From the Forest, Not at the Cost of the Forest

Almost every skincare brand now describes itself the same way. Natural. Organic. Herbal. Botanical. Clean. Sustainable. The words have been used so often that they have stopped telling us much at all.

At Himalyan Naturals we wanted a different starting point. Not is it natural? but where did this botanical come from, and what did taking it cost? That question became NTFDP.

An old idea, taken seriously

Forests give far more than timber. Flowers, fruits, seeds, leaves, resins, bark and roots, gathered without felling a tree, are what the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization calls non-timber forest products. In India, where they are also known as minor forest produce, they sustain millions of forest-dwelling families, and much of the gathering and first processing is done by women. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 recognised the rights of forest communities to collect, use and manage them.

Communities across the Himalayas have practised careful gathering for generations: taking some and leaving enough, harvesting in season, knowing which plants recover and which do not. NTFDP, Non Timber Forest Derived Products, is our promise to source every Himalyan Naturals botanical the same careful way.

Five principles

1. Harvested to regenerate

The question is not only can we harvest it? It is can we harvest it so the plant returns next season?

2. In its season

Nature has seasons, and responsible businesses have to respect them. A plant is not a tap that can be left running all year.

3. Guided by those who know

Generations of Himalayan communities have understood which plants grow where, when they should be harvested, which parts to use, how much can be taken and how they regenerate. We learn from that knowledge and credit it.

4. Fair to the gatherer

If most forest gathering is done by women, a fair share of the value should stay with them, in the hills. Sourcing well is as much about people as about plants.

5. Traceable to its source

Where did this botanical grow? Was it renewable, in season, gathered with care? Are we avoiding threatened species? Every ingredient should be able to answer.

The forest should be a source of wellbeing without becoming a casualty of consumption.

A mark of honesty

For us, NTFDP is a badge of honesty and good practice. It means we can tell you where a botanical came from and how it was taken, and it means holding ourselves to that answer as we grow. Where we are still building that traceability for an ingredient, we will say so.

From a line to a circle

The conventional beauty model is a straight line: forest, raw material, factory, product, consumer. NTFDP tries to bend that line into a circle: forest, responsible harvest, formulation, you, awareness, and back to the protection of the forest.

Where NTFDP meets Endo Neutral

NTFDP answers where our botanicals come from. Endo Neutral, the framework developed with the researchers of Global Menopause Collective, answers how we formulate with them: with respect for the body's endocrine system and a conscious effort to minimise avoidable interference. One looks after the forest. The other looks after the body. Himalyan Naturals sits where the two meet.