Jess Kaknevicius
Vice President of Education, Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Sustainably-managed forests are critical to our collective future. The forest sector is a key partner in the fight against climate change. Forests — particularly when they’re managed sustainably — sequester carbon, and products sourced from these forests can store carbon for decades.
The importance of sustainably-managed forests to global challenges is clear. The Canadian government even recognized the forest sector as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic and indicated that the sector will play an important role in Canada’s COVID-19 recovery, in part because it offers diverse, high-quality jobs for more than 200,000 people.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is an independent, non-profit organization that advances sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. SFI is a sustainability leader through its work in standards, conservation, community, and education, and together with its network is providing solutions to global challenges like climate change. Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT Canada), an initiative of SFI, helps grow the next generation of forest and conservation leaders.
Since 2018, PLT Canada has placed young people in over 3,500 forest, conservation, and parks jobs with support from the Government of Canada and over 200 employers across the country. The organization provides professional development support through its job placements, mentorship programming, and much more. These critical services are becoming increasingly relevant as Canada will need to replenish an estimated 47,500 forestry jobs between now and 2028.
