#Raw Materials

2025-05-08

Laly Lichtenfeld joins AbTF Board of Trustees

The Aid by Trade Foundation is pleased to welcome Laly Lichtenfeld, an internationally renowned leader in community-driven nature conservation, to its board of trustees. After years of researching community-driven conservation, including as a Fulbright Scholar in 1996, she co-founded African People & Wildlife in 2005 with the aim of promoting peaceful coexistence between rural communities and wildlife such as lions and elephants.

As an experienced National Geographic Explorer and a multiple award–winning speaker, she brings more than two decades of experience building partnerships that protect biodiversity and support rural communities across Tanzania and beyond.

Laly Lichtenfeld, New AbTF Board of Trustee Member; Credit: Felipe Rodriguez/APW

A scientist by training and visionary by practice, Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld specialises in a holistic approach to conservation that accounts for regional differences and prioritises the intensive involvement of the people living in landscapes shared with wildlife. Having lived in Tanzania since 2000, she founded African People & Wildlife (APW) together with her husband in 2005. APW supports rural communities in protecting wildlife, conserving natural resources, and benefiting from conservation measures.

“As a committed and prominent conservationist, Dr. Lichtenfeld will be a great asset to our board of trustees,” says Tina Stridde, the managing director of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), adding, “Reconciling the protection of nature and wildlife with the interests of the people living in the same area is a key concern for our foundation as well. Through her deep knowledge and great dedication, Dr. Lichtenfeld will enrich the work of the board of trustees.” “In Tanzania, we’ve built a conservation model that works because it puts local people first. The Aid by Trade Foundation shares that commitment, and I’m excited to help strengthen the link between livelihoods and sustainability,” emphasises Laly Lichtenfeld.

Dr. Lichtenfeld holds a PhD in social and wildlife ecology from Yale University. She received the Lowell Thomas Award for Open Space Conservation from the historic Explorers Club in 2016, and she was awarded a WINGS Women of Discovery Award for her contributions to conservation in 2019. Most recently, she was nominated for the prestigious Indianapolis Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of Animal Conservation.

Having now worked with 80 communities across Tanzania to preserve over three million acres of critical habitat, APW has made measurable contributions to the peaceful coexistence of humans and wildlife, particularly in landscapes home to endangered big cats and elephants. The organisation is particularly committed to empowering women to take on leadership roles in efforts for nature conservation and social change in rural areas. Young people are another priority, with thousands having already received an opportunity to participate in environmental education programmes, which aim to spur them to action and inspire the next generation to protect wildlife.

The Aid by Trade Foundation’s board of trustees is populated by an international group of leading figures from the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Chaired by the entrepreneur Prof. Dr Michael Otto, who founded the Aid by Trade Foundation in 2005, the board of trustees contributes to the long-term implementation of AbTF’s overarching goals: accelerating nature restoration and social justice for farming and herding communities by activating market forces.

The Good Cashmere Standard expands Animal Welfare Assessment on audited farms

With the Animal-related Animal Welfare Assessment (ARAWA), the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) conducts a pioneering project for the second consecutive year in 2025, parallel to the independent verifications of The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS). ARAWA assessments provide a comprehensive overview of the health status of a herd on an audited farm, going beyond standard verification procedures. They are inherently complex, which still makes them a rarity in the standard sector, but offer support in identifying non-conformities and provide a holistic overview of the herd's well-being. Therefore, the Aid by Trade Foundation will continue this crucial project and even further expand it by 2027.

Aid by Trade Foundation reaches new milestones in supply chain transparency

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is reaching new milestones as it leads the way towards greater physical traceability for Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) cotton. With around 700 suppliers and producers in a total of 25 countries, the Aid by Trade Foundation has reached a new record number of partners who can trace CmiA cotton from the product back to its origin. This is more than double the previous year’s figure.

Cashmere producers stress the importance of The Good Cashmere Standard®

At the invitation of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), over 70 experts from the cashmere production and supply chain, as well as other specialists, met at the GCS Unit Meeting in Shanghai, China to discuss the progress and new objectives of The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS). The meeting focused on implementation and verification of the standard, important aspects of animal welfare and the importance of the standard in the global textile market.

AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe expand partnership to enable industrial-scale production of silk proteins

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader leader in biotech produced silk materials, today announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), marking a key step in scaling the industrial production of its silk proteins. Building on the collaboration first established in 2023, the two companies have now entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement, enabling the transition from industrial validation to dedicated, large-scale production.

Cotton made in Africa partners receive top marks in independent verifications

Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) and CmiA Organic are two internationally recognised standards that aim to promote sustainable development in the African cotton sector south of the Sahara. To ensure the standards’ credibility among brands, retailers, and consumers, independent verifiers evaluate compliance on the ground. The verification results for 2025, now published in the Aggregated Verification & Implementation Report, were very strong: The verifiers awarded consistently very good remarks regarding management, people, prosperity, and the environment.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.