Third party certification

Becoming third-party certified

All Tree Farms are verified to comply with the ATFS Standards of Sustainability and Eligibility. However, mills and manufacturers in the forest products sector may only make verified claims of sustainability on lands that have been issued a certificate by an accredited certification body.

Committee Development

Third-party certificates of sustainable forest management are issued via the following pathways:

  • Through an Independently Managed Group (IMG) (link should go to sub-page where we provide all the details about group certification – see page 4 of this document for content)
  • With an independent third-party certificate (link goes to sub-page with info about third-party certificates – see page 5 for content)
  • A certificate is issued to AFF, listing ATFS state programs that receive third-party audits (link goes to an explainer on state program certification and map of certified states, see page 6 for content)
  • Participation in an SFI Small Lands Module (link goes to subpage about Small Lands Module, see page 7 for content)