SHC addresses the technical constraints to verification of legal and deforestation-free status in situations where wood supply is from vast numbers of small private family forests. Typically, owners of these forests practise very low intensity management which is not driven by commercial timber demand, often harvesting only once in a generation.

Hardwood forests managed in this way offer significant benefits including enhanced carbon sequestration, greater resilience to climate and environmental changes, increased biodiversity, improved soil and watershed protection, alongside promoting rural development. The diverse, decorative hardwoods from these forests are particularly well-suited for use in durable, high-value and long-lasting products which have far more potential to contribute to carbon storage and climate mitigation than short-lived wood products.

Long-term sustainable forest management for high-value timber improves forest health and provides private family forest owners with strong incentives to preserve  forests, rather than converting the land for agriculture or other uses.

And yet, in circumstances where non-industrial owners manage their forests at a low intensity, participation in formal certification systems remains extremely low. These systems often impose lengthy technical requirements on individual forest owners, making them impractical. Additionally, since individual harvests are very small and comprise a wide range species, grades, and sizes, the commercial consignments of U.S. hardwoods require aggregation and mixing of wood from many different harvest sites. This complicates compliance with legislation in major export markets, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR), the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act (ILPA), and the Lacey Act in the United States.

A new assurance system is needed – one that does not impose an excessive burden on small-scale private owners and is tailored to the mills they supply. SHC offers a low cost yet robust solution by combining the latest forest monitoring and wood provenance identification technology with a jurisdictional risk assessment approach. In addition, SHC provides a straightforward chain-of-custody process, enabling the development of an assurance system that can work at scale and ensure recognition of the sustainability of large areas of previously uncertified forests in increasingly demanding markets.

In building this new assurance system, SHC acknowledges the importance of strong support throughout the supply chain, from hardwood forests to consumers. To build credibility, SHC will need strong standards developed by experts and supported by a wide range of stakeholders, within and beyond the hardwood industry. Most importantly, for SHC to succeed, we aim to build a coalition of support to sustain its growth and guide its development.