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Avon Announces Healthy Forests, Beautiful World Program to Continue Support of Reforestation Efforts in Brazil and Indonesia

Avon’s Reforestation fundraising raised $1.3 million in 2013, totaling more than $6.8 million since 2010; funds support The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund reforestation programs

Avon Announces Healthy Forests, Beautiful World Program to Continue Support of Reforestation Efforts in Brazil and Indonesia

Avon’s Reforestation fundraising raised $1.3 million in 2013, totaling more than $6.8 million since 2010; funds support The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund reforestation programs

Published 06-05-14

Submitted by Avon Products, Inc.

Today on World Environment Day, Avon Products, Inc. [NYSE: AVP] announced a new global reforestation initiative, Healthy Forests, Beautiful World. The new program will continue Avon’s ongoing global commitment to the environment, raising funds through the sale of special products by Healthy Forests, Beautiful WorldAvon Sales Representatives and on Avon’s eCommerce sites to help end deforestation. Avon has donated more than $6.8 million for global reforestation since 2010 to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to support the rainforests in Brazil and Indonesia, two of the most critically endangered ecosystems. In 2013 alone, Avon donated $1.3 million raised in more than 50 countries.

With more than 6 million Representatives around the world, Avon has a unique capacity to engage and mobilize people to help end deforestation, as it also does for the issues of breast cancer and violence against women. As a direct seller that relies on its brochure and printed materials, the issue of deforestation is especially important to Avon.

Tod Arbogast, Avon Vice President, Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility, said, "Paper and forests are important to Avon’s business and we are committed to making a difference in this area. The newly named Healthy Forests, Beautiful World program continues our work to tap the vast reach and commitment of Avon’s powerful worldwide network of Representatives, in conjunction with the expertise of WWF and TNC, to create a commanding force to help end deforestation. We look forward to building on our progress with Healthy Forests, Beautiful World in 2014 and continuing Avon’s global fundraising efforts to help end deforestation.”

Avon donates 100% of the net proceeds of the sale of the fundraising products to the U.S.-based Avon Foundation for Women, which equally distributes the funds to TNC to support the restoration of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, and to WWF to support the tropical forests of Indonesia. Both of these forests are important for mitigating climate change, supporting biodiversity and providing for the health and economic well-being of millions of women, families and communities worldwide.

Supporting Indonesia’s Tropical Forests

Since 2011, Avon has supported WWF’s New Trees program, a six-year reforestation program focused on community-based planting, monitoring and maintenance of more than 148,000 tree seedlings on five priority locations covering more than 370 hectares of degraded forests across the Indonesian islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Lombok. These trees are estimated to absorb more than 6,000 tons of CO2 over the next 10 years. 

The 2013 funding will support a new project in the Heart of Borneo that complements the New Trees work by engaging local communities on reforestation and agroforestry projects adjacent to two critically important forest areas in North and East Kalimantan that provide habitat for orangutans and elephants.  According to WWF, this new project will benefit local livelihoods around these forest areas, which can reduce encroachment and drive greater success of forest rehabilitation.

“The tropical forests of Indonesia are fast disappearing, impacting the traditional rights of some indigenous communities and leaving iconic species, such as orangutans and elephants, without a home,” said Linda Walker, director of WWF’s Global Forest and Trade Network. “Through our partnership with Avon, WWF has been able to work across the Indonesian archipelago on reforestation projects that also support local communities around them. These additional funds contributed by Avon Foundation for Women in 2013 will allow us to continue to demonstrate that innovative, solutions-oriented collaborations between NGOs, communities and forest managers can be good for forests, wildlife and the local communities around them.”

Restoring Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

According to TNC Vice President and Managing Director of Latin America Joe Keenan, by helping restore one of the world’s most endangered and bio-diverse rainforests – the Atlantic Forest – Avon is making a positive impact in Brazil, as well as on a global scale. Funding from Avon’s reforestation program has enabled TNC and its partners to plant and protect more than 4 million trees in three key locations in Brazil: the State of Espirito Santo State, Anhembi and Porto Feliz municipalities in the State of Sao Paulo. On a broader scale, restoration of the Atlantic Forest directly impacts water source quality for 60 percent of Brazil’s residents, including people in major metropolitan areas. Beyond Brazil, the Atlantic Forest helps play a crucial role in regulating climate around the world.

"The funds raised through Avon reforestation fundraising initiative have not only made it possible to restore over 4 million trees in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, they created new jobs for local communities and provided data that enables us to make better decisions about forest restoration techniques. We are thrilled with the success of the program and look forward to continuing this important collaboration," said Keenan.

In addition Healthy Forests, Beautiful World, Avon is committed to ongoing improvement in its internal efforts and policies specific to sustainable sourcing, including the Avon Paper Promise and the Avon Palm Oil Promise.

Avon Products, Inc.

Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with $10 billion in annual revenue. As one of the world's largest direct sellers, Avon is sold through more than 6 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Avon products are available in over 100 countries, and the product line includes color cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, fashion and home products, featuring such well-recognized brand names as Avon Color, ANEW, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, and mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters on which all life depends. Together with its more than 1 million members and 600 scientists, the Conservancy has protected 120 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide, and operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. The Conservancy works on the ground in all 50 U.S. states and more than 35 countries. To learn more, visit www.nature.org.  

World Wildlife Fund

WWF is one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, working in 100 countries for the past 50 years. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.

Avon Products, Inc. logo

Avon Products, Inc.

Avon Products, Inc.

Avon Products, Inc. recognized the beauty of "corporate responsibility" nearly a century before the term became part of the cultural lexicon. From the very beginning, in 1886, forward-thinking Avon founder David H. McConnell committed his company "to meet fully the obligations of corporate citizenship by contributing to the well-being of society and the environment in which it functions" - words that still guide the company more than 125 years later.

Avon is committed to the mission to "do well by doing good," managing its business enterprise to the highest standards while leveraging its unique capacity to mobilize and engage people to be agents of change in their lives, communities and the world.

Avon's Corporate Responsibility reflects the three pillars of Avon's corporate mission and drives the focus of the company's corporate responsibility efforts and achievements:

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