2023 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
MAY 14: SUNDAY
ALL TIMES PDT
SQUAMISH LIL’WAT CULTURAL CENTRE
Join a trip to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. Visitors will experience the rich cultural traditions, history, and heritage of the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations, including art, music, storytelling, and traditional knowledge.
MAY 16: TUESDAY
ALL TIMES PDT
TALKING TREES TOUR OF STANLEY PARK
Join Talaysay Tours for an enriched cultural outdoor experience. Indigenous Cultural Guides will share with you ancient and contemporary stories, legends, and Indigenous ways of living. Open to registered attendees only, limited spots available.
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT | SESSION 1: WELCOME
Kick off the 2023 SFI Annual Conference in collaboration with PEFC Week, where we will learn about and discuss opportunities on the most pressing issues and challenges facing our planet and communities, locally and globally, and receive a traditional welcome and territorial acknowledgement by Squamish Nation Ocean Going Canoe Family.
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM PDT | SESSION 2: LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVES
Hear from government and forest sector leaders about the importance of the conference theme: Forest, People, and Nature Positive.
Leadership spotlight: Miitigoog Limited Partnership and Miisun Integrated Resource Management Company. Watch Miitigoog and Miisun’s story and learn about their innovative resource management strategy that promotes strong working relationships between First Nations and sector partners.
3:30 PM – 3:45 PM PDT | NETWORKING BREAK
3:45 PM – 5:00 PM PDT | SESSION 3: RESPECTING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
This panel will discuss the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and offer compelling thought leadership around the important topic of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), as an essential nation-to-nation conversation and foundational principle of sustainable forest management. The SFI President’s Award will also be presented.
Moderator: Scott Robertson
Senior Associate, Nahwegahbow Corbiere LLP, Aboriginal Rights Lawyer
Member of the Six Nations of the Grand River
Lennard Joe
Chief Executive Officer, BC First Nations Forestry Council
Member of the Shackan Indian Band with Nlaka’pamux First Nation
and SFI Board Member
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT | NETWORKING RECEPTION
MAY 17: WEDNESDAY
ALL TIMES PDT
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM PDT | 5K FUN RUN/WALK
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM PDT | BREAKFAST
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM PDT | SESSION 4: STANDARDS, SUPPLY CHAINS AND ESG
SFI and PEFC forest certification standards are highly trusted solutions to ensure forest products are from sustainably managed forests. Hear from the PEFC and SFI Board chairs on the importance of PEFC and SFI collaboration on forest supply chains. Learn from key influencers how SFI and PEFC standards can be leveraged with brands, investors, and consumers to demonstrate critical ESG and sustainability assurances.
Michael P. Doss
President and CEO
Graphic Packaging International Inc., and
Chair, SFI Board of Directors
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM PDT | NETWORKING BREAK
10:45 AM – 11:45 AM PDT | SESSION 5: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING AND RECONCILIATION
This panel highlights forest-focused collaborations rooted in recognition and respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, traditional knowledge and self-determined aspirations for the future. Hear from Indigenous communities and their forest sector partners about what makes their partnership work, and what you can do to advance your own relationships.
Chief Lorraine Cobiness
Niisaachewan Anishinaabe First Nation, and President, Miitigoog Forest Management
Erik Holmstrom
Vice President, Miitigoog Forest Management; Ontario Timberlands Manager, Weyerhaeuser
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM PDT | NETWORKING LUNCH
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM PDT | SESSION 6: GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVES: SUSTAINING OUR COMMUNITIES
Hear from government and forest sector leaders about the importance of the conference theme: Forest, People, and Nature Positive.
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM PDT | SESSION 7: URBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY: INCREASING ACCESS TO GREEN SPACES
The guiding principles of the new SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standards point out that “urban forests and trees are vital for community well-being, health, resiliency, and sustainability.” Urban forests and their associate benefits should be accessible and available to everyone. Join us for a global perspective on the current state and future plans for urban and community forestry. Take away actions you can take to help support sustainability through collaborations where you live, work, play, and learn.
Moderator: Paul Johnson
Senior Director of Urban and Community Forestry
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM PDT | NETWORKING BREAK
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT | SESSION 8: NATURE-POSITIVE SOLUTIONS
The forest sector has the opportunity and responsibility to advance and scale solutions to some of the world’s greatest environmental challenges, such as sustaining imperiled biodiversity and maintaining essential ecosystem services. This session will examine the role of certification in driving, quantifying, and sharing forest-positive solutions to ecological sustainability, will demonstrate the value of collaborative efforts to advance environmental metrics, and will offer insights into the upcoming Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forest Sector Guidance to be released in September 2023. The SFI Leadership in Conservation award and the SFI Implementation Committee Achievement award will also be presented.
