- The company is helping the marine biologist promote the Declaration for the Mediterranean, an initiative in favour of the preservation and restoration of the sea through the creation of protected marine zones.
- As part of the project, Mango has launched a solidarity t-shirt and trousers, the profits from which will be donated to Asociación Vellmarí, and organisation led by San Félix, to promote a pioneering project for replanting posidonia (neptune grass), an marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean sea of great environmental and economic importance.
- The collaboration, which is part of the company’s sustainability strategy, aims to protect and restore marine biodiversity through alliances and collaborations with key international organisations.
Mango, one of Europe’s leading fashion groups, is strengthening its commitment to sustainability and joining forces with the marine biologist, and National Geographic explorer Manu San Félix to support the Declaration for the Mediterranean, and initiative promoted by San Félix himself to protect and restore the Mediterranean sea.
“As a company with roots in Barcelona, with a strong Mediterranean spirit and a firm commitment to sustainability, for Mango it is an honour to collaborate with a recognised expert like Manu San Félix in this initiative, which promotes the protection and recovery of a location that is as special to us as the Mediterranean Sea”, Toni Ruiz, Mango’s Chief Executive Officer, points out.
For his part, Manu San Félix, marine biologist, points out: “The collaboration with Mango will help us raise awareness of the major problem regarding the Mediterranean, where uncontrolled fishing and the loss of water quality has resulted in the disappearance of species and the deterioration of biodiversity”.
Specifically, the Declaration for the Mediterranean will draft a manifesto highlighting the evolution and deterioration of the sea since its origin, listing the principal causes. The main goal of the declaration is to obtain signatures to promote the protection of 30% of the Spanish Mediterranean, adopting the recommendation of the international Campaign for Nature being promoted by National Geographic and the Wyss Foundation.
Once it has been drafted, the Association will promote a campaign among the scientific community to obtain signatures for the project and a communication campaign to involve civil society and gain social support for the initiative through the collection of signatures. Next, it will present the project to the Government.
The Declaration for the Mediterranean is an initiative being promoted by Asociación Vellmarí, an organisation founded by Manu San Félix in order to recover the Mediterranean by promoting sustainable fishing, water purification and the creation of protected marine zones. The association is establishing contacts to gain the support of key figures in conservation around the world.
Solidarity t-shirt and trousers
As part of the project and to celebrate World Ocean Day, Mango has designed a solidarity t-shirt and trousers under the slogan “From the sea for the sea”, which it launched last week and which are on sale in selected stores in Spain, the United States, Croatia and Greece, and via its website Mango.com in Spain. All profits will be donated to Asociación Vellmarí to promote a pioneering project for replanting posidonia (neptune grass), a marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean sea.
Mango has developed this collection in collaboration with Pyratex, a Spanish textile supplier that specialises in innovative fabrics. The t-shirt and the trousers, designed in Barcelona and manufactured in Morocco, are made from seaweed and wood cellulose blended with cotton.
Commitment to the planet
This initiative is part of Mango’s commitment to its sustainability strategy, Sustainable Vision 2030, which aims to implement measures to reduce the company's impact on the planet through four key policies: climate change, water consumption, packaging and a strategy to protect biodiversity.
Mango is working to protect and restore biodiversity through alliances and collaborations with key international organisations. In 2021, Mango signed up to the Canopy initiative, an organisation that works with the biggest consumers and suppliers of the forestry industry to develop solutions for protecting forests; and since last April, the company has worked with Conservation International, a global not-for-profit environmental organisation, to help protect 1,500 hectares of forest land worldwide, the equivalent of four New York Central Parks, in locations including the Brazilian rainforest, Cambodia and China.
About Manu San Félix and Asociación Vellmarí
Manu San Félix is an acclaimed marine biologist and National Geographic explorer who has dedicated his life to researching and protecting nature. In 1981, when diving in the Mediterranean for the first time, he discovered posidonia (neptune grass) and was amazed by this unique plant.
With over 30 years of research and 17 projects, Asociación Vellmarí is an organisation founded by Manu San Félix which promotes conservation, research, communication and marine education, in order to raise awareness and help respect the seas and oceans, and specifically the Mediterranean Sea.
