What does it take to become a Net Positive Impact Natural Ingredient Value Chain Specialist?

Olivier Behra has developed a rare expertise mixing field work to build sustainable value chains with positive impact on communities and biodiversity and work with main international companies’ leader to identify and launch new active ingredients.

USAID funding allowed him to lead a multidisciplinary research team and he developed a value chain evaluation tool that was later used for all CHANEL cosmetic ingredients suppliers.

Olivier Behra developed Net Positive Impact value chains for CHANEL Beauty and Fragrances in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, and Madagascar, as well as for the Phytodess brand of Dessange and advised the companies L’Occitane en Provence and Melvita sustainable fair trade organic production of argan oil in Morocco and of shea butter in Burkina Faso.

Olivier Behra was asked by Eurazeo, a major player in markets asset management to advise the natural active ingredients value chain restructuration to increase the long term attractivity of the company DESSANGE International.

He designed biodiversity conservation programs out of the protected areas system on the island of Madagascar around natural ingredients value chains which now ensure sustainable sanctuaries for 70 animal and 62 plant threatened species. They have also demonstrating scientifically documented avoided CO2 emissions and soil restoration.

The community-based biodiversity conservation area of Vohimana was developed under his management emphasizing the importance of its medicinal plants and is now recognized as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.?

Between 2010 and 2015 he launched the support by French private companies of small (50.000€ to 200.000€ over 3 years) conservation projects managed by local NGOs emphasizing the creation of natural ingredients value chains benefiting local communities. He managed to fund more than 20 projects in 15 countries.

Private partners have been motivated to support the creation of an medicinal plant garden on the Vohimana mid altitude rainforest site in Madagascar as well as a bush laboratory to show a model of in situ product development for international and local use.

The organization Man And The Environment he founded was greeted during the CBD Nagoya conference in 2010 by the United Nation Environment Program for its innovative leadership in editing the first book for the recognition of the medicinal plant knowledge of the traditional healer of Vohimana. He then ensured the edition of another book on the traditional knowledge of the medicinal plants of north Cambodia.

Oliver Behra also launched with the MANE fragrance and aroma company, local communities and a government (Cameroon) the first Access And Benefit Sharing agreement following the Nagoya Protocol that was signed a few years later.

He was involved in the development of new cosmetic active ingredients for CHANEL, Yves Rocher and Laboratoires Téane and has put on the international market 3 new community produced essential oils.

He initiated research programs on plant extracts, with Universities of Madagascar, the Rutgers University in the US and the CIRAD (French international agronomic research institute) and is co-author of scientific publications on environment management, quality control, biological factor influencing active principle composition and medicinal properties.

Olivier Behra founded the social business Aroma Forest in Madagascar in 2000 to ensure quality control and export of conventional and organic, UEBT certified essential oils. The company has been managed for years by the local team he put together and is exporting more than 10 tons of essential oils worldwide, generating incomes every year for around of 6000 of local people.

A french sister company has been launched in 2023 to allow direct to consumers sales of Wildlife Frienbdly certified communtiy based production of essential oils.

In 2023 Olivier Behra has been requested by the Ministry of the Industry of Madagascar to coordonate the design of a long term pact for the essential oils and plant extract sector bringing together private sector and government representatives to agreeing on comon goals and targeted actions for 2040.ê

In 2024 he started to work with the University of Tumbes in Peru to help emphasize the work its researchers achieved in designing sustainable production of Palo Santo.

Olivier Behra is founding member of the French non-profit organization Tam Tam Phytoaroma promoting a proper human use of essential oils and plants for health both in France and in developing countries. He is also a board member of Airmid Institute, a US charitable organization dedicated to protecting medicinal and aromatic plants for future generations that educates, researches, and protects plants worldwide.

The conservationists had some media coverage for work he achieved with his team mixing community-based production and environment conservation on French, Canadian and German TV (TF1, Grand Reportage, France 2, Envoyé Spécial, ARTE, Vu du Ciel, Umania, Ushuaia, etc.) as well as for ethnobotany work conducted in Honduras and West Papua with “The Explorers”. He did a TEDx talk and wrote an illustrated novel on deforestation linked to narco traffic he witnessed in Honduras.