Buying Green > Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance

Office Depot provided $2.2 million of funding to Conservation International, NatureServe and The Nature Conservancy continued between 2004 and 2009. The Alliance reflects one of the largest-ever commitments by a corporation to work with conservation groups to support sustainable forestry. Specific tasks undertaken with our conservation partners in 2007 and 2008 included:

Risk Assessment

  • Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy worked with one of Office Depot’s suppliers in Brazil to evaluate sustainability practices on the supplier's lands in the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest region of São Paulo state.
  • Conservation International worked with Office Depot to update the supplier questionnaire used to evaluate the sustainability profile of prospective paper suppliers. This questionnaire was used to guide Office Depot’s fiber sourcing.

Improving Biodiversity Information

  • NatureServe continued to improve the quality of its biological data on rare species within Office Depot's "forest footprint." In 2007, this included the development of habitat and management information on 175 globally rare species of the Southeast, with a focus on the ecologically rich Cumberland Plateau.
  • The Nature Conservancy helped support the launch of the Boreal Information Centre in March 2007, which provides important data to the Canadian forest industry, governments and planners to further integrate forest planning and management with biodiversity conservation. The Centre continues to be improved and strengthened with Office Depot's support.

Forestland Stewardship and Outreach

  • A forester hired by The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee promoted sound forest management using federal cost-share programs to land owners of over 36,000 acres.
  • The Nature Conservancy co-organized a symposium on ecological, economic and social aspects of forestry operations in the Cumberland Plateau. Over 80 representatives attended from conservation groups, industry and government entities. The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe presented findings.
  • NatureServe has begun to work with state forestry associations in the southeastern US to enhance biodiversity training for foresters and loggers. Working with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, biodiversity presentations have been provided to a number of Office Depot suppliers in the state.

Conservation International has created tools for Office Depot paper buyers to help source from "well managed forests". They have also helped draft a Code of Conduct for paper suppliers.

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NatureServe has helped improve the quality of biodiversity data in Office Depot’s forest footprint and developed a “how to” guide for suppliers to document rare species and ecological communities.

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The Nature Conservancy has helped fund the Boreal Information Centre to provide data on the Boreal forest in Canada. TNC has led workshops on conservation goals in the Cumberland Plateau in the U.S.

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