Environment

ENVIRONMENT

Cartier for Nature’s mission is to help protect biodiversity and healthy ecosystems ensuring for present and future generations, that nature continues to be a source of inspiration.

Cartier for Nature provides grants to effective non-profit organisations to help protect, restore and sustainably manage ecosystems for the benefits of human well-being and biodiversity. With a focus on forests and biodiversity hotspots, its approach is grounded in scientific data and driven by the impact of its actions.

Cartier established Cartier for Nature in 2020 to complement its sustainability commitments and initiatives as well as its diverse corporate actions in the fields of human development, women’s empowerment and arts and culture. As a philanthropic initiative, Cartier for Nature operates completely independently from the Maison’s commercial interests.

“The beauty of the natural world has always been a source of inspiration and creativity for the timeless pieces of Cartier. As world citizens, we feel it is our duty to protect the planet's biodiversity and make a difference to wildlife conservation”, said Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier International.

Safeguarding snow leopards and their mountain habitats

Cartier for Nature is partnering with China Green Foundation to protect snow leopards, their prey and their habitats in China’s Three-River Source National Park. Home to one of the most important populations of this elusive and threatened big cat, the area is an alpine biodiversity hotspot. As the source region of three of Asia’s major rivers, it also sustains the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

EMPOWERING LIVESTOCK HERDERS AND WILDLIFE TO THRIVE

In south-western Zambia, local herding communities and their livestock share the landscape with elephants, leopards and lions, competing for degraded lands and scarce water resources. Conflicts between humans and wildlife are frequent, putting both people and animals at risk.
In response, Cartier for Nature’s local partner, Peace Parks Foundation, promotes sustainable herding practices that help regenerate rangelands, deter predators and other wildlife, and improve livestock health. Participating communities become more resilient, earn a more stable livelihood and are empowered to live peacefully alongside wildlife.

Protecting wildlife and improving livelihoods

Cartier for Nature has teamed up with COMACO in eastern Zambia to protect wildlife and the environment. This organisation has managed to convince poachers to convert to sustainable farming in order to improve their livelihoods. They no longer need to hunt game to sell pelts, ivory or meat, or to destroy the forest to sell timber.

Linking traditional indigenous land management and modern carbon markets

Using a combination of traditional and modern methods of fire management, Indigenous communities protect biodiversity and prevent major bushfires across northern Australia’s vast savanna woodlands. This greatly helps reduce the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere each year. Cartier for Nature is supporting The Nature Conservancy’s work with Indigenous fire managers to develop carbon offset markets and generate revenue for communities who are leading the way in sustainable land management.

BRINGING NATURE AND WILDLIFE BACK TO DEGRADED LANDSCAPES

After decades of decline, once lost wild species are making a comeback across much of Europe as degraded landscapes are restored and revived thanks to the concept of rewilding. Cartier for Nature is partnering with Rewilding Europe to help nature rebound in Romania’s Carpathian mountains and Spain’s Iberian highlands, supporting the restoration of ecosystems and the reintroduction of iconic animals such as the majestic European bison or the elusive Iberian lynx, as well as boosting biodiversity and the local economy.

SUPPORTING COASTAL COMMUNITIES TO CONSERVE AND RESTORE MANGROVES

Madagascar’s mangroves, often called “blue forests”, are home to a rich abundance of wildlife, sustain the livelihoods of thousands of people, shelter communities from storms, and store vast amounts of carbon. Yet, they are under threat from deforestation and overfishing. To help safeguard these natural treasures, Cartier for Nature supports Blue Ventures, who work with coastal communities to govern and manage mangroves sustainably and access a steady income from the sale of carbon credits.

Restoring and connecting fragmented sacred forests

After decades of deforestation, Ethiopia’s once abundant forests have largely been reduced to small, scattered fragments around the country’s thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. While these Church Forests are considered sacred, some of them are degenerating due to fuel wood cutting, overgrazing and a lack of genetic diversity. Our Ethiopian partner organisation ORDA protects and regenerates these remaining church forests in the country’s northern Amhara province with the ambition of connecting them and eventually using them as starting points for a larger-scale restoration of the surrounding degraded landscape.