Mashpi Lodge Partners with Fragrance Brand to protect Unique Magnolia Species

(Quito, Ecuador) - Pioneering Ecuadorian eco-lodge Mashpi, formalized a new partnership with global fragrance giant MANE and The Red List Project (TRLP), a nonprofit organization that aims to rescue botanical species worldwide from extinction.

The partnership benefits all three parties and aims to preserve the Magnolia mashpi species. This tree was described for science for the first time in 2016, and, to date, is known only to grow inside the lodge's 2,800-hectare private cloud forest reserve to the west of the Ecuadorian capital, Quito.

The story began when TRLP Conservation Director Vanessa Handley visited Mashpi as a guest. She came away fascinated by the riches of its biodiverse forest - part of the Andean Chocó region - and by the lodge's business model, which finances research into this threatened and highly significant UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Magnolia mashpi had only recently been discovered - the list of new-to-science species in the reserve has today reached 18 - and was, therefore, a perfect candidate for TRLP's list of endangered species.

MANE has been supporting The Red List Project since 2022. As part of the agreement between the two companies, MANE performs a one-time-only extraction of the essence from threatened fragrant botanical species. The company then recreates the species' fragrance quintessence in their laboratories using 100% biodegradable materials. In this way, there is only minimal harvesting of the endangered species.

In the case of the Magnolia mashpi, just a few fragrant flowers of the tree were harvested using the lodge's Dragonfly cable car, which glides across 1.2 miles of the reserve and allows guests a bird's-eye view of the stunning forest. Using this technique, the precious Magnolia continues to thrive in its natural habitat.

MANE then commits to share with TRLP a percentage of the profits earned from their sales of fragrances containing the Magnolia's reconstituted essence to their B2B clients, who, in turn, also pay a percentage on their sales. In the near future, the general public could come across a fragrance containing the beautiful scent of Magnolia mashpi in anything from detergents to high-end perfumes.

The income derived from this agreement comes back to the forests of Mashpi directly for more conservation action. The first phase of the agreement involves TRLP funding a project, to be executed by Mashpi's Research & Biology team, in which Magnolia populations will be identified outside the reserve boundaries, in order to strengthen in situ conservation of this species. Not only that, but ex situ conservation will also be enhanced by creating community nurseries, which will help to educate and create awareness of this species' importance and fragility among local communities of the region.

Commercializing the fragrance based on the Magnolia mashpi's essence while not endangering the trees themselves is an innovative method to provide a sustainable, long-term means to conserve the species in the Ecuadorian Chocó.

For now, the only way to savor the Magnolia mashpi's fragrance and its nuances of pear nectar, peach, gardenia, and jasmine is to visit Mashpi Lodge and its reserve, find a petal on the forest floor a short walk from the lodge, and inhale the essence of the enveloping, life-giving forest.

Watch the video explaining how this rare Magnolia species contributes to long-term conservation funding, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gSltjI_ZY0

More info about Mashpi Lodge: https://www.mashpilodge.com/

Media Contact:
Andrea Schnoor Communications
462 7TH Avenue, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10018
info@andreaschnoor.com
https://andreaschnoor.com

About Metropolitan Touring

Metropolitan Touring is one of South America's best known and most well-respected travel companies, acting as a trusted operator in Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. Established in Ecuador in 1953, it is regarded as the heritage brand of the Galápagos, pioneering cruises across the fabled islands for more than 50 years. Today, this legacy lives on through its trio of expedition vessels La Pinta, Santa Cruz II and Isabela II, and its beachfront hotel on Santa Cruz Island, the 27-room Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel. Its holding group has also grown and evolved with its own unique hotel offerings on Ecuador's mainland, including 24-room Mashpi Lodge and the 31-room Casa Gangotena, as well as an ever-expanding selection of carefully curated tours, all of which allow visitors to truly get off the beaten track and under the skin of the destination.

By traveling with Metropolitan Touring, travelers offset their individual carbon emissions through its holding group's carbon-neutral initiative, which calculates an offset fee per traveler. Through the Fundación Futuro, these funds are invested directly in protecting and expanding forest reserves in Ecuador's highly-biodiverse Andean Chocó region, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2018.

This release was published on openPR.