{"id":50047068,"date":"2021-10-08T19:58:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T18:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.dialogochino.net\/?p=47068"},"modified":"2023-02-22T19:53:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T19:53:03","slug":"47001-amazon-leather-industry-expansion-environmental-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/forests\/47001-amazon-leather-industry-expansion-environmental-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Leather industry expansion raises concerns in the Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leather production is expanding in the Legal Amazon, the northwestern region of Brazil containing all nine states in the Amazon basin, official statistics reveal<\/a>. However, the boom of activity in the region increases the risks to the already threatened tropical forest, experts warn.<\/p>\n

The region has increased its participation in the Brazilian leather chain. In 2020, more than 23 million units of raw leather were acquired by tanneries, the factories that process skins. Of these, almost 10 million \u2013 or 43% \u2013 are in the Legal Amazon. In 2010, the proportion was 27%, and in 2000, only 7%.<\/p>\n

This trend accompanies the shift in cattle ranching towards the north of the country. The herd in the region, which houses most of the biome,\u00a0grew three times<\/a>\u00a0above the national average this year alone. \u201cLeather follows the slaughter of cattle,\u201d explains Maur\u00edcio Bauer, WWF\u2019s Director for Meat and Leather Supply Chains.<\/p>\n

On the pastures, there is only one cattle-rearing chain; it is only in the slaughterhouse that the separation between meat and its byproducts, such as leather parts, occurs. Therefore, the problems are the same up to this point, for example, a lack of transparency in tracking the supply chain \u2013 that is, ensuring that animals are born and raised on farms that respect environmental legislation.<\/p>\n

A number of\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0studies<\/a>\u00a0have shown that major brands are prone, and sometimes directly related, to the purchase of raw materials produced from animals raised on illegally deforested farms.<\/p>\n

Around\u00a080% of Brazilian leather<\/a>\u00a0is exported. China, including Hong Kong, is the largest importer, with\u00a0more than 31% of purchases<\/a>\u00a0in 2020. But\u00a0only 4.3% of exports<\/a>\u00a0in that period came from states of the Legal Amazon.<\/p>\n

After the farm, the tannery<\/h2>\n

For decades, there was scrutiny on the environmental impacts of leather processing and the precarious working conditions in tanneries. For example, in the tanning process, chromium is added to prevent the leather from rotting, but as the substance changes state, it assumes polluting and highly dangerous characteristics.<\/p>\n

According to Bauer, this process generated concern for decades, but today the issue can be considered resolved. \u201cThe tanneries have started to comply with environmental legislation. There has been a lot of evolution in this area of pollutants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Manoel Jacinto, who researches leather at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), agrees: \u201cIt is very difficult for a tanning industry to install itself in a state and keep polluting without suffering fines. Currently, all tanneries need authorisation from the environmental agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

With these changes,\u00a0issues around cattle tracking<\/a>\u00a0and origin have instead grown to become the biggest environmental concern linked to the leather chain, according to Bauer.<\/p>\n

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