Happy New Year! I hope you and your loved ones had a peaceful holiday break. I am excited to start 2022 building on the positive change the SFI community makes every day in addressing local, national and global sustainability challenges.
We are now implementing the SFI 2022 Standards which are key to our mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaboration. The SFI Forest Management Standard has been updated to include the SFI Climate Smart Forestry Objective and the SFI Fire Resilience and Awareness Objective. The standards also have strong social implications and ensure respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and traditional knowledge and promote meaningful forest-focused relationship building. The SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard also has strengthened requirements for addressing conservation of biodiversity.
We continue growing the next generation of forest and conservation leaders through Project Learning Tree and PLT Canada’s focus on increasing forest literacy through environmental education resources, and building career pathways through green jobs experiences, mentorship, and exposure to the diversity of careers in the forest and conservation sector.
This year the PLT and SFI Conferences will be combined for the first time. Please mark your calendars for June 14-17 and join us in Madison, Wisconsin for our the SFI/PLT Annual Conference with the theme Collaborating for Communities and Forests. It has been too long since we have gotten together in person!
Check out our 2021 scorecards below to learn about some of the key highlights we’ll be building on in 2022!
I look forward to great things in 2022.
Kathy Abusow
President and CEO
SFI
