WVFA Mountain State Forestry Winter 2020-21

www.wvfa.org Winter 2020-2021 | West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry 27 S U S T A I N A B L E F O R E S T R Y I N I T I A T I V E Session 3 Conservation Impact—Collaborating on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Water Quality Paul Trianosky, SFI’s Chief Conservation Officer and Mike Parr, President of the American Bird Conservancy and an SFI Board Member, offered insights on the SFI Conservation Impact Project. They discussed how collaborations with universities and ENGOs are helping SFI and partners develop information and tools that will illustrate the outcomes of SFI’s work in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, and water quality. “Our certification programs are in a position to actively advance positive outcomes,” Trianosky said. “We wanted to be responsive to this need of measuring and confirming conservation outcomes for well- managed forests.” Findings from the American Bird Conservancy that inform the SFI Conservation Impact Project illustrated specific contributions of SFI-certified lands to bird species at risk. “ABC works to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas, and we work closely with SFI and many of the SFI community,” Parr said. “The SFI footprint of approximately 375 million forested acres makes an enormous contribution to the avifauna of North America as well as to clean water and biodiversity.” Session 4 How Forest Sector Professionals Can Support Forest Literacy for Youth SFI’s education work, led by our flagship program Project Learning Tree (PLT), guides our commitment to raising the next generation of sustainability and conservation leaders. Attendees heard about new PLT resources to teach youth audiences about our forests. Several PLT funders discussed how they have benefited from partnering with PLT. SFI’s Green Jobs Guide was among the resources cited as a great way to attract young people to the sector. “PLT’s forest literacy framework is a roadmap to help people understand the importance of forests, and our responsibility for sustaining them. I’m always so impressed by the caliber of PLT’s work, which meets the highest education standards,” said Tinelle Bustam, Director of Conservation Education, USDA Forest Service. “PLT’s new Pocket Guide: Seeds to Trees hits the sweet spot for our community engagement and education outreach goals. PLT materials are best in class and enable our employees to talk about forests and sustainability in ways that meet required academic standards,” said Amy Grow, Manager of Community Engagement at International Paper. Our certification programs are in a position to actively advance positive outcomes,” Trianosky said. “We wanted to be responsive to this need of measuring and confirming conservation outcomes for well-managed forests.”