Office Depot and The Nature Conservancy announced on Wednesday the creation of a new boreal ecologist position as part of Office Depot's continuing support of and participation in the Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.
Office Depot and The Nature Conservancy announced on Wednesday the creation of a new boreal ecologist position as part of Office Depot's continuing support of and participation in the Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. Office Depot is one of the largest office products and services companies in the US, and The Nature Conservancy is a private, international, non-profit organization established in 1951 to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth.
Formed in 2004 by Office Depot, in partnership with Conservation International, NatureServe, and The Nature Conservancy -- three of the world's most respected science-driven conservation organizations -- the Alliance addresses forest and biodiversity conservation issues within the supply chain.
"For more than a year, the Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance has been advancing responsible forest practices and developing better information on at-risk species," said Tyler Elm, Director of Environmental Affairs for Office Depot. "This position was created in part to help our suppliers identify and conserve areas of exceptional biodiversity value within the Canadian boreal forest, which will assist them in meeting the requirements of Office Depot's Environmental Paper Procurement Policy."
Evie Witten has been named to the ecologist position, serving as the boreal forest scientist for The Nature Conservancy's Canada/U.S. Partnership. In her new role, she will collaborate with forest industry partners and conservation groups including World Wildlife Fund Canada and NatureServe Canada to help identify high conservation values in the production forests of the Canadian boreal. In addition, Witten will help lead conservation area design efforts in Northeastern Ontario, Western Quebec and other boreal regions by working alongside forest industry partners, provincial governments, and conservation groups.
Witten previously served as Director of the World Wildlife Fund Alaska Field Office, securing the conservation of biologically important areas, with particular focus on the Bering Sea. She also worked for the US Forest Service documenting and modeling fire and other natural disturbances in Alaska forests. As a contract manager for The Nature Conservancy, Witten drafted assessments that established the Forest Legacy Program in Alaska. From 1995 to 1999, Witten was Executive Director of the Great Land Trust in Alaska. She also has extensive prior consulting experience as a forest ecologist.
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"The Alliance is working aggressively to harness conservation science and business ingenuity to achieve positive outcomes for global forests and biodiversity," said Mike Andrews, Chief Conservation Officer of The Nature Conservancy. "By bringing an experienced ecologist such as Evie Witten on board, we are taking considerable steps forward in helping make these goals a reality."
Already on the job, Witten is working with World Wildlife Fund Canada and Abitibi-Consolidated to apply NatureServe and other data to identify high conservation value forests in the forestlands associated with Office Depot's supply chain. Once identified, Abitibi will collaborate with key stakeholders, including provincial governments, to address any needs for special management or conservation.
"Forest Conservation planning is a key focus of our activities and we greatly value our collaboration with Office Depot, the Alliance and World Wildlife Fund, to explore efficient and effective mechanisms for implementing sound conservation practices," said Francine Dorion, Vice President of Sustainability and Environment for Abitibi-Consolidated, a key Office Depot paper supplier, global leader in newsprint and commercial printing papers, and major producer of wood products. "Together through active engagement, we are building a stronger knowledge base for planning and identifying measurable outcomes for forest species, ecological communities, and landscapes."
The Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance also focuses on developing scientific information to improve forest management, applying science-based methods for biodiversity conservation, enhancing environmental procurement practices, and training foresters and scientists.
"The Alliance is a unique blend of corporate and environmental interests working to achieve measurable conservation outcomes," said Dennis Grossman, Vice President for Science at NatureServe. "Together, we are advancing the conservation of species, biological communities, and ecological systems in forest landscapes, and identifying landscape-level planning approaches that employ responsible forest practices."
Alliance participation and support is a key component of Office Depot's five-year strategy to advance the company's forest and biodiversity conservation policies and incorporate conservation science into paper-procurement decisions. Office Depot has integrated Alliance objectives into its paper-procurement policy, with a focus on reducing the environmental footprint of its forest and paper-product suppliers while contributing to global biodiversity conservation.
Participation in the Alliance has also enabled Office Depot to identify challenges to forest and biodiversity conservation faced by landowners, managers, and the company's own sourcing and vendor compliance personnel. In addition, it has strengthened the company's ability to address these challenges and implement corporate policies on rare and vulnerable forests and those containing exceptional biodiversity values.
Office Depot, listed on both the FTSE4Good Index and Dow Jones Sustainability Index, focuses its environmental initiatives on sustainable forest management, recycling and pollution reduction, as well as promotion of environmental issues and markets for environmentally-preferable products.
Beyond its industry-leading 35% post-consumer waste content paper, Office Depot offers thousands of products containing recycled materials. In January 2005, the company issued its Green Book catalog of almost 2,500 environmentally-friendly products to U.S. contract customers. The 84% increase in environmentally-preferable products highlighted in the 2005 edition, includes paper; pens; energy efficient computer displays, printers and light bulbs; toner cartridges; and biodegradable packing materials.
The Green Book itself is the only environmentally-preferable office products catalog printed on elemental chlorine-free 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper and is distributed to more than 40,000 organizations to easily help "green" their office supply purchasing process.
About Office Depot: Office Depot has sales of nearly $14 billion, with business in 23 countries and about 47,000 employees worldwide. The company's online sales were about $3 billion in fiscal 2004, and it has about 1,000 retail stores in North America. The company's trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP.
About The Nature Conservancy: With operations in all 50 U.S. states and 30 other countries, The Nature Conservancy is a private, international, non-profit organization established in 1951 to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 117 million acres in the United States and 27 countries around the world. Additional information can be found at http://nature.org.
About Conservation International: Conservation International (CI) believes that the Earth's natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally and economically. CI is currently working on projects in more than 40 countries on four continents to protect global biodiversity and demonstrate that human societies can live harmoniously with nature. CI develops scientific, policy, and economic solutions to protect threatened natural ecosystems that are rich in biodiversity. To find out more, visit http://www.conservation.org.
About NatureServe: NatureServe is a non-profit conservation group dedicated to providing the scientific information and technology needed to guide effective conservation action. NatureServe represents a network of 75 natural heritage programs and conservation data centers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America that collect and analyze information on plants, animals, and ecosystems. NatureServe is a leading source for detailed scientific information about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems. Visit us on the web at www.natureserve.org.
Source: CSRwire, Businesswire, Office Depot
