• Driver of nature change: Land/freshwater/ ocean-use change

    Extent of land/freshwater/ ocean-use change (C1.1)

    Extent of land/freshwater/ocean ecosystem use change (km2) by:

    • Type of ecosystem;76 and
    • Type of business activity.

    Land-use change to report under the core global disclosure metric includes:

    • Conversion of primary forests, naturally regenerated secondary forests and any other areas of high biodiversity value/carbon stock that are not currently managed for productive purposes regardless of the future forest management plans (e.g. conversion of primary forests into plantation forests or other non-forest land- uses).

    For the purposes of the core global disclosure metric:

    • Extent of land-use change should be measured relative to the land cover type present at an established cut-off date (no later than 2020);
    • Business activity refers to core business activities/ stages of the value chain. A forest sector company should follow the same approach as defined in the Forest Sector Group (FSG) Nature Positive  Roadmap: forest production, processing and manufacturing, downstream; and
    • An organisation may provide information additional to the Replace with Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) to define the type of ecosystem, such as regional or local classifications.

    FSC (2023); Afi (2019); WBCSD- FSG (2021)

    76 When disclosing on ecosystem types, refer to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Ecosystem Typology.

    OBJECTIVE 1. FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING

    Performance Measure 1.2. Certified Organizations shall not convert one forest cover type to another forest cover type unless an assessment has been conducted to determine ecological impacts and provide appropriate justification.

    Indicator 1. Certified Organizations shall not convert one forest cover type to another forest cover type, unless the conversion: a. does not convert native forest cover types that are rare, ecologically important, or that put any native forest cover types at risk of becoming rare;and b. does not create significant adverse impacts on Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value, old growth forests, forest critical to threatened and endangered species, or special sites or ecologically important non-forest eco-systems; and c. includes objectives for long-term outcomes that support maintaining native forest cover types and ecological function; and d. is in compliance with relevant national and regional policy and legislation related to land use and forest management.

    Indicator 2. A proposed conversion deemed appropriate per 1.2.1, and which has considered impacts relative to scale, may be implemented subject to a landscape assessment that considers: a. a response to address forest health issues such as pests or pathogens, or proactive consideration of anticipated impacts of fire or climate change, reforestation challenges, or riparian protection needs, provided that such justification is supported by the best scientific information. b. site productivity, economics, and/or stand quality. c. ecological impacts of the conversion at the site and landscape scale, as well as consideration for any appropriate mitigation measures; and d. appropriate consultation with local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and other stakeholders who could be affected by such activities.

    Performance Measure 1.3. Certified Organizations shall not have within the scope of their certification to this SFI Standard, forest lands that have been converted to non-forest land use.

    Indicator 1. Forest lands converted to other land uses shall not be certified to this SFI standard. This does not apply to forest lands used for forest and wildlife management such as wildlife food plots or infrastructure such as forest roads, log processing areas, trails, etc.

    Performance Measure 1.4. Certified Organizations shall not afforest in locations which negatively impact ecologically important natural communities, threatened and endangered species, or native natural communities which could be at risk of becoming rare.