July 14, 2023
(press release)
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Originally published on Rayonier.com
As a third-party auditor with
On rare occasions, there are perfect audits. More often, they are excellent, but there are opportunities to improve—and that’s what certified companies are looking for. Rather than reaching one level of sustainability and staying there forever, certified companies want to continuously improve and strengthen their efforts to protect and sustain the forest ecosystem. “Those are really the best audits: the ones where you have a finding that you know you’re helping them improve their system, and they recognize it, and they recognize the fact that you helped them improve their system,” Richard says. There are also times when a company seeking sustainable forest certification may need a lot of guidance before they are initially certified. Richard takes pride in the impact that kind of guidance can have on the way the land is managed. “If there was not forest certification, a lot of land would be managed without that push to reach higher sustainability standards,” says Richard, who has been an auditor for 22 years. “Forest certification is what forces a change.” In this article, we will explore various aspects of sustainable forestry certifications, including the certification process, objectives, audits, and the importance of continually raising the bar for environmental and social sustainability in the forestry industry. What is a sustainable forestry certification? Sustainable forestry certifications such as SFI, the
There are standards that address forest management all the way from preparing the land for planting to the way the trees are harvested. There are also standards for mills that process logs and the companies that make forest products you buy in the store. You can look for sustainable forestry certification labels when you buy forest products such as wooden, paper, and cardboard items to ensure they come from a sustainably-managed source. In forest management, the standards ensure the entire forest ecosystem will thrive. The SFI guidelines verify that forest owners are only harvesting a small percentage of their overall land base. With well over 90 percent of the company’s forests in some stage of growth, this practice ensures a continuous wood supply as well as a plentiful array of forest ecosystems in different stages of the forest life cycle. The standards also enforce methods to protect waterways from sedimentation and chemicals. Protecting vulnerable habitats Forest certification standards also ensure that the habitats of vulnerable species are carefully protected. For example, foresters set up and protect a large boundary area around bald eagles’ nests as long as the nest exists. To learn more about that, watch our video, How Foresters Protect Bald Eagles. There are also species you may have never even heard of that foresters are trained to recognize and protect. In the
Standards evolve Newer standards under SFI are aimed at climate smart forestry, which are forest practices that will help prepare forests to better withstand future changes in climate; fire resilience and awareness, which ensures the use of practices to protect forests from wildfire and educating the public about it; social measures, such as having a diversity, equity and inclusion policy; and collaboration with indigenous peoples. For companies like ours, we were implementing best practices long before we became certified, but the certification proves from an outside perspective that we are sustainably managing our forests.
What are the SFI sustainable forestry certification objectives? SFI has more than 40 performance measures and 130 sustainable forestry indicators in the forest management certification standard, which are categorized under the 17 objectives below: To view the entire SFI standard, visit forests.org/standards. How do timber companies become certified for sustainable forestry? If a company wants to be certified for sustainable forestry, it must apply to the certification body, pay an annual fee based on acres managed and net sales and show that it meets certain requirements. Once the application is accepted, the company must incorporate all of the certification body’s standards into the way it does business. Once the standards are implemented, the company will then undergo third party audits of its documents and forests to ensure it measures up to the standards. When the company is officially certified, the external audit reviews will continue annually. The goal of each audit is to verify that the company is doing a good job protecting its forests, but it is also a way to uncover ways to do even better. Every certified company is looking to constantly improve and fine-tune its practices to ensure it is doing the best it can possibly do with its forests. Companies also conduct internal audits more frequently. Additionally, many state forest divisions periodically audit the companies’ forests for Best Management Practices (BMPs) compliance. BMPs are guidelines established by the state to ensure waterways are protected. Reports from each of these audits are also a part of the annual third party audit. What happens when a sustainable forestry certification entity audits a forest owner? During a sustainable forestry certification audit, there are two segments: auditing documents and auditing forests. What happens during the document portion of an SFI forest audit? On a recent annual audit at Rayonier’s Headquarters in Wildlight,
The requirements include everything from the technical way forests are planted, managed and harvested to social standards such as indigenous relations and DEI policies. The employees were expected to be able to quickly locate the documents and expound on any details Richard asked about. What happens during the field portion of an SFI forest audit? The second portion of the audit included several days in the forest. Each day, Richard would select specific sites he wanted to see in person. An auditor often examines documents to find an example of something that didn’t go as planned, such as a weather event or a miscommunication with a contractor. The auditor will then go to the location to observe what happened and question the responsible foresters about the decisions made relating to that incident. The auditor will also ask general questions to test the expertise of the forester. During the 2023
Protecting properties of special importance The SFI standard also calls for forestry companies to protect properties with special importance. Forester
Joe showed the auditor two memorials that had been established honoring the men where they had passed. He maintains the site in their honor. The memorial is included in an annual staff ride in which the
Foresters also protect sites believed to have historical significance, sites where there is habitat for threatened or endangered species, special trees, water features, cemeteries and other geologically or culturally important sites. An example of a protected site on
Research is a component of good forest management The SFI forest management standard also requires certified organizations to be active in research efforts. At
One recent cooperative effort between
You can learn more about some of the work our research team does in our video and article, Rayonier Scientists Bring Deep Knowledge to Forest Management. What happens when a sustainable forestry certification audit identifies something that went wrong? While every company hopes to perform well in an audit, there is usually room for improvement because the audits are intentionally rigorous. “All you want is honest feedback,” says
For example, SFI has new standards around climate smart forestry that have helped companies develop new ways to address and anticipate climate change. When something is seriously out of alignment with the SFI standards, an auditor deems it to be either a minor or major “nonconformance.” “A minor nonconformance means the system is bent. A major nonconformance means the system is broken,” Richard explains. “Now, most people have been in this business long enough where they don’t get majors. They know what to do to avoid a major. A minor is more common.” The difference between a minor and major nonconformance in an SFI audit An example of a minor nonconformance might be one mishap in which sediment went into a stream, Richard explains. A major nonconformance would be 3 or more instances of sediment seeping into waterways. There is also a milder level of feedback called an ”opportunity for improvement.” Richard explains: “Not everything we do in this business is black and white. There are lots of shades of gray. And I only call something if it’s clearly a nonconformance. If it’s not, and I think, ‘Well, you ought to pay attention to this,’ that’s an opportunity for improvement.” Richard says, for him, the best audits are when his findings bring about a positive change in a company. “When I get to the end and they tell me, ‘You’re right. We could’ve done that a little bit better. We will do better.’ I like to hear that, because that means they accepted it, they agreed with what I found, and they’re going to work to get better. Those are really the best audits.” What happens when a company does exceptionally well, reaching far beyond the minimum SFI standard? On rare occasions, a company will receive recognition for a practice that goes well beyond the SFI standard and sets an example for peers to follow. This recognition, called a “notable practice,” is a special honor to those who receive it. Ben recalls one example in which
The notable practice we received was for the reduction of road construction by using this newer technology. You can read more about winch-assisted logging and watch our video of a winch assist machine in action here. How to know if a company is certified for sustainable forestry Forestry companies share their sustainability certification information on their websites and often in their reports and investor documents. You can also verify their membership on the website of the certification body, itself. For example, SFI has a database of its member companies at sfidatabase.org, PEFC has a database at pefc.org/find-certified and FSC has a database at search.fsc.org/en/. Each website publicly posts members’ third-party audit reports. To learn more about
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