SUSTAINABILTY 71


Illipe butter and protecting the rainforests of Borneo


n Richard Scott – Editor, Personal Care


When asked to think of natural butters for skin care, many people will first think of shea or cocoa. Illipe butter is much less well known, but is becoming increasingly popular. Similar to cocoa butter, but with a higher melting point, it offers excellent moisturising and anti-ageing properties for skin and hair care products. Illipe butter is produced from the natural


resources of Borneo, which is undergoing a widely-reported ecological crisis as a result of deforestation. So, is it possible to use Illipe butter in a sustainable way that protects the inhabitants of Borneo now and into the future? Personal Care spoke with Dirk-Jan


Oudshoorn, co-founder of Forestwise to discover more about Illipe butter and the efforts to ensure its manufacture is not putting additional strain on Borneo’s precious ecosystem. Forestwise was founded in 2018 by Theo


Smits and Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn with a mission to stop deforestation and create ‘rainforest value’ by developing a market


August 2020


for valuable products from the rainforest and empower local people to protect the remaining forest. By helping to maintain the wild rainforest, Forestwise also conserves wildlife, generates employment and income for local inhabitants, and safeguards fresh water, fresh air and fertile soils. Forestwise has an office in Netherlands


and production facilities in Kalimantan, Indonesia.


Personal Care: Could you give some background to Illipe butter? How long has it been used for skin care? Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn: Illipe butter is the fat from the nuts of the endangered Shorea stenoptera tree, which only grows in the forests of Borneo. The Dayak people, indigenous to Borneo, have been making Illipe butter for centuries. Traditionally, the butter has been used by the Dayak people as an ancient remedy for repairing chronically dry or cracked skin, to heal sores and sunburn, and even to enhance flavour in food.


PC: How are the nuts traditionally processed? How different is the process when carried out in a factory setting? D-J: Traditionally, the locals would pick the nuts up from the forest floor, dry them in the sun, and pound the shells until the seeds break away and can be winnowed out. They would then use large blocks of wood to squeeze the oil out from the seeds. The traditional method of processing


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