Exotic leathers
Although it is a niche in the tanning sector (less than 1% of production, for an annual turnover of around 100 million euros in Italy), the sourcing of exotic leather interacts significantly with the ecosystem and local communities involved in their supply chain. The exotic species trade, in fact, presents some critical issues related to resource availability, biodiversity protection and livelihood of rural populations, which affect the conservation dynamics of the habitats where the collecting takes place. For this reason, regulations and species protection initiatives at the international level have developed around the use of exotic animals for commercial purposes. The need to protect biodiversity and promote the economic development of populations that depend on this trade for their livelihoods while maintaining high standards of animal welfare gave rise first to the Washington Convention (CITES), entered into force in 1975 and guaranteeing the conservation and legality of international trade in more than 35,000 species of flora and fauna, and then to a series of multistakeholder initiatives at the international level.
Crocodiles
In the 1960s, a group of experts, including the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature, made up of government organizations and civil society representatives) began working to find a balance between wildlife conservation and the needs of local people. In 1975, these efforts produced an international market regulatory instrument, the CITES Convention. In parallel, crocodile breeding pioneered the development of a mechanism to help conserve and re-populate wildlife. Crocodile farming has created a sustainable business model that encourages local people to protect animals and their habitat. Crocodile farming is now an important example of sustainable use of wildlife.
Founded in 2016, the International Crocodilian Farmers’ Association (ICFA) is the international association of crocodilian farmers, established specifically with the goal of promoting and implementing sustainable farming practices in the crocodile industry worldwide, with a focus on continuously improving animal welfare on farms, increasing biodiversity, and creating jobs in rural communities that depend on the use of natural resources for their economic development. The ICFA is supported by major luxury brands, tanneries, manufacturers, and business associations that aim to implement the highest ethical standards in the industry and ensure the pursuit of sustainable sourcing goals in their supply chains. ICFA was created to guide the industry in developing and implementing the highest standards in husbandry practices, as defined in ICFA Standards 1001:2019. The standards meet the requirements of national and international regulations, as well as CITES regulations.
UNIC and ICFA have been collaborating for several years to promote, through joint communication events and training initiatives, the sustainability of the crocodile leather supply chain.
Snakes
The reptiles predominantly used in tanning come from areas from Southeast Asia. The larger species have historically been used by local communities, both as a source of livelihood and, in particular, to reduce the impact of predation on livestock and local people, who used them in a variety of areas, including food, medicine, leather, and traditional tool making.
Since the 1930s, demand for reptile leathers from the luxury apparel industry in Europe and North America has increased due to the unique aesthetics, durability, and quality of the reptile skins used to produce high-end products.
This demand has led to significant growth in the international trade of reptile leather. Approximately 90-95% of the reptile leather traded is taken from its natural habitat, which is why the trade is regulated by local governments and, again, the CITES Convention, to monitor and regulate its commercial taking to ensure that this does not endanger the survival of the species.
In addition to the protection of biodiversity, the reptile leather trade provides jobs, additional income, and a source of secure livelihood for rural people in Southeast Asia and incentivizes the coexistence of natives with predatory species. Efforts and investments by the governments of producer countries and their wildlife agencies, the efforts of scientists, wildlife regulators, and the reptile leather industry have done much to modernize and legitimize Southeast Asia’s regional reptile industry.
In addition, the application of independently approved and reviewed scientific conservation methodologies is demonstrating that wild reptile populations are healthy and resilient, able to sustain their removal without endangering local ecosystems and species.
However, challenges remain, and despite exemplary structures in producing countries that meet the highest international standards, continued work is needed to bring the entire industry to a common base of sustainability and legality practices that meet the expectations of domestic and international stakeholders.
Although created several years earlier in an informal capacity, SARCA was formally established in 2018 as a collaborative initiative of BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) organized through an association model, composed of stakeholders from across the supply chain. SARCA members also include scientific and regulatory bodies involved in conservation, including the IUCN SSC Snake Specialist Group, the Swiss CITES Management Authority, representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks. SARCA, which until a couple of years ago had over 20 members active in the Southeast Asian reptile skin trade, including representatives of luxury fashion brands, tanneries, facilities, and farms, underwent a transformation in 2023, which culminated in 2024 with the incorporation of SARCA into IMARC (International Multistakeholder Alliance for Reptile Conservation). IMARC, as an association that brings together all the representatives that make up the reptile skin supply chain, will follow the path already laid out by SARCA.
IMARC’s mission is to promote responsible reptile leather supply chains and encourage improvements in the trade’s operating environment, enabling sustainable sourcing that promotes social justice, economic development, animal welfare, and biodiversity conservation. The Association operates globally and covers all reptile supply chains (particularly snakes and lizards). Similar to SARCA, IMARC is made up of a large multi-stakeholder representation, including companies in the luxury fashion supply chain (brands and large groups, tanneries, traders, associations and federations, processing plants, farms, and collectors) and honorary members (distribution and supply area states, regulatory authorities, species conservation institutions, scientists, and experts). In addition, IMARC operates as a technical platform aimed at promoting responsible and transparent supply chains for Southeast Asian reptile skins and improving the overall business environment through a standardized approach and methodology for assurance, based on ISEAL standards and supported by sound science and stakeholder engagement.
The guarantee framework will define minimum standards and best practices, as well as an approach for assessing compliance with agreed standards and reviewing practices with a view to further guarantees in accordance with the RRSS (Responsible Reptile Sourcing Standard) protocol defined by SARCA in 2021 to establish the environmental and social performance levels required throughout the supply chain according to assessment criteria that include corporate integrity, animal welfare, and social and environmental responsibility. IMARC’s goal, based on the RRSS standard, is to implement a certification scheme available to the entire supply chain by the end of 2025.
UNIC has been part of SARCA since 2017, and in 2024, it became a founding member of IMARC, the association which incorporated SARCA.
Kangaroos
The welfare and survival of kangaroos is critical to all Australians and to the future of the commercial kangaroo industry. Kangaroos are protected by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), enforced and administered by state and territory governments. Several national and state laws also are in place to conserve all kangaroo and wallaby species (macropods) and Australia’s unique biodiversity. Commercial collecting is a way in which some states control high populations of kangaroos in certain areas in a sustainable and pragmatic way, for meat production and leather.
Australia is a vast country that is home to more than 40 million kangaroos. No kangaroo or wallaby species whose survival is threatened can be captured in the wild. The commercial industry is only allowed to capture six of the many species of kangaroo and wallaby in the wild, within strict compliance with annual government quotas generally set between 10 % and 15% depending on the different kangaroo species. Without commercial culling and collecting, kangaroo population management measures would still remain in place for biodiversity protection purposes. This means that kangaroo populations would still be maintained at sustainable levels through government culling: the absence of a commercial industry could instead lead to many more unregulated and illegal hunts, with poorer sustainability and animal welfare outcomes.
Inspired by the legacy of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA, founded in 1970) starting from 2023, the Australian Wild Game Industry Council (AWGIC), a rebranding of KIAA, remains steadfast in its commitment to raise the commercial kangaroo industry and confirm itself as the international benchmark for sustainable wildlife collecting according to animal welfare best practices. Kangaroo culling and collecting is an important goal of AWGIC and is, as taught by the decades-old system put in place by Australian authorities, the best way to ensure that kangaroo populations do not exceed the regenerative capacity of the land, to ensure the survival of all kangaroo species and preserve biodiversity. This responsible management of kangaroo populations for general conservation purposes is like other wildlife management programs undertaken around the world, such as deer in parts of Europe and North America.
Click here to learn more about kangaroo leather (site in English).