As I’ve said before, making the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System more inclusive would be of value for green building and the North American economy. SFI wants the USGBC to create fair science-based benchmarks that will open up the credit to ALL credible forest certification standards used in North America.
FSC and SFI share common goals and have support from credible forestry community experts, such as the National Association of State Foresters and the Society of American Foresters. We recently produced a comparison of the two organizations to highlight similarities and explore the differences. The truth is, SFI promotes inclusive recognition of all credible forest certification standards. Roger Dziengeleski, senior forester for Finch Paper and Vice President of the National Society of American Foresters, sums it up well in his blog post. Here’s an excerpt:
What’s better when it comes to responsible forestry certifications — FSC or SFI?
That’s like asking: What’s better, an apple or an orange? Both are good for you, but they bring completely different strengths and weaknesses to the table. Having access to both fruits results in a healthy body. Having access to both FSC and SFI makes for an overall healthier forest resource.
… Both programs have done an outstanding job of helping forest owners “prove” their compliance with responsible forestry publicly by establishing a list of criteria they must meet, and establishing processes through which to document their performance and subject it to third-party review by independent experts. The programs’ auditors also help forest owners improve their management practices by making recommendations from their years of experience, and pointing out possible improvements that a landowner can sometimes overlook in the course of his day-to-day activities.
Most Finch paper is SFI and FSC-certified. There are many other companies also looking to make wood products from responsibly managed forests. Reliable certification standards—like SFI, FSC and other certification standards—let companies and consumers know their wood and wood products are coming from responsible sources. FSC and SFI are both working toward advancements in responsible forestry—how can that be a bad thing?
