SFI Forest Partners Program

In 2012, Time Inc., National Geographic Society and, worth noting, Macmillan Publishers and Pearson became official SFI Founding Forest Partners, having an ambitious ecological aim in mind: to certify 5 million acres (2 million hectares) of forests to the SFI standards by 2014, and 5 million more acres (2 million hectares) by the end of 2017, across the United States and Canada.

The program involves “five-year commitments to increase the source of certified forest products” and working collectively and closely with SFI to make certification more widely accessible (for example, by providing resources for “consulting expertise, group certification and audit coordination”).

The program also requires that partners work in conjunction with professionals from the whole supply chain of production – landowners, manufacturers, distributors, governmental organisations, environmental groups and even customers, in order to increase the area of certified forest. According to SFI, only 10% of the world’s forest is certified.

So why did I consider this program particularly interesting, from a book publishing perspective?

• First, because it links market leaders of the publishing industry with other stakeholders, suppliers and merchants, who are the main partners of publishers on every book production process;
• Second, it proves that publishers can be one step ahead in green initiatives, acting as responsible corporate citizens;
• Lastly, it shows how brand recognised publishers can also be used as a “call to arms” in important ecological questions.