Forest Products Industry Stretches for Sustainability

In October 1994 the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced its Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The Initiative is based on a set of “Sustainable Forestry Principles and Implementation Guidelines,” which all member companies are expected to adopt. Since October the organization has been settling some of the unresolved details in the Guidelines and preparing for a full-scale roll-out of the program in December 1995.

The fourteen-page Guidelines document spells out forestry principles and participation requirements that address many of the concerns raised by environmentalists about industrial forestry. Clearly the result of rigorous negotiations, the Guidelines indicate significant compromise between the commercial interests of the industry and its need to offer a credible program for environmental constituencies. Thus, the Guidelines call for riparian protection measures, enhanced wildlife habitat, protection for “special sites,” and contributions to biodiversity, while also specifically accepting the continued use of “fertilizers, herbicides, and other forest chemicals needed to protect forest health and increase growth.”