Ethical Sourcing Wild Fur
NAFA CERTIFIED™ RECOGNIZED BY FURMARK Certification is an industry wide initiative, developed and supported in all major fur producing regions. NAFA works closely with industry organizations to ensure that fur remains a responsible choice for the future. Developed by the International Fur Federation (IFF), FURMARK is a global program overseeing f ur trade traceability and certification. It is in place to ensure the highest welfare and environmental standards. It is an assurance that the fur industry is striving to further improve the sustainability of the sector. For consumers, it is the guarantee of good animal welfare and the origin of the fur product they are purchasing. NAFA Certified™ Wild Furs are supported and recognized by FURMARK. Certified furs purchased from NAFA can be labeled and sold as FURMARK or NAFA Certified™. Learn more about FURMARK at furmark.com
We believe it is vital to ensure that our products are ethically sourced from producers who uphold the highest standards in environmental stewardship, animal welfare, and sustainability.
NAFA’s Ethical Sourcing program was developed to give our customers the confidence that NAFA Certified™ furs are sourced from responsibly managed and sustainable populations of ranched and wild fur. We believe that quality products stem from the source. NAFA receives fur from small, family-run farms in North America and Europe and community-based, independent fur harvesters across North America. NAFA Certified™ furs are the result of a process that requires a significant amount of specialized skill, knowledge, and adherence to high ethical standards in the treatment of animals and environment. By the year 2020, NAFA will offer both wild and ranch certified furs, recognized by brands and consumers around the world.
NAFA’s Wild Fur Story Supplying furs to the world’s fashion community since 1670.
Throughout history, humans have hunted and trapped wild animals for food, clothing and protection. The trade of wild fur pelts is intricately woven into the history of Canada and the United States. Even before the arrival of Europeans, fur played a significant economic and cultural role for Indigenous peoples in North America. However, it was the search for wild furs – namely beaver – that drove Europeans to explore the continent in the 1600’s. This began the trade that would define the location of major cities across Canada and the U.S., first as fur trading posts and much later as modern metropolises. It would also define one of the first commercial enterprises in the New World, with the establishment of the historic Hudson’s Bay Company, North American Fur Auctions (NAFA)’s corporate predecessor, in 1670. North America’s wild fur trade is a tradition of excellence and modern example of the sound application of conservation principles, animal welfare, and sustainable development. It also continues to play a vital role in the economy and ecology as well as sustaining lifestyles and culture of both rural and Indigenous communities across North America. NAFA continues a centuries old tradition of supplying the largest collection of wild fur to the world’s fashion community, and today NAFA continues to support and endorse the best practices for the respect of people, animals and the environment.
Trapping in a Global Context Trapping of wildlife is practiced in virtually every country in the world for a variety of reasons, including:
Protecting endangered species
The re-introduction of species to their original habitats
Prevention of wildlife damage to human property and public safety
Protection of crops & domestic animals from wildlife destruction
Disease management for human and animal health
Managing invasive species
Stewards of the Land While wild fur trapping provides cultural links and important income in rural communities, it also provides a key link to the land and its resources. Trappers throughout North America are people with the knowledge and direct interest to protect vital wildlife habitats, including the largest urban centers.
The regular presence of trappers in the forests, marshes, streams and other wildlife habitats allows them to notice changes first-hand, and they play an important role in observing the environment and reporting what they see to conservation authorities. Trappers are experts on the status of furbearers in their regions. They are often the first people to record climate change impacts on wildlife health or the spread of wildlife disease, fluctuations in furbearer populations, or changes to the landscape that have been carefully noted over decades of living on the land. In North America, the harvesting of wild furbearers is legal and highly regulated in all American states, Canadian provinces and territories to ensure sustainability and humane care.
NAFA Certified™ Wild Fur Criteria
1. NAFA Certifed™ Wild Fur shippers agree to the Terms and Conditions.
2. NAFA Certifed™ Wild Fur Is Traceable.
3. NAFA Certifed™ Wild
Fur Is Regulated.
4. NAFA Certifed™ Wild Fur Is Sourced From Abundant And Sustainably Managed Furbearer Populations.
5. NAFA Certifed™ Wild Fur Supports Indigenous And Rural Communities.
Traceability Supply Chain
Producers and harvesters consign pelts to NAFA
Each pelt receives a barcoded tag
Certification status is recorded in NAFA’s database
Pelts are sorted and graded into lots
Lots are sold at auction to the highest bidder
Designers and manufacturers transform pelts into ready-to-wear garments
Pelts are dressed, dyed by fur processors
Retailers present and sell garments to the consumers
Traceability NAFA Certified™ Wild Fur is fully TRACEABLE and comes with all appropriate documentation for legal export and import.
Traceability refers to the ability to track and document the movement of an item through stages of a supply chain, including the ability to verify the origin, history, manufacturing process and final application of that item. Now in Phase II of NAFA’s Ethical Sourcing Program - Vision 2020, NAFA has developed a program to provide traceability information to brands. Each pelt that arrives at NAFA receives a bar-coded tag that can trace data such as species, country of origin, skin ticket number, year harvested and a code to identify the harvester/ shipper.
Laws, Regulations and Codes of Conduct NAFA Certified™ Wild Furs come from licensed trappers, qualified hunters or dealers, regulated through their state, provincial, or territorial wildlife agency.
To ensure that wild furbearers are harvested according to modern animal welfare standards, NAFA will continue to support the delivery in Canada and the United States of the world-class trap research and testing programs of both the Fur Institute of Canada and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. By working alongside state, provincial, territorial regional, national and international agencies and organizations, NAFA is able to ensure customers that the management, harvest and use of furbearers continues to be undertaken in a humane and sustainable manner that respects regulations, laws, standards, and codes of practice.
Sustainability NAFA Certified™ Wild Fur is sourced from ABUNDANT and SUSTAINABLY MANAGED furbearer populations.
NAFA wild furs will continue to be sourced from healthy, abundant and sustainably managed wild furbearer populations that are legally harvested. No endangered wildlife are handled by NAFA. Trapping has been a commercial practice for over 400 years. It remains one of the best case-studies for sustainable practice and solidifies an effective model in terms of regulation and sustainable use, with a history and heritage that touches virtually every community in North America. A portion of proceeds from NAFA Certified™ Wild Fur is donated to a number of organizations in order to SUPPORT the sustainable management and conservation of furbearing animals. NAFA’s trade in CITES Appendix II furbearer species will continue to support global wildlife conservation. Their trade only occurs where permitted by regulatory authorities in Canadian and United States.
Social Responsibility NAFA Certified™ Wild Fur SUPPORTS LOCAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES and RURAL TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLES through a variety of community initiatives.
Trapping provides food, clothing and much-needed income for families in rural or remote communities where other forms of employment may be hard to find. Many remote communities in Alaska and northern Canada, for example, are dependent on the sale of fur pelts. The income which can be seasonal, is often the difference-maker between lifestyles in remote areas being economically viable or not. Trapping also plays an essential role in preserving cultural practices for many indigenous communities; not only in its value in reconnecting to the land, but also in maintaining culture, tradition, language and heritage. It fosters the strengthening of social and family bonds, and the maintenance of a separate identity, a sense of continuity and a link with the past. A portion of proceeds from the sale of our certified wild fur is used to support youth-hunter education programs, local trapper councils and food security initiatives in northern and rural communities. Learn more about our Ethical Sourcing program and path towards 2020, at www.nafa.ca
www.nafa.ca