INTERNATIONAL. LVMH-owned beauty and fragrance house Guerlain has teamed up with UNESCO to launch the ‘Women for Bees’ female beekeeping entrepreneurship programme.
Women for Bees is a five-year programme that will offer training and education for aspiring female beekeepers. The first 30-day training programme, launched in partnership with the French Observatory of Apidology (OFA) in Provence, France, will commence on 21 June, 2021.
The programme will equip participants with all the theoretical and practical knowledge they need to run a professional apiary [beehouse]. The objective, according to Guerlain, is to empower aspiring women beekeepers with expertise-driven training and sustainable livelihoods.
By the end of the training period, graduates will also become part of an international network of female beekeepers where they can share their learnings and help others.
The Women for Bees project will take place at various UNESCO Biosphere Reserves for the first two years. The locations include Iles et Mers d’Iroise in France, Sila in Italy, the Central Balkans in Bulgaria, Kozjansko and Obsotelje in Slovenia, Sap in Cambodia, Kafa in Ethiopia, Volcans in Rwanda and Xishuangbanna in China. By 2025, Guerlain aims to build 2,500 beehives within 25 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.
The Women for Bees project is supported by American Actress, environmental activist and Guerlain muse Angelina Jolie. 17 years ago, Jolie started the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in Cambodia’s Samlot region to support a community which was severely impacted by the Cambodian civil war.
The Maddox Jolie-Pitt foundation aims to alleviate extreme rural poverty and protect the environment of the local area. In 2016, Jolie went back to Cambodia with Guerlain to shoot the brand’s ‘Mon Guerlain’ campaign and to meet with the Foundation team, which signalled the beginning of the Women for Bees campaign.
One of the first female beekeepers to participate in the programme comes from the Foundation’s beneficiary community in Cambodia.
“Guerlain have a genuine commitment to the environment, sustainable development and the communities they work with. That’s what brought us together, and Women for Bees is a wonderful extension of that,” Jolie commented.
“When women gain skills and knowledge their instinct is to help raise others. I’m excited to meet the women taking part in this programme from all over the world. I look forward to getting to know them and learning about their culture and environment and the role bees play in that. I hope the training will strengthen their independence, their livelihoods and their communities.”
Guerlain has always been committed to sustainable innovation and biodiversity protection, with a particular focus on the protection of bees. Bee honey is the core ingredient in Guerlain’s hero Abeille Royale skincare line. Bees have also inspired the brand’s Aqua Allegoria fragrance collection and have been a constant reference point since the creation of the Guerlain ‘Bee Bottle’ in 1853.
The bee has also become a symbol for the house’s long-term sustainable commitments. The ‘Guerlain For Bees Conservation Programme,’ which embraces the Women for Bees campaign, is built on four key pillars: bee protection, bee welfare, bee repopulation and education on bees.
The Women for Bees project is the latest in a series of bee conservation initiatives by Guerlain. Since 2011, the programme has launched research, conservation and philanthropy partnerships with the Ouessant Brittany Black Bee Conservation Association, the French Observatory of Apidology, GoodPlanet Foundation and ELYX Foundation. In 2018, the programme also launched a ‘Bee School’ campaign to raise awareness about bee protection among primary school children.
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