"Report: Luxury carmakers still sourcing deforestation-linked leather from Paraguay", 21 October 2021

The forests of the Gran Chaco in Paraguay continue to be the target of illegal deforestation, prompting one of the world’s last uncontacted Indigenous nations to reportedly reach out to express their concern over the continued encroachment by outsiders.

In September 2020, an investigation by London-based NGO Earthsight exposed the link between the illegal clearances inside PNCAT, a protected territory that’s home to the Ayoreo Totobiegosode people, for cattle ranching, and the leather used by luxury carmakers such as BMW and Jaguar Land Rover...

In a follow-up report released last week, “Grand Theft Chaco II: The Vice Continues,” Earthsight said Paraguayan authorities had failed to investigate the exposed illegalities, resulting in new cases of illegal deforestation in the Gran Chaco...

“The Paraguayan authorities haven’t just ignored the evidence of illegalities. Without bothering to check the facts, they have sought to defend the companies responsible,” Earthsight said...

Both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover, when contacted by Earthsight, denied that their leather supply chains have any connections to deforestation in Paraguay.

While BMW refused to provide further information on the audit commissioned after the publication of the “Grand Theft Chaco” that led to their conclusion, Jaguar Land Rover said that its supplier, Pasubio, the biggest buyer of Paraguayan leather, had assured the company that after extensive investigation, it found it did not breach any national laws...