Forest Principles

Abstract: This study is intended to be a systematic and practical guide to the basic features of modern forestry legislation. It identifies a range of issues that should be considered in assessing the adequacy of forest laws and presents options for addressing those issues in ways that may improve the effectiveness of law as a foundation for sustainable forest management. Part One locates forestry law within the wider legal framework, exploring its complex interrelations with other sectoral and general laws. Land issues are given special treatment because the relationship between forest access and use and land tenure is so important. Part Two explores in detail the legal treatment of core forest management issues, such as forest classification, planning, concessions, licensing, and private forest management. Part Three focuses on the role of national and sub-national institutions in the sustainable management of forest resources. As decentralization of forestry responsibilities and devolution of powers are growing, local actors are given more prominent roles in forest planning, use, and management, through such means as community-based arrangements. Part Four explores a range of environmental and trade issues. Part Five examines financial and enforcement measures, emphasizing that compliance and enforcement of forest law should be reinforced by financial and administrative sanctions. The study concludes with some reflections on how the effectiveness of forest law can be enhanced by attention to the principles that guide the process of drafting.

Abstract: This paper traces the growing interest in the development of Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forest since the declaration of the 'Forest Principles' at the Rio Conference 1992. Several processes are underway in the different regions of the world to define sets of criteria and indicators that can be used to assess the social, economic, and ecological sustainability of forest management. Some have focused more at national level, while others have emphasised information needs at the forest management unit level. In an attempt to produce a generic 'master set', the Center for Internetional Forestry research (CIFOR) has carried out several tests to compare the different sets of criteria and indicators currently existence. At the forest level, ecological criteria have been found much easier to apply than social ones as the latter often require an in-depth understanding of areas beyond the intermediate boundaries of the forest management unit. In an attempt to help people in different areas adapt the generic hierarchy of criteria and indicators to their own conditions, CIFOR is developing a computer programme, CIMAT, which allows for the addition of local knowledge and an iterative development of locally-specific criteria and indicators. In spite of the work still needed, the importance of defining a comprehensive but practical set of criteria and indicators lies in the fact that such a measurable and comparable methodology would build public confidence in the issue of forest sustainability.

Abstract: Centre for International Forestry Research's (CIFOR's) was the first international research effort that sought to test and compare the effectiveness of Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management at the forest management unit level. The research made use of multidisciplinary teams in a series of comparisons of indicator sets in various forest settings. This case study shows that the research achieved widespread influence and uptake across many different types of organizations. This uptake has led to the generation of significant international public goods through the improved management of forests. The global total of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-endorsed certified forest is steadily increasing and currently stands at over 47 million ha. The area of forests certified in Asia, Africa and Latin America represents 18 per cent of the total certified area. The standards developed and used by certification bodies did not adopt CIFOR's C&I in a 'wholesale' manner, and quantitative attribution of CIFOR's research contribution to certification standards proved problematic. Thus the CIFOR research helped focus the attention of certifiers on social sustainability issues and helped speed the development of certification standards in this regard. The study shows, through examination of public assessment reports, that certification, in turn, has led to large improvements in sustainable forest management on the ground. Substantial areas of forests have been certified, and the issues most closely associated with CIFOR research contributions to certification standards commonly feature in public records of certification audits.

Abstract: There are serious shortcomings in the supply and use of information needed for policy making in the forestry sectors of developing countries. The main weakness is the failure to connect the supply to demand. Much information has been gathered not because it has been needed but because donors were willing to fund inventories, on traditional lines, that were vaguely thought to be potentially useful. Information is usually inadequate on topics such as actual removal of wood and other products, or the usefulness of the forests, especially to the local people. Not enough provision is made for continuous inventories to the necessarily high standards that are needed to measure change. The way in which remote sensing has been used has often been heavily influenced by the facilities that are on offer, rather than the potential usefulness of the results. It suggested, for example, that the resources would be better used on the assessment of change in land use and forest cover than on elaborate cartography.