Policy

Issue Brief | No.17 | February 1998

Global Forest Resource Assessments

Summary

Why assessments?
The international community is seeking to improve the accountability of countries for the sustainable management of their forest resources through timely and accurate assessments of the actual and potential condition of forests. Assessments provide information needed to make science-based decisions about policies and actions needed to conserve and use resources, as well as to understand and enhance the role of forests in stabilizing the global climate. Assessments are needed at all levels of management, from local to global. One of the great challenges of modern forestry is improving forest assessments at all levels so that decision-makers have the information needed to manage forests sustainably.

International Issues:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has a mandate to undertake a global Forest Resources Assessment for the year 2000 (FRA 2000) and to monitor changes since the 1990 assessment. These periodic global assessments serve as baseline information for scientists and policy-makers around the world. Key issues include:

There is a lack of information about key parameters in most countries
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Many countries lack national assessment capabilities. It is imperative to build country capacities to carry out their own forest resource assessments.
Remote sensing technology is a cost effective approach for assessing characteristics of forests and monitoring deforestation, but few countries have adequate capabilities.
Lacking the resources to carry out FRA 2000 unilaterally, FAO is forming partnerships with other organizations and countries. FRA 2000 is one of the most ambitious collaborative international projects ever attempted in the forest sector.

Domestic Issues:
The United States has a relatively high level of capability to assess its forest resources, but there is considerable room for improvement:

Assessments in the U.S. are complex, due to diverse forest ecosystems and ownership, including over 9 million private forest owners who account for a majority of forest land.
There is a need to provide public policy makers and private forest owners with timely and relevant information. There is general agreement that major improvements can be made in existing forest assessment systems, and a number of steps are being taken in this direction.
The Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management provide a potential framework for the integration of domestic assessment systems while also providing information about the United States for use at the international level.

Why Assessments?

The inventory and assessment of forest resources are cornerstones of forest management. The identification and analysis of existing resources are the first steps in the process of planning, policy making, and project implementation.

Assessments are conducted at all levels: the forest management unit, the watershed, the landscape or ecosystem, the country, the region, and the world. Ideally, all assessments would begin at the field level, and data would be aggregated upward. Global assessments would reflect the sum total of national assessments, and so on down the line.

Assessments can be simple: Is the land forested? What kind of trees are growing?

Assessments can be complicated: What type of vegetation was growing before human settlement? What is the production capability of the land? Are the forests healthy? Can current land uses be sustained? What is the value of the forest considering a full range of benefits? Who depends on the forest for their livelihood?

Inventory and assessment methodology ranges from simple to complex. Assessments can be done by walking across the land with a notebook and a pencil, by using aerial photography, or they can utilize state-of-the-art technology such as remote sensing from satellite platforms, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS).

The need for assessments is not controversial. Commercial timber companies, environmental organizations, indigenous people, research institutes, rich countries and poor - all have a need for information about forests. All agree that there is a need for more accurate and more timely assessment of forest resources. In the deliberations of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, no other single topic generated as much consensus support as the need for improved forest resource assessments.

However, comprehensive and timely resource assessments are expensive. Few stewards of forest resources have the resources to carry out the assessments required to adequately address all aspects of sustainable forest management. At all levels, from local to global, scarce resources must be allocated wisely.

Accountability:
International discussions about forests have a recurring theme: how can the global community respect the sovereignty of nations, and at the same time hold them accountable for taking steps to conserve their forest resources for the good of future generations?

International processes to identify "criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management" (C&I) are an important step toward accountability for achieving sustainable forest management. The United States is one of twelve countries with temperate and boreal forests that have agreed to monitor the extent to which forest resources are sustainably managed by using the 7 criteria and 67 indicators identified through the "Montreal Process." These C&I are documented in the "Santiago Declaration" which was agreed in 1995. A total of 130 countries are party to one or more of the international C&I processes.

Global Climate Change:
Forests are a critical component of the complex global ecosystem. Forests are roughly comparable to oceans in terms of their contribution to sustaining life on earth. About 40% of the earth's land surface is covered by forests or other wooded areas, excluding agriculture. Green plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The carbon is stored, mainly in the woody tissue of trees. Hence, forests are often referred to as carbon "storehouses" or "sinks." Carbon is released when trees die. Because the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere, the oceans and the land is important in climate stability, forests are an important piece of the climate change puzzle and are the focal point of much research.

