By next year, the Yves Rocher Foundation plans to achieve its goal of planting 100 million trees, in collaboration with NGOs specialising in reforestation.
This August, the French foundation will get nearer to that goal via an arboricultural activity under the "Plant For The Planet Thailand 2019" programme in Kaeng Khoi, Saraburi.
Honorary president Jacques Rocher was recently in Bangkok to launch the programme, which was inspired by his meeting with Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and patron of the United Nations Environment Programme's "Plant For The Planet" campaign.
The foundation's tree-planting, which started in 2007, is one of the environmental missions supported by Groupe Rocher, whose president and CEO Bris Rocher also attended the event held recently at Plant Life Museum, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University.
The uncle and nephew, Jacques and Bris, each planted a tree at its botanical garden, and announced the Yves Rocher Foundation's funding of some 500 plant species for the museum, in supporting environmental education.
Previous educational programmes included the "One School, One Arboretum" campaign, which mobilised schoolchildren around the globe to plant trees. The green campaigns continue the legacy of Yves Rocher, who once said: "We have a supreme duty to our children, grandchildren, and to future generations to leave the Earth as we found it."
The founder of the eponymous cosmetics company passed away 10 years ago.
Back in 1959, he implemented a unique business model by integrating all operations, from plant cultivation and R&D to production and distribution, which brought prosperity to his hometown La Gacilly in Brittany.
As harvester, manufacturer and distributor, the French company could control the entire process and the environmental impact, as well as offer affordable botanical beauty products.
Today, Yves Rocher is committed to offering cosmetics containing more than 92% ingredients from natural origins while being free from silicone, colourants, mineral oil and parabens.
Biodegradable formulas, eco-refills and cardboard cases from sustainably managed forests as well as reusable eco-bags are some the brand's green practices.
In La Gacilly, plants grown on the Yves Rocher organic farm include arnica, calendula, chamomile, nasturtium and cornflowers. The brand's 60th anniversary is marked by products containing extracts from some of these plants.
On the hillside of the Morbihan village, the Yves Rocher Botanical Garden is an open-air laboratory for researchers to study and preserve more than 1,000 plant species
The commitment to preserving biodiversity is further exemplified by having funded the 500 plant species for the Plant Life Museum in Bangkok. Trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, bamboo palms and water plants are among those on display, along with a seasonal exhibition.
