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Section 1: Introduction

Forests are essential to the long-term well-being of local populations, national economies, and the earth's biosphere as a whole. In adopting the statement of Forest Principles and Chapter I I of Agenda 21, the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) recognized the importance of sustainably managing all types of forests in order to meet the needs of present and future generations.

The development of criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests is an important step in implementing the UNCED Forest Principles and Agenda 2 1, and is relevant to the UN conventions on biodiversiry, climate change, and desertification. It is also an important step to furthering the joint commitment made by tropical timber consumer countries in January 1994 to maintain, or achieve by the year 2000, the sustainable management of their respective forests.

The criteria and indicators listed under Sections 3 and 4 apply broadly to temperate and boreal forests. They are intended to provide a common understanding of what is meant by sustainable forest management. They also provide a common framework for describing, assessing, and evaluating a country's progress toward sustainability at the national level. They are not intended to assess directly sustainability at the forest management unit level. As such, the criteria and indicators should help provide an international reference for policymakers in the formulation of national policies and a basis for international cooperation aimed at supporting sustainable forest management. Internationally agreed criteria and indicators could also help clarify ongoing dialogues related to international trade in products from sustainably managed forests.

The approach to forest management reflected in the criteria and indicators is the management of forests as ecosystems. Taken together, the set of criteria and indicators suggests an implicit definition of the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems at the country level. It is recognized that no single criterion or indicator is alone an indication of sustainability. Rather, individual criteria and indicators should be considered in the context of other criteria and indicators.

It should be emphasized that an informed, aware, and participatory public is indispensable to promoting the sustainable management of forests. In addition to providing a common understanding of what is meant by sustainable forest management in the temperate and boreal region, the criteria and indicators should be useful in improving the quality of information available not only to decision makers but also to the general public. This in turn should better inform the policy debate at national and international levels.

Each country is unique in terms of the quantity, quality, characteristics, and descriptions of its forests. Countries also differ in terms of forest conditions relative to national population, such as the amount of forest per capita, the amount reforested annually per capita, or the annual forest growth per capita. National circumstances further differ with respect to stages of economic development, land ownership patterns, population patterns, forms of social and political organization, and expectations of how forests should contribute or relate to society.

Given the wide differences in natural and social conditions among countries, the specific application and monitoring of the criteria and indicators, as well as the capacity to apply them, will vary from country to country based on national circumstances. It is anticipated that individual countries would develop specific measurement schemes appropriate to national conditions to address how data would be gathered. Qualitative terms such as "significant" or "low," which are used as indicator descriptors in some cases, would also be defined based on national conditions. Despite these differences, efforts should be made to harmonize the approaches of countries to measuring and reporting on indicators.

Changes in the status of forests and related conditions over time, and the direction of the change, are relevant to assessing sustainability. Therefore, indicators should be understood to have a temporal dimension. This means they will need to be assessed as trends (e.g., at points in time) or with an historical perspective to establish trends. The monitoring of changes in indicators will be essential to evaluating whether and how progress is being made toward the sustainability of forest management at the national level.

While it may be desirable to have quantitative indicators that are readily measured or for which measurements already exist, such indicators alone will not be sufficient to indicate the sustainability of forest management. Some important indicators may involve the gathering of new or additional data, a new program of systematic sampling, or even basic research. Furthermore, some indicators of a given criterion may not be quantifiable. In cases where there are no reasonable quantitative measures for indicators, qualitative or descriptive indicators are important. These may require subjective judgments as to what constitutes effective, adequate, or appropriate national conditions, or trends in conditions, with respect to the indicator.

Concepts of forest management evolve over time based on scientific knowledge of how forest ecosystems function and respond to human interventions, as well as in response to changing public demands for forest products and services. The criteria and indicators will need to be reviewed and refined on an ongoing basis to reflect new research, advances in technology, increased capability to measure indicators, and an improved understanding of what constitutes appropriate indicators of sustainable forest management.

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Criterion: A category of conditions or processes by which sustainable forest management may be assessed. A criterion is characterized by a set of related indicators which are monitored periodically to assess change.

Indicator: A measure (measurement) of an aspect of the criterion; a quantitative or qualitative variable which can be measured or described and which, when observed periodically, demonstrates trends.

Monitoring: The periodic and systematic measurement and assessment of change of an indicator.

