IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE RIMBA COLLECTIVE, DOVE WILL HELP PROTECT AND RESTORE 123,000 ACRES OF RAINFOREST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA - AN AREA 8X THE SIZE OF MANHATTAN - OVER FIVE YEARS

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Aug 21, 2023, 08:00 ET

The Dove Nature Regeneration Project forms part of a collective effort to protect rainforests and restore rainforest ecosystems

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Aug. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Dove announces the Dove Nature Regeneration Project, its latest initiative to protect nature and tackle climate change. In partnership with the Rimba Collective, Dove will help protect and restore 123,000 acres of rainforest in Southeast Asia –an area 8x the size of Manhattan – over five years.

Dove is committed to contributing to a future where nature thrives – creating beauty products that deliver the best possible care for your hair and skin, delivered in ways that minimize their impact on nature and provide the safest care for you. For years, Dove has progressed the conversation around beauty, setting new standards for how the industry at large should behave. This includes continuously working on ways to protect nature's real beauty.

Rainforests cover approximately 8% of the word's land surface and contain over half of Earth's animal and plant species¹. They also play a practical role in climate change mitigation by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen to stabilise the Earth's climate. In partnership with Rimba Collective, the Dove Nature Regeneration Project, which is funded through Unilever's Climate & Nature Fund, will support projects that protect rainforests, restore rainforest ecosystems, and tackle climate change.

"At Dove, we believe beauty should make our world more beautiful, not less. But the beauty of nature is at risk, and climate change remains one of the biggest challenges we face. As a global brand used by millions, our scale demands that we act urgently to protect nature and play a critical role in the effort to stop climate change," explains Firdaous El Honsali, Dove Global Vice President, External Communications and Sustainability. "If we don't keep pushing for change, we will continue to see behaviour that drives deforestation, damages the land and soil we depend on, releases harmful carbon into our atmosphere, and pollutes the waterways that give us life. We need meaningful, decisive action to restore nature's real beauty. The Dove Nature Regeneration Project is just one step we are taking as we strive to care for nature like we care for ourselves. We know our work is not done and we will not stop reducing our impact."

The Rimba Collective is a collaboration of organisations committed to delivering rainforest conservation, restoration outcomes, and supporting local communities in Southeast Asia. Launched in 2021, the Rimba Collective partners with NGOs, governments, and conservation experts to deliver positive ecosystems outcomes at scale year-over-year. The Dove Nature Regeneration Project, an activity within the Rimba Collective, will be actioned by local project operators on the ground who will work with communities and local governments.

In addition to protecting and restoring 123,000 acres of rainforest, the Dove Nature Regeneration Project will support local communities in forest frontier areas and deliver biodiversity benefits by:

Providing training and seed capital that promotes sustainable management of natural resources in the region. The Project aims to improve the livelihoods of 8,000 people in the region through job creation and increased access to healthcare, education, clean water, and sanitation. The Project will also support livelihoods based around forest-friendly commodities by improving productivity, enhancing product quality, providing better market access, as well as through other steps that will support the communities.
Helping to protect and restore critical habitats for approximately 80 endangered wildlife species including the Sunda Pangolin and Helmeted Hornbill. Re-established forest cover will also reduce the impact of natural disasters such as flooding and landslides.

"We are delighted to be collaborating with Dove on projects designed to create long-term positive impact for biodiversity, communities, and the climate in Southeast Asia – areas we are deeply passionate about. Dove has made it clear that nature is at the heart of its business strategy. This is essential for changing the trajectory of the planet for the next generation, and I look forward to continuing our shared commitment to conservation long into the future," says Michal Zrust, CEO, Lestari Capital, the parent company of the Rimba Collective.

With 18+ years of sustainability leadership, Walmart shares the Dove brand's long-standing sustainability mission to regeneration, and is equally committed to helping transform food and product supply chains to work in harmony with nature – to protect, restore and sustainably use their natural resources. Walmart will support the Dove Nature Regeneration Project with multiple planned interactions digitally and on pack. The campaign features imagery that draws parallels between the beauty of skin to the beauty of nature, appearing in-store, on .com, and across social media. As part of the campaign, Dove debuted a dedicated AR feature, accessible via QR Code in-store, that superimposes the rainforest and wildlife into the shopper's in-store and at-home experience. Through these multiple touchpoints, Dove and Walmart will help remind customers why it is so important to protect and restore precious natural resources.