Clearly, this is one of the most important reasons for improving the global assessment of forest resources. Accurate and timely forest assessments provide the information needed for expanding the understanding of the role of forests in stabilizing the global climate.

International Issues

Global Forest Resources Assessment for the Year 2000 (FRA 2000)

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), comprised of more than 80 countries, recommended that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) take the lead to conduct periodic comprehensive assessments of global forest resources, including an assessment as of the year 2000 (FRA 2000). The United States supports the IPF recommendations, which were subsequently endorsed by the FAO Committee on Forestry, the U.N. Commission for Sustainable Development, and the Special Assembly of the United Nations General Assembly on Environment and Development.

A number of international processes, including the Montreal Process, the Helsinki Process, the Tarapoto Process, and the Dry Zone Africa Process, have identified criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. A number of common elements of these C&I processes will be addressed by the FRA 2000 assessment.

FRA 2000 will address the following parameters, subject to availability of funds:

Forest and land cover estimates: status as of 2000 and change since 1990

forest area by country, region and globally
land cover and forest change processes
forest volume and biomass

Ecological aspects of forest change

status of forests in protected areas
ecosystem biological diversity (naturalness and fragmentation)
forest cover change by ecological zones
biomass change processes
forest fires

Economic potential of forests

forest available for wood supply
fellings and removals
non-wood goods and services
forest ownership

Global maps

global land cover map
ecological zone map
deforestation risk map

Information system

geographic information system to store and analyze spatial data
"FORIS" database management system to store and analyze inventory data
electronic dissemination of data and results and communication with countries

FAO lacks the resources to unilaterally undertake a comprehensive global assessment of forest resources. The current generation of FAO leadership recognizes the importance of working in partnership with other organizations. Key partners in FRA 2000 include the Economic Commission for Europe, the Joint Research Center of the European Union, the World Conservation Monitoring Center, the USGS Eros Data Center, the United Nations Environment Program, and the USDA Forest Service. FRA 2000 is one of the most ambitious collaborative initiatives ever undertaken at the international level in the forest sector.

Methodology

The global FRA 2000 will use three approaches:

National surveys will collect available information from countries which have national forest monitoring and information systems. The challenge is to gather and sort through existing data which countries have collected in a variety of formats without agreed international data standards. The joint ECE/FAO Trade Division in Geneva will coordinate the survey of national data in developed temperate and boreal countries in Europe, North America, and Asia.

In order to involve as many countries as possible in the process, including those with limited national inventory capabilities, FAO plans a series of sub-regional workshops in 1998 - 1999 which will emphasize building national assessment capabilities, in addition to collecting as much information as possible from countries about their forest resources.

Remote sensing technology will be used to estimate deforestation, to assess the ecological impact of deforestation by estimating biomass fluxes and forest fragmentation, and to generate a global land cover map. Remote sensing data are also useful to help adjust information supplied by countries to a common point in time and common definitions. Remote sensing techniques were only used for tropical countries in 1990. In FRA 2000, remote sensing will be used for all countries in order to help provide a consistent snapshot of the world's forest resources. Countries will have opportunities to participate in the analysis of their own remote sensing data, again with an emphasis on building national capacities.

Special studies will be undertaken where it is envisioned that a comprehensive assessment will be difficult to carry out by the year 2000 using existing information or conventional techniques. Examples include assessing the status of protected forests, "naturalness" of forests, estimates of forest available for wood supply, non wood goods and services, fellings and removals, plantations, biomass change processes, forest fires, and forest ownership.

Capacity Building

FAO's global forest assessment program has two broad goals. The first goal is to provide periodic assessments of global forest resources. The second goal is to build the capacity of all countries to assess their own forest resources.

In the longer term, the second goal may be more important than the first. FAO has an ambitious plan to gradually expand the number of countries which are essentially self-sufficient in terms of their forest resource capability. Currently there are about 25 such countries. By the year 2005, FAO's objective is for this number to be increased to 50, and that it will be increased to 75 by the year 2010.

FAO's approach to FRA 2000 will be to involve all countries in the process of supplying their own existing inventory information as well as assisting them with improving their information collection and analysis capabilities; and to involve as many countries as possible in the analysis of the satellite imagery used for the remote sensing component. This will be accomplished through a series of workshops and site visits to the countries. Further, these approaches will be continued beyond the year 2000, with ongoing workshops and training activities planned throughout the decade 2000 - 2010.

