 Forest Certification Services
Forest certification, or “green” certification as it is sometimes called, is essentially an effort to identify forestland that is well-managed. The certification “movement” is an extremely popular topic in our region as well as with the global forest community. A survey conducted in late 2002 indicated that there were more than 3 million acres of forestland certified in New York and Pennsylvania alone at that time. This level of participation reflects the recent increase in the popularity of certification, however the business of forest certification is not as new as one might think.
AFF's Tree Farm Certification
The American Tree Farm System (ATFS), now sponsored by the American Forest Foundation (AFF), has been implementing a form of forest certification on participant lands since 1941. Participants are required to meet specific criteria and must pass a regular inspection by a qualified Tree Farm inspector. The benefits to the landowner include their recognition in the community as a responsible steward of their forestland and the piece of mind that comes from having an outside third party inspect and verify the quality of the management on their lands measured against a written standard. FORECON, Inc. has a long history of working with forest certification on both a local and regional level. Our firm has been an active participant in the AFF’s Tree Farm program for many years as Tree Farm inspectors and managers.
ISO 14001 and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Certifications
In addition to ATFS, FORECON currently manages over 150,000 acres of timberland in several states which have been third party-certified through both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) programs. Our staff has also provided consulting services regarding the development of sustainable forest management systems to clients seeking certification. In 2000, several FORECON staff completed the required lead auditor training for conducting both SFI and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems certification) third party audits. Since that time, Matt Smith, FORECON’s Director of Land Management, has participated as a forestry auditor in a significant number of third party certification and surveillance audits in seven states for both standards. Matt looks forward to reaching the level of the Registrar Accreditation Board’s "Lead Auditor" designation in 2005. Also, in response to the newly formed Tree Farm Group Certification standard, several FORECON, Inc. personnel have successfully completed the auditor training required for this exciting new program.
If you think that certification is of interest to you or should you have questions regarding certification or the certification/auditing services available from FORECON, Inc., please contact Matt Smith at the Falconer, NY, office (716) 664-5602, ext. 313.
If you are interested in finding out more about forest certification in general, please visit the web sites on our links page.
American Tree Farm System (ATFS), American Forest Foundation (AFF), Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) are registered trademarks.
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