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

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

    Extent of land/freshwater/ocean ecosystem that is sustainably managed (km2) by:

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

    This metric applies only to land owned/managed/ leased by the organisation.

    For the purposes of the core global disclosure metric: • Sustainably managed refers to the UN FAO definition of sustainable forest management (see glossary); • An organisation may provide information additional to the GET to define the type of ecosystem, such as regional or local classifications; • An organisation should provide additional detail on the type of forest, where applicable (e.g. semi-natural forests); and • 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 FSG Nature Positive Roadmap: forest production, processing and manufacturing, downstream.

    WBCSD- FSG (2021)

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

    OBJECTIVE 1. FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING;

    OBJECTIVE 2. FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

    OBJECTIVE 5. MANAGEMENT OF VISUAL QUALITY AND RECREATIONAL BENEFITS

    Performance Measure 1.1. Certified Organizations shall ensure that forest management plans include long-term harvest levels that are sustainable and consistent with appropriate growth-and-yield models.;

    Indicator 1. Forest management planning at a level appropriate to the size and scale of the operation, including: b. a periodic or ongoing forest inventory; c. a land classification system; e. soils inventory and maps, where available; g. up-to-date maps or a geographic information system (GIS);

    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.

    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.

    Performance Measure 2.1. Certified Organizations shall promptly reforest after final harvest.

    Indicator 1. Documented reforestation plans, including designation of all harvest areas for either natural, planted, or direct seeded regeneration and prompt reforestation, unless delayed for site-specific environmental or forest health considerations or legal requirements, through planting within two years or two planting seasons, or by planned natural regeneration methods within five years.

    Performance Measure 5.2. Certified Organizations shall manage the size, shape, and placement of clearcut harvests.

    Indicator 1. Average size of clearcut harvest areas does not exceed 120 acres (50 hectares), except when necessary to meet regulatory requirements, achieve ecological objectives or to respond to forest health emergencies or other natural catastrophes.

    Indicator 2. Documentation through internal records of clearcut size and the process for calculating average size.

  • Driver of nature change: Pollution/pollution removal

    Pollutants released to soil split by type (C2.0)

    Pollutants released to soil (tonnes) by type, referring to sector-specific guidance on types of pollutants. Pollutants to report under the core global disclosure metric include:

    • Pesticides from forestry operations;
    • Nitrogen;
      • Phosphorus;
    • Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); and
    • Ash (e.g. from boilers in processing and manufacturing activities).

    In determining which pollutants to report, an organisation should consider:

    • The FAO and WHO definitions of highly hazardous pesticides, with an emphasis on extremely hazardous and highly hazardous pesticides (class 1A and 1B, respectively);
    • The chemicals included in the list of banned persistent organic pollutants (POPs) of the Stockholm Convention;
    • Other pollutants that are not inherently hazardous, but where significant quantities or poor disposal practices may be damaging, including fertilisers, wood debris and bark accumulation from forestry operations, non-recyclable paper, rejects from recycling processes or other solid waste; and
    • Pollutants of concern identified during engagement with stakeholder groups.

    Ashrafi et al. (2015); IFC (2007); OECD and UNEP (2013); UNEP and WHO (2016); The Stockholm Convention (2001); WBCSD-FSG (2022); WHO(2019); WRI and WBCSD (2015)

    OBJECTIVE 2. FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

    Performance Measure 2.2. Certified Organizations shall have a program to minimize chemical use required to achieve management objectives while protecting employees, neighbors, the public and the environment, including wildlife and aquatic habitats.

