{"id":18095,"date":"2016-10-28T16:27:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T16:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/162.217.168.59\/?p=18095"},"modified":"2023-03-22T13:06:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T17:06:32","slug":"sfihostsscienceconference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forests.org\/fr\/sfihostsscienceconference\/","title":{"rendered":"SFI Hosts Science Conference To Help Measure The Conservation Impact Of Sustainable Forests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sierra<\/div>\n

WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The Sustainable Forestry Initiative\u00a0(SFI) convened researchers, conservationists, academics and\u00a0government officials from across North America this week for\u00a0the first full-scale meeting of the SFI Sounding Board to provide\u00a0guidance for the SFI Conservation Impact Project. This project,\u00a0launched by SFI in September at the International Union for\u00a0Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, is\u00a0a large-scale effort to quantify conservation benefits of wellmanaged\u00a0forests stretching across North America from British\u00a0Columbia to Florida. Forests certified to the SFI Forest\u00a0Management Standard cover more than 280 million acres\/113\u00a0million hectares. Millions more benefit from the SFI Fiber\u00a0Sourcing Standard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s great value in having this group of experts come together to improve understanding of the\u00a0cross-benefits of managed forests for water, biodiversity, and climate change mitigation,\u201d said Dr. Che\u00a0Elkin, Associate Professor of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Northern British\u00a0Columbia, and a participant at the sounding board meeting.<\/p>\n

The SFI Conservation Impact Project comprises a suite of projects that are conducting simultaneous\u00a0investigations at a variety of scales. Researchers include grantees and partners of SFI\u2019s Conservation and\u00a0Community Partnership Grants Program, as well as other researchers with compatible interests. The\u00a0project focuses on developing metrics for climate change mitigation, water quality and biodiversity, to\u00a0encourage forest health, conservation and sound management, and to facilitate continual improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSFI brought together a diverse group of practitioners and scientists to discuss ways to quantify\u00a0conservation benefits and their importance. Our team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is working to\u00a0define what sustainability really means in particular contexts. The effects of forest management on water,\u00a0climate and biodiversity are not always apparent to diverse stakeholders. The activity of the SFI Sounding\u00a0Board is a useful step towards quantifying the benefits of proactive forest management,\u201d said Dr. Virginia\u00a0Dale of Oak Ridge National Laboratory\u2019s Landscape Ecology and Regional Analysis Group.<\/p>\n

The sounding board is an informal group of scientists, drawn from academia, public agencies, and the\u00a0non-profit conservation community, that SFI convened to identify specific ways to clarify the contribution\u00a0of SFI-certified forestlands to conservation goals that are of broad interest to conservationists and\u00a0consumers alike. Their input will help ensure credibility and transparency, and provide direct input into\u00a0project development.<\/p>\n

The participants, many of whom are the foremost experts in their field, serve voluntarily, and additional\u00a0participants will be sought and added to ensure expertise on relevant issues. Thirty-seven people\u00a0attended. Some of the participating organizations at the conference included: Virginia Tech, Nature\u00a0Conservancy of Canada, American Forest Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, American Bird\u00a0Conservancy, Saskatchewan Research Council, American Institute of Biological Sciences, NatureServe,\u00a0U.S. Forest Service, and Canadian Forest Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeveloping robust data regarding conservation attributes and\u00a0outcomes will help stakeholders and users of sustainably sourced\u00a0forest products to understand these values, and to promote their management,\u201d said Paul Trianosky,\u00a0Chief Conservation Officer at SFI. \u201cThe experts on our sounding board help to ensure that our measures\u00a0are reliable, and that the results are relevant. The future of our forests depends on this work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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