Rona Inc., the largest Canadian home renovation retailer, is changing its lumber buying policies in an effort to conserve boreal forests and will stop selling pesticides for cosmetic purposes.

The Montreal-based company announced Friday that it is moving to do business only with suppliers that do not contribute to deforestation and that proactively address environmental sustainability. By the end of 2009, it aims to sell plywood panels only from forests certified as sustainable.

The policy will apply a year later to commodity spruce, pine and fir lumber. All suppliers will be required to prove where their wood comes from by 2011. By 2012, Rona wants 25 per cent of its wood sales to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, up from two per cent now.

In a separate move, the removal of cosmetic pesticides by next July will cost the company $20 million in annual sales, out of total revenues exceeding $6.3 billion at nearly 700 stores.

"Rona wants to play a major role in wilderness conservation as well as in the sustainability of natural resources, while supporting Canadian consumers in their efforts to adopt sustainable behaviours," CEO Robert Dutton said.

"Product selection is a key component by which Rona can exercise such leadership and demonstrate its desire to protect the environment and human rights."

Greenpeace Canada hailed Rona's move as "the strongest procurement policy for wood products in North America that we've seen."

Richard Brooks, head of the environmental group's forest campaign, described the retailer's timetable as realistic, and said the policy "will lead to change on the ground and better protection for the most ecologically important areas of Canada's forests."

While giving preference to the Forest Stewardship Council, Rona will also recognize two other certifications: the Forest Products marking program and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. More than 1.25 million square kilometres are certified under the three standards, 19 per cent by the Forest Stewardship Council.