Ottawa, Canada —The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) welcomes the G7 Kananaskis Wildfire Charter and its emphasis on a “whole of society approach” to preventing, responding to, and recovering from extreme wildfires. The Charter, an outcome of the G7 leaders meeting in Alberta earlier this month, outlines a comprehensive global framework that includes science-based mitigation and adaptation strategies such as sustainable forest management, Indigenous-led land stewardship, the use of fire as a positive tool for forest management, data sharing, and collaborative systems to address wildfire-related health and safety risks.
“Forests all over the world are experiencing increased frequency and severity of fire, drought, pest outbreaks, and disease—all of which negatively impact forest health, economic development, and resiliency—while threatening the safety of our communities. At SFI, we’ve long understood that sustainably managed forests can be a solution in wildfire mitigation and adaptation strategies, and we are so pleased to have the financial support from Environment & Climate Change Canada, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Doris Duke Foundation to support forest health and resiliency,” said Kathy Abusow, President & CEO of SFI.
The SFI Forest Management Standard promotes sustainable forest management across more than 150 million hectares (370 million certified acres). The standard includes specific objectives on wildfire resilience, climate smart forestry, biodiversity, and recognition and respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. To advance this work, SFI has launched a multi-year Climate Smart Forestry Initiative to support the implementation of climate smart practices across SFI-certified forests. This initiative is identifying, developing, and implementing management practices and strategies to make our forests more resilient.
“The SFI Climate Smart Forestry Initiative advances adaptive forest management across diverse ecosystems that includes directly addressing catastrophic wildfire risk. We are promoting outcome-based approaches that help forest managers address both climate mitigation and adaptation—ensuring forests continue to deliver critical benefits under changing conditions,” said Lauren T. Cooper, Chief Conservation Officer at SFI.
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
