When I think about nature’s services, my mind first goes to clean air and water. But there’s a whole gang of other services that the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identifies. Cotton, hemp and silk fall under ‘fibers’ and I suppose leather and crocodile skin falls under ‘livestock.’ Sounds unsophisticated to talk about the essential ingredients in high fashion in that way, but… there you go. Fashion through an ecosystem services lens. Going through my GoogleReader, I came across an article in the Huffington Post about fashion industry activities to protect their source ingredients. Two nice case studies:
1) Save the wool: invest in sustainable livelihoods and reduce threats to habitat.
blllaaagggg… I make a beautiful coat. Photo by HBarrison.
Zegna Group, a member of the International Vicuña Consortium, took in hand a project to protect the endangered South American camelid from poaching. The group, today, by investing in irrigation projects and working with local communities helps to keep vicuña in their habitat. “I think our project is the first one done by a private brand in Peru, which can be a good example for other enterprises or even to the Peruvian government,” comments Paola Zegna, head of luxury men’s outfitter Ermenegildo Zegna. Loro Piana, Zegna and Incapalca are three companies that convinced the Peruvian government in 1994 to revive the vicuña wool export after it was forbidden in 1969 to avoid its extinction. These companies by helping to maintain biodiversity have access to a scarce material — named “the fiber of the gods” — that allows them to sell coats as exclusive as $18,000.
2) No net crocodile loss
Yacare caiman. Photo by MiguelVieira
When asked to cite another successful ‘biodiverse’ story, Mr. Escobedo did not hesitate to state the Yacare caiman skins used by Bolivian communities. The sustainable management plan implemented in this area ensures that harvesting does not exceed reproduction rates and doubles the income of hunters selling legally-hunted crocodiles. The reptile skin industry, which developed widely in the 20th century, historically provided reptile skins coming from wild reptiles killed for commercial use. Today the context is changing with wildlife conversation public concerns. Though quite a bit of controversy can ensue as to whether it is ethical to harvest animal skins to begin with for fashion-based products, it no doubt important to enact proper policies, community sustainable development measures, and overall awareness to ensure that our world’s ecosystems remain intact.
Madsen Environmental 