Introducing the first UEBT verified responsibly-sourced sandalwood oil
We are proud to announce that peak international body the Union of Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) has verified Dutjahn’s Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) Oil as responsibly sourced, validating the ingredient’s transparent supply chain that empowers traditional custodians and enhances biodiversity through regenerative forestry and community landcare.
Generated through multi-stakeholder engagement, the internationally recognised UEBT standard supports the ethical sourcing of ingredients – ensuring they are grown, collected, researched, processed and commercialised in a way that respects biodiversity and people.
Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils CEO Guy Vincent says working to the rigorous UEBT standard which includes 100 environmental and social indicators, each assessed on-site by an independent auditor, has helped the company to test and develop its holistic approach.
“As a company we work to combine social justice with environmental protection – ensuring this supply chain can continue for generations to come. It’s an honour to achieve Responsibly-Sourced verification in our first audit, less than a year since joining the UEBT,” said Vincent.
“The UEBT standard has helped us to frame our work in areas like biodiversity protection, water-use and waste, through to issues of fair living wage, Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for traditional owners. These are principles upon which we were founded, and areas that have long been overlooked when supplying and growing sandalwood.”
“The UEBT standard has helped to frame our work...in areas that have long been overlooked when supplying and growing sandalwood”
Globally, sandalwood (Santalum sp.) has had a tumultuous history, plagued by exploitation, human rights abuses and illegal poaching. Within Australia, sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) has been a lucrative export for over a century. Yet the benefits to Indigenous people – on whose native lands the endemic tree has flourished for millions of years – have been minimal.
Partly owned and led by traditional custodians, Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils’ UEBT oil combines trees from forestry projects (PEFC and Responsible Wood-certified) that regenerate devitalised farmland with wood from biodiverse desert forests. These are cared for by Martu and Wongi people, traditional custodians of the Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) tree and the desert lands for more than 60,000 years. By empowering Aboriginal communities through profit-share, wood sales and royalties for culture and landcare projects, Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils has created a uniquely collaborative model that supports marginalised Aboriginal communities and their biodiverse lands to thrive.
Vincent says the UEBT standard is helping the company to challenge itself and has created benefits like the recent discovery of superior regeneration rates of Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) on Native Title lands as compared to statewide averages.
“An important part of UEBT is the sustainable use and regeneration of the ingredient. As part of our UEBT work we commissioned an independent expert to study Australian sandalwood populations within Indigenous harvest areas. The results revealed far higher rates of regeneration under traditional stewardship, reflecting rich ecological knowledge collected over generations. The data we gathered will not only inform practice within our supply chain, but can be used to benefit the species at large,” said Vincent.
UEBT verification builds on the company’s growing recognition for its work to address climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality, including Ecovadis Gold, the 2019 Sedex Collaborative Award and the United Nations Equator Prize.
Since 2021, UEBT membership has grown by a staggering 69% to 142 companies with particular growth in the fragrance industry. Specialising in beauty and wellness ingredients, UEBT works at all levels of the supply chain – from harvesters collecting plants to consumers buying products - its trustmark the assurance a brand treats people and biodiversity with respect.
Since 2009 the UEBT has surveyed more than 80,000 consumers across 16 countries, tracking rising consumer demands for biodiversity protection. In 2022, consumers rated biodiversity information (54%) nearly as important as ingredients listed (58%).
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