Ottawa, ON–The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) welcomes a major investment of $4.7 million from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund to advance Climate Smart Forestry in forest management across Canada. The overarching goal of the project is to identify, develop, and implement climate smart practices and strategies to make our forests more resilient.
“We applaud this support from the federal government in SFI’s climate smart forestry work,” said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI. “Climate change represents a profound threat to the health and well-being of all Canadians, our forests, and our communities. That’s why SFI introduced new and progressive objectives related to climate smart forestry and fire resilience and awareness in the SFI Forest Management Standard. This is a game-changing opportunity for us to make a real contribution at a national scale by working with our diverse network of SFI-certified organizations across millions of hectares.”
The SFI Forest Management Standard requires certified organizations to identify and address climate change and fire risks to forests and forest operations individually or through cooperative efforts and develop adaptation objectives and strategies.
With this support from ECCC, SFI is targeting emissions reductions via forest management practices such as fire resiliency, addressing pests and disease, and considering future adapted species. For example, forest fires have become the major source of emissions in Canada, and this project will explore tactics like reduction of fuel load and utilizing advanced modeling techniques to assess and minimize risks. As part of a landscape approach, SFI will also focus on forest management adaptation, strengthening forest sinks, and forest restoration. In this three-year project (2024-2027), SFI will engage forest managers, operators, and Indigenous communities.
“I am excited to have this opportunity to advance climate smart forestry at scale and grateful for the support from the Canadian government,” said Lauren T. Cooper, SFI Chief Conservation Officer. “Advancing SFI’s mission on forest-focused collaboration, this project is made possible through the engagement of SFI-certified and Indigenous-led organizations and is positioned to track measurable climate benefits.”
This project will expand on foundational work from over a decade of collaboration on forests and climate, including with leading experts. With more than 115 million hectares of certified forests in Canada and regional SFI Implementation committees, SFI has the capacity, motivation, and vision to implement this project.
The new SFI 2025-2030 Strategic Direction prominently features climate mitigation and adaptation as well as fire resilience. Through our conservation collaborations, SFI will work to achieve outcomes such as:
- Greater forest health and enhanced climate adaptation and mitigation
- Increased fire resilience for forests and communities
- Increased collaboration with Indigenous Peoples
To achieve success with this climate smart forestry project, SFI will collaborate with a diversity of experts from across the sector, including Indigenous communities, academics, students and young professionals, landowners, forest managers and natural resources professionals, and in partnership with government officials at multiple levels.
ABOUT SFI
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) advances sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. We are an independent, nonprofit organization that leverages four interconnected pillars of work: standards, conservation, community, and education. SFI works with the forest sector, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments. Collaborating with our network, we leverage SFI-certified forests and products as powerful tools to help solve sustainability challenges such as climate action, conservation of biodiversity, education of future generations, and sustainable economic development.
MEDIA CONTACT
Christine Leduc
VP, Communications and Government Relations
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
613-706-1114
media@forests.org
About Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund
Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF) is a $1.4 billion, ten-year fund (2021–2031) administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada to help conserve, restore, and enhance the management of ecosystems such as wetlands, peatlands, forests, and grasslands, in order to help tackle the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The NSCSF focuses on three main objectives: (1) conserving carbon-rich ecosystems at high risk of conversion to other uses that would release their stored carbon; (2) improving land management practices to reduce their greenhouse gas emission-causing impacts on Canada’s ecosystems; and (3) restoring degraded ecosystems. Overall, these projects will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and increased carbon sequestration, while also providing benefits for biodiversity and human well-being.
