7:28 p.m.
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is IUFRO Spotlight #62. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 12:03 PM
Subject: IUFRO Spotlight #62 - How and why criteria and indicators have
changed forest management since the Rio Summit
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Spotlight #62 - How and why criteria and indicators have changed
forest management since the Rio Summit
*IUFRO Spotlight* is an initiative of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion,
significant findings in forest research from IUFRO officeholders and member
organizations to a worldwide network of decision makers, policy makers and
researchers.
IUFRO will encapsulate, and distribute in plain language, brief, topical
and policy-relevant highlights of those findings, along with information on
where/how to access the full documents. The *IUFRO Spotlight* findings will
be distributed in a periodic series of emails as well as blog postings.
*________________________________*
*How and why criteria and indicators have changed forest management since
the Rio Summit*
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/download/file/29907/6723/spotlight62-criteria-indicators_pdf/>
*Regeneration is also covered by indicators for SFM. Photo: S. Linser. *
Sparked in part by the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, the use of criteria and
indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management (SFM) has become an ever
more present aspect of forest management.
Since that '92 summit, "the focus of academic attention has been mainly on
global forest governance with a research gap regarding regional (or
international) forest related processes," said Dr. Stefanie Linser of the
European Forest Institute, who is also co-ordinator of IUFRO Working Party
9.01.05 on research and development of indicators for SFM.
"They are increasingly important nowadays, in light of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals and emerging global challenges," she said.
C&I are defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN as: "… a
framework that characterizes the essential components of SFM, and
recognise(s) forests as ecosystems that provide a wide range of
environmental, economic and social benefits to society. The overall aim of
criteria and indicators is to promote more sustainable forest management
practices, taking into consideration the social, economic, environmental,
cultural and spiritual needs of different stakeholders."
Thirteen experts from Dr. Linser's IUFRO Working Party have researched the
use and the usefulness of C&I in the quarter-century following the ‘92
summit and have jointly put together two publications covering all C&I
processes and regions worldwide.
In one paper, they look at "how" the C&I processes have made a difference.
In the other they look at "why" some C&I processes have flourished and
others have faded.
Their conclusion is that the 25 years of C&I work in forestry has had
significant positive impacts, though challenges do remain.
In the "how" publication the authors point to six areas where positive
impacts are easily seen:
- Enhanced discourse and understanding of SFM;
- Helped to shape and focus the engagement of science in SFM;
- Improved monitoring and reporting of SFM, which facilitates
transparency and evidence-based decision making;
- Strengthened forest management practices;
- Initiated assessment of progress toward SFM goals; and
- Improved forest-related dialog and communication.
"For forest managers, C&I are a feasible tool for generating understandable
and reliable information on progress towards sustainable forest
management," said Dr. Linser.
"They increase transparency of decision-making, and demonstrate compliance
with different standards or goals. They also allow policy makers to obtain
easily comprehensible evidence of the effectiveness of policy measures,"
she said.
However, she went on to say, "There is a wide variation in the quality of
adaptation of the regional or international C&I sets onto the national
level, and hence in SFM monitoring and reporting."
Going forward, she believes that political will and respective strategies
to further promote C&I are crucial. "If those are missing, it leads to
insufficient funding, low data availability, a lack of trained personnel
and expertise, a lack of effective promotion and little or no inclusion
into policy/decision-making processes."
The "why" publication notes that there has been an unevenness in the
application across countries. "Lagging funds, capacities and political
support can be a major obstacle for C&I implementation with consequences on
the knowledge base and the state of SFM," Dr. Linser said.
"Another issue is that C&I are often very top-down in their design and
development. This can create challenges when it comes to implementation on
the ground. One finding is that rural communities are marginalized by the
origin and design of the C&I as they are reflected in state-determined
forest management plans.
"To remedy that, there is a need for active national participation based on
commitment, true stewardship, funding and capacity building," she added.
"If you are a policy maker, C&I for SFM constitute a powerful policy tool
for collecting and synthesizing understandable information – from the
global to the local level – to facilitate decision-making processes on the
state of forests and forestry, and on progress towards sustainable forest
management."
The bottom line, said Dr. Linser, is that "C&I require constant review and
the procedural power to respond to emerging trends, and questions that
arise from policy debate and public concerns. Hence, C&I are not a static
instrument, but a dynamic tool to grasp all relevant forest information.
Coordination and sufficient funding of all related activities as well as
true stewardship and commitment of all related stakeholders are essential
in this respect."
*The publications can be found at*:
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90100/90105/
<http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90100/90105/>
*25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for SFM: Why some intergovernmental
C&I Processes flourished while others faded*
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/9/515
*25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for SFM: How intergovernmental C&I
Processes have made a difference*
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/9/578
*________________________________*
The findings reported in *IUFRO Spotlight* are submitted by IUFRO
officeholders and member organizations. IUFRO is pleased to highlight and
circulate these findings to a broad audience but, in doing so, acts only as
a conduit. The quality and accuracy of the reports are the responsibility
of the member organization and the authors.
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policy implications and be applicable to more than one country. If you
would like to have a publication highlighted by Spotlight, contact: Gerda
Wolfrum, wolfrum(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org>.
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and
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stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees.
Visit: https://www.iufro.org/
*________________________________*
*IUFRO Spotlight #62, published in November 2018*
*by IUFRO Headquarters, Marxergasse 2, 1030 Vienna, Austria.Available for
download at: **https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
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