Today marks the launch of SFI’s In Case You Were Wondering section of the website (sfiprogram.org/facts). This part of the site is a resource for anyone with questions about forest certification or SFI and explains the values our program is grounded in, the importance of promoting responsible forest management and helps
consumers make informed purchasing decisions.

Independence and inclusion, rigorous third party audits and understanding eco labels are the themes covered throughout this area of our site. We showcase leaders in their respective fields with videos and information featuring me and other key contributors to forest certification:

Additionally, there is a “share” feature on each page, making it easy for you to post and email information about the site to your social networks.

I couldn’t be more excited about the site, and we hope you find it valuable. Feel free to share your feedback by commenting on the post or emailing info@sfiprogram.org.

It’s fitting that the themes for our 15th Annual Conference, is Power of Partnerships.  The world of responsible forestry and certification is so immense there is not a lot one organization can do on its own. The conference is set to explore the many ways collaboration leads to improved forest management, education & outreach efforts and implementation of the SFI Standard.

If you take a look at our conference agenda you will see we have lined up local and international speakers who will talk about partnerships yielding benefits for the forest products marketplace, communities, First Nations, and government agencies throughout North America and globally. Keynote speaker Linda Coady, Distinguished Fellow, University of British Columbia and Vice-President of Sustainability, Vancouver Olympics Organizing Committee will talk about Certification, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability – The Next Generation.  We’ll also be making some exciting announcements.

We will be posting video from conference speakers as well as pictures from the event on our Annual Conference webpage – so check it out if you are not able to join us in Vancouver and take part virtually.

Brian Dumaine is going to be the keynote speaker at our conference this year in Nashville. He’s the global editor of FORTUNE magazine but also directs FORTUNE’s green technology and environmental policy stories. So we’re in for a thought-provoking talk. In fact, I heard Brian speak earlier this year at FORTUNE’s Brainstorm Green, where he moderated a session on maintaining green business in challenging economic times. I found that his views on how to simultaneously do the right thing for the environment and business were very enlightening. He is also the author of the newly published The Plot to Save the Planet: How Visionary Entrepreneurs and Corporate Titans Are Creating Real Solutions To Global Warming. Recently, I had the chance to ask him about his views on the green economy and his thinking on breakthrough green technologies and how it relates to sustainable forestry.

Click on the play button below to listen to our discussion.

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One of the things I absolutely love about the SFI program is our work with communities – it’s a natural extension to any forest management activities. Our partnerships with local Habitat for Humanity affiliates capture this spirit perfectly.

At last count, the SFI program and its SFI Implementation Committees have been or are involved in Habitat projects in Minnesota, Maine, Tennessee, Manitoba and Ontario. Program participants have volunteered hundreds of hours of their time, and companies have donated thousands of dollars worth of products.

There are so many pluses it is hard to know where to start. Through Habitat, we are helping put low-income working families into their own homes. I was given a chance to wield a hammer at a Build Day in Hibbing, Minnesota, last summer, and saw for myself how much it meant for the new homeowner to build her own home with the help of her community.

The Manitoba and Ontario projects are special because both involve Aboriginal organizations – Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg has partnered with the Manitoba Métis Federation and Habitat for Humanity Northumberland is working with Alderville First Nation in southern Ontario to build the first Habitat for Humanity home in a First Nation community in Canada.

This is a great way to provide safe, healthy housing for First Nations people. Chief James Marsden of Alderville First Nation put it perfectly when he said: “We are very pleased to establish partnerships like these with businesses and the community because it allows us to create an affordable home for an Alderville First Nation family. Partnering with SFI also allows us to reinforce our respect for land and forests.”

Habitat for Humanity is a fantastic organization, and I am proud we can support them. Their guiding principles – simple, decent, affordable – say a lot about what they represent. And our involvement is a great fit because Habitat is increasing its emphasis on sustainability, and our donated forest products are from responsible sources.

I want to thank all the SFI companies and individuals who have pitched in to promote Habitat partnerships, and encourage you to check out the Habitat for Humanity website to see if there are opportunities to help out in your area.

It’s been incredible here at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference – and educational. Meeting and talking to so many concerned and influential folks interested in climate change, environmental practices and the business of sustainability has been really encouraging. I also appreciated the opportunity to participate in the panel called Traceability: How Well Do You Know Your Supply Chain? This took place on Tuesday and it was a fascinating discussion moderated by one of Fortune’s contributing editors, Marc Gunther. Other panelists included Jill Dumain of Patagonia and Michael Kowalski, CEO of Tiffany & Co. My video post below details the panel discussion a bit more.

Kathy Abusow, President & CEO at SFI

During the traceability panel we also heard from Arlin Wasserman, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at Sodexo. Sodexo employs 350,000 people worldwide and serves some 50 million people a day in 85 different countries. They provide facilities management, energy management and food service to corporations, hospitals, schools and government buildings. Sodexo is in a unique position to influence environmental practices and they stressed the importance of transparency, traceability and certification. And Arlin has a unique perspective on it – as you can see in our interview with him below.

Arlin Wasserman, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at Sodexo

We were also able to spend some time with Rich Lechner, Vice President of Energy and Environment at IBM. IBM has had a corporate sustainability agenda since 1971. You’ll find a few similarities between some of IBM’s best practices and the requirement we have for independent third party auditors (it has to do with management, measurement, monitoring and transparency through third party verification). In our conversation, we talked about how sustainability fits into IBM’s corporate and business objectives, how IBM supports sustainable forestry and lessons learned re: sustainability. The highlights of this conversation are in the video below

Rich Lechner, Vice President of Energy and Environment at IBM