American Forest Foundation Partners with FSC on Family Forestlands

The American Forest Foundation (AFF) is partnering with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC US) to support the implementation of the FSC US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment.

The partnership’s goal is to help companies that source fiber from family forestlands to mitigate sustainability risks identified in the FSC Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment for a specific region, such as threats to High Conservation Values and forest conversion. AFF and FSC are also working together to monitor the impacts of these risk mitigation efforts on family-owned forests. To ensure close coordination on this effort, AFF has become a Member of FSC in the Social Chamber.

Family forests, which comprise almost 40% of US forests and provide more than 50% of the wood flowing into supply chains, are a principal source of FSC Controlled Wood. Over the last year, AFF has implemented a range of risk mitigation projects across the Southeast US, in partnership with a handful of FSC Certificate Holders that source Controlled Wood. The projects engage family landowners to protect and restore High Conservation Values, including native longleaf pine systems, late-successional bottomland hardwoods, and the habitat of the dusky gopher frog.

“The approach to risk mitigation developed by the American Forest Foundation offers great potential to expand the positive impacts delivered by the FSC Controlled Wood system,” said Corey Brinkema, president of the Forest Stewardship Council US. “Family forests are vital to both conservation and US markets, so we are excited to deepen our partnership with AFF.”

AFF is also partnering with FSC to monitor and evaluate the impact of the National Risk Assessment in the United States. FSC is implementing a unique approach to risk mitigation in the US, focusing on creating measurable change at a landscape scale through the collective mitigation activities of many FSC Chain of Custody Certificate Holders. Due to the intended scale of impact, individual Certificate Holders can’t measure the overall impact. Therefore, AFF and FSC are co-creating metrics and evaluation strategies to understand the collective impact and effectiveness of the mitigation.

To that end, AFF brings its deep knowledge of family woodlands and analytical expertise to support FSC’s system. Both organizations hope this partnership can serve as a model for promoting sustainability on family forests.

“We are excited to help family forest owners have an impact on important conservation issues identified under the FSC US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment,” said Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. “We look forward to bringing deep expertise with family woodlands to our role as a partner and member of FSC.”
https://us.fsc.org/en-us/newsroom/newsletter/id/1178

Related Posts

Xerox Named to Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indexes

Xerox has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the first time and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for the third consecutive year. In the categories of corporate code of conduct, corporate governance and environmental management and reporting, Xerox exceeded the average score of DJSI World Members. Xerox was one of nine companies in the IT and software services sector to make the DJSI industry list and scored higher than most of the other industry members on all DJSI dimensions (economic, environmental and social). "To be recognized as a leader in sustainability is validation of our long-standing commitment to corporate social responsibility that is core to our business, operations, products and solutions throughout the world,” said Flor Colon, Xerox Corporate Social Responsibility council chair.

Apply for the working group revising FSC’s complaints and appeals procedures

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is seeking candidates for a working group to revise its complaints and appeals procedures. The call for applicants is open until 12 July 2024. The working group will comprise of four (4) members who will be selected based on the following criteria: Experience in: *Developing operational non-judicial grievance and remediation mechanisms. *Managing complicated dispute cases. *Implementing alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. *Managing human rights and socio-environmental sustainability due diligence processes *Using the FSC complaints system or other relevant complaints systems as a party to a complaint. Knowledge in: *FSC’s normative framework, in particular its certification standards, Policy for Association, Remedy Framework, as well as the complaints mechanisms of the various actors in FSC’s certification system. *Measures to ensure equal access to complaints mechanisms according to the needs and challenges faced by users, in particular local forest communities and Indigenous Peoples. *The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. *Best practices on grievance and remediation mechanisms, including the establishment and use of ombuds services.

AF&PA Welcomes New Proposed WOTUS Rule

American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers announcement of a new proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. “We are pleased to see action being taken on an issue that has stymied past administrations. Stakeholders, including forest products manufacturers and state and local governments, deserve the clarity and certainty that this rule provides as they work to ensure our nation’s waters are clean. As one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the nation with a successful record of implementing sustainable manufacturing principles, we consider that a ‘win-win’ for the environment and economic growth and job creation.”
Back To Top
×Close search
Search