SFI BLOG

Last week the printer delivered hard copies of our 2013 Annual Progress Report, Writing the Next Chapter, that all our stakeholders should see soon in the mail. Even as we look forward to sustainable forestry’s next chapter with the launch of our 18-month Standard Revision process, the progress report represents a great opportunity for us to take stock of the great story that has unfolded so far.

I’m especially excited at the continued growth of our conservation and community partnerships. By working together, leading environmentalists, community advocates and SFI Program Participants are writing the next chapter to promote sustainable forestry, to improve forestry practices and to encourage responsible purchasing of forest products.

Together, we’ve built a strong foundation for the continued growth and expansion of forest certification and responsible forestry. Our Progress Report demonstrates growing momentum, with indicators of success rising across the board:

• Since 2007, forests certified to the SFI Standard® have grown by 100 million acres to 240 million acres today.
• Total chain-of-custody certified locations grew from 500 in 2007 to more than 2,500.
• In the last year, we received on-product label requests for more than 6,000 wood, paper and packaging products, up from only 50 for the entire year in 2007.
• Starting with a $400,000 initial investment in 2010, SFI’s Conservation and Community Grant program grew to over $4.8 million by 2012 with leveraged contributions and 150 project partners.
• In 2012, we launched the Forest Partners Program, an innovative initiative through which market leaders Time Inc., the National Geographic Society, Macmillan Publishers and Pearson have committee resources to work together to promote sustainability across the entire supply chain.

And we have every reason to believe the future will be even brighter than the past.

It will be brighter thanks to nearly $1.4 billion in research investments by SFI program participants since 1995, planting seeds that will bear fruit in improved conservation practices for years to come.

It will be brighter thanks to our 35 local and regional SFI Implementation Committees representing 43 states and provinces, which help make responsible forestry a reality while increasing awareness of its importance and engaging communities.

It will be brighter as we undertake the thorough review of the SFI program to establish our new 2015-2021 SFI Standard, with the transparent involvement of all stakeholders. We launched the 18-month Standard Revision process on June 5^th with a 60-day comment period that ends on August 6^th. If you haven’t yet let us know what you think of the current Standard, we want to hear from you. Click here to record your comment.

Thanks to all of you who are helping to write this great story that’s getting better every day.