Cattle grazing in the Amazon rainforest - © Mikadx/Istockphoto
Nike Inc. has announced that it will stop using leather from cattle raised in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, due to its commitment to curbing the region's deforestation. Nike said its Brazilian leather suppliers have until July 1, 2010 to "create an ongoing, traceable and transparent system to provide credible assurances that leather used for Nike products is from cattle raised outside of the Amazon Biome." The statement also said, "We understand how important rainforests are to the health of the planet and the implications deforestation has on climate change and global warming."
Kudos to Greenpeace, which said Nike's decision was prompted by a recent report from the environmental group showing that leather and meat produced from cattle in the Amazon are major contributors to the region's deforestation. According to the Greenpeace report, "Slaughtering the Amazon," which was released in June, "every eight seconds, an acre of Amazon rainforest is destroyed for Brazilian cattle ranching, which is the biggest single driver of deforestation in the world." The three-year investigation "tracked beef, leather and other cattle products from ranches involved in deforestation at the heart of the Amazon rainforest."
