WCC 2020 Res 108 - Activity Report

SFI revises the SFI standards every 5 years. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) updated standards provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. SFI’s transparent and open revision process included two public comment periods, a dozen webinars, and over 30 task group meetings. Nearly 2,300 individuals and organizations participated in webinars and/or submitted comments on the draft SFI 2022 standards. The updated standard includes a new climate-smart forestry objective, a new fire resilience and awareness objective, conservation efforts, recognizing and respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and a new due diligence system for the avoidance of controversial sources.

SFI has an Illegal Logging Policy that states, “SFI Inc. will not license any organization to use SFI’s trademarks or labels, and SFI may revoke any license previously granted, if the proposed licensee has been found to have engaged in Illegal Logging by a government authority in the jurisdiction where the logging occurred.”

SFI-certified organizations are also required to assess the risk of sourcing forest fiber from controversial sources including illegally logged fiber, conflict timber and other controversial fiber sources.

Finally, the SFI Forest Management Standard has three requirements to safeguard against the negative impacts of deforestation and protect native ecosystems.
1. Certified organizations must exclude any forestlands converted to non-forestland use from their SFI certificate.
2. SFI’s new standard prohibits conversion of forest cover types to another forest cover type unless they conduct a landscape assessment to determine there are no negative ecological impacts.
SFI’s new standard has even gone a step further to protect native ecosystems, by introducing a requirement that effectively ensures that afforestation activities are sensitive to non-forested ecosystems, and the native species they harbor.