Belart is a Fair Trade socially responsible small business based in Vermont, USA. Belart's mission is to support and empower women, and provide sustainable employment for economically disadvantaged, vulnerable and displaced communities in Columbia.
Tagua nuts are the seeds from the fruits of the Phytelephas Aequatorialis palm tree which grows in the equatorial region of the Amazon rain forest. Known as "vegetable ivory," it is a biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable resource. The nuts are collected after they fall to the ground, leaving the palm trees unharmed.
The use of tagua and agave fiber, and its harvesting, provides an eco-friendly alternative to the use of the tropical rain forest's resources, thus helping to protect and save the rain forest from tilling and burning to use as cattle grazing land.
