SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard

In 2021, Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) launched a partnership to develop an Urban and Community Forest Sustainability standard that promotes the establishment of sustainable urban and community forests and seeks remedies for the climate crisis and other serious challenges that urban forests are ideally positioned to help address. This partnership included five urban forestry leaders, American Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, the International Society of Arboriculture, the Society of Municipal Arborists, and Tree Canada. Urban and community forests face significant threats, such as climate change; invasive and native insects, animals, plants, and diseases; water shortages, and so on. To counter these threats, raise awareness, and assist communities in managing these resources, SFI has engaged the urban forestry sector to create a standard for sustainable urban and community forests that meet local needs while meaningfully contributing to national initiatives, such as Canada’s 2 Billion Trees Program. SFI and its partners aimed to provide leadership in urban forestry and raise the profile of urban forests and trees as green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. The result is an Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard that promotes sustainable urban forestry based on 16 objectives. This standard is appropriate for organizations that own, manage or are responsible for urban forests. These organizations can come from all facets of the urban forest sector including but not limited to: governmental organizations (i.e. municipalities, counties, states, provinces), non-governmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples, community groups, healthcare organizations, educational organizations, and corporate organizations.