Demand for third-party certified timber could be set to increase thanks to a government-funded project to tackle global deforestation.

Blue-chip companies such as Kingfisher, Nestlé, McDonald’s and Next are among more than 200 high-profile businesses being urged to buy certified timber as part of the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project (FFDP).

Each business will be sent a ‘disclosure’ questionnaire to measure their impact on deforestation and provide a better understanding of their ‘forest footprint’.

The FFDP recommends that companies with timber and paper products in their supply chains should require all suppliers to provide evidence of third-party certification to ensure legality and sustainability.

And, according to Liz Crosbie, the project’s technical manager, “those timber companies which have got their act together on certification, especially of tropical hardwoods, will be in a stronger position”.

The FFDP already has the backing of 12 major financial institutions that have agreed to put their names to a letter requesting disclosure of companies’ forest footprints.

The complete results of the FFDP questionnaire will be made available to endorsing investors and summarised in an annual report, the first of which will be produced in January 2010.

The report will identify companies that are ‘best in class’, those that had identified innovative strategies for managing their risk, as well as those that failed to disclose their footprint.

Ms Crosbie said timber companies supplying certified products – and the whole timber industry – had a good opportunity to “come out in a very positive light”.

“Ensuring that timber in companies’ supply chains is certified will be integral to being able to prove that they are working to minimise their forest footprints,” she added.

Commenting on the project Timber Trade Federation chief executive John White said: “It’s another one of the arrows in the quiver to help in the fight against illegal logging. Anything we [industry] can do to help will be a move in the right direction. It won’t be a game changer in itself, but it will help companies who want to improve or demonstrate their corporate social responsibility.”