photo: Marc Berry via flickr
Nike Inc., the largest athletic shoemaker, will boycott leather from Brazil’s Amazon region after the environmental group Greenpeace said cattle-rearing was helping destroy the world’s biggest tropical rainforest.
The Beaverton, Oregon-based sportswear company issued an “Amazon Leather Policy” and said late yesterday it will insist suppliers are able to trace the origins of leather used in Nike products by July 1, 2010, to ensure none of the cattle are reared in Amazonia “and its related ecosystem.”
“Nike has recognized that trampling over the Amazon rainforest to produce leather for its trainers is an unacceptable way of doing business,” Sarah Shoraka, a Greenpeace forest campaigner, said today. “Preparing land for cattle ranching is now the single biggest cause of deforestation in the world and a major driver of climate change.”
Tropical logging makes up about 17 percent of the global emissions of heat-trapping gases blamed for warming weather, according to the United Nations. Greenpeace last month said cattle-rearing in the Amazon accounted for 14 percent of the world’s annual deforestation.
Greenpeace today called on companies including Germany’s Adidas AG, its Reebok unit and the U.K. chain Clarks to take similar measures as Nike.
“Nike has taken a bold step and now we need to see other companies follow their lead,” Shoraka said in an e-mail.
Cutting down rainforests also reduces biodiversity and risks extinguishing plant species that may have medical uses, environmentalists say.
Could Expand Boycott
Nike said if suppliers fail to meet the deadline for proving the origin of leather, the company may expand the region from which it won’t source leather to include non-forested areas in all nine Brazilian states that contain parts of the Amazon.
“Nike can say with a high level of certainty that leather used in Nike products is not sourced within the Amazon basin,” the shoemaker said in a statement on its Web site. “However, recognizing that there is no current leather traceability system to track the origins of leather with 100 percent confidence, we have released a policy which requires our suppliers to establish a traceability system over the coming year.”
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