Xerox, The Nature Conservancy extend forest conservation partnership

Xerox is set to invest an additional $1 million over the next four years in the second phase of its partnership with The Nature Conservancy to promote forest conservation and sustainable forest management around the globe.

The agreement builds on the work of the Forest Conservation Partnership between Xerox and The Nature Conservancy, which began in October 2006 with an initial investment of $1 million.

“Much of the work during the first phase of the partnership focused on the protection of the Boreal forest in Canada,” says Tanya Moodley, marketing director of the Xerox division at Bytes Document Solutions, authorised Xerox distributor to 27 sub-Saharan countries.

Xerox supported the launch and deployment of the Canadian Boreal Data Centre, linking forest data and information to diverse users across continents with the goal of improving resource management, monitoring and conservation planning.

The partnership also supported activities aimed at successful and full implementation of the High Conservation Value (HCV) concept in the Boreal forest, a key tool for identifying priority habitats. High Conservation Value Forests have conservation, biodiversity or social values considered to be of outstanding significance or critical importance.

“Our work will help stem the tide of forest loss and degradation that contributes 15% of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere each year,” says Bill Ginn, chief conservation officer at The Nature Conservancy. “Xerox has demonstrated real leadership in promoting responsible forest management - both in areas that they source from and in other key geographies around the globe. It's partnerships like these that are starting to change how forests are managed and how areas of High Conservation Value are treated within working landscapes.”

In addition, the partnership yielded methods and tools that support effective land-use decisions in Canada, Indonesia and Brazil, and fostered stronger international sustainable forestry standards that will promote biodiversity conservation.

“Collaborating with The Nature Conservancy over the last three years resulted in real economic, social and environmental benefits, creating a solid foundation to build on,” says Patricia Calkins, Xerox's VP for sustainability, environment, health and safety.

Work supported by the second $1 million grant began in January, with a focus on:

* Developing and testing a forest carbon methodology for improved forest management that would allow landowners to achieve forest certification and serve as a platform for potential carbon benefits;
* Strengthening a key tool for identifying priority habitats - the High Conservation Value (HCV) approach - by building consistency across projects, disseminating standards and training assessors through global and regional HCV networks; and
* Promoting responsible forestry through the implementation of forest management standards by working with Xerox suppliers and other land managers at two sites in North America - Central-Western New York and across the Canadian Boreal forest (including a focused project in Northwest Ontario).

“The work we are doing with The Nature Conservancy directly aligns with our core values and our goal of creating a sustainable paper cycle,” says Joe Cahalan, president, The Xerox Foundation. “We feel there is so much more to be done to minimise the impact on the world's forests and their ecosystems. This investment has the potential of paying big conservation dividends now and in the future.”