ANGELINA JOLIE JOINS GUERLAIN IN SUPPORTING BEE CONSERVATION

TOKYO, MARCH 2024

In four years, Guerlain’s mission of supporting a thriving future for women entrepreneurs through beekeeping conservation has blossomed. The Maison’s pioneering Women for Bees programme began in the South of France and swiftly travelled to Cambodia, Mexico, Rwanda and Japan where it has trained approximately 105 women. In February, Angelina Jolie, Godmother of the Women for Bees Programme, carried the initiative further when she journeyed to Japan to meet with women beekeepers in collaboration with two local NPOs and lead a Bee School session alongside the Japanese ac- tress and Guerlain Japan ambassador Mirei Kiritani. 18 women have already completed training and an additional 12 women beekeepers are scheduled to participate in the programme in 2024.

As a strong believer in the power of educating and training women, the continuing chal- lenges of gender inequality facing both women as a whole and women in beekeeping in Japan were particularly resonant to Jolie. During her encounter she heard how, within the urban beekeeping community, the profession is growing but remains largely closed and male dominated. With the support of partners Ginza Mitsubachi project in Tokyo and Umeda Mitsubachi project in Osaka, Guerlain’s Women for Bees programme in Japan offers a concrete response and an innova- tive approach to increasing women’s involvement in beekeeping. Meanwhile, Bee School sessions, which will run throughout 2024, help to raise awareness among younger generations about the importance of protecting bees, the world’s precious pollinator.

“Women are born capable and so empowered and it’s often only the restrictions put on them that make it impossible for them to reach their full po- tential. It’s such a memorable experience to meet different women of the training program and learn about the science of beekeeping around the world, forming friendships and sisterhoods. It’s not about me or Guerlain lifting them up, but giving them the space and taking them seriously as thoughtful professionals who have so much to contribute.”

ANGELINA JOLIE

Guerlain selected these partner NPOs for their meaningful contributions to the local community, their commitment to protecting biodiversity and creating positive social impact, their proven track record in leading educational programs for children, and their extensive reach across Japan which helps to ensure the ambitions of the programme have nationwide influence.

OTHER CHALLENGES THE WOMEN FOR BEES PROGRAMME AND BEE SCHOOL SESSIONS IN JAPAN AIM TO ADDRESS:

— Faced with an aging population, there is a risk that beekeeping culture and know-how will not pass down to the next generation. Women, as well as the future generation, are crucial to pre- serving the trade and developing new practices for the years to come.

— Similarly, fewer workers in agriculture pres- ents a threat to farms. Fewer farms mean fewer plants that provide a source of nectar for polli- nating bees. Education and raising awareness on best practices are key drivers for change to protect biodiversity across the country—and not only in rural areas.

— To increase productivity per field on a dwindling number of farms all while increasing the value of agricultural products, farmers have taken to using pesticides which is detrimental to bee life.

ANGELINA JOLIE’S ROLE IN JAPAN

Angelina Jolie‘s visit to Japan marks eight years since the start of her partnership with Guerlain. During her time in Japan, Angelina took part in learning experiences with the women beekeepers graduates from 2022 and 2023 in Tokyo and Osaka. In collaboration with the Umeda Mitsubachi project in Osaka, she also led a Bee School session in Osaka alongside the Japanese actress and Guerlain Japan Ambassador Mirei Kiritani.

GUERLAIN’S WOMEN FOR BEES PROGRAMME

In addition to the Guerlain x UNESCO pro- gramme launched in 2020 in the Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO, Guerlain independently manages a range of Women for Bees Programmes in partnership with key local NGOs and NPOs, including: Guerlain x Conapi NGO in Bologna and Calabria, Italy; Guerlain x El Rinco de la Abeja NGO in Barcelona, Spain; Guerlain x Umeda Mitsubachi NPO and Ginza Mitsubachi NPO in Japan; and Guerlain x Fundación Maya Selva (FSM) NGO, in the Yucatan region in southeast Mexico.

In focusing on local and native bees, their welfare, maintenance, and repopulation, as well as edu- cation on bees, the programme aims to enable women’s empowerment through an expertise-driven sustainable professional activity. It also aims to contribute to raising awareness of the importance of all bee species as pollinators.

BEE SCHOOL IN JAPAN: AN AWARENESS BUILDING PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN

One of Guerlain’s meaningful initiatives dedicated to bees is the Bee School. Launched in 2018, this awareness building programme for children and elementary students is supported by House em- ployees. It allows young people to learn about the role of bees and raises awareness about their protection. Since implementing the first series of sessions in Japan in 2022, Guerlain’s Bee School has trained approximately 700 children. In 2024, Guerlain is focused on expanding to 15 different locations in cities across the country, beyond Tokyo and Osaka, including Sapporo (Northern Japan), Nagoya (Central Japan), and Takarazuka (Western Japan) to train 1000 more children.

ABOUT GUERLAIN’S PARTNERS IN JAPAN

Established in 2006, the GINZA MITSUBACHI PROJECT in Tokyo is the pioneer in urban bee- keeping in Japan, created to sustain Ginza’s standing as an “environmental-model city” and a hub to connect the local communities through nature. The non-profit works extensively across Japan, doing everything from teaching kids the importance of bees at schools to giving seminars to adults to raise awareness of urban beekeeping.

The UMEDA MITSUBACHI PROJECT was launched in 2009 as Osaka’s first urban beekeeping ope- ration, recognized by Osaka Prefecture as es- sential to pushing citywide efforts to protect the local environment. One of the NPO’s founders was a designer working on a new building in Umeda, Osaka, that was meant to serve as a hub of urban greening for the area. He drew inspiration from the urban beekeeping practices in Paris, New York, and Hong Kong to establish new approaches for the Osaka area, where design coexists with nature and biodiversity.