What's the difference between FSC & SFI?

SFI and FSC Certification in North America — A Summary Comparison

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.® (SFI®) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) programs both certify lands in the United States and Canada. This document looks at both programs — their scope and governance, forest management certification, chain-of-custody-certification, and requirements for sourcing fiber from uncertified lands. Studies have shown buyers and consumers appreciate the value of forest certification to help them choose forest products from responsible sources. Currently, about 10 percent of the world’s forests are certified, and 40 percent of these certified lands are in North America.

GOVERNANCE AND SCOPE


FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION
These tables are based on requirements from the SFI 2010-2014 Standard and general information and details from the FSC International Principles and Criteria, which is the basis for the numerous FSC national and regional standards. While FSC regional standards go into more specifics, it is difficult to draw comparisons because the 13 FSC standards in North America have a wide range of variation.

The SFI program was created to certify forests in North America, and has one forest certification standard that applies across the United States and Canada. Its fiber sourcing and chain-of-custody standards apply to North America and offshore sources, given the global trade of forest products.



CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY CERTIFICATION
In addition to third-party forest certification, the SFI and FSC programs both offer chain-of-custody certification and on-product labels. Chain-of-custody certification is a tool used to track wood fiber from a certified forest. It also tracks uncertified content and helps buyers avoid unwanted sources.

The SFI program has two chain-of-custody labels, which show that some or all of the product’s fiber content comes from forests certified to the SFI, Canadian Standards Association or American Tree Farm System standards. Both SFI labels can state the percentage of recycled content in the product, when available.

The FSC program has three chain-of-custody labels — pure (100 percent certified), recycled (at least 85 percent post-consumer) and mixed (blend of pure, recycled and controlled sources).

Both SFI and FSC have requirements to avoid fiber from unwanted sources — the SFI program through its controversial sources avoidance requirements and the FSC program through its controlled wood requirements.



GLOBAL SOURCING FROM UNCERTIFIED LANDS
Given that more than 90 percent of the world’s forests are not certified, the SFI and FSC programs both have requirements to account for and deal with fiber from higher-risk uncertified lands. Through FSC controlled wood requirements, SFI fiber sourcing and SFI chain-of custody global requirements, companies are told what to avoid when procuring fiber from lands that are not certified. This reduces the risk of fiber from unwanted sources, but does not improve forest management on uncertified lands.

AVOIDING UNWANTED SOURCES FROM UNCERTIFIED LANDS OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA


SOURCING FROM UNCERTIFIED LANDS IN NORTH AMERICA
The SFI program is unique in that it also has fiber sourcing requirements that promote responsible forest management on uncertified lands in North America, as well as avoiding unwanted sources for offshore procurement. This includes fiber and forest products that come from millions of family-owned forests in the United States and Canada. The SFI program offers participants an on-product certified fiber sourcing label that tells consumers the company has been third-party certified to
meet SFI fiber sourcing requirements, many of them summarized below. These labels do not make claims about certified forests but do show that a third-party independent audit has occurred to ensure the fiber sourcing requirements, landowner outreach and logger training requirements, among others, have been met.

PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FORESTRY ON UNCERTIFIED LANDS IN THE U.S. AND CANADA


RECOGNITION IN NORTH AMERICA AND BEYOND
Comprehensive studies by many respected organizations and agencies have concluded that certification to either the SFI or FSC program is a good choice, proving a forest is being managed sustainably and legally. There is a growing trend, especially with chain-of-custody certification, to be certified to both programs.
• In 2008, the United Kingdom’s Central Point of Expertise on Timber confirmed SFI, FSC, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) programs were among those that meet its government’s requirements for ‘legality’ and ‘sustainability’.15

• The U.S. General Services Administration encourages the use of certified wood for all new installations of wood products, and references FSC United States and SFI for more information.16

• Many green building tools, including the National Home Building Standard™ (ICC 700-2008) in the United States and Green Globes, recognize wood products certified to credible programs including SFI, FSC, CSA, and American Tree Farm System as a sound environmental choice.

