Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
The SFI Program is a North American program comprising of Forest Management, Fiber Sourcing and Chain of Custody.
What Is It?
SFI works with the forest sector, brand owners, conservation groups, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous peoples, governments, and universities.
The SFI 2015-2019 Forest Management Standard promotes sustainable forestry practices based on 13 Principles, 15 Objectives, 37 Performance Measures and 101 Indicators. These requirements include measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value. The SFI 2015-2019 Forest Management Standard applies to any organization that owns or has management authority for forestlands.
The SFI 2015-2019 Fiber Sourcing Standard promotes responsible forestry practices based on 14 Principles, 13 Objectives, 21 Performance Measures and 55 Indicators. These fiber sourcing requirements include measures to broaden the practice of biodiversity, use forestry best management practices to protect water quality, provide outreach to landowners, and utilize the services of forest management and harvesting professionals. The standards applies to any organization with a fiber sourcing program that acquires round wood and field manufactured or primary-mill residual chips, pulp and veneer to support a forest products facility.
Appendix 1: Rules for use of SFI Certified sourcing label This standard allows companies to use the certified sourcing label on product. This label confirms that raw material sourced from the following sources:
- Fiber that conforms with the SFI 2015-2019 Fiber Sourcing
- Standard and/or,
- Pre-Consumer Recycled Content and/or,
- Post-consumer recycled content and/or,
- Certified forest content and/or, Non-controversial sources.
Chain of custody is an accounting system process that tracks wood fiber through the different stages of production. Companies can make claims about how much of their product comes from certified lands, how much contains post-consumer recycled content, and how much is responsibly sourced fiber through unique SFI fiber sourcing certification.
Consumers in growing numbers want assurance that their buying decisions represent a sound environmental choice. They are asking for proof that wood, paper and packaging products are made with raw materials from certified forest content or certified sourcing. The SFI 2015-2019 Chain-of-Custody Standard and Associated Labels deliver a reliable and credible mechanism so businesses can provide this assurance to customers.