Coty renews partnership with ocean conservation program

PARIS — Beauty brand Coty has announced the renewal of the partnership agreement for the Pristine Seas program between the National Geographic Society and Davidoff Cool Water.

"This relationship with National Geographic is a cornerstone for Davidoff Cool Water. The link we have created with the ocean has grown stronger, and we feel it is essential to keep working on this partnership," stated Jean Mortier, president of Coty Prestige.

Today, the ocean covers 72% of the surface of the Earth, but only 1% is protected. National Geographic, through the Pristine Seas Project, seeks to protect some of the last pristine spots of the oceans and to create marine protected areas.

In 2012, the partnership kicked off with an expedition to the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first expedition conducted in the frame of the National Geographic and Davidoff Cool Water partnership. Enric Sala, a marine ecologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, led the expedition. More than 380 dives were conducted in the Pitcairn Islands waters, for a total of 450 person-hours underwater.

The surveys revealed pristine marine ecosystems with intact coral communities and healthy fish populations dominated by top predators, such as sharks. This demonstrates the global biological value of the Pitcairn Islands waters. The unaltered deep sea habitats of the Pitcairn Islands harbor unique biodiversity, including rare deep sea sharks and fish species completely new to science, Coty stated.

After seeing what the expedition team had found, the Pitcairn community voted unanimously for the protection of their waters in "September 2012: A proposal for the creation of what would be the largest marine reserve in the world around the Pitcairn Islands." The U.K. government is now studying the proposal.

Given the positive results of the partnership in 2012, both Davidoff Cool Water and National Geographic have expressed their respective intentions to continue the relationship within the framework of the Pristine Seas missions for 2013. Following the renewal of the partnership, Davidoff Cool Water will support the new Expedition that started offshore Chile on Feb. 7.

Consumers will have the opportunity to join Davidoff Cool Water in supporting the National Geographic Pristine Seas program. This year, the aim is to increase interaction with consumers through new in-store animations and digital actions.