    Indicator 1. Pest management shall be implemented through the use of integrated pest management. 2. Minimized chemical use required to achieve management objectives. 3. Use of least-toxic and narrowest-spectrum pesticides necessary to achieve management objectives. 4. Use of pesticides registered for the intended use and applied in accordance with label requirements. 5. The World Health Organization (WHO) type 1A and 1B pesticides shall be prohibited, except where no other viable alternative is available. 6. Use of pesticides banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001) shall be prohibited. 7. Supervision of forest chemical applications by state- or provincially trained or certified applicators. 8. Use of management practices appropriate to the situation, such as: a. notification of adjoining landowners or nearby residents concerning applications and chemicals used; b. appropriate multilingual signs or oral warnings; c. control of public road access during and immediately after applications; d. designation of streamside and other needed buffer strips; e. use of positive shutoff and minimal-drift spray valves; f. aerial application of forest chemicals parallel to buffer zones to limit drift; g. monitoring of water quality or safeguards to ensure proper equipment use and protection of streams, lakes, and other water bodies; h. appropriate transportation and storage of chemicals; i. use of spill response plans and chemical spill kits; j. filing of required state or provincial reports; and/or k. use of methods to ensure protection of threatened and endangered species.

    Performance Measure 2.3. Certified Organizations shall implement practices that protect and maintain forest and soil productivity and soil health.

    Indicator 5. Practices that address harvesting and site preparation to protect soil productivity and soil health.

    Indicator 6. Road construction, skidding layout, and harvest plans designed to minimize impacts to soil productivity and soil health.

  • Driver of nature change: Pollution/pollution removal

    OBJECTIVE 2. FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

    Performance Measure 2.2. Certified Organizations shall have a program to minimize chemical use required to achieve management objectives while protecting employees, neighbors, the public and the environment, including wildlife and aquatic habitats.

    Indicator 8: Use of management practices appropriate to the situation, such as: a. notification of adjoining landowners or nearby residents concerning applications and chemicals used; b. appropriate multilingual signs or oral warnings; c. control of public road access during and immediately after applications; d. designation of streamside and other needed buffer strips; e. use of positive shutoff and minimal-drift spray valves; f. aerial application of forest chemicals parallel to buffer zones to limit drift; g. monitoring of water quality or safeguards to ensure proper equipment use and protection of streams, lakes, and other water bodies; h. appropriate transportation and storage of chemicals; i. use of spill response plans and chemical spill kits; j. filing of required state or provincial reports; and/or k. use of methods to ensure protection of threatened and endangered species.

  • Driver of nature change: Invasive alien species and other

    Placeholder indicator: Measures against unintentional introduction of invasive alien species (IAS)84 (C4.0)

    Proportion of high-risk activities operated under appropriate measures to prevent unintentional introduction of IAS, or low-risk designed activities.

    No further guidance.

    84 Due to the measurement of levels of invasive species for organisations being a developing area, the chosen indicator focuses on whether an appropriate management response is in place for the organisation. The additional sets of metrics contain measurement of the level of invasive species within an area. The TNFD intends to do further work with experts to define ‘high-risk activities’ and ‘low-risk designed activities’.

    OBJECTIVE 2. FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

    OBJECTIVE 4. CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

    Performance Measure 1.1. Certified Organizations shall ensure that forest management plans include long-term harvest levels that are sustainable and consistent with appropriate growth-and-yield models

    Indicator 1. Forest management planning at a level appropriate to the size and scale of the operation, including: a. a long-term resources analysis; b. a periodic or ongoing forest inventory; c. a land classification system; d. biodiversity at landscape scales; e. soils inventory and maps, where available; f. access to and use of growth-and-yield modeling capabilities; g. up-to-date maps or a geographic information system (GIS); h. recommended sustainable harvest levels for areas available for harvest; and i. consideration of non-timber issues such as recreation, tourism, pilot projects and economic incentive programs to promote water protection.

    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.

  • State of nature

    Placeholder indicator: Ecosystem condition (C5.0)

    No further guidance.

    OBJECTIVE 2. FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

    OBJECTIVE 4. CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

    Performance Measure 2.1. Certified Organizations shall promptly reforest after final harvest.

    Indicator 3. Plantings of native or non-invasive naturalized tree species are preferred. In exceptional circumstances where exotic tree species are being planted, they should not increase risk to native ecosystems.

