Office Depot and The Nature Conservancy Employ New Boreal Ecologist to Assist the Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Canada; Hiring Reflects Ongoing Corporate Commitment to Environmental Leadership.DELRAY BEACH Delray Beach, resort city (1990 pop. 47,181), Palm Beach co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled 1895, inc. 1911. Mostly residential, Delray Beach is also the trade center for a citrus-fruit and vegetable-growing region. , Fla. -- Office Depot Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is one of the world's leading suppliers of office products and services. The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ODP ODP - Open Distributed Processing ), a leading global provider of office products and services, and The Nature Conservancy Nature Conservancy, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve or aid in the preservation of natural environments. It protects wilderness areas in the United States and Canada and is affiliated with similar groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. , a private, international, non-profit organization A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. established in 1951 to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth, today announced a newly created boreal bo·re·al adj. 1. Of or relating to the north; northern. 2. Of or concerning the north wind. 3. Boreal ecologist position as part of Office Depot's continuing support of and participation in the Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. 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 boreal forest Noun the forest of northern latitudes, esp. in Scandinavia, Canada, and Siberia, consisting mainly of spruce and pine [Latin boreas the north wind] , 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 Northeastern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and east of Lakes Superior and Huron. Northeastern Ontario consists of Algoma District, Sudbury District, Cochrane District, Timiskaming District, Nipissing District, Manitoulin , 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 Bering Sea, c.878,000 sq mi (2,274,020 sq km), northward extension of the Pacific Ocean between Siberia and Alaska. It is screened from the Pacific proper by the Aleutian Islands. The Bering Strait connects it with the Arctic Ocean. . 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. "The Alliance is working aggressively to harness conservation science and business ingenuity to achieve positive outcomes for global forests and biodiversity," said Mike Andrews
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 Ecological communities Assemblages of living organisms that occur together in an area. The nature of the forces that knit these assemblages into organized systems and those properties of assemblages that manifest this organization have been topics of intense , 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 and the Environment Office Depot, listed on both the FTSE FTSE A company that specializes in index calculation. Although not part of a stock exchange, co-owners include the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. Notes: The FTSE is similar to Standard & Poor's in the United States. 4Good Index and Dow Jones Dow Jones the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202] See : Finance Sustainability Index, focuses its environmental initiatives on sustainable forest management Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. It is also the current culmination in a progression of basic forest management concepts preceded by Sustainable forestry and sustainable yield forestry , 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 Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product. 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 Purchasing Purchasing is the formal process of buying goods and services. The Purchasing Process can vary from one organization to another but there are some key elements that are common throughout The process usually starts with a 'Demand' or requirements . Businesses can obtain a free copy of the Green Book through Office Depot's environmental Web site at www.officedepot.com/environment or through its Business Services Division at +1-888-2-OFFICE. In April 2005, in recognition of its environmental stewardship The integration and application of environmental values into the military mission in order to sustain readiness, improve quality of life, strengthen civil relations, and preserve valuable natural resources. , Office Depot received the "Outstanding Retailer" Award by the International Council of Shopping Centers The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is an international trade association of the shopping center industry. The organization, founded in 1957, has 65,000 members worldwide, which include shopping center owners, developers and managers, as well as other individuals, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and . Editor's Note: For more information on Office Depot's environmental initiatives, visit www.officedepot.com/environment. The news media contact for Abitibi-Consolidated is Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Leclerc at Denis_Leclerc@abitibiconsolidated.com or 514-394-3601. About Office Depot With annual sales approaching $14 billion, Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 60,020. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 64,150. , Office Depot conducts business in 23 countries and employs 47,000 people worldwide. The Company operates under the Office Depot(R), Viking Office Products(R), Viking Direct(R), Guilbert(R), and Tech Depot(R) brand names. Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. With $3.1 billion in online sales in FY'04, the Company is the world's number three Internet retailer. Office Depot has 1,000 retail stores in North America in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery centers and more than 60 local sales offices. Internationally, the Company conducts wholly owned operations in 14 countries through 77 retail stores and 26 distribution centers, and operates 153 retail stores under joint venture and license arrangements in another seven countries. The company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com. 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 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 endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. and threatened ecosystems. Visit us on the web at www.natureserve.org. |
|
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion