25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: How Intergovernmental C&I Processes Have Made a Difference

Forests

Rastislav Raši¹  Kit Prins²  Bernhard Wolfslehner³  Stefanie Linser³  Steven Johnson⁴  SimonR. J. Bridge⁵  David Gritten⁶  Tim Payn⁷  Guy Robertson⁸ 

[1] Forest Europe Liaison Unit Bratislava, National Forest Centre, 960 92 Zvolen, Slovakia;Independent Forest Sector Consultant, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland;Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria;International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), International Organizations Center, Yokohama 220-0012, Japan;Natural Resources Canada—Canadian Forest Service, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4, Canada;RECOFTC—The Center for People and Forests, Bangkok 10903, Thailand;Scion—New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand;U.S. Forest Service, Research and Development, Washington, DC 20250, USA;

关键词: criteria;    indicators;    C&;    I;    sustainable forest management;    regional processes;    international processes;    intergovernmental processes;    impacts;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f9090578

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Growing concern about forest degradation and loss, combined with the political impetus supplied by the Earth Summit in 1992, led to the establishment of eleven intergovernmental, regional, and international forest-related processes focused on the use of criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management (SFM). Up to 171 countries have participated in these processes to apply C&I frameworks as a tool for data collection, monitoring, assessment, and reporting on SFM and on achieving various forest-related UN Sustainable Development Goals. Based on an expert survey and literature analysis we identify six interlinked impact domains of C&I efforts: (1) enhanced discourse and understanding of SFM; (2) shaped and focused engagement of science in SFM; (3) improved monitoring and reporting on SFM to facilitate transparency and evidence-based decision-making; (4) strengthened forest management practices; (5) facilitated assessment of progress towards SFM goals; and (6) improved forest-related dialog and communication. We conclude that the 25-year history of C&I work in forestry has had significant positive impacts, though challenges do remain for the implementation of C&I and progress towards SFM. The work should be continued and carried over to other sectors to advance sustainability goals more broadly.

【 授权许可】

Unknown