Jun 18, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. Kimberly-Clark Corporation laid out a bold vision to significantly reduce its Forest Fiber Footprint, including a goal to transition at least 50% of wood fiber sourced from natural forests to alternate fiber sources by 2025, as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. By committing to reduce its Forest Fiber Footprint, Kimberly-Clark adds to an already impressive history of leadership in protecting the world's forest resources and ending deforestation globally. This broad, new initiative will help protect biodiversity and reduce the impacts of fiber that the company uses while ensuring the fiber is sourced in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Equally importantly, the initiative will also help insulate the company from continuing volatile price fluctuations in the world fiber market. The announcement was made in conjunction with the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "We continue to strongly support sustainable forestry where those materials are needed but at the same time we are aggressively exploring high-potential alternatives to the traditional fiber sources used in our industry, while maintaining the high quality standards our customers and consumers have come to expect," says Suhas Apte, Vice President, Global Sustainability for Kimberly-Clark. "In the long run, we hope that one day all of our fiber needs will be met from sources that collectively have maximum land use efficiencies while minimizing impact on people and our planet." In 2011, the company used nearly 750 thousand metric tons of primary wood fiber sourced from natural forests. With this new commitment, Kimberly-Clark pledges to cut the amount sourced from natural forests in half by 2025, an amount equivalent to the fiber used to manufacture over three and a half billion rolls of toilet paper. In its tradition of innovation and responsibility, the company's initiative includes exploration of alternative sources of fiber for its products. "Taking pressure off of natural forests is a key measure to helping the world's remaining forests and curbing deforestation. If done right, Kimberly-Clark's innovative practices could be groundbreaking and potentially set a new high bar for other companies to meet," said Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Forest Campaign Coordinator. "We applaud Kimberly-Clark on this initiative." "Even with modest projections for population growth, consumption and climate change, by 2030 we would need two Earths to keep up with global demand for food, fiber and fuel – so this announcement is a welcomed initiative that builds on Kimberly-Clark's commitment to responsible forestry," said Kerry Cesareo, Managing Director of World Wildlife Fund's Forests program. "While we remain cautious in our optimism regarding alternative fibers as a strategy to reduce the company's forest fiber footprint, we all need to learn to 'do more with less'." Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products.