Certification highlights Clemson’s commitment to managing its campus trees, green spaces
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Clemson University is the first organization to earn the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) full Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard certification. The achievement was announced April 25, 2025, in honor of Arbor Day. (Clemson University)
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson University is the first organization to earn the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) full Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard certification. The achievement was announced April 25, 2025, in honor of Arbor Day.
The certification highlights Clemson’s commitment to managing its campus trees and green spaces in ways that provide long-term benefits for students, faculty, staff and the broader community.
This marks Clemson’s second SFI certification. In 2013, its 18,000-acre Experimental Forest became the first university forest certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard. It has maintained that certification ever since, establishing the University as a pioneer in forest management and a hub for forestry education and outreach statewide.
Patricia Layton, forestry professor and director of the Clemson University Wood Utilization & Design Institute, led the certification effort.
“We are proud to earn certification under the Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard,” Layton said. “Sustainable urban forestry supports South Carolina’s communities and ensures long-term forest and community viability through responsible management. Urban forests improve air quality, reduce stormwater runoff, and help mitigate the urban heat island effect. Clemson’s urban forests are a key to our identity as a campus, the homeplace of our Clemson Family. We hope to see other campuses and communities across the state and nation seek this certification.”
South Carolina’s forestry industry contributes $23 billion to the state’s economy and ranks No. 1 in jobs and No. 2 in labor income.
“We’re thrilled to recognize Clemson for leading the way,” said SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow. “By earning SFI certification, the University gains credibility and resilience in managing campus forests while preparing students for careers in forestry, conservation and sustainability.”
SFI launched the Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard in May 2023. It is the first comprehensive framework for sustainably managing urban trees and emphasizes meaningful community engagement in decision-making.
“As a land-grant institution, Clemson has a responsibility to lead in the stewardship of our natural resources for the benefit of all South Carolinians,” said Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robert H. Jones. “This certification reflects the foresight and dedication of our faculty and staff and ensures that our forests and green spaces will continue to serve, inspire and educate.”
Clemson completed a rigorous third-party audit of its urban forest. The audit assessed compliance with more than 16 objectives and over 100 indicators, including biodiversity, community engagement, economic impact and forest health.
The independent audit was conducted by NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR), whose certification ensures transparency and accountability and builds stakeholder trust in sustainability efforts.
Valuing the benefits of Clemson’s urban forest
A 2021 study by Puskar Khanal, Assistant Professor, Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department, and Thomas Straka, Professor, Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department, shows the structural value of Clemson University’s urban forest is $13.2 million, including:
Clemson campus trees remove 1.5 tons of air pollution [ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO2), particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)] per year with an associated value of $1,590.
Clemson University campus trees sequester about 77.44 tons of carbon per year with an associated value of $13,200.
Clemson University campus trees are estimated to produce 206.5 tons of oxygen per year. Our atmosphere has an enormous reserve of oxygen for free use, so we estimated no dollar value for this benefit.
Clemson University campus trees and shrubs can help reduce runoff by an estimated 99.2 thousand cubic feet per year with an associated value of $6,630.
ABOUT SFI
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) advances sustainability through forest-focused collaboration. We are an independent, nonprofit organization that leverages four interconnected pillars of work: standards, conservation, community, and education. SFI works with the forest sector, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments. Collaborating with our network, we leverage SFI-certified forests and products as powerful tools to help solve sustainability challenges such as climate action, conservation of biodiversity, education of future generations, and sustainable economic development. Learn more at forests.org.
–Jonathan Veit, Clemson University