Angela Graham-Brown
Director, Forest Solutions Group
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
David Walkem
Sr. Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Invasive Species Council of BC
Member of the Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, of the Nlaka’pamux Nation
MAY 18: THURSDAY
ALL TIMES PDT
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM PDT | BREAKFAST
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM PDT | SESSION 9: FIRST NATIONS’ LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVES
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM PDT | SESSION 10: CLIMATE SMART FORESTRY
Sustainably managed forests are among the planet’s most important tools for addressing climate change. Organizations are helping to mitigate climate change through the use of SFI standards and the use of SFI and PEFC-certified forest products. The first part of this session will examine the latest science developments and set the stage for the second part of the session, which will explore policy and practice, what the science means for forest managers and forest products manufacturers, and how SFI standards are positioned to play a role.
Jose Arias-Bustamante
Policy Analyst, Indigenous Science Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM PDT | NETWORKING BREAK
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM PDT | SESSION 11: GROWING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
This session will highlight examples of partnerships and initiatives that are successfully creating impactful workforce development and experiential learning opportunities for young professionals.
Moderator: Christine Leduc
VP Communications and Government Relations
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM PDT | CONFERENCE CLOSING
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PDT | CLOSING LUNCHEON
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM PDT | SFI’S AUDITORS FORUM
Open only to SFI accredited certification bodies and accreditation bodies.
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM PDT | PEFC SESSION
Open only to PEFC national and international stakeholder members.
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM PDT | SFI IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEES GENERAL SESSION
Open to all SFI Implementation Committee members and partners.
- Hear from university partners on advancing research priorities
- Share ideas on how to coordinate on SFI standard requirements
Katy Kavanagh
Associate Dean of Research and Professor, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, and current President, National Association of University Forest Resource Programs (NAUFRP)
1:30 – 1:40 P.M. PDT | Welcome & Introduction to SFI’s Conservation Impact Project and Overview of the Workshop
I. THE NATURE POSITIVE-CHALLENGE
An overview of new developments in ESG around enhanced disclosure requirements and related terms such as “nature-positive” and “regenerative.” Includes discussion of how tools and techniques such as eDNA may make meeting these requirements feasible.
1:40 – 2:00 P.M. PDT | The ESG Landscape
Daniel O’Brien
Partner, Sustainable Business Solutions, PwC Canada; member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
2:00 – 2:20 P.M. PDT | Tools to Meet the Future
Dr. JJ Apodaca
Lead Scientist and Founder, Tangled Bank Conservation;
Executive Director, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
II. MEETING THE CHALLENGE
This session offers examples of SFI conservation work that employs new and innovative techniques and demonstrates the practical application of these emerging tools to address ESG and issues, meet SFI-certification requirements, and collaborate with Indigenous Communities to better integrate traditional knowledge into sustainable forest management.
2:25 – 2:50 P.M. PDT | Conservation Impact Grant: eDNA Effects of Pre- and Post-Fire Forest Management on Aquatic Biodiversity: An Evaluation of Fire Resiliency and Recovery
2:50 – 3:15 P.M. PDT | Conservation Impact Grant: Assessing the Effectiveness of Enhanced Riparian Management in Penticton Indian Band Area of Responsibility
III. STRIVING FOR METRICS AND IMPACT
This session provides an opportunity to have a dialogue about your conservation priorities and the work of the SFI Conservation Impact Project. How can you communicate about these topics? How can SFI best address these topics in the future? How do ESG, nature-positive, and regenerative goals and aspirations relate to sustainable forestry? What types of research would be most useful to you? What tools do you need?
3:30 – 3:50 P.M. PDT | Communicating Conservation Impact for Nature-Positive Outcomes
3:50 – 4:20 P.M. PDT | Dialogue session: The Future of Conservation Impact
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM PDT | BILL REID GALLERY
Visit the Bill Reid Gallery, home to special exhibitions of contemporary Indigenous Art of the Northwest Coast of North America. Open to registered attendees only, limited spots available.
Conference Registration Questions:
events@forests.org
SFI Questions:
Amy Tauzin
Manager, Events and Logistics
Tel: 202-765-3609
PEFC International Questions:
Hannah Prins
Communications Manager
Tel: +41 (0) 22 799 45 40