Remote Sensing

Remote sensing technology has the advantage of providing information about large land areas for relatively low cost. Technology continues to improve, enabling more detailed information to be obtained at lower cost. However, there are two major limitations to remote sensing:

The more sophisticated the technology, the fewer countries have the capability to use it.
While remote sensing is an excellent tool for monitoring changes in land cover, the technology is limited in terms of information about land uses. There will be a continuing need to supplement remote sensing with information collected from other sources.

Several national space agencies, including NASA, are pooling resources to ensure that information from a new generation of high resolution earth observation satellites, such as LANDSAT 7, will be widely accessible and effectively distributed. Known as Global Observation of Forest Cover (GOFC), this collaborative initiative is still in the early stages of design. The intent is to use wall-to-wall high resolution satellite coverage of all forests on a regularly recurring basis to monitor global deforestation. GOFC will supplement and improve the capability of FAO and other organizations to monitor changes in forest resources. GOFC will be an important supplement to FRA 2000.

Financial resources for global assessments

The U.N. Interagency Task Force on Forests (ITFF) estimates that FAO will need $20 million to carry out FRA 2000 between 1997 and 2000. In addition, $38 million will be needed between the years 2001 and 2010 to prepare an interim FRA 2005 and to fully implement an expanded FRA 2010 along the lines envisioned by IPF.

Of the $58 million budget required for 14 years, FAO plans to cover $8 million from the FAO's regular program budget. FAO is seeking partners to provide in-kind contributions valued up to $20 million by carrying out specific tasks such as producing global maps, or by contributing data, satellite imagery, or technical expertise. FAO needs contributions of $30 million during the 14 year period to a trust fund to fully implement FRA as envisioned by IPF.

Domestic Issues

In comparison with many other countries, the United States has a high level of capability to assess forest resources. In terms of potential financial resources, professional expertise, and technology, the U.S. capacity is unparalleled. However, most observers feel that the U.S. does not do an adequate job of assessment. Two issues are of particular concern:

Diverse ecosystems and land ownership

The United States is characterized by diverse ecosystems. Consider the following comparison based on the global eco-region classification system developed and mapped by Robert Bailey of the USDA Forest Service:

	World	United States
Number of major ecological domains: (polar, humid temperate, dry, humid tropical)	4	4
Number of major ecological divisions	30	25
Number of ecological provinces	95	52

Adjustments in assessment methodologies and techniques are needed from one ecosystem to another. This is true for field inventories as well as for remote sensing.

The United States is also characterized by complex and diverse land ownership. About 58% of all forest land (with 10% or more crown cover) and about 70% of land capable of producing timber in the U.S. is in private ownership, with almost 10 million individual forest owners. The information available about private lands varies with each state. Private property rights are codified in the U.S. Constitution. Federal and state government authorities do not have the right to enter private property to conduct forest inventories without the permission of the property owners, and many property owners value their right to privacy and to use their land as they wish.

It is difficult but not impossible to collect information about private forests for assessments. Many private owners, both industrial and non-industrial, willingly provide information for assessments with the caveat that the data will be aggregated so that individual landowners are not identified. Similarly, maps and reports generated by remote sensing technology are generally considered to be valuable and interesting to private landowners - as long as they do not reveal detailed information about specific land ownership.

From a practical viewpoint, the diversity of forest ecosystems and land ownership in the United States provide challenges which add to the cost and the time required to conduct comprehensive assessments.

Integration of Information

As might be expected in a country with diverse land ownership and decentralized control over forests, the United States has several different forest assessment programs, including:

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA): FIA is the direct descendant of the Forest Survey, conceived almost 100 years ago. FIA is based on field surveys conducted on a ten-year-cycle of 150,000 forest inventory plots randomly dispersed across all land ownership in all states. FIA provided most of the information for national forest assessments in 1953, 1963, 1970, and the RPA assessments in 1977, 1987, and 1992. The FIA database is also used to provide the U.S. input for FAO's global assessments.
Forest Health monitoring (FHM): In response to increasing concerns about the health of forest ecosystems, the USDA Forest Service is collecting additional information on a four-year cycle on a sub-set of the FIA plots. New approaches are being developed to analyze information about soils, ozone bioindicators, vegetation diversity, fuel loading, wildlife habitat, reforestation, damage and crown variables. The methodologies are being shared and field-tested in several other countries.
National forest planning systems: The National Forest Management Act of 1976 requires each national forest in the U.S. to produce comprehensive land management plans on a ten-year cycle. In turn, each national forest plan requires a more detailed resource assessment than was available from FIA plots or other sources. The result is a diverse set of assessment and monitoring systems which are designed to meet local needs.
Several states and large private landowners have their own forest assessment programs designed to provide information which is not available from the Forest Service.

