A Good day for Good Growth
We're thrilled that Kering and Conservation International's "Regenerative Fund for Nature" has chosen to support our model and our work in Mongolia.
Today (3rd September 21) in Marseille, Kering announced the 7 projects the fund has chosen to support. It's a great honour for us especially as we know that in total the fund received 73 applications from 17 countries. It is also very pioneering for the Fund to support a new kind of enterprise such as Good Growth - a willingness and enthusiasm to break the mould is what we all need if we're going to restore nature.
"A completely new paradigm"
Together with our partners AVSF and WCS we proposed the development and rollout of a "regenerative toolkit" that brings together ecosystem science and community partnership under a unique “place-based” model. The project builds on the already successful work of our partners with herders in Mongolia’s South Gobi and Arkhangai.
By integrating ecosystem regeneration, community partnership and product brands we create a unified system where every aspect is creating value for and from regeneration. Critical to the success of the model are the strong purpose driven brands who work with us to redesign the chains out from each place to be on a regenerative path from the get-go: navygrey and Khunu initially but more joining the fold soon.
The teams at Kering and CI have been great at interrogating and getting behind this new model - we intend to make it replicable (so it can work in any ecosystem) and open to all.
"The project was selected as it not only puts forth a completely new paradigm for fashion supply chains (based on regenerating a specific ‘place’), but also pairs this with rigorous rangeland monitoring and creating economic value for herding communities."
We are convinced that to integrate business with the restoration of nature we have to redesign business completely. That means designing for place, and working with each place to create long term value for regeneration.
The support of the fund helps us to develop and demonstrate the model in different ecosystems in Mongolia - we'll report all progress here.
Good company
It's also humbling to see the other projects that were selected. The full portfolio is here:
The Good Growth Company (GGC): developing a toolkit that brings together ecosystem science and community partnership to support new approaches to building sustainable supply chains and sustainable grazing practices. The project builds on the work of its partnership with cashmere goat herders in Mongolia and covers 342,000 hectares of land.
Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA): transitioning conventional cotton farmers to regenerative as well as maximizing the adoption of regenerative practices by organic producers in India. An important part of OCA’s model helps to de-risk change on the ground for farmers through targeted payments. The project engages 50,000 smallholder farmers covering over 53,500 hectares of land.
Fundación Solidaridad Latinoamericana: working with Creole and indigenous smallholder cattle producers in the Gran Chaco biome in Argentina to improve sustainable management of grazing lands while also restoring native forests and vegetation. The project covers 120,0000 hectares of land with the objective to improve 250 smallholder families' livelihoods.
Fundación Global Nature: working with goat shepherds in Spain to restore traditional grazing systems and regenerate the environment covering 17,000 hectares. Initially, the program will focus on three regions where the restoration and conservation of high biodiversity value areas, including wetlands, is essential. The project will support producers in holistic grazing and biodiversity measurement tools. Additionally, funds will be made directly available to the most vulnerable farmers through a micro-grant program supported by the project.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and The Wildlife-Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN): bringing the power of regenerative grazing and holistic management approaches together with wildlife-friendly practices to enable co-existence with wildlife with sheep wool production in Patagonia. The project will cover 300,000 hectares of land across many different farms.
Epiterre: focusing on increasing plant diversity in order to create positive ecological and social outcomes. The project targets extensive pasture-based systems covering 200 hectares of land in Southwestern France and features an innovative mechanism for payment for ecosystem services, with direct payments to small-scale producers.
Conservation South Africa: aiming to enable 9 communal grazing associations, with approximately 280 people, to implement regenerative agricultural practices in the irreplaceable biodiversity of the Maluti Drakensberg Mountains on 11,000 hectares of land. The project will help restore and protect critical biodiversity, improve overall ecosystem function and enhance livelihood opportunities through improved market access to the wool industry in South Africa. It is also focused on empowering women who predominantly farm sheep with the potential for wool production, and yet are underrepresented in associations, trainings, and auctions.