Regenerative fibres from wetland to textile: challenges in building a symbiotic supply chain for fibre and natural capital

Saal Bira
Donnerstag, 12.09.2024, 11:25 - 11:50 Uhr

Ponda utilises plants grown during the regeneration of wetland environments to create natural fibres for the fashion industry. This talk discusses some of the challenges faced when quantifying the environmental benefits of such a practice, and ensuring all stakeholders can benefit.

Sprecher
Finlay Duncan (ponda)
Wetlands continue to be one of the world's greatest assets, but are being devastated by drainage for agriculture. This has lead to global emissions from drained wetlands reaching 2 gigatonnes per year, twice that of the fashion industry. Ponda works with farmers to regenerate drained wetland environments before planting wetland-plants such as bulrushes. This means farmers can keep earning an income from their land, the environments can be restored and the fashion industry has a new regenerative source of fibre to utilise for its material demands. It is crucial that we build models to connect problems and solutions like these in a way that is beneficial for all stakeholders. Ponda are beginning this journey and will share their initial experiences facing this challenge.