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SFI releases annual report on forest sustainability progress

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has released “Forests of Opportunity,” its annual progress report, which contains an overview of its activities with forest partners throughout Canada and the US.

SFI is an independent, non-profit organization based in Ottawa and Washington, DC that advocates for sustainable forest practices and administers a certification program in sustainable forest management.

“Forests provide an opportunity to maintain and recover biodiversity and sustain a variety of conservation values, including clean water,” Kathy Abusow, president and CEO of SFI, says in the foreword to the 2019 report. “But to seize these opportunities, forests must be sustainably managed and forest products must be responsibly sourced.”

Canada and the US lead the world in sustainable forest practices.

Highlights from the 2019 report include:

Standards

• More than 147 million hectares of forestland is certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard.
• The standards reduce risk in the supply chain and generate benefits such as clean water, clean air, enhanced biodiversity, recreational opportunities and green jobs.
• More than 25 per cent of Fortune 100 companies carry the SFI on-product label to assure consumers that the product comes from an organization certified to an SFI standard.

Conservation

• Since 1995, SFI participants have directly invested nearly $1.7 billion in forest research.
• In 2018, about 80 per cent of these investments were allocated to conservation-related objectives.
• Since 2010, SFI has awarded 120-plus SFI Conservation and Community Grants, totalling more than $4.4 million, to foster conservation and community-building projects.
• One of these programs is the Canadian Forest Carbon Assessment led by the Saskatchewan Research Council. The project will provide a roadmap for conducting a comprehensive carbon-stock assessment for the entire land base certified to SFI in Canada.

Community

• In Canada and the US, SFI has 34 implementation committees supporting training of resource professionals, outreach to family-forest owners and environmental education.
• In Canada and the US, 40 Indigenous groups adopt, support and actively use the SFI Forest Management Standard.
• Outland Youth Employment Program is a six-week land-based employment, education and training experience in Canada for Indigenous youth.
• Since 2018, the SFI and Project Learning Tree Canada networks have contributed over $1.48 million to Outland.

Education

• Project Learning Tree (PLT), SFI’s environmental education initiative, takes students outdoors to learn and connects them to possible green careers.
• Project Learning Tree Canada has assisted more than 2,000 Canadians aged 15-30 years to find green jobs in forestry and conservation.
• In Canada, the US and other countries, PLT’s message has reached 138 million students.

Read the full SFI Forests of Opportunity annual progress report.