"We are proud to collaborate with Dove as the exclusive retailer for the Nature Regeneration Project. Like Dove, Walmart shares a commitment to regeneration. This collaboration supports our goal to help protect, more sustainably manage, or restore at least 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030 while helping make the everyday choice the more sustainable choice for customers. We commend Dove for building this holistic program by putting people and planet at the center of its brand and offering customers a simple, accessible way to participate in building a more regenerative future," says Jane Ewing, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Walmart.

The Dove Nature Regeneration Project builds upon Dove's historical actions and ongoing plans to accelerate contributions to a nature positive planet. These include:

Dove became PETA certified in 2018 and is one of the largest beauty brands in the world to hold this certification. Dove actively campaigns to end cosmetic animal testing worldwide, and recently partnered with PETA, Cruelty Free Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, and other animal protection organisations to save cruelty-free cosmetics and the UK and EU's longstanding bans on animal testing for cosmetics.
Working together with the Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC) to ensure all its formulations are environmentally safe – including maximising the biodegradability of all its rinse off products by 2030 to minimise their impact on water and aquatic ecosystems.
Dove introduced 100% recycled bottles in the US and Europe in 2019 and is working to reduce virgin plastic by 50% and use 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.
Dove is on a journey to source 100% renewable electricity for its operations and maintain zero non-hazardous waste to landfill in its factories by 2030.
Dove is committed to investing, increasing, and sourcing from regenerative agriculture and sourcing practices and biotech-produced alternative materials of the future.

The Dove Nature Regeneration Project forms part of a collective effort from other multinational companies to protect and regenerate nature, including Unilever, who is a founding member of the Rimba Collective. The Project is funded through the €1 billion Unilever Climate & Nature Fund, part of a set of industry-leading commitments and measures Unilever announced in 2020 to accelerate action against climate change and regenerate nature.

Now more than ever, the world needs our care. Together, let's care for the planet like we care for ourselves. To learn more about the Dove Nature Regeneration Project, visit Dove.com/earthskin. #BeautyForNature.

About Dove
Dove started its life in 1957 in the US, with launch of the Beauty Bar, with its patented blend of mild cleansers and ¼ moisturizing cream. Dove's heritage is rooted in care – proof, not promises grew Dove from a Beauty Bar into one of the world's most beloved beauty brands.

Real women have always been our inspiration, and since the beginning, Dove has been wholly committed to providing superior care to all, and to championing real representations of beauty in our advertising, communications and campaigns. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone, and the Dove mission is to ensure a positive experience with beauty is universally accessible to all.

For 65 years, Dove has been committed to broadening the narrow definition of beauty in the work they do. This includes the 'Dove Real Beauty Pledge,' and commitment to:

Portray women as they are in real life with honesty, diversity and respect. We feature women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color, type and style.
Represent individuals with zero digital distortion, with all images approved by the women they feature.
Help young people build body confidence and self-esteem through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the biggest provider of self-esteem education in the world with a goal to educate 250 million young people by 2030.

About The Rimba Collective
The Rimba Collective is an innovative, long-term collaboration between Consumer Goods Manufacturers, processors, traders and growers in the agricultural commodities industry. Through collective action, each company can deliver on its individual corporate sustainability objectives over the long term and at scale.

We are at the forefront of a movement leading the transformation to sustainable economies through programmes that protect and restore natural landscapes and support local communities. We partner with NGOs, governments and conservation experts to deliver positive ecosystem outcomes at scale over the next 30 years, and through our unique finance model and robust verification approach, we equitably link high-quality, credible ecosystem outcomes to the scale of companies' contributions and their procurement of natural commodities. Learn more at: https://rimbacollective.com/

About the Unilever Climate & Nature Fund
The Unilever Climate & Nature Fund is an impact-led investment platform that aims to accelerate decarbonisation globally and drive solutions that have a positive effect on nature.

In 2020, the Climate & Nature Fund was established by Unilever to help address the world's biggest climate and nature challenges. The Climate & Nature Fund is a vehicle to galvanise our efforts and catalyse action from the private sector and other stakeholders. It is a mechanism to bring meaningful disruption and new thinking into Unilever with a mandate to invest EUR 1 billion, using the power of Unilever's brands over this decade to make meaningful progress. It identifies, finance and scale projects that will measurably contribute to Unilever's progress on sustainability, from producer to brand to consumer. We know we can't do this alone. That's why the Climate & Nature Fund is a collaboration platform to bring the best from the outside in in order to achieve our impact priorities.

Media Contact: Elisa Munda, [email protected]

¹Source: Rainforest Concern

SOURCE Dove