Xerox and The Nature Conservancy Extend Forest Conservation Partnership
Wednesday April 14, 2010 , 4 min Read
$1 million grant from Xerox will help stem the tide of forest loss, degradation
NORWALK, Conn., April 14, 2010 -- Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) will 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. 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 approximately 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere each year,” said Bill Ginn, chief conservation officer, 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,” said Patricia Calkins, Xerox’s vice president for Sustainability, Environment, Health and Safety.
Work supported by the second $1million grant began in January of this year, 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,” said Joe Cahalan, president, The Xerox Foundation. “We feel there is so much more to be done to minimize 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.”
For more information about our commitment to environmental sustainability, visit http://www.xerox.com/environment.
About Xerox
Xerox Corporation is a $22 billion leading global enterprise for business process and document management. Through its broad portfolio of technology, services and outsourcing offerings, Xerox provides the essential back-office support that clears the way for clients to focus on what they do best: their real business. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., Xerox provides leading-edge document technology, services, software and genuine Xerox supplies for production and office printing environments of any size. Through ACS, A Xerox Company, which Xerox acquired in February 2010, Xerox also offers extensive business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services, including data processing, HR benefits management, finance support, and customer relationship management services for commercial and government organizations worldwide. The 130,000 people of Xerox serve clients in more than 160 countries.
About The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. For more information, visit www.nature.org.