The Sustainable Forestry Initiative has announced 16 new SFI Community Grants, as part of its effort to support meaningful initiatives in communities across the U.S. and Canada while strengthening SFI’s mission of advancing sustainability through forest-focused collaboration.

The SFI grants are awarded for collaborative community-based projects, activities, and events that connect communities to forests. The initiative has awarded 118 grants totaling more than $1 million invested to foster community-building projects since the grant program launch in 2010.

SFI reports that the new grants will engage communities across North America to explore and connect with forests through:

• innovation in the application of the SFI Forest Management Standard and the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard, including conservation of biological diversity and fire resilience;
• connecting communities to forests through the new SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard and greener built environments;
• education and training to support sustainable forest management and Indigenous relationship building; and
• building a diverse and resilient workforce through environmental education, forest literacy, and career pathways in collaboration.

“SFI is excited to invest in so many initiatives that promote collaboration and connect communities to forests, and I’m extremely proud to see the growth in this program,” said Kathy Abusow, president and CEO of SFI. “This year’s SFI Community Grant recipients allow us to live our mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaboration. We work with so many diverse partners and communities, and they are key to our success. That’s why we are so pleased to invest in community collaboration.”

The 16 new grants of the 2023 program represent a record-breaking number of projects supported and more than $215,000 in total funding announced, SFI reports.

Access more information in SFI’s recent news announcement.