Louis Vuitton & People For Wildlife partnership to protect and restore biodiversity: a first year of positive actions for the environment

A year after joining the People For Wildlife conservation charity in a five-year partnership to restore and preserve biodiversity in a vast Australian natural reserve, Louis Vuitton has shared the first results of initiatives for a 400,000-hectare area on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia.

Anchored in shared environmental values, the partnership between Louis Vuitton and People For Wildlife springs from longstanding collaboration between the Maison and Dr. Daniel Natusch, an Australian biologist with extensive experience in the area. Dr. Natusch has a long involvement in research in Cape York, both during his doctoral thesis and after creating People For Wildlife in 2020. Working with a recognized expert partner allows Louis Vuitton to deepen its positive contribution to biodiversity and the climate and better understand the sustainable use of nature-based materials.

Through this project, Louis Vuitton makes a concrete contribution to the objectives of the LIFE360 program – LVMH Initiatives For the Environment – including the restoration of 5 million hectares of flora and fauna habitat by 2030, as well as the goals of the UN Biodiversity Conference Agreement (COP-15) to protect 30% of the planet’s land by the same year.

In order to assess the state of biodiversity in the area prior to project launch, the first year of the People for Wildlife collaboration established baseline metrics, set up robust monitoring systems and deployed operational scientific measurement equipment. This facilitates access to remote and challenging terrain. Effective monitoring has led to the discovery of two new species in the Apudthama reserve, a unique mushroom species likely endemic to the area, as well as a new snake species. The grey and brown python is currently being studied by the scientific community. What’s more, over half a million camera trap images have been collected, documenting the presence of numerous species and attesting to the health of the ecosystem and the diverse wildlife population in the reserve.

As part of the project, People for Wildlife encourages a partnership respectful of the Traditional Owners of the Apudthama reserve, who have inhabited this land for over 60,000 years and maintain a close relationship with its flora and fauna. During the past year forest rangers, experts, interns, volunteers and Traditional Owners have united their forces to develop this partnership and establish the foundations for the restoration of the reserve.