    Performance Measure 4.1. Certified Organizations shall conserve biological diversity.

    Indicator 1. Program to incorporate the conservation of biological diversity, including native species, wildlife habitats and ecological community types at stand and landscape levels, through the use of best scientific information including the incorporation of research results.

    Indicator 2. Development of criteria and implementation of practices, as guided by regionally based best scientific information, to retain stand-level wildlife habitat elements such as snags, stumps, mast trees, down woody debris, den trees and nest trees.

    Indicator 3. Program to individually and/or through cooperative efforts such as SFI Implementation Committees, support diversity of native forest cover types and age or size classes that enhance biological diversity, by incorporating the results of analysis of documented diversity at landscape and ownership/tenure levels, to ensure the contribution of the managed area to the diversity of conditions that promote biodiversity.

    Indicator 4. Certified Organizations shall individually and/or through cooperative efforts such as SFI Implementation Committees, participate in or incorporate the results of credible, relevant state, provincial, or regional conservation planning and priority-setting efforts to conserve biological diversity and incorporate the results of these efforts in forest management planning. Credible priority-setting efforts include state and provincial wildlife action plans, state forest action plans, relevant habitat conservation plans, provincial wildlife recovery plans, Indigenous planning processes or ecoregional plans.

    Indicator 5. Program to address conservation of ecologically important species and natural communities.

    Indicator 6. Identification and protection of non-forested wetlands, including bogs, peatlands, fens and marshes, and vernal pools that are ecologically important.

    Indicator 7. Participation in programs and demonstration of activities as appropriate to limit the introduction, spread and impact of invasive species that directly threaten or are likely to threaten native plant and animal communities.

    Indicator 8. Consider the role of natural disturbances, including opening size, structural retention, the use of prescribed or natural fire where appropriate, and forest health threats in relation to biological diversity when developing forest management plans.

    Performance Measure 4.2. Certified Organizations shall protect threatened and endangered species, critically imperiled and imperiled species (Forests with Exceptional Conservation Values), and natural communities, and old-growth forests.

    Indicator 1. Program to protect threatened and endangered species.

    Indicator 2. Program to locate and protect known sites of flora and fauna associated with viable occurrences of critically imperiled and imperiled species and ecological communities, defined as Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value. Programs for protection may be developed independently and/or through cooperative efforts involving SFI Implementation Committees and may include Certified Organization managers, cooperation with other stakeholders, or use of easements, conservation land sales, exchanges, or other conservation strategies.

    Indicator 3. Support of and participation in programs for the conservation of old-growth forests in the region of ownership or forest tenure.

    Performance Measure 4.3. Certified Organizations shall manage to protect ecologically important sites in a manner that takes into account their unique qualities.

    Indicator 1. Use of information such as existing NatureServe or natural heritage data or expert advice in identifying or selecting ecologically important sites for protection.

    Indicator 2. Appropriate mapping, cataloging and management of identified ecologically important sites.

  • State of nature

    Placeholder indicator: Species extinction risk (C5.0)

    For those organisations that choose to report on state of nature metrics, the TNFD encourages them to report the following indicators, and to refer to the TNFD additional guidance on measurement of the state of nature in Annex 2 of the LEAP approach:

    • Level of ecosystem condition by type of ecosystem and business activity;
    • Species extinction risk.

    There are a number of different measurement options for these indicators. The TNFD does not currently specify one metric as there is no single metric that will capture all relevant dimensions of changes to the state of nature and a consensus is still developing. The TNFD will continue to work with knowledge partners.

    No further guidance.

    OBJECTIVE 4. CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

    Performance Measure 4.2. Certified Organizations shall protect threatened and endangered species, critically imperiled and imperiled species (Forests with Exceptional Conservation Values), and natural communities, and old-growth forests.

    Indicator 1. Program to protect threatened and endangered species.