Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, has announced a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance through the Forest Allies initiative.

Kingfisher is a founding member of Forest Allies and will help support the Rainforest Alliance in protecting, restoring and enabling responsible management of tropical forests.

As part of the initiative, programmes will engage with local forest communities to build strong local economies, whilst also protecting the natural resources they depend upon.

Working with the Rainforest Alliance and alongside other corporate partners, Kingfisher will support the implementation of Integrated Community Forest Management in key tropical sourcing regions, with the aim of maintaining forests, improving biodiversity and the livelihoods of forest communities.

The partnership will also help Kingfisher meet its target to create more forests than it uses and become Forest Positive by 2025.

“We are fully committed to being a responsible business and to having a positive impact on the lives of our customers, colleagues, communities and the planet,” said Thierry Garnier, chief executive, Kingfisher. “We are one of the largest buyers of wood products in Europe, so we have a significant footprint. Therefore, the partnership we’re announcing today with the Rainforest Alliance presents an opportunity to work with strategic partners to respond to the challenges of deforestation and builds on our heritage of leading the industry in the responsible sourcing of wood.

He added: “I believe this new partnership will help us to make more of a positive difference, not only for the future of wood and paper sourcing, but also the communities and wildlife that rely on forests to live, for generations to come. It also means when customers shop in one of our stores, they can have certainty that not only is the wood they buy responsibly sourced, but they’re buying it from someone committed to protecting and helping to restore the planet’s forests.”

Daniel Katz, founder and board chair, the Rainforest Alliance, said:
“Forests have been a key focus for the Rainforest Alliance since the organisation was founded in 1986. Our Forest Allies initiative is a new and innovative approach to protecting forests and biodiversity.

“Forest Allies emphasises the importance of forest communities as guardians of the forest and how we can assist them by connecting our market partners directly to their work. We are pleased to welcome Kingfisher as a founding member of Forest Allies, congratulate them on their sustainability commitments and look forward to working together to forge new solutions to ensure that people and nature thrive in harmony.”


Kingfisher will begin to deliver projects as part of Forest Allies from 2021.

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