Chantecaille joins forces with The Independent’s Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign

We are working with conservation charity Space for Giants to protect wildlife at risk from poachers due to the conservation funding crisis caused by Covid-19. Help is desperately needed to support wildlife rangers, local communities and law enforcement personnel to prevent wildlife crime

Sylvie Chantecaille and Dr Max Graham, the founder and CEO of conservation charity Space for Giants

(Chantecaille )

Prestige beauty brand Chantecaille has become the first corporate supporter of The Independent’s Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign.  

The partnership, announced today, comes as a new WWF report tells of wildlife populations suffering ‘catastrophic decline’ around the world, intensified by the fall out of the pandemic.  

Chantecaille has donated £25,000 to our Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign, which seeks to protect wildlife at risk from poachers and to clamp down on the illegal trade of wild animals.

Sylvie Chantecaille, who serves as president and CEO of her eponymous beauty company, told The Independent: “The time to act is now. There is so much to do to protect the natural world - and in doing so, protect ourselves - and so little time.  

“The Covid disaster highlights how important it is to align everyone who wants to help. This is serious for everyone”.

ESI Media executive editor Oliver Poole said: "This partnership will be a big step in ensuring the success of this campaign. One of our objectives is to bring the issue of the illegal wildlife trade to the attention of new audiences. Having a brand with the reputation and reach Chantecaille has on board will be a great boost for achieving that."

The treasures and magic of our planet’s wildlife have always been at the heart of Chantecaille, which was established more than 20 years ago, and its commitment to environmental solidarity has set an industry standard of excellence.

The brand was one of the first to develop a business model of giving back through the creation of a philanthropy platform.  

So far the brand has created 30 different collaborations with charities to support their efforts to save endangered species and ecosystems, helping to protect everything from butterflies to sharks.

“The truth is we can never do enough,” said Ms Chantecaille. “At Chantecaille we strive to connect, educate and provide support to organisations doing the intrepid, important work of protecting those who don't have a voice: our oceans, our forests, elephants, gorillas, lions.”

For many, Covid has been a wake-up call about the role humankind can play in either nurturing or harming nature. Ms Chantecaille added: “If we don’t stop destroying, we have seen how serious the outcome can be.  

“We live in the biggest library in the universe, and our role should be to guide and to help, not to destroy. We have been so greedy.  

“I think we all needed to stop and take the time to look at how we were behaving. The hope is now that we can come together to clear up our planet. Hopefully we will all be more interested in our shared responsibility to Mother Nature.”

Since it was established, Chantecaille’s ethos has been to merge pure ingredients and smart science, pioneering the use of plants in luxury cosmetics to work more in harmony with the body, while always being cruelty free. Ms Chantecaille said that it was an organic development to start acting as a voice for animals.

“I’ve always loved the natural world, and research it as much as I can. But the first partnership I developed came about by chance. I was in my garden [in the Hamptons] and noticed there were fewer Monarch butterflies than in previous years,” said Ms Chantecaille.

“Every autumn, the ‘miracle migration’ takes place of the butterflies from Mexico to the north. I learnt that the Monarch butterfly was actually endangered due to its ecosystem being disrupted by logging and deforestation due to the drive for increased coastal development.

“We teamed up with The Monarch Butterfly Fund to raise awareness and funds, and they remain a partner of ours to this day.  

“I want to use my platform to help what I love. I realised years ago that if women trust Chantecaille enough to have our products in their bathroom every night, then maybe they would listen to what we have to say when we shine a light on a problem.  

“Our customers are cultured and highly intelligent, we just need to show them what’s going on and they want to help.”

Chantecaille’s most recent collaboration is with international conservation charity Space for Giants, with whom The Independent is working to stop the illegal wildlife trade and protect wildlife at risk.

“The wildlife trade is simply indefensible,” Ms Chantecaille said. “We have killed so many animals and crossed so many boundaries.  

“Everything is a lesson, and we must learn from Covid to stop destroying and start protecting.”