NWF: Disclosure of deforestation grows

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- More U.S. companies agreed to disclose what effects their products had on forests as consumer awareness of deforestation grows, an environmental group said.

"More and more, consumers want to know that the products they buy at the store are not doing harm to the planet," Barbara Bramble, international policy adviser for the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement.

"In response, companies are seeking out ways to improve their supply chain sustainability and reduce their forest footprint."

U.S. companies were responding to the Forest Footprint Disclosure product survey, a survey launched in London in 2009. The FFD works with more than 350 companies to convince them to disclose what effects their supply chains have on deforestation.

The survey for 2011 was sent to 357 companies. Only 22 of the 125 companies in the United States agreed to disclose their deforestation footprint, though the NWF said that's nearly twice as many as those taking part in the 2010 survey.

The NWF singled out athletic company Nike and paper product manufacturer Kimberly-Clark as leading the way in transparency measures.