• Public Works and Government Services Canada requires all wood products used in its building projects to be certified to SFI, FSC, or CSA, and believes all three of these systems effectively promote more sustainable management of Canada’s forest resources.17

• In 2008, the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers said the SFI, FSC and the CSA programs “demonstrate, and promote the sustainability of forest management practices in Canada.”18

SOURCE, CITATIONS and FOR MORE INFORMATION: Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International
15 CPET Assessment of Forest Certification Schemes www.proforest.net/cpet/documents
16 Solicitation for Offers requirement SFO Section 7.4 Wood Products (revised August, 2008) http://contacts.gsa.gov/webforms.nsf/0/16A3F7C2E0044E4485256F4D00628BE3/$file/SFO_8-29-08.pdf
17 Public Works and Government Services Canada Questions and Answers http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/biens-property/questions-eng.html
18 Canadian Council of Forest Ministers Statement on Forest Certification Standards in Canada www.sfmcanada.org/CMFiles/PublicationLibrary/CCFM_Statement_Forest_Certification_EN1KWA-24122008-5150.pdf
19 UN Economic Commission for Europe and UN Food and Agriculture Organization 2008-2009 UNECE/FAO Forest Products Annual Market Review http://timber.unece.org/index.php?id=208

Magazine Publishers of America -Twenty Tweetable Truths

The Twenty Tweetable Truths About Magazines. 20 facts that showcase magazine vitality, 140 characters or less.



1. Magazine readership remains steady in an increasingly crowded and noisy media landscape.

2. 92% of U.S. adults read magazines.

3. Magazine readers pay attention to magazine ads. They don’t pay to avoid the advertising as they do with other media.

4. Consumers spend more than $86 million each week on single-copy magazines.

5. Subscriptions to magazines are on the rise. 2007: 322 million paid subscriptions. 2008: 325 million paid subscriptions.

6. Magazine subscriptions increased in the first half of 2009.

7. New magazines continue to be launched. The latest figures show that magazine launches surged 10% in the first part of 2009 from the prior year.

8. Magazines covers chronicle key events. President Obama’s election resulted in dozens of covers with him, his family....and even his dog.

9. Who says that iPod-dependent teenagers have abandoned magazines? 75% of teens read magazines.

10. Magazines appeal to younger adults. Adults 34 and younger read more magazines than adults +34.

11. Over the past 5 years, the median age of magazine readers has remained consistently younger than the median age of total U.S. adults.

12. 54 magazines closed in 2008. A decrease of 17% from 2007.

13. Magazines love the Internet. Almost a quarter of all new subscriptions come from the Internet.

14. Magazines build buzz. They excel in reaching people who shape attitudes and behavior.

15. The top 25 magazines reach more adults and teens than the top 25 prime-time TV programs.

16. Circulation generates more than 40% of all magazine revenue.

17. The number of consumer magazine websites grew 78% between 2005 and 2009.

18. Magazines excel at long-form journalism, superb photography, eye-catching design.

19. Consumers buy more magazines when there’s big news. Michael Jackson-themed magazines in July drove an extra $55 million in sales.

20. Magazines drive web search more than any other medium. More than double Internet advertising and social media.

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Magazines Team Up to Tout 'Power of Print'

As Pickup in Ad Sales Boosts Their Confidence, Publishers Point to Strengths They Say Remain Relevant in Internet Age.
By RUSSELL ADAMS and SHIRA OVIDE

Magazine executives spent much of last year telling anyone who would listen that they were taking their brands digital.

Their message this year: Print rules.













Young & Rubicam
Olympic medalist Michael Phelps is pictured above in the first of a series of ads promoting the power of magazines.
Five leading magazine publishers have pitched in on a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting the "power of print." They say nearly 1,400 pages of the ads will be sprinkled through magazines including People, Vogue and Ladies' Home Journal this year.

