Sustainably Crafted

The indigenous people of the Peruvian Rainforest have been wild crafting Dragon's Blood for generations.

Originally the tribe would select a prime Croton Lechleri tree and create a laceration.  The fresh red resin, Dragon's Blood, known as Sangre de Grado, would seep out to be collected for immediate use.

Due to growing popularity in cities and other urban areas, Dragon's Blood been increasingly collected and sold as a commercial commodity.  This practice has become worse with western demand in recent years.  We are seeing trees being over-extracted and the extraction of trees outside of their prime.  Harvested trees are damaged and never fully recover, inhibiting the natural state of the tree and its ability to protect other species in the rainforest.  Trees that have been over-harvested multiple times result in low quality product with reduced potency. In some cases the tree/product becomes rotten by extreme over extraction due to industrialization.

In order to protect the rainforest ecosystem we abandoned the common wild crafting model and introduced a succession reforestation model.  Our Croton Lechleri trees are planted in previously deforested areas.  The trees are hand selected and only the healthiest are brought to their prime.  When producing our Dragon's Blood, the trees are removed instead of leaving them in a state of limbo never being able to recover and thrive.  The removal of mature trees allows younger trees to reach for the sun and mature.  The canopy of Croton Lechleri provides shade to allow for planting of additional species and the opportunity to produce multiple crops.

This process ensures that you always receive the best quality Dragon's Blood with the highest purity and strength.  Most importantly no damage is caused to the rainforest and our model creates a carbon negative environment encouraging plant life recovery in Amazonia.

We are on our second generation crop with a reforestation model that will continue to increase our coverage of previously logged and deforested land at an average pace of 8% per year.  As we are directly connected to the sources and visit the Croton Lechleri operation, we can ensure that Good Manufacturing Practices are exercised.  It is very rewarding to directly observe that all workers are provided a high employment standard and taking pride in both the health of the crop and the product you receive.

The result is unnecessary harm in the Jungle and wildlife with very little benefit. Our partners recognized that unless alternative opportunities were offered, the damage to the rainforest will continue. It is similar to the poaching of animals for meat and even pets. The extreme poverty in these areas is also a contributing source of the forest destruction and the already threatened wildlife. According to one of our partners, "This river used to be full of Caiman crocodiles, now we can drive for five hours and never see one. Hunters use rifles to shoot the crocodiles for meat and the teeth and skin to be sold." We and our partners strongly urge tourists to refuse to purchase any animal products including bird feathers. The decisions of consumers becomes the utmost importance. While we recognize the local peoples are entitled to hunt and harvest trees for shelter, canoes and food, providing additional opportunity for sustainable jobs is a viable option to these isolated communities. 

To safeguard the biodiversity of the rainforest our partners started planting trees for harvest in highly advantageous areas. This creates a carbon positive sustainable resource of highly potent superfoods and medicines. By participating in afforestation and reforestation projects we believe that our model can ensure our customers receive a pure product with as little impact to the environment as possible. This means repairing lands that were previously logged while making local peoples enthusiastic stakeholders. While this product is new to Canada, our partners’ second generation Dragon's Blood is well established.