic areas, from the rarabe butter in our Whipped Body Velvet to the kakadu plum in our Skin Feast. 

Often described as the planet’s lungs, without rainforests, Earth would have a very different atmosphere. 

It’s hard to imagine our blue and green planet without the rainforests that sustain it, but due to rising rates of deforestation, the need to protect these leafy habitats has never been more pressing. 

Projects to reverse the devastating effects of deforestation and climate change are springing into action across the globe, one being the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve in Indonesia. A project that Tropic proudly supports as part of our CarbonNeutralⓇ certification.  

The trees in the forest were originally assigned to palm oil conversion, which would have caused severe deforestation. However, the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve has been working with local people and businesses to replant trees and help them produce other means of income in order to protect 65,000 hectares of rainforest. 

From creating nurseries to grow sustainable cash crops like pineapples to upcycling initiatives such as using recycled plastics to make toiletry bags, the project is creating livelihoods for the local people, without losing any trees in the process.  

Unsustainable palm oil conversion is one of the largest threats to our rainforests, which is why we only use palm oil derivatives that come from sustainable sources in our products.

Rainforests provide habitats for varied and often endangered flora and fauna, with some indigenous species remaining unique to one particular forest. 

The Rimba Raya project is benefiting a particular inhabitant of the Indonesian rainforest - the Borneo orangutan. Asia’s only great ape, wild orangutans are only found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra, where high rates of deforestation have led to them becoming perilously endangered. 

By partnering with the Orangutan Foundation International, the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve is helping to protect the Borneo species from being killed, injured and displaced by unsustainable palm oil conversion. 

In previous years, rehabilitated orangutans were released into the Tanjung Puting National Park, but in March 2017, there was the first release of ten orangutans back into the wild within the protected Rimba Raya project area, a success story that looks set to continue. 

 

The UK is the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency, and from tiny saplings to lofty canopies, there’s no doubt that the heroes to answer that emergency wear green. 

To find read more about our CarbonNeutralⓇ certification, and what we’re doing to help protect our forests, click here.