Page 10 - Georgia Forestry - Issue3 - Summer 2021

Research is Key to Advancing Climate- Smart Forestry
To advance our goal of implementing climate-smart forestry, we must increase our knowledge and understanding of climate-smart forestry practices. To this end, SFI has supported several climate- specific research efforts.
SFI has collaborated with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement to develop a tool that will estimate and display forest carbon stocks and forest carbon stock changes across SFI’s foot- print in the U.S. Through a collaboration with American Forests, SFI is helping to develop an approach for including soils in forest carbon calculations, which will increase understanding of whole-eco- system carbon dynamics, as well as the impacts of forest management on the entire forest carbon pool. SFI collabo- rated with Coalitions and Collaboratives to investigate the potential for forests certified to SFI to generate conser- vation-focused returns through the monetization of carbon, water and con- servation markets.
Sustainable Building Solutions and Climate Change
SFI is also committed to ensuring that the public understands that building with wood has climate change and economic benefits. More people need to appreciate that trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, sequestering and storing carbon while producing oxygen. Forests and forest products capture almost 15% of our carbon emissions each year, according to American Forests, the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the United States. An additional benefit of building with wood is that carbon already sequestered is stored for decades.
We are encouraged to see demand growing for mass timber, including cross-laminated timber (CLT), a prefabricated, solid engineered wood-panel product. CLT is as strong as traditional building materials like steel and concrete, yet it offers the additional environmental
benefits associated with wood. As build- ing codes change to accommodate tall wood buildings, SFI-certified forests and organizations are well positioned to offer climate-smart solutions.
Sharing the Working Forestry Message Makes a Difference on Climate Change
Despite all the progress SFI and its part- ners are making on climate change, there is work to do to get these positive messages out to the public here at home and around the world to effect posi- tive change. SFI works to ensure our communications help people under- stand why and how sustainable forestry is at the heart of so many solutions to the challenges facing the planet and its people.
Through our standards, our conser- vation impact work, our environmental education, and our extensive network, SFI has the scale to make a difference on climate change. SFI-certified organiza- tions act as a driving force in addressing climatechangeimpactsthroughsound,sci- ence-based natural resource management.
SFI is in a strong position to elevate the role of sustainably managed forests in addressing climate change based on our global reach and our focus on communicating the important role forests play in relation to critical global issues. We partner with the forest sector, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource pro- fessionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments. Visit forests.org/climate or contact us at info@forests.org to learn more. ■
Urban Forestry Plays a Role in Climate Change Mitigation
Managing urban and community forests for climate change mitigation holds tremendous promise. SFI recently announced the launch of a partnership to develop the SFI Urban and Commu- nity Forest Sustainability Standard, collaborating with five urban forestry leaders: American Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, the International Society of Arboriculture, the Society of Municipal Arborists, and Tree Canada. We look forward to working with a broad coali- tion of experts in urban and community forestry to move this important effort forward and to use it as another oppor- tunity to create climate solutions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SFI,
FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
SFI takes a “Why It Matters” approach to communi- cations to help people see how sustainable forestry is at the heart of so many solutions to the challenges facing the planet: forests.org/why-it-matters
Watch a video about forests and forest products capturing almost 15% of our carbon emissions each year: youtu.be/es9LZahaDkk
8 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
Jason Metnick is Senior Vice President of Customer Affairs at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Jason leads SFI’s supply chain assurance work related to demonstrating SFI’s Standards as proof points for responsible forestry.