Forest type: A category of forest defined by its vegetation, particularly composition, and/or locality factors, as categorized by each country in a system suitable to its situation.

Ecosystem: A dynamic complex of plant, animal, fungal, and microorganism communities and the associated nonliving environment with which they interact.

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Section 3: Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests-Criteria 1-6

The following six criteria and associated indicators characterize the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests. They relate specifically to forest conditions, attributes, or functions, and to the values or benefits associated with the environmental and socioeconomic goods and services that forests provide. The intent or meaning of each criterion is made clear by its respective indicators. No priority or order is implied in the alpha numeric listing of the criteria and indicators.

Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity.

Biological diversity includes the elements of the diversity of ecosystems, the diversity between species, and genetic diversity in species.

Indicators:

Ecosystem diversity

• a. Extent of area by forest type relative to total forest area (a)
• b. Extent of area by forest type and by age class or successional stage (b)
• c. Extent of area by forest type in protected area categories as defined by IUCN or other classification systems (a)
• d. Extent of areas by forest type in protected areas defined by age class or successional stage (b)
• e. Fragmentation of forest types (b)

Species diversity

• a. The number of forest-dependent species (b)
• b. The status (rare, threatened, endangered, or extinct) of forest-dependent species at risk of not maintaining viable breeding populations, as determined by legislation or scientific assessment (a)

Genetic diversity

• a. Number of forest-dependent species that occupy a small portion of their former range (b)
• b. Population levels of representative species from diverse habitats monitored across their range (b)

Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems.

Indicators:

• a. Area of forest land and net area of forest land available for timber production (a)
• b. Total growing stock of both merchantable and nonmerchantable tree species on forest land available for timber production (a)
• c. The area and growing stock of plantations of native and exotic species (a)
• d. Annual removal of wood products compared to the volume determined to be sustainable (a)
• e. Annual removal of nontimber forest products (e.g., fur bearers, berries, mushrooms, game) compared to the level determined to be sustainable (b)

Criterion 3: Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality.

Indicators:

• a. Area and percent of forest affected by processes or agents beyond the range of historic variation (e.g., by insects, disease, competition from exotic species, fire, storm, land clearance, permanent flooding, salinisation, and domestic animals) (b)
• b. Area and percent of forest land subjected to levels of specific air pollutants (e.g., sulfates, nitrate, ozone) or ultraviolet B that may cause negative impacts on the forest ecosystem (b)
• c. Area and percent of forest land with diminished biological components indicative of changes in fundamental ecological processes (e.g., soil, nutrient cycling, seed dispersion, pollination) and/or ecological continuity (monitoring of functionally important species such as nematodes, arboreal epiphytes, beetles. fungi, wasps, etc.) (b)

Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources.

This criterion encompasses the conservation of soil and water resources and the protective and productive functions of forests.

Indicators:

a. Area and percent of forest land with significant soil erosion (b)

b. Area and percent of forest land managed primarily for protective functions (e.g., watersheds, flood protection, avalanche protection, riparian zones) (a)

c. Percent of stream kilometers in for

tested catchments in which stream flow and timing has significantly deviated from the historic range of variation (b)

d. Area and percent of forest land with significantly diminished soil organic matter and/or changes in other soil chemical properties (b)

e. Area and percent of forest land with significant compaction or change in soil physical properties resulting from human activities (b)

f, Percent of water bodies in forest areas (e.g., stream kilometers, lake hectares) with significant variance of biological diversity from the historic range of variability (b)

g. Percent of water bodies in forest areas (e.g., stream kilometers, lake hectares) with significant variation from the historic range of variability in pH, dissolved oxygen, levels of chemicals (electrical conductivity), sedimentation, or temperature change (b)

h. Area and percent of forest land experiencing an accumulation of persistent toxic substances (b)

Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles.

Indicators:

• a. Total forest ecosystem biomass and carbon pool, and if appropriate, by forest type, age class, and successional stages (b)
• b. Contribution of forest ecosystems to the total global carbon budget, including absorption and release of carbon (standing biomass, coarse woody debris, peat and soil carbon) (a or b)
• c. Contribution of forest products to the global carbon budget (b)

Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies.

