Sustainable Forest Management
We work with our harvesting community partners to provide training on sustainable harvesting and land management techniques, monitor forest health, and encourage regeneration of the trees. There is a deep body of traditional ecological knowledge surrounding frankincense trees and how to harvest them, and we honor this indigenous knowledge as the basis for sustainable land management in the harvesting areas.
Still, poverty and stress from climate-change worsened drought can push communities to harvest more intensively than they should, in an effort to maintain their livelihoods. To help address and mitigate this, we consciously pay higher prices for the resins, and work directly with harvesters to ensure they are able to use long-term, sustainable management plans.
Human Rights and Fair Partnerships
To address the historical exploitation in the supply chain, we ensure that our harvesters are formally registered on our blockchain system, and are paid fair prices directly using digital payment methods. This ensures that harvesters are being fairly and directly compensated, and no funds are being siphoned off by middlemen. This, along with on-the-ground audits, also allows us to ensure that no forced labor or child labor is taking place in the supply chain. By doing so, we ensure that resins are purchased through fair partnerships and human rights are respected in our supply chain.
Sustainable Community Development
In addition to fair payment and respect for our workers’ and harvesters’ rights, we know that long-term sustainable sourcing means supporting the development ambitions of the communities we are sourcing from. With both local and international partners, we look to facilitate and deliver investments in clean water, alternative income sources, health care, education, and conservation. Within this, we particularly look to support projects that empower women and support womens’ rights.
Current Projects (2023) include:
1) Supporting the establishment of a women-led small-scale distillation cooperative.
2) Starting a community-based frankincense tree nursery to develop opportunities for community forestry and community-based plantations.