Sustainable Forestry Initiative

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is a North American 'forest certification standard' and program of SFI Inc., a non-profit organization. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is the world’s largest single forest certification standard by area.The SFI is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario Canada and Washington D.C. USA.

In 2005, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which itself is the world's largest forest certifications system, recognized the SFI standard.

The SFI Forest Management Standard covers key values such as protection of biodiversity, species at risk and wildlife habitat; sustainable harvest levels; protection of water quality; and prompt regeneration. A new set of SFI 2015-2019 Standards and Rules, developed through an open review process, took effect on Jan. 1, 2015. All SFI certifications require independent, third-party audits and are performed by internationally accredited certification bodies.

The SFI Standards are revised and updated every five years to incorporate the latest scientific information and to respond to emerging issues. As part of this process, comments were received during two 60-day public comment periods in 2013 and 2014, and input was received from 12 public workshops across the United States and Canada. About 10,000 stakeholders were invited to submit comments. Participants included public and private landowners, forest sector representatives, Indigenous communities, conservation groups, industry, academia and government officials.

Independent oversight was provided at each stage of the revision process by the SFI External Review Panel, a group of independent experts representing conservation, professional, academic and public organizations, operating at arm’s length from SFI. The SFI External Review Panel reviewed every public comment submitted to ensure that all comments were considered, and to guarantee the Standard revision process was transparent, objective and credible. The responses to comments are posted on the SFI website.

The SFI Program only certifies lands in the United States and Canada, and program participants must comply with all applicable laws. For sources outside of North America without effective laws, participants must avoid illegal or other controversial sources. The SFI Program supports activities by international experts to find ways to address the problem of illegal logging and is a member of the international, multi-stakeholder Forest Legality Alliance.

The SFI 2015-2019 Fiber Sourcing Standard promotes responsible forestry practices based on 14 Principles, 13 Objectives, 21 Performance Measures and 55 Indicators that address the 90 percent of the world’s forests that are not certified. The SFI 2015-2019 Fiber Sourcing Standard distinguishes SFI from all other forest certification programs in that it sets mandatory practice requirements for the responsible procurement of all fiber, even if it is sourced from non-certified land. These fiber sourcing requirements include measures to broaden the practice of biodiversity, use best management practices to protect water quality, and utilize the services of forest management and harvesting professionals. Because it governs how SFI Program Participants procure fiber from non-certified land, supporters argue that the Standard encourages the spread of responsible forestry practices.

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