Ivorian Palm oil billionaire Jean-Louis Billon has been named an IUCN Patron of Nature in China

The International Union for Conservation of Nature named Jean-Louis Billon a Patron of Nature on Monday, Sept. 14, at its gathering in Dunhuang, China. He is the first person from West Africa to hold the title since the programme began in 2010.

Billon chairs SIFCA, the Société Immobilière et Financière de la Côte Africaine, one of the largest agribusiness groups in West Africa. It works in palm oil, rubber and sugar, the three crops most often blamed for clearing tropical forest.

The IUCN cited what the company has protected rather than what it grows. SIFCA has preserved more than 4,650 hectares of forest, protected 8,400 hectares of classified forest, replanted hundreds of hectares a year and conserved close to 60,000 sea turtles.

Côte d'Ivoire is an unusual place for that record. The country lost the overwhelming majority of its forest cover during the twentieth century, much of it to cocoa and palm oil, and its remaining protected areas are under continuous pressure from farming.

Grethel Aguilar, the IUCN's director general, said Billon brings a commitment to showing that economic development and conservation can work together, and that his support for forest protection and restoration in Côte d'Ivoire would add a valuable perspective.

Billon said Africa's long-term prosperity depends on treating nature not only as a resource to protect but as a driver of sustainable economic development.

His career has moved between business and office. He has served as mayor of Dabakala, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Côte d'Ivoire, minister of trade, and a member of parliament, while running one of the country's largest private groups.

The Patrons of Nature programme, established in 2010, brings together senior figures who advise the IUCN, raise money for its main initiatives and advocate for conservation. It is an honorary position rather than an executive one.