"white orchid unique to Madagascar...
French cosmetics industry...
commitment to biodiversity and sustainable development.
Angraecum eburneum longicalcar... disappeared from its natural habitat...
much of its forest... was destroyed, but for this project will be grown
commercially in partnership with Madagascar farmers, and then exported to
France.
"These orchids can be grown for use as either cut flowers or for their
cosmetic value," said Alban Muller, president of both Alban Muller, a
producer of fragrances and flavours, and the Cosmetic Valley grouping of
France's top perfumers and fragrance specialists.
"Orchids have hydrating and softening properties. They also have a
very powerful image... " said Muller. Companies like Guerlain, Yves Rocher
and Clarins have been using orchid extracts for a long time...
The island of Madagascar... home to the world's greatest number of orchids
species, with 1,200 different types [untrue...].
Starting in the 1930s... Marcel Lecoufle roamed the island in search of
orchids, building up a collection that today includes 105 species native to
Madagascar. Forty of these are on display at the "Orchids of Madagascar -
Ambassadors of Biodiversity" exhibition at Paris' Cite des Sciences.
... Angraecum eburneum... with long spurs below its white flowers, were
added to Lecoufle's collection in 1964... saving the orchid from extinction.
Francoise Lenoble-Predine, vice president of the conservatory of
specialised plant collections, says she has found three laboratories in
Madagascar that are sufficiently well equipped to handle the delicate
operation of reproducing the orchid.
"This will enable us to begin reproducing other plants with high added
value," she said, kicking off a process of sustainable development...
Madagascar is already a major producer of plants for the perfume industry,
including ylang ylang, vetiver and vanilla...
The French cosmetics industry is... considering ways and means to form
partnerships with Madagascar farmers...
impossible nowadays... to ignore environmental issues," Muller said. "To
secure access to resources in projects like these, we need to work fairly
and intelligently with local farmers."
Angraecum eburneum could be cultivated in the very heart of the Madagascar
capital, Antananarivo...
The Paris exhibition includes "green guidelines" to rehabilitate this urban
agricultural wasteland.
The Paris show is open until March 9, 2008, but the orchids from Madagascar
will only flower in several months time."
article URL : http://www.ttc.org/200704100446.l3a4ktt02599.htm
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Regards,
VB
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