The celebration of Earth Day last week once again has made conservation a cause célèbre, if only for a fleeting moment. One of the areas that got a lot of attention this year was the effort at stopping the hemorrhaging of forests to clearcutting and other nonsustainable logging practices. There are recent indications that industry is taking note and changing—albeit slowly—to prevent more damage.
In 2014 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released its first-ever report of greenhouse gas emissions estimates specifically from agriculture, forestry and other land use. The report itself estimates that fully 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions were due to deforestation, defined as the conversion of forest to other lands. It is no wonder that efforts to curb this damage are starting to take hold.
The modern sustainable forestry movement got its start in 1992, when the UN Conference of Environment and Development met in Rio de Janeiro and established the “Forest Principles,” a set of recommendations for sustainable forestry known formally as Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests. This action led to 2007’s Non-legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests, which provided a framework for sustainable forestry.
Now there are independent groups such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Council and the American Tree Farm System, helping to police the industry by certifying paper products as having come from sustainable forestry sources. Just last week, restaurant giant McDonald’s pledged to end deforestation across its entire supply chain, committing to zero deforestation among its 3100 direct suppliers. Similarly, cosmetics giant L’ORÉAL (while, alas, continuing to conduct deplorable animal testing), committed to source 100% renewable raw materials by 2020. Closer to home, hardwood flooring retailer Hardwood Bargains—already certified by the Forest Stewardship Council mentioned above—is going above and beyond certification to partner with the American Forests for Global Releaf to plant more than 50 million trees in the United States alone.
The United Nations figures are daunting, to be sure, but efforts such as these can really make a difference—long past the sunset on Earth Day.