The assessment systems provide information for several national reporting requirements:

Resources Planning Act (RPA): The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires the Forest Service to conduct a comprehensive national assessment on a 10-year cycle in order to prepare the RPA Program, a strategic plan which focuses on national forests but also considers other forest ownership. In addition to data provided by FIA, RPA Assessments utilize additional information from other sources, such as the U.S. census, and economic and trade data provided by other agencies.
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA): Passed in 1994, the GPRA requires all federal agencies to develop and monitor long-term and annual plans that identify goals and to monitor outcomes, or results. In 1997, the GAO issued a report criticizing the Forest Service for inadequate accountability systems. GAO suggested that the agency needs to do a better job of meeting GPRA requirements.
At the international level, the United States has called upon all countries to be accountable for taking steps to achieve sustainable management of their forests. The U.S. is a strong supporter of FAO's global Forest Resources Assessments and the use of internationally agreed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (C&I) to monitor progress made by countries.

Given the reality of increasingly scarce resources for the public sector, national level forest assessments must be better integrated and managed in a more cost effective manner. In recognition of this situation, the USDA Forest Service has taken the following steps:

Inventory and Monitoring Institute (IMI): Established in 1996, the IMI's mission is to support the collection and management of compatible, reliable resource information at the national, regional, and national forest levels. The institute has a mandate to standardize protocols; develop procedures; advise senior management on assessment priorities; serve as a clearing house for inventory and monitoring information and methodologies; and serve as agency focal point for coordinating with state, federal, and international efforts in inventory and monitoring.
Annual Vegetation Inventory and Monitoring Systems (AVIMS): A major complaint about FIA is that it is updated for each state only once every 10 years. In cooperation with State Foresters, the USDA Forest Service has initiated several research efforts to provide annual inventory updates on a state basis. These projects include a growth-model enhanced sampling approach (North Central U.S.); re-measuring the FIA grid in a systematic way each year (Southern U.S.); and re-measuring the forest health monitoring grid to monitor rapid forest condition changes (Colorado and California).
Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: In July, 1997, the Chief officially committed the Forest Service to use the Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forest management developed by the Montreal Process as an integrating framework for different forest monitoring and assessment processes. This approach is supported by state foresters, industry groups, and key non-governmental organizations.

Conclusions

Assessments are critical to science-based forest management decisions. Assessments provide the link between decisions about forests at different scales, ranging from local to global.

At the international level, there is a need to develop national capacities to carry out assessments, to expand forest assessments to include new parameters, to mobilize resources, and to use remote sensing and other new technology to support forest assessments. Within the United States, forest assessments are complicated by the diversity of forest ecosystems and forest land ownership. Steps are being taken to integrate and improve the timeliness of forest assessment systems.

There is a broad consensus among forest scientists, managers, and interested citizens, both in the United States and abroad, that forest resource assessments need to be improved. Proponents of better assessments are competing with many other demands on scarce public and private resources. Ultimately, the improvement of forest resource assessments depends on the ability of proponents to elevate their importance in the eyes of decision makers.

References

Birch, Thomas W., "Private Forest-land Owners of the United States, 1994," USDA Forest Service Resource Bulletin NE-134, 1996

"Expert Consultation on Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000," report of a meeting in Kotka, Finland ("Kotka III"), June, 1996

FAO, "State of the World's Forests," 1997

FAO, "Forest Resources Assessment 1990 - Tropical Countries," FAO Forestry Paper 112, 1993

FAO, "Forest Resources Assessment 1990 - Global Synthesis," FAO Forestry Paper 124, 1995

FAO, "Forest Resources Assessment 1990 - Tropical Forest Plantation Resources," FAO Forestry Paper 128, 1995

FAO, "Forest Resources Assessment 1990 - Survey of Tropical Forest Cover and Study of Change Processes," FAO Forestry Paper 130, 1996

Powell, Douglas S., et. al., "Forest Resources of the United States, 1992," USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-234, Revised June 1994

USDA Forest Service, "Forest Service Resource Inventories: An Overview," Forest Inventory, Economics and Recreation Research Staff, September 1992

USDA Forest Service, "RPA Assessment of the Forest and Rangeland Situation in the United States - 1993 Update," Forest Resource Report No. 27, June 1994

Author: Doug Kneeland, International Forestry Policy Analyst, USDA Forest Service (2/98)