Resource Extraction

Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Challenge

Sourcing Responsible Forest Products

There is increasing concern over the state of our forests globally. This is especially a concern in areas of the world where illegal logging and overcutting are very real problems, especially in areas that lack the legal framework or the capacity to enforce laws. As a result, paper and wood products sourcing is coming under increasing scrutiny. More and more, governments and businesses are using forest certification as tool to determine the legality and sustainability of products and to demonstrate their commitment to corporate social responsibility. In addition, forest certification is also becoming an important tool in the climate change sphere as well-managed forests play a critical role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Despite the successful uptake of forest certification by the market place, only 10% of the world’s forests are certified, more than half of those forests are in North America and Europe.

Strategy

Make a Difference in the Forest and On the Store Shelf

1. Develop a tool to encourage responsible forestry: Voluntary third-party forest certification began in the 1990s in response to market concerns about forest management and illegal logging, primarily in developing countries. Today, there are more than 347 million hectares of certified forest land worldwide, certified under more than 50 different standards. Forest certification programs are based on principles and measures that promote sustainable forest management and consider all forest values: environmental, social and economic. It includes regular audits by third party, internationally accredited auditors. The certification also extends to the market. When consumers see the certification label on a product, they can be confident they are buying wood or paper from responsible sources – whether it is reams of paper, packaging, furniture or building products. In North America, there are four forest management standards: the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Canadian Standards Association Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the American Tree Farm System. Together they make up 189 million hectares, or nearly 55% of the world’s total certified forests.

The Canadian Council of Forest ministers says “The forest management standards of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) are all used in Canada. Governments in Canada accept that these standards demonstrate, and promote the sustainability of forest management practices in Canada.”

2. Businesses can change the world: Forest certification helps businesses and governments to demonstrate their commitment to the environment and support sustainability. This is achieved in two ways: 1) developing inclusive procurement policies that give preference to products that come from certified sources and 2) putting the forest certification label on the product. By doing this, businesses are sending a message to forest owners and managers worldwide to manage forests responsibly and to prove this by being certified.

This also means that the consumers can feel confident that the product they are purchasing comes from a responsible source. Whether it is the SFI or FSC label on a product, the label provides a critical link from the product on the shelf, whether it’s office furniture or the packaging on your favourite product, back to the forest.

3. The importance of product labelling: Forest products are one of the few consumer products out there that come with independent auditing, certification and a label to verify claims. This is important in a market filled with “green” claims. In fact, the Competition Bureau of Canada and the Federal Trade Commission of the US are increasingly concerned with the plethora of “green” labels in the market place. In its Environmental Claims: a Guide for Industry and Advertisers, Canada’s Competition Bureau encourages consumers and businesses to look for forest products “that were certified to a sustainable forest management standard,” and specifically cites the three standards in Canada: SFI, CSA and FSC. This is because forest certification, from the forest to the label, provides third party auditing against publicly available standards developed through multi-stakeholder processes.

A 2008 study by Terrachoice Environmental Marketing (which oversees the EcoLogo ® program) polled 336 customers and 91% felt that green-washing is a problem that needs to be address. 72% of the respondents agreed that eco-labels help purchasing decisions and the majority also felt that having a choice of eco labels was important. The SFI and FSC labels were included in purchasers’ top ten most used eco-labels. In its most recent report, released April 2009, Terrachoice lists the SFI and FSC labels among the most widely recognized credible eco-labels, and notes it meets three key criteria: 1) third party certified 2) publicly available standard and 3) transparent standard development process.

Result

Demand for Forest Certification is Growing!

Over the past few years there has been unprecedented growth in companies seeking forest certification or certified fibre. One only has to look at the growth of the SFI program over the past years to see this trend. The United Nations also reported among forest certification programs, SFI has the largest growth globally. For example, over the past year SFI has experienced:

forest land certified up from 60.5 million hectares to 71.6 million hectares (an 18% increase in North America; a 28% increase in Canada alone)
chain of custody certificates up from 359 to 760 certificates (112% increase)
certified locations up from 919 to 1714 (87% increase)
And two years ago SFI was approving 5 labels a year; now it is approving 10 labels a day!

Conclusion:

Paper and wood products are one of the few products out there that come with independent, third party certification. With North America’s leading role in forest certification, businesses can provide their customers with ways to make responsible choices when it comes to the products on their store shelves. This is an important and proven successful tool when it comes to consumers who are increasingly concerned about the environmental footprint of the products they buy and use. Businesses and consumers can make a difference when it comes to our forests and our communities and one way they can do this is by purchasing certified forest products or products that come in packaging from responsible sources.

About the presenter

Kathy Abusow is the CEO and President of the SFI program. She has worked in the field of forest certification for over 15 years and has worked with programs such as the CSA, FSC and PEFC programs. Today she is head of the SFI program, an independent, non-profit organization committed to responsible forest management through its internationally recognized and accepted forest management program.