:: natura ekos ::

The awareness that we need Nature now and for all time has resulted in the birth of a concept of sustainable development. That is, the management of the Earth's resources in such a way as to guarantee their use by both current and future generations.

Development is sustainable only if it is socially equitable and at the service of the many rather than the privilege of a few. It must be ecologically correct, not harmful to Nature, and economically viable.

Natura launched the active ingredient certification program in July 2000 to ensure the concept of sustainability within the Natura Ekos Line. The program is aimed at ascertaining and guaranteeing that ingredients derived from Brazilian flora are extracted in an environmentally and socially correct manner in each ingredient's area of origin.

This program is the instrument by which sustainable cultivation and forest management is promoted, through certification of cultivated areas and management of native species forest, involving rigorous environmental, social and economic standards.

	sustainable development
	this is the term used by scientists to define an economy that creates wealth and other resources for people, without destroying the environment...

Certification of active ingredients coming from extractive reserves is based on the principles and standards of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), a non-government organization that certifies all world forests. For ingredients coming from cultivated areas, the principles adopted are those of the CAN (Conservation Agriculture Network).

In summary, the Active Ingredient Certification Program is carried out in six main stages:

A survey of the current situation in the ingredients' place of origin;
Preparation of a management plan;
Assessment of the social and environmental impacts;
Implementation of the management plan;
Granting of certification and periodic monitoring