For Omega, its partnership with GoodPlanet Foundation since 2011 has raised awareness through award-winning documentaries and worthwhile projects in Botswana and Indonesia.
Founded by environmental activist and photographer Yann Arthurs-Bertrand, GoodPlanet’s first initiative with Omega was the Planet Ocean film in 2012, aimed to raise awareness for the protection of the oceans. The film presented aerial and underwater ocean views from more than 20 countries at the Rio+20 Summit, the biggest United Nations-led conference on sustainable development to date, showcasing the beauty of our planet and the difficulties the marine ecosystems are faced with.
Omega commemorated the success of the film with several timepieces of which the proceeds were donated to projects in Indonesia in preserving the unique ecosystems found in the oceans of Southeast Asia.
Next came the launch of the Time For The Planet projects in 2014 funded entirely by the sales from the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean GoodPlanet collection. The two projects aimed to set up restoration and conservation entities off the Indonesian coast over the next three years with local conservation activists, in hopes to maintain the natural heritage and preserve local economic activities.
As a result of the Time For The Planet projects, Omega and Hope Production released TERRA, a 90-minute documentary film by Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot. Available to watch on Netflix, the film focuses on the critical relationship between humans and animals – a tribute to the human race and its capability to change the future.
Omega spent time alongside Arthus-Bertrand as he captured the remarkable beauty of Botswana, travelling deep into the expansive Okavango Delta, as the environmental photographer documented the diverse wildlife in the area.
After TERRA launched in 2016, two new wildlife projects were established in Botswana, with a portion of the sales from the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra timepieces. These new projects in Botswana on the Boteti River and in the Delta of Okavango attempts to heal the divide by monitoring the movement of elephants as well as working alongside communities.
This article was first published in the August Man Malaysia April 2020 issue
