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Kimberly-Clark partners with non-business stakeholders and other companies in support of Sustainability strategy |
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Background
Kimberly-Clark is a leading global health and hygiene company with brands that include Kleenex, Andrex, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, being some of the most trusted and recognised in the world and are used every day by 1.3 billion people – nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
In late 2007, Kimberly-Clark Corporation launched the Sustainable Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Forest Mosaics Initiative, together with Conservation International and the Instituto BioAtlântica. Joined shortly after by The Nature Conservancy and forestry companies Suzano Papel e Celulose, Aracruz Celulose and Votorantim Celulose e Papel (now jointly Fibria) – all WBCSD members – and Veracel Celulose, all these partners recognised the potential to transform the pulp and paper industry by promoting an industry-wide movement towards practices that are both environmentally beneficial and economically sound.
How the issue was tackled
The unique Sustainable Forest Mosaics Initiative encompasses three different scales – local, regional, and global. Its design builds on ongoing work in one region of Brazil, while seeking to expand this successful model to the rest of the Atlantic Forest and other regions of the world where plantation forests have a large landscape footprint. Efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change will include benefits such as carbon sequestration and protection of coastal ecosystems.
Kimberly-Clark, along with its partners, contributes to a vision of integrated landscapes, with a focus on how plantation forest areas fit into a larger “puzzle” of land uses. Kimberly-Clark has contributed US$ 500,000 overall for these projects and is committed to conservation and restoration of key areas.
Kimberly-Clark and other stakeholders work together to plan how the different land uses fit together sustainably in the forest landscape. Looking at all land uses comprehensively helps ensure that demands for food, fiber, fuel, ecosystem services and biodiversity protection are all met. By carefully planning both productive land use and conservation within the larger landscape, the mosaic strategy helps ensure optimal conservation while permitting productive activities that generate employment and income.
Kimberly-Clark recognises that plantation forests can be a key piece of sustainable forest mosaics. When well managed, plantations not only supply fiber, but may provide connectivity between fragments of native forest, protect water courses and fragile slopes, and store carbon reserves. They also are important economic engines, creating rural employment options for local communities. These functions make plantation forests valuable “puzzle pieces” in mosaic landscapes.
Benefits and impacts
The Sustainable Forest Mosaics concept Kimberly-Clark has been contributing to is perhaps most advanced in the states of Bahia and Espirito Santo in Brazil. It looks at ways to answer questions such as: which areas are most suitable for plantation forests, agriculture or mineral extraction; which places do we need to protect in order to conserve our water resources; and which areas are important for carbon storage? This specific initiative builds on previous work by the major forestry companies in the region located between the Jequitinhonha and Doce rivers in the Central Atlantic Forest Corridor (CAFC) of Southern Bahia and northern Espirito Santo states. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation efforts in plantation forest mosaics within the CAFC.
The project will work to integrate planning and implementation of land-use and conservation activities by the three large pulp and paper companies in the area, support the incorporation of conservation elements into outgrower schemes, and facilitate the creation and management of private reserves.
This project has already achieved significant results:
- Creation or improvement of more than 8,000 hectares of set-asides and new private conservation reserves
- Restoration of 600 hectares of land owned by forestry companies, creating strategic forest corridors, with the engagement of local communities
- Incorporation of sustainability criteria into outgrower contracts and provision of technical assistance on compliance.
(All information sourced from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Kimberly-Clark websites)
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Because sustainability is a core value at Kimberly-Clark, we know that making better choices for the environment and society can many times mean making better choices for our business.