Indicators:

Production and consumption

• a. Value and volume of wood and wood products production, including value added through downstream processing (a)
• b. Value and quantities of production of nonwood forest products (b)
• c. Supply and consumption of wood and wood products, including consumption per capita (a)
• d. Value of wood and nonwood products production as percentage of GDP (a or b)
• e. Degree of recycling of forest products (a or b)
• f. Supply and consumption/use of nonwood products (a or b)

Recreation and tourism

• a. Area and percent of forest land managed for general recreation and tourism, in relation to the total area of forest land (a or b)
• b. Number and type of facilities available for general recreation and tourism, in relation to population and forest area (a or b)
• c. Number of visitor days attributed to recreation and tourism, in relation to population and forest area (b)

Investment in the forest sector

• a. Value of investment, including investment in forest growing, forest health and management, planted forests, wood processing, recreation, and tourism (a)
• b. Level of expenditure on research and development, and education (b)
• c. Extension and use of new and improved technology (b)
• d. Rates of return on investment (b)

Cultural, social, and spiritual needs and values

• a. Area and percent of forest land managed in relation to the total area of forest land to protect the range of cultural, social, and spiritual needs and values (a or b)
• b. Nonconsumptive-use forest values (b)

Employment and community needs

• a. Direct and indirect employment in the forest sector and the forest sector employment as a proportion of total employment (a or b)
• b. Average wage rates and injury rates in major employment categories within the forest sector
• c. Viability and adaptability to changing economic conditions, of forest-dependent communities, including indigenous communities (b)
• d. Area and percent of forest land used for subsistence purposes (b)

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Criterion 7 and associated indicators relate to the overall policy framework of a country that can facilitate the conservation and sustainable management of forests. Included are the broader societal conditions and processes often external to the forest itself but which may support efforts to conserve, maintain, or enhance one or more of the conditions, attributes, functions, and benefits captured in criteria 1-6. No priority or order is implied in the, listing of the indicators.

Criterion 7: Legal, institutional, and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management.

Indicators:

Extent to which the legal framework (laws, regulations, guidelines) supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests, including the extent to which it

• a. Clarifies property rights, provides for appropriate land tenure arrangements, recognizes customary and traditional rights of indigenous people, and provides means of resolving property disputes by due process;
• b. Provides for periodic forest-related planning, assessment, and policy review that recognizes the range of forest values, including coordination with relevant sectors;
• c. Provides opportunities for public participation in public policy and decision making related to forests and public access to information;
• d. Encourages best practice codes for forest management;
• e. Provides for the management of forests to conserve special environmental, cultural, social, and/or scientific values.

Extent to which the institutional framework supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests, including the capacity to

• a. Provide for public involvement activities and public education, awareness, and extension programs, and make available forest-related information;
• b. Undertake and implement periodic forest-related planning, assessment, and policy review including cross-sectoral planning and coordination;
• c. Develop and maintain human resource skills across relevant disciplines;
• d. Develop and maintain efficient physical infrastructure to facilitate the supply of forest products and services and support forest management;
• e. Enforce laws, regulations, and guidelines.

Extent to which the economic framework (economic policies and measures) supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests through

• a. Investment and taxation policies and a regulatory environment which recognize the long-term nature of investments and permit the flow of capital in and out of the forest sector in response to market signals, nonmarket economic valuations, and public policy decisions in order to meet long-term demands for forest products and services;
• b. Nondiscriminatory trade policies for forest products.

Capacity to measure and monitor changes in the conservation and sustainable management of forests, including

• a. Availability and extent of up-to-date data, statistics, and other information important to measuring or describing indicators associated with criteria 1-7;
• b. Scope, frequency, and statistical reliability of forest inventories, assessments, monitoring, and other relevant information;
• c. Compatibility with other countries in measuring, monitoring, and reporting on indicators.

Capacity to conduct and apply research and development aimed at improving forest management and delivery of forest goods and services, including

• a. Development of scientific understanding of forest ecosystem characteristics and functions;
• b. Development of methodologies to measure and integrate environmental and social costs and benefits into markets and public policies, and to reflect forest-related resource depletion or replenishment in national accounting systems;
• c. New technologies and the capacity to assess the socioeconomic consequences associated with the introduction of new technologies;
• d. Enhancement of ability to predict impacts of human intervention on forests;
• e. Ability to predict impacts on forests of possible climate change.

reproduced from the Journal of Forestry, Vol. 93, No. 4, April 1995.