Why did Office Depot decide to set up the Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance?
Siddiqui: We wanted to choose science and solution-oriented partners to help us resolve some of the complexities that exist when we source forest-derived products. Ultimately, we want confidence in our sourcing, and therefore need to work with partners who are willing to help our suppliers improve practices on the ground. The members of the Alliance are trusted partners who we know will help our suppliers improve and not just criticize them. Thats important because the environmental community has many groups that shout loudly but arent always ready to offer viable and implementable solutions. We also wanted to make a contribution to conservation science. Both inside and outside our forest footprint there are a lot of data gaps that limit the ability for suppliers to make good forest management decisions. That lack of data makes it hard to establish the facts when discussing environmental performance of a supplier. By using science as the foundation for improving forest management, and
