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What is Responsible, Sustainable Management?
Worldwide there are several hundred million acres of forest that have been third party certified to demonstrate that they are responsibly managed. Responsibly managed is typically synonymous with...
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Dr. Patrick Moore on Sustainable Forestry and Forests
Dr. Patrick Moore, one of the original founders of Greenpeace, grew up surrounded by forests and it was his love of nature and forests as a child that helped lead him to join the environmental...
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The Lacey Act, Certification and Gibson Guitar: Why Trade in Forest Products...
As a board member Rainforest Alliance, Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz didn’t expect to find himself accused of supporting illegal logging. A supporter of Forest Stewardship Council™ certification,...
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Forest Code
Forest certification promotes a code of conduct for timber managers to demonstrate some level of environmental and community stewardship. Responding to concern about deforestation, particularly in the...
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Uncertified Conversion: Unintended Consequences of Forest Certification
Nonindustrial private forest landowners provide about half of the nation’s wood and steward nearly 360 million acres of forestland. These lands also provide numerous ecosystem services such as water...
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Creating as Much Responsible Forestry as We Can: An interview with SFI’s...
At an SFI conference which included native groups from the United States and Canada last year, one member representing the Yakama Nation tribe explained why they chose to certify their forests using...
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Are “Green” Building Standards Like LEED Based on Forest Science?
Four years ago, the green building coordinator for the Washington State Department of Ecology wrote a piece in support of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a standard for...
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The Forestry Tradeoffs of The Lacey Act and Forest Certification
I spoke today to the Western Wood Preservers Institute conference about the tradeoffs of environmental choices. Perhaps my favorite example is the “green” condominium in Seattle which highlights the...
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Can Consumers Know What They are Getting with FSC? The Problem of Audits.
Travis Snapp received a call from one of his overseas clients that he says typifies some of the problems with the Forest Stewardship Council’s auditing process in developing countries. His client told...
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Does Forestry in Developing Countries Create Deforestation? New Study Says No.
One of the arguments used by advocates of forest certification systems is that certification prevents deforestation and a range of impacts, including climate impacts, associated with deforestation. A...
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What Are You Buying When You Purchase FSC-certified Wood?
Writing on the Woodworking Network site, the owner of Re-View, a manufacturer of custom wood window replicas for historic landmarks across the country, expresses concern about whether FSC-certified...
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How Can Certification Move Beyond a Niche Market – Guilt or Business?
A recent study from the London School of Economics and Political Science on “The Roles and Limits of Certification” says a great deal about the challenges faced by certification systems if they want to...
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What Federal Fire Policy Can Learn From Forest Certification
One of our consistent themes is that forest certification systems cannot ignore the economic well-being of foresters and communities if they are to successfully promote sustainable forestry. The same...
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Competition Among Certification Standards Helps Consumers and the Environment
With the recent certification of four of Asia Pulp & Paper’s mills by Indonesia’s SVLK certification system, there is increasing attention on that system and the role it will play in ensuring...
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How Timber Suppliers Keep Forest Certifiers Honest
In the absence of strong legal systems and enforcement in some parts of the world, how can consumers know the certified timber they are receiving is legitimate? A commentary from the managing director...
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Forest Cover Declines Worldwide, but Increases in Asia and Northern Hemisphere
Data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have been compiled to show the state of the world’s forests and the results paint an interesting picture. While the overall area of forestland...
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At the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Conference
I am attending the Sustainable Forestry Initiative conference in Milwaukee and will be blogging highlights today and tomorrow. Up first is a section titled “Wet and Wild – Responsible Forest Management...
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SFI Conference: Water Resources and Wildlife
Here’s a review of the session on forest management, water and wildlife, featuring Lynn Broaddus of the Johnson Foundation’s environmental programs and Christopher Smith of Ducks Unlimited Canada. Lynn...
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SFI Conference: Bioenergy and Forest Certification
The second morning of the SFI conference began with a discussion about “Advancing Sustainability in the Bioenergy Sector.” The question addressed by the panelists is how to meet growing demand for...
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Seattle’s Dolphin Safe, Certified Forests
With any luck, Seattle’s urban forests will soon be certified dolphin safe. That may seem strange, but it would be just about as meaningful as the city recently receiving a forest certification it...
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