Where to Find Us

The CSA SFM User Group will be at these upcoming trade shows and conferences:

Greenbuild Nov 16-18, 2010 - McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, Illinois

Print World - Nov 20-22, 2010 - Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Nova Scotia Woodlots Certified

Nova Scotia Woodlands Owners have achieved the first certification to CSA Z804, a national standard of Canada for the Sustainable Forest Management of Woodlots and Other Small Area Forests. The group certificate covers 53 woodlots with a combined area of 4,250 ha. Details can be found in the press release.

Leadership in Science

Dr. Peter Duinker, leader of the CSA Technical Committee responsible for the content of the CSA Z809 and Z804 Sustainable Forest Management standards, received the Canadian Institute of Forestry’s 2010 Canadian Forestry Scientific Achievement Award. Dr. Duinker is known and respected both across Canada and internationally for his contributions to creating knowledge, and seeing it applied in the forestry profession. Read more.

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CSA Certification - Tailored for Canada's Public Forests.

CSA certification means local communities are part of an ongoing dialogue about how forests are managed for all values and uses. This is a distinctive feature of the only forest certification standard developed exclusively for use in Canada, where the public owns the vast majority of forests. Under CSA certification, local advisory groups help set performance measures and targets for what happens in the forest, and also monitor progress against them.

And that translates into better forest management that is Making a Difference on the Ground.

Clean Rivers

A Public Advisory Group made up of some 27 local stakeholders was formed for the CSA certification of 3.2 million hectares of forest in Quebec managed by AbitibiBowater’s Lac Saint Jean Forestry Division. Here’s an example of how that group has helped improve forestry practices in that forest.

In February 2005 the Lac Saint Jean Advisory Group adopted an indicator, as part of the CSA Sustainable Forest Management Plan for the forest, to minimize sediments falling into streams when culverts are laid down for road crossings. The first step was to assess the size of the problem and create, if necessary, an action plan for reducing sedimentation into watercourses.

Dr. André Plamondon, a forest hydrologist researcher, made a series of recommendations, and a sampling assessment method was developed and implemented. This allowed the major sources of sedimentation to be identified. Recommendations were then made for improving watercourses crossings, and implemented by forestry operators.

The result? The number of streams without any sediments within 20 meters on both sides of the culvert increased from 58% to 91%. The graph below shows the positive results of the improvements made. Dr. Plamondon highlighted the significance of this achievement with the comment “Maintaining water quality is an important element of sustainable forest management. This new approach has clearly allowed achieving significant improvements while involving on the ground operators”.

Clean rivers.jpg

International Endorsement of CSA

Application has been made to the Programme for the Endorsement of Certification schemes (PEFC) for re-endorsement of the original CSA Z809 Sustainable Forest Management Standard, and the initial endorsement of the new CSA Z804 standard for woodlots. The endorsement process will ensure that these national standards of Canada comply with rigorous international benchmarks, and provide CSA with global recognition and market access.

Following a tendering process PEFC International appointed Systain Consulting of Germany as the independent consultant for the assessment. The documents making up the application are open for review until December 1, 2010, and can be seen at the PEFC webpage.

CSA - the largest national forest certification standard in the world

CSA has more land certified in Canada than any other national program - anywhere in the world. As of the middle of 2010, CSA had 65 million hectares certified. For a more detailed look at this map, visit the Certification Canada webpage.

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CSA SFM in the News

Take a look at our latest newsletter.

Articles by the User Group on how CSA makes a difference on the ground have been highlighted in this PEFC news article.

Where to Find Us

Speak directly to members of the CSA User Group at the following conferences:

AIA Expo: Washington, DC May 17-19, 2012

Greenbuild: San Francisco CA Nov 14-16, 2012