Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard Certification

The new SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard is the first standard in the North America marketplace that applies specifically to urban and community forests. At its heart, it helps promote and maintain environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Certification to this standard enables organizations that own, manage, or are responsible for urban and/or community forests to demonstrate to their stakeholders that they are ‘doing the right’ thing and managing their forests in line with an industry-recognized standard. It also demonstrates that your forest is maintained in line with industry-approved environmental, social, and governance criteria, demonstrating leadership and innovation in forest management.

Urban and community forestry is not a new concept in the United States. The practice of growing and maintaining green spaces in urban areas is increasingly acknowledged as being positive for the environment and for human health and wellbeing. In 2020, approximately 80% of Americans lived in urban areas. This trend is reflected across the globe with an increasing percentage of the world’s population living in urban centers (46.7% in 2000 to 57.3% in 2023).¹ In these areas, urban and community forests can help improve air quality and encourage physical activity, contributing to improved well-being.¹

Certification is appropriate for organizations that own, manage, or are responsible for urban and/or community forests. It is relevant for government organizations (e.g. municipalities, counties, states, provinces), non-governmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples, community groups, healthcare organizations, educational organizations, and corporate organizations.

Based on five guiding principles and 16 objectives, the standard addresses the environmental, social, and governance issues that help to ensure the sustainability of urban forests. These include human health and well-being, protection and conservation of biodiversity, stewardship of natural resources, climate-smart management, and disaster readiness. Organizations can certify to all 16 elements, or can select what’s relevant to them.

• Demonstrate they are managing their forests in line with industry-approved environmental, social, and governance criteria.
• Take a leadership position in forest management
• Show a commitment to innovation.

This standard also aligns with UNSDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals).

With unparalleled experience and expertise, NSF is ideally placed to support you on your journey to certification because:

• In April 2025, NSF became the first ANAB-accredited certification body for the SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard.
• NSF is the first to market and the only Certification Body (CB) with a certified arborist on the auditing team.
• NSF has over 17 years’ experience in auditing forestry against management standards
• NSF is one of only a few CB’s accredited to conduct audits to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®), Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and American Tree Farm System® (ATFS®) standards.
• We also provide integrated SFI and Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) audits that can save time, money and resources.

Source

¹ University of Michigan