Rick
Cantrell is the senior director for sustainable forestry
and forest policy, American Forest & Paper Association,
Washington, DC.
"Sustainable
development is ... development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of further
generations to meet their own needs." So declared
the World Commission on Environment and Development in
1987, inspiring a new vision of forest management worldwide.
We now know that responsible environmental behavior and
sound forest management can go together, for the mutual
benefit of landowners, shareholders, customers, the environment,
and future generations.
In
1994, in the same spirit, the American
Forest & Paper Association launched the Sustainable
Forestry Initiative® program in the United States.
The program is designed to help forest managers continue
growing and harvesting trees while still protecting
wildlife, plants, soil, water, and air.
At
the core of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®
program is a formal standard. The standard is based
on principles that translate into the following objectives:
- broadening
the practice of sustainable forestry,
- ensuring
long-term forest productivity,
- protecting
water quality,
- enhancing
wildlife habitat and contributing to biodiversity,
- protecting
special sites,
- continuously
improving wood utilization,
- continuously
improving sustainable forestry practices,
- fostering
the practice of sustainable forestry on all forest
lands, and
- reporting
publicly on program progress.
Program
participants who want to label their products as certified
must follow an independent third-party certification
procedure to show conformance to the program standard
and to gauge progress in meeting its objectives. The
process for conducting the audit is rigorous, and all
auditors must meet precise educational and professional
criteria.
The
Sustainable Forestry Board manages the standard and
the certification procedures. To ensure the board's
impartiality, two-thirds of its members are drawn from
outside the American Forest & Paper Association.
They come from environmental and conservation groups,
public agencies, and professional and academic groups.
Some are independent logging professionals and family
forest landowners.
The
Sustainable Forestry Initiative® program is growing.
Today, more than 135 million acres (54 million hectares)
of forest land are enrolled, and more than 100 million
acres (40 million hectares) have been independently
third-party certified to meet the program standard.
More than 650 million new trees are planted each year
in the United States by program participants-more than
1.7 million each day.
That's
good for everyone. Through sustainable forestry and
certification programs such as the Sustainable Forestry
Initiative®, people worldwide are growing tomorrow's
forests today in a way that will protect the environment
for generations to come.
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