SFI In Brief | View as Webpage
November 2022
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) recently announced the appointment of two new members of its Board of Directors: Ms. Annica Bresky, President and CEO, Stora Enso, one of the largest private forest owners in the world; and Dr. Tracy Farrell, Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) North America Office and CEO of IUCN-US, a partner organization of the IUCN that has worked for more than 70 years to help the world find solutions to its most pressing environment and development challenges.
Grow your understanding of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and learn how to build respectful forest-focused relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities with Project Learning Tree Canada’s nine eUnits, developed with Sault College. See Objective 8, Recognize and Respect Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, in the 2022 SFI Forest Management Standard.

Several SFI team members, along with SFI Board of Directors member Ebonie Alexander, attended the inaugural in-person Women’s Forest Congress, October 17-20, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Congress is a forum to develop strategies and solutions for forests through a female lens. SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow discussed the Project Learning Tree Green Mentor Program in a Fireside Chat event, along with Dr. Mia Farrell, Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity at the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Farrell was president of the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS) from 2019-2021. The session was moderated by Megan Quinn, a former mentee of Abusow’s and now Coordinator of Conservation Biology for Eastern Ontario with the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Shown here are SFI staff members (left to right) Shuya Huang, Coordinator, Education Systems; Bettina Ring, Chief Sustainability and Diversity Officer; Kathy Abusow, President & CEO; Nadine Block, Senior Vice President, Community and Government Relations; Annie Perkins, Senior Director, Green Building and Supply Chain; and Jerri Taylor, Director of Diversity in Career Pathways.
SFI recently announced Lauren T. Cooper as its new Chief Conservation Officer.

Cooper has exceptional knowledge and experience in climate-smart forestry and applied science and is well-respected internationally for her work in assessing forest-based climate finance and for linking wood utilization to sustainability. Cooper, who is working toward a Ph.D. in Human Dimensions in Forestry Michigan State University, will begin her position with SFI in April 2023.
SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow recently participated in a panel discussion at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 80th Session, Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry, in Zurich, Switzerland. Topic: “The Right Tree in the Right Place, for the Right Reason: Urban Forestry Planning and Policy.” Paul Johnson, SFI Senior Director, Urban and Community Forestry, discussed the SFI Urban & Community Forest Sustainability Standard at the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Annual International Conference in Malmö, Sweden.

The standard is scheduled to be published early next year. 
Online retailer Wayfair recently expanded its “Shop Sustainably” feature to include products made from SFI-certified wood “certified to contain wood that has been responsibly harvested and meets a higher standard for forest management.”

Also included are Greenguard standards for low chemical emissions, EPA WaterSense Certified products, Carbon Neutral Certifie, and many others.
SFI recently recognized Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Week, September 26–30, 2022, and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30, which helps raise awareness of the Indigenous children who were taken from their homes to residential schools for more than 160 years.

SFI is committed to recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ rights and traditional forest-related knowledge in sustainable forest management, and working to help empower current and future forest and conservation leaders to integrate these important concepts into their work.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recently determined that populations of the gopher tortoise in the southeastern United States are stable or expanding in most of its range and is no longer a candidate for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The agency stated that both private forestlands—such as those managed by Resource Management Service, and public forestlands, such as those managed by the Florida Forest Service—both of which are certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI)—are playing a key role in the recovery of the tortoise.
SFI attended the Sustainable Brands Conference on October 17-20, 2022, in Carlsbad, California.

Jason Metnick, Senior Vice President, Customer Affairs; and Leo Viana, Vice President, Conservation Collaboration participated. As part of the conference, SFI sponsored the Arbor Day Foundation’s tree planting event that included the planting of nearly 30 trees.

Shown in the photo are (left to right): Metnick, Viana, and Jeff Ashelford, Manager, Corporate Partnerships, the Arbor Day Foundation.
Do you know someone passionate about the power of forest-focused collaboration? The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is seeking applicants for positions.