A new initiative called Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) helps companies and investors look at how their products or supply chains cause possible deforestation of indigenous forests.
A forest footprint is the total amount of deforestation caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organisation or product. Demand for timber and agricultural commodities such as beef, soy, palm oil and biofuels are some of the major causes of deforestation, as forests are cleared to make way for many of these crops. Many businesses do not even know that the products that they source contribute to deforestation. The project attempts to get businesses to measure the extent of their forest footprint and then manage it accordingly.
The FFD project sends investor backed questionnaires to global companies which are dependent on or involved with “forest risk commodities”. Fibria (Brazil), Arauco (Chile), Mondi PLC (South Africa) and Stora Enso Oyj (Finland) are the forestry companies that responded in 2009. Participating companies disclose how their operations and supply chains are impacting indigenous forests worldwide. The information is reported annually.
Source: www.forestdisclosure.com