Why do we need sustainable forestry certification? This aerial photo shows trees from a boreal forest felled to make way for a tar sands strip mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. BuildingGreen’s research has found that basic legal protections are not enough to keep wood from the worst sources out of our buildings. Programs like FSC and SFI are supposed to provide this assurance, although the details of the standards differ on key details.

Photo: Ashley Cooper