Newsletter Stories


Friday, 13 May 2022
Biden Administration Issues Earth Day Call to Protect Old Growth


On April 22, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order to strengthen America’s forests and fight global deforestation at an event in Seattle. Included in the Order is a commitment to “combat commodity-driven deforestation,” including a “whole-of-government” approach to reduce or eliminate US purchases of products from recently deforested lands, “including through public-private partnerships to incentivize sustainable sourcing.”

In addition, the Order calls for the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to conduct the “first-ever inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal lands” within a year. In addition, the agencies are tasked with developing new ways to “institutionalize climate-smart management and conservation strategies that address the threats facing mature and old-growth forests on federal lands.”

This announcement caught FSC’s attention for a couple of reasons: The FSC Forest Management standard requires landowners to identify and protect rare old growth forest, among other High Conservation Values. In addition, FSC is regularly used as a procurement strategy to incentivize sustainable sourcing.

FSC US is excited to explore opportunities with federal partners, with outreach underway now.

To read the whole Executive Order, visit the White House’s announcement: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statement […]