Connecting brand owners to forests: Innovation in the spotlight at the 2017 PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue

Technology has the ability to move boundaries and change how certification operates.

Helping us to kick-start the PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue will be Sarah Crow from the American Forest Foundation, as she showcases the innovative ‘Forests in Focus’.

To find out more, make sure you register to join us in Helsinki on 16-17 November, but in the meantime, here’s what Sarah has to say:

What is your view of the potential of innovation and technology within forest certification?
“I believe innovation is central to our success. In our experiences with forest certification, we have learned a huge amount about what customers, landowners, stakeholders, conservation partners and others are seeking.”

“Like never before, we are finding new ways to think about our work, solve problems, create opportunities, connect with partners and reach new audiences.”

“In particular, digital and mobile technologies, social media, landscape-scale analyses and remote sensing may enable more streamlined, cost effective and accessible forms of forest certification and assurance to the marketplace, while also achieving conservation impacts. This is especially true for smallholders, in the United States, where I live and work, and globally.”

“My sense is that curiosity, listening and imagination are key to guiding our innovations in this space.”

Can you give us a short overview of your innovative solution? What challenges can it help us overcome?
FiF screenshot“I am pleased to have the opportunity to share Forests in Focus, the American Forest Foundation’s collaborative effort with GreenBlue, a coalition of market brands, retailers and their forest product suppliers.”

“Forests in Focus utilizes credible, publicly available data to provide an assessment of sustainability at the landscape level. This approach offers major corporations and suppliers new insights about the regions from which they source.”

“It is designed to show how all of the individual good practices can roll-up to positive impacts at scale and where there may be gaps.”

“Landscape scale approaches such as these can not only provide important inputs into the certification process but also help us understand the sustainability challenges facing the geographies we are working in and help inform our on-the-ground efforts, within forest certification and beyond.”