The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Project Learning Tree (PLT) will host their first ever joint annual conference from June 14-16, in Madison, Wisconsin. With a theme of Collaborating for Communities and Forests, the event will be a week filled with learning and opportunities to discuss the most-pressing issues and challenges facing the people and the planet, including how sustainable forest management and environmental education provide effective solutions.
Conference participants will come away from the event with:
- Best practices on climate-smart forestry and fire resiliency.
- Knowledge and tools to meet and report on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets.
- Key initiatives to be forest sector leaders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
- Pathways to grow the next generation of forest sector leaders through Project Learning Tree (PLT).
- Opportunities to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations.
- And much more!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: BUDDY HUFFAKER
Don’t miss keynote speaker Buddy Huffaker, Executive Director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation. For more than 20 years, Huffaker has been instrumental in leading the Foundation’s efforts to advance a land ethic. These efforts have included stewarding the Leopold Shack and Farm National Historic Landmark and advocating for a conservation ethic. Learn how the Foundation balances ecological, economic, and cultural values in managing its own property—and engaging neighboring landowners—and how it benefits from greater collaboration, innovation, and community connections. This session will leave participants further inspired to address this convergence for positive change—real-world change that benefits all stakeholders.
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:
Collaborating to Meet ESG Targets: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks are increasingly important to investors, policy makers, regulators, consumers, employees, and civil society. Learn about the importance of ESG to investors, the forest sector’s evolution toward meeting ESG targets, and how SFI’s programs offer additional value in ESG and sustainability reporting.
Fire and Climate Resiliency—Healthy Forests and Community Engagement: Sustainably managed forests are among our most important tools for addressing climate change and wildfire risk. Learn how SFI-certified organizations are addressing new 2022 SFI Forest Management Standard requirements on climate-smart forestry and fire resilience and awareness.
SFI Conservation Impact Project—A Decade of Success: Hear about two critical projects that contributed to SFI’s Conservation Impact portfolio, which are described in the soon-to-be released report: “SFI’s Conservation Impact: A Decade of Success.” Learn how Conservation Impact is changing the perception of how forest and fiber supply chains can drive conservation outcomes relative to climate change, biodiversity, and water abundance and quality.
Advancing Opportunities for Diverse Communities in the Forest Sector: Transformative solutions are needed to create more inclusive, sustainable communities. Learn about efforts by SFI and its partners to support career awareness, recruitment, mentorship, and other opportunities that help the forest and conservation sector advance a diverse and resilient workforce.
Growing Forest-Literate Citizens: By gaining forest literacy, people acquire the tools and knowledge they need to keep our forests sustainable over the long term while continuing to benefit from them. This session explores the role of the private and public sectors in supporting a forest-literate society and available tools to advance that goal.
REGISTER NOW:
Students can access virtual registration to the conference for free! Email events@forests.org with subject line “Student registration for the SFI/PLT Annual Conference” to receive the code.
