The MANE business foundation
Our social commitment is also at the heart of the guiding principles of the MANE Business Foundation. The goal of this foundation is to promote, support and coordinate, in France and abroad, projects of general interest relating to sustainable development, the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the reduction of poverty in line with the traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities, and multilateral agreements with UN institutions (Convention on Biodiversity).
The Foundation has launched a project to promote the harvest of Echinops giganteus, a wild plant endemic to south-western Cameroon. In this region, the forest has been excessively exploited by villagers for whom it is the sole additional source of income. This has also had the effect of considerably reducing the habitat of Cross River gorillas, of which only around 40 remain in the region. The harvest of the wild Echinops, the scented root of which is of interest to perfumers, is an alternative resource that will allow the forest to be left alone and the natural habitat of the gorillas to be respected. The aim of this project is to encourage rural development through the implementation of a process for the sustainable development of this resource according to the Access and Benefit-sharing principle of the Nagoya Protocol. We chose this project because it offers the best chance of success both in terms of commercial potential and the generation of income for local communities. It is supported by the NGO Man and Nature, which is supported in turn by the local NGO ERuDeF (Environment and Rural Development Foundation), which manages the project to ensure the quality of leadership and governance needed for success. Our R&D teams have received several root samples collected in different seasons, allowing them to carry out extraction tests. Overall, the initial results from these tests are positive and confirm that continued project follow-up is merited.