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Fashion sneakers propel sustainable rubber in Brazil Amazon

People walk near the home of a rubber tapper in the Rio Branco placement in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. The rubber for shoe company Veja comes from around 1,200 families from 22 local cooperatives spread across five Amazonian states: Acre, where the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve is located, Amazonas, Rondonia, Mato Grosso, and Para. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Employees work at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, and this has reenergized the production of a sustainable forest product and improved the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A worker shows a piece of a processed rubber plate taken for sample control at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, reenergizing the production of a sustainable forest product and improving the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Light shines on raw plates of pressed rubber at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, reenergizing the production of a sustainable forest product and improving the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A worker sorts processed and packaged rubber at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, reenergizing the production of a sustainable forest product and improving the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Industrial rubber is processed at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, reenergizing the production of a sustainable forest product and improving the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Cows roam an area recently deforested in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Nearly half of the state's rural workforce is employed in cattle ranching. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Rubber tapper Rogerio Mendes shows off his Veja sneakers, received as a prize for his work as a young rubber extractor in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Veja, an expensive global sneaker brand, is producing sneaker soles made of native Brazilian Amazon rubber in collaboration with local rubber tappers cooperatives. "They are making young people come back. They rekindled the hope of working with rubber even if it is a work in progress," Mendes said. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A rubber tree is prepared for the removal of rubber in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Veja, an expensive global sneaker brand, is producing sneaker soles made of native Brazilian Amazon rubber in collaboration with local rubber tappers cooperatives. The project has reenergized production of a sustainable forest product and improved the standard of living for hundreds of rural families of rubber tappers. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Rubber tappers Raimundo Mendes de Barros, left, and his son Rogerio Mendes place their hands on a rubber tree in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Veja, an expensive global sneaker brand, is producing sneaker soles made of native Brazilian Amazon rubber in collaboration with local rubber tappers cooperatives. The project has reenergized production of a sustainable forest product and improved the standard of living for hundreds of rural families of rubber tappers. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Rubber tapper Raimundo Mendes de Barros stands next to a tree prepared for the extraction of rubber, in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Veja, an expensive global sneaker brand, is producing sneaker soles made of native Brazilian Amazon rubber in collaboration with local rubber tappers cooperatives. The project has re-energized production of a sustainable forest product and improved the standard of living for hundreds of rural families of rubber tappers. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A worker transports a slab of raw rubber at a rubber industrial plant of the cooperative called Cooperacre, in Sena Madureira, Acre state, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. The shoe manufacturer Veja works with Cooperacre, reenergizing the production of a sustainable forest product and improving the living of hundreds of rubber tapper families. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Fashion sneakers propel sustainable rubber in Brazil Amazon