STRATHAM, NH — Timberland is now the second footwear company to craft a policy that will ensure its leather supply chain does not contribute to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest after being called out in a Greenpeace report.

On its Earthkeepers blog, Timberland writes that deforestation is a "particular concern to Timberland, as the deforesting is by farms that may ultimately provide cattle and hides to our leather supply chain.”

The company continues:

...we are working closely with our suppliers in Brazil, including Bertin, to ensure they have an action plan in place that addresses their commitment to an immediate moratorium on deforestation in the Amazon Biome, and of course refraining from sourcing products from indigenous or protected lands or entities that engage in slave labor.  

Timberland will also require all suppliers to publicly commit, by Aug. 15 this year, to support an immediate end to cattle expansion into the Amazon. The policy additionally calls for the development of a leather tracing and monitoring system, and moving away from suppliers whose farms have contributed to deforestation since July 2006.

The announcement comes on the heels of a similar pledge from Nike, whose new leather policy says that it will not use leather that comes from cattle raised in the Amazon Biome (the Amazon rainforest and its related ecosystem) and calls on its suppliers to create a leather tracking system by July 1, 2010.

Both company policies were spurred by a Greenpeace report, “Slaughtering the Amazon,” which shows how their supply chains, and the supply chains of a number of other footwear companies, intersect with deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

^{Timberland boot - CC license by chokola}