Aboriginal peoples in North America and around the world have long relied on forests for cultural, spiritual and material needs. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) program recognizes forest operations have a direct impact on Aboriginal communities, and addresses Aboriginal interests in its forest, chain-of-custody and fiber sourcing certifications.

More than 160 million acres (65 million hectares) are certified to the SFI Standard across the United States and Canada. This includes lands in the boreal forest, which account for close to three-quarters of Canada's forest and other wooded land.

Wood from well-managed forests certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) Standard is an excellent environmental choice for any new construction or renovation. Wood is renewable and grows naturally, fueled by solar energy.

SFI is a fully independent, registered non-profit, with a governance structure with equal representation across three chambers: social, economic and environmental.

The US Green Building Council’s recently released draft forest certification benchmarks are not the game changer for sustainability that many proponents had in mind. The benchmarks miss the point; in fact they miss several points and therefore several opportunities for the growing green building marketplace to recognize wood products from third-party-certified, well-managed forests.