We at the EcoPol project have focused heavily on the Hazaribagh tanneries
in Bangladesh, and with good reason: the atrocious treatment of the environment
and employees there is so shocking, so dramatic that it deserves the attention
of the world. But many of us also recall another heinous environmental practice
also committed in the name of bovine leather from the news reports that we saw
as children in the 80s and 90s. Who can forget the appalling images of
lush Amazonian rainforest belching forth billows of opaque smoke, blotting out
the blue sky from the background of the TV screen as bulldozers tore from
fertile soil the still living roots of fresh-cut tree stumps? Although the
amount of attention given to this practice has decreased dramatically, the
deforestation of South American rainforests continues to this day in the name
of increased production of bovine light leather. Although the topic is old, it
deserves a new look, as recent developments and changes to Brazil's Forest Code
could herald the widespread return of the grisly scenes like those we saw on TV
as children, rather than causing such practices to fade into memory as one more
of humanity's never-to-be repeated industrial nightmares.
Brazil is a nation of opposites; a country that at times seems to be
comprised almost solely of stark
contrasts stitched together like a quilt of clashing opposites. Brazil
is marked by seemingly impossible comparisons: poverty-stricken favelas mere
minutes from the metropolis of São Paulo, high tech private hospitals that
rival developed western nations' state-of-the-art medical facilities standing
alongside the appallingly understaffed and unsanitary public versions.
Even when seen from far above the Earth, from distances at which socioeconomic
differences all appear to blend together, Brazil's polar nature is on display;
in satellite photos, the country is a colorful patchwork. Vibrant greens and
blues bloom from vast tracts of rainforest, spreading until they butt-up
against the sharply defined lines drawn in the ashen blacks, tarry browns, and
dusty grays of the cities: favelas and fifth avenues, slums and skyscrapers,
asphalt and jungle. Indeed, Brazil is a nation typified by extremes, where leaders
of drug trafficking gangs are recruited by fashionistas to trade in
their life of slums and slinging drugs for red carpets and catwalks.
Taking into account the frequency with which polar opposites like these
co-exist in close proximity inside the South American nation, it becomes less
surprising to consider that a country where over one
in five citizens lives below the poverty line also has a thriving
middle class that has boosted the country to a global economic power. But
with this increased presence in the global market and the subsequent boon for
Brazil's economy, the other side of the ever-rotating coin that is Brazil comes
with a tragic turn for the environment. A turn which, with few exceptions,
seems to exist to this day without its opposite alongside.
Many of those aforementioned spans of rainforest are being clear cut,
burned, and converted into space for cattle ranching. Starting
in 2006, Brazil became the world's 2nd most prolific exporter of bovine leather.
Between 2006 and 2008, the nation was exporting between 1,500,000,000 and
2,000,000,000 square feet of leather. Greenpeace reports that during that same
time period, over
80% of the deforestation devastating the rainforests within Brazil was done in
the name of expanding the amount of acreage viable for cattle.
Consequently, with 80% of the deforestation caused by the demand for leather,
the vast majority of leather exported from Brazil during this time period was
likely to be from cows raised on what once was rainforest.
Today, Brazil is still second
only to China in the amount of leather exported. In fact, Brazil is the source
of much of the tanned leather that luxury Italian brands purchase, re-tan,
re-purpose, and re-brand as Italian leather. Although Brazilian deforestation
is down 76% from its all time high in 2004, much of what once was rainforest is
still de-forested, and most ranchers continue to ignore the Forest Code the
country established in 1965 which mandates that the ratio of trees to heads of
cattle must remain at or above 80:20. A 2012
Guardian report finds that most cattle ranches have this ratio
inverted.
It seems that when it comes to
deforestation, despite public governmental posturing against the practice
exemplified by the nation's 2004 vow to cut deforestation by 80% within 16 years,
there is a disturbing amount of consistency in the practice of deforestation.
The only polar opposites within the Brazilian leather industry seem to be those
seen in the conflict between politicians' publicly made statements and their
actions that follow.
For example, a
2009 Greenpeace study found that nearly two and a half acres of Amazon
rainforest are lost every 18 seconds to cattle ranch related deforestation. The
study further reported that although then president Lula publicly denounced the
practice, this massive biome upheaval was sponsored by the dollars of
state-funded banks (THERE'S the contrast). Recent changes to the Forest
Code have greatly diminished the federal government's ability to enforce the
code, and between 2010-2011, deforestation increased by 30%. According to a
2011 Greenpeace report, these changes to the Forest Code will not only
prevent the country from achieving its 80% reduction in the rainforest
destruction by 2020, but will actually increase the amount of deforestation by
almost 50% by the time the deadline is reached. Furthermore, Brazil intends to
double its nation's cattle production by the year 2018.
Thankfully, despite the nearly overwhelming homogeneity seen in the
socio-political and economic stances taken towards the destruction of Brazilian
rainforests, Brazil is still a nation of opposites. Although comparatively
diminutive, there do exist groups proposing and providing alternatives to the
widespread and short-sighted demolition of Brazilian rainforest- standing as a
tiny speck of contrast against over a decade of environmental destruction.
One
such example is the Brazilian Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock
(BRSL), a group dedicated to a zero-deforestation future for Brazil's bovine
leather industry that seeks realistic approaches to achieving such goals
through a comprehensively widespread methodology such as economic incentives
offered to those who participate in sustainable means of cattle farming and
leather production. The BRSL has just signed an agreement with the Brazilian
government that will work towards restoring 37 million acres of destroyed and
degraded pastures.
Brazil may have sharp contrast
in close proximity in its social status, economic standing, quality of housing,
and even in the colors that comprise its landscapes in satellite photos, but a
balanced contrast that sustains a nearly equally sized opposite is something
that just does not exist in the area of Brazilian bovine ranching and the
deforestation that has become the preferred method of feeding this industry's
expansion. If this continues unchecked, then it may not be long before we all
see TV reports again of green rainforests reduced to black ash, yellow
bulldozers, and white cattle, but this time, these horrific images would be
seen via high resolution HD broadcasts. But thanks to the efforts of groups
like the BRSL and others like them, there are ways to prevent this regression
to total deforestation. In the meanwhile, we must not look away until these
nightmares are alive again on news broadcasts, and instead, turn our attention,
and the attention of everyone around us, to the development of
deforestation-related legislation in the land of stark contrast.
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