Tell us your story of bio-cultural resilience in business

Business effects and sometimes even drives resilience in socio-ecological systems.  There are many many examples throughout the world where blended value companies driven by for-profit and non-profit entrepreneurs are greatly contributing to and sometimes even driving systemic change toward social and environmental sustainability.

With this blog, we seek to begin to capture examples and tell stories of companies about where and how business is pursuing business opportunities and successfully managing risk to guide their success often measured with financial returns along with social and environmental impacts.

Building biocultural resilience in business:

• enhances and generally increases biodiversity;
• affirms traditional and customary resource rights especially among Indigenous Peoples;
• contributes to good governance for people and nature; and,
• enhances the ability of people and nature to navigate economic and environmental shocks and disruptions like extreme weather events.

What does this look like today? I offer a few examples here with an invitation to share your story of biocultural resilience in business.

EcoMadera is pioneering a new business model to conserve threatened rainforests of the planet’s most biodiverse forests in Ecuador by producing sustainable hardwood products.  They are organized around a provocative business model bridging international partnerships between forest communities, and academia.

Maya Mountain Chocolate from Belize has adopted a direct trade model producing some of the best chocolate I have EVER tasted while offering Mayan farmers a price and value beyond fair trade and organic. Growing cacao MMC-style can have a powerful affect regenerating local biodiversity while affirming traditional land use and culture.

Dune Lankard is a native Athabaskan Eyak from the Copper River Delta of Alaska, and the founder of Redzone, an ongoing First Nations project created in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. He started the Copper River Wild Salmon Company to help local fishermen regain control over processing, packaging, labeling, and marketing their fish.  He’s is furthering a big vision to further sustainable fisheries management, bring high quality product to market and invigorate indigenous activists working to keep their fisheries healthy by keeping large coal beds underground in their traditional territories.

I welcome your joining us in telling stories about when and how business can offer profits while protecting and restoring nature aligned especially in ways that empower traditional knowledge and cultural practices.