The ads press the case that magazines remain an effective advertising medium in the age of the Internet because of the depth and lasting quality of print, compared with the ephemeral nature of much of the Web's content.

"The Internet is fleeting. Magazines are immersive," says one ad, which is slated to appear in May issues of the participating publications. The first spread features a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps from ESPN The Magazine, with the headline "We surf the Internet. We swim in magazines."

Backing the campaign are Time Warner's Time Inc., Hearst, Advance Publications' Condé Nast, Wenner Media and Meredith. The ads were created by WPP's Young & Rubicam.

The effort is scheduled to be announced Monday at an industry conference in San Francisco.

Just a few months ago, a handful of publishers announced another collaborative effort aimed at readying magazines for the migration of readers to digital devices. Since then, however, industry executives say advertising has begun creeping back into magazines after a two-year drought. The improved results have given them more ammunition to persuade readers and advertisers alike that the ink-on-paper business isn't dying.

"A lot of us sat back for way too long and listened to all this abuse and said nothing about it," says Jann Wenner, who orchestrated the campaign. "Meanwhile, we sit on top of one of the greatest mediums," adds Mr. Wenner, whose Wenner Media publishes Rolling Stone and US Weekly.

The five publishers say they have committed to run the first of the ads in the front one-fifth of their titles' pages, and have agreed to run all subsequent ads in the first half.

The ad space they are devoting to the campaign is valued at more than $90 million, based on public ad rates for each of their participating magazines. They say they have never before attempted such a large-scale campaign.

The spark for the campaign was a "manifesto" Mr. Wenner penned last year, in which he said that just as TV didn't kill magazines, the Internet was a threat only to publications that lost focus on what makes magazines unique. "In a certain way, this campaign is aimed at the magazine business itself," Mr. Wenner.

That the campaign might seem out of sync coming from an industry that has spent so much time trying to prove it can hold its own in the digital arena is beside the point, executives involved in the collaboration say. The purpose of the campaign is to remind people that these brands are rooted in print products with huge cultural and commercial influence, they say.

"Going digital is very important to Time Inc., but I don't want my clients to believe that no one is reading the printed word," says Time Inc. Chief Executive Ann Moore.

Even so, the Internet is expected to continue attracting a growing proportion of ad dollars away from traditional media. The share of global ad spending devoted to the Internet will rise to 16% by 2012, up from 12% last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, part of ad company Publicis Groupe. By the middle of the next decade, the firm expects the Internet to overtake newspapers as the world's second-largest advertising medium, behind TV.

Magazines' challenge is to be ahead of the digital curve while recognizing that for now print is their best asset, ad buyers say. Magazines are grappling with how to adjust to new devices like Apple's iPad, the tablet computer that is sparking fear but also enthusiasm in the media business.

"The iPad is bringing sexy back to magazines," says Robin Steinberg, an executive at Publicis's MediaVest arm who advises marketers on print advertising.

Amid a decline in spending on traditional media, other industries are making similar pitches for themselves. The Newspaper Association of America has run repeated ads to publicize the number of people who read a daily newspaper. As with the magazine campaign, the newspaper trade group says its ads are designed to counter the notion print is a dead medium.

The local-TV industry's trade group is starting an on-air ad campaign this month to encourage companies to advertise on their local TV stations.

The Internet Advertising Bureau couldn't be reached for comment.

The Michael Phelps ad is accompanied by an essay about the appeal of magazines. "Even in the age of the Internet, even among the groups one would assume are most singularly hooked on digital media, the appeal of magazines is growing," the ad says. The publishers point to data from Mediamark Research & Intelligence that show magazine readership has risen 4.3% over the past five years.

There are seven spreads in the series, four of which are essay-like and three that are more lighthearted. The campaign's signature is "Magazines: the Power of Print,'' with each letter of the word magazines appearing as it does in the title of a major publication. The "a'' is from Vanity Fair.

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