SFI CONSERVATION IMPACT PROJECT

The SFI Conservation Impact Project measures the carbon sequestered, biodiversity maintained or recovered, and water purified on the SFI footprint.

OVERVIEW

The SFI Conservation Impact Project advances understanding of the issues related to climate change, biodiversity, and water on lands influenced by the SFI Forest Management Standard and the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard. Identifying positive conservation outcomes, key learnings, and opportunities for improvement on these SFI-certified lands is a critical component of the SFI standards. The SFI Conservation Impact Project also plays a key role in helping conservationists understand the values associated with sustainable forest management.

Formally announced at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in September of 2016, the SFI Conservation Impact Project actually consists of numerous smaller projects, generated by partnerships within the academics, conservationists, researchers, and SFI-certified organizations.

Learn more about SFI’s conservation impact with a report outlining a decade of core conservation results founded on over 25 years of sustainable forest management leadership and through our Conservation Impact Project ArcGIS StoryMap:

FOCUS ON THREE CRITICAL CONSERVATION THEMES

Key non-profit partners, the academic community, SFI-certified organizations, the SFI External Review Panel, and select brand owners helped define the three focus areas that would resonate best with the broadest range of constituents: carbon, biodiversity, and water.

THE CONSERVATION IMPACT SOUNDING BOARD

The Conservation Impact Sounding Board helps ensure that the research SFI supports and the outcomes it generates are robust, grounded in credible science, and resonate with key audiences.

The Sounding Board shapes the work of the Conservation Impact Project and promotes interaction between project leaders and experts from a variety of backgrounds.

The Conservation Impact Sounding Board is intended to support an open process and it includes experts from the academic, NGO, and research communities. Involvement in the Sounding Board is flexible and carries no long-term participation requirements.

Sounding Board Meetings

We take an inclusive approach towards experts that can add knowledge and critical thinking. Past participants in Sounding Board meetings have included representatives from NatureServe, American Bird Conservancy, American Forests, Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech, Foothills Research Institute, GreenBlue, Manomet, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, University of Alberta, University of Georgia, The Conservation Fund, U.S. Forest Service, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy Canada, University of Toronto, Stephen F. Austin University, The Sustainability Consortium, and many others.

How to Join Sounding Board meetings

To learn more about the Sounding Board, please see Sounding Board documents below. Email Stephanie Scane, Coordinator, Conservation Programs, to express interest in being added to the Sounding Board distribution list.

Sounding Board Documents

CONSERVATION IMPACT WEBINAR SERIES

In 2017, SFI launched the Conservation Impact Webinar Series to facilitate engagement and share project results. These quarterly webinars focus on one or more projects within one of the three topic areas. Webinars are recorded and are available below.

December 2021

Conservation Impact Sounding Board Webinar: SFI & NCASI Water and Carbon Tool Presentations by: SFI Inc. and NCASI.
Click here for recording.

June 2020

Conservation Impact Sounding Board E-Workshop: The Protection of Water Quality and Quantity, and the Value of Sustainable Forest Management Presentations by: SFI Inc., Virginia Tech, RenewWest, and National Council For Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI).
Click here for recording.

May 2020

SFI Conservation Impact Sounding Board E-Workshop: Carbon, Climate Change, and the Value of Sustainable Forest Management. Presentations by: SFI Inc., University of Maine, Manomet, and Silviaterra.
Click here for recording.

March 2020

Managed Forests for Birds: early results on the conservation value of sustainably managed forests, presented by American Bird Conservancy (ABC).
Click here for recording.

December 2019

Measuring the Conservation Value of Forests Certified to SFI – Expanding into a Bi-national Pilot Project, presented by NatureServe.
Click here for recording.

June 2019

Linking SFI Certification and Climate Smart Forestry, presented by Michigan State University’s Forest Carbon and Climate Program.
Click here for recording.