Richline Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is joining forces with jewelry industry leading organizations - including Ethical Metalsmiths, MJSA, JVC, Fair Trade Jewellery, Rio Grande, FJATA, Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Networks and Jewelers of America - to fight wildlife trafficking as part of its ongoing Richline Responsible initiative.
In addition to the company’s steadfast stance against the use of illegally acquired wildlife and wildlife products, Richline is now leading an initiative featuring a new campaign that seeks to diminish both supply and demand for these products throughout the industry. The campaign, which will appear in industry publications, seeks to raise awareness of the wildlife trafficking crisis in support of the President’s newly formed U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance.
As stated in the new campaign, the goal is to spread the industry-wide mission that, “it is the jewelry industry’s responsibility to comply with US and international laws with the goal of conserving wildlife and their habitat. Through our associations, members have implemented best practices that seek to eliminate the supply, and the demand for illegal wildlife products in our industry. We will continue to do so by working to keep illegal wildlife products out of our supply chains, and by educating our customers about the devastating impacts caused by the purchase of illegally trafficked wildlife products. We also encourage all member companies to make additional, voluntary commitments to protect, and to draw attention to threatened species that are being poached for commercial sale.”
When asked about the new campaign, Richline’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Hanna said, “we immediately connected with the goals, and the mission, of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance. There is much that we will need to do as an industry to combat this crisis, but the first need is clear: we must raise awareness throughout the jewelry industry in order to diminish demand. We felt it was our responsibility to help spread the word, and we are thrilled to see that so many key industry organizations are willing to get involved.”
