Bernardo Zentilli
During the last two decades the world has witnessed a major interest in the fate of forests. Scientists, politicians, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations including those from the United Nations family and, in some countries, the public, have been focusing their attention on the rates of destruction and degradation of the forest resources and particularly on endemic forest ecosystems.
Current figures of deforestation worldwide are showing an annual loss of around sixteen million hectares. Reforestation, which usually consists of forest monocultures, accounts for around three million hectares (nearly 70 per cent of this figure takes place in China). Thus the total forest cover reduction is close to thirteen million hectares. There are no accurate figures or internationally agreed upon criteria regarding forest degradation.
During the earlier stages of this recent process, interest had mainly concentrated on the tropical forests. Since 1992, the focus has widened to include all forest types such as high latitude forests (mainly boreal), temperate and tropical. The turning point was certainly the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, June 1992) where the subject of forests attracted unexpected attention. As a result, the subject of forests was not only considered directly in one Chapter of the Agenda 21, but referred to in more than fifteen other chapters. The subject of forests was highlighted in a unique and independent, non-legally binding document known today as the Forest Principles.1
The main orientation of Chapter 11 and the Forest Principles is, in essence, to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 included four programme areas to: a) sustain the multiple roles and functions of forests; b) enhance the protection, sustainable management and conservation of all forests; c) promote efficient utilization and assessment to recover the full valuation of the goods and services provided by the forests, forest lands and woodlands and; d) establish and/or strengthen capacities for the planning, assessment and systematic observation of forests and related programmes, projects and activities, including commercial trade and processes.
Under programme area B, paragraph 11.12. (e), of Agenda 21, there is a reference to the need to facilitate and support the effective implementation of the Forest Principles. On the basis of that non-legally binding authoritative statement of principles, it was necessary to consider the need for and the feasibility of all kinds of appropriate internationally agreed arrangements to promote international cooperation on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests, including afforestation, reforestation and rehabilitation.
Although some countries, particularly some developed countries, were eager to initiate negotiations on a forest convention within the context of UNCED, several developing countries raised opposition to that approach.
For decades foresters have focused mainly on the timber productivity of forests. The volume and quality of timber yields prevailed over any other criteria used to assess forest production. In some countries, particularly in Europe, the maintenance of the forest cover was also considered as an important general policy approach. The inclusion of some other products (goods and services) within forest management considerations helped in incorporating, at least in some forest operations, the notion of multiple-use.
Soon after UNCED, several initiatives were launched through the joint efforts of some developed and developing countries, oriented toward the formulation of Criteria and Indicators to achieve the conservation and sustainable management of forests. They were directly inspired by the UNCED results, and all of them considered, along their individual processes, the conclusions of Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles. Some of them focused on tropical forests, others on temperate and boreal forests. Some were oriented to a particular region, the Helsinki Process, or to a specific subregion, e.g. the forests within the countries that are parties of the Treaty for Amazon Cooperation.
A brief description of these initiatives will help in clarifying their respective scope and orientation.
THE MONTREAL PROCESS
In June 1994, in Geneva, the Montreal Process, originally launched in Kuala Lumpur in April 1994, established a Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests to 'advance the development of internationally agreed criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests at the national level'.
The Working Group counted on the participation of Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States of America. These countries, together, represent around 90 per cent of the world's temperate and boreal forests.
At its sixth meeting held in Santiago, Chile, in February 1995 the Montreal Process concluded with the Santiago Declaration endorsing seven criteria and sixty-seven indicators. Six of the criteria are related specifically to the forest conditions, attributes or functions and to the values or benefits associated with the environmental and socio-economic goods and services that forests provide. Criterion seven and its associated indicators relate to the overall policy framework of a country that can facilitate the conservation and sustainable management of forests.
The Montreal Process, for example, defines criterion as 'a category of conditions or processes by which sustainable forest management can be assessed'. A criterion is characterized by a set of related indicators which are monitored periodically to assess change. An indicator is 'a measure (measurement) of an aspect of the criterion' .A quantitative or qualitative variable which can be measured or described and which demonstrates trends when observed periodically.
THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION (ITTO)
The International Tropical Timber Agreement (1993) which came into force in 1995 included the creation of the ITTO. The ITTO developed criteria and indicators to be applied by the tropical timber producing member countries. The ITTO Criteria and Indicators can be considered as the simplest ones developed so far and are oriented toward assessing sustainable forest management.
HELSINKI PROCESS
The Helsinki Process has its origins in the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of European Forests, first held in Strasbourg in 1990. The second Ministerial Conference was held in Helsinki in 1993 and the third one is scheduled to be held in Portugal in 1998. Under this process, a set of criteria and indicators has been developed to assess the extent to which the current development of forests and forest management fulfils the aim of sustainable forest management in countries of the region. The Helsinki process includes the participation of over 35 European countries.
This process has developed, through its Expert Level Follow-up meeting held in Geneva in June 1994, a set of six criteria and 27 related indicators to evaluate how the countries of the region have implemented resolutions of the Helsinki Conference. The Helsinki Resolution (HI) provides a definition of sustainable forest management.
THE TARAPOTO PROCESS
The Amazonian Cooperation Treaty of 1978, of which eight countries are members2, established a mechanism through which member states would support joint actions that should be equitable, and preserve the environment and the rational utilization of their own natural resources in their respective Amazonian territories.
A regional Workshop to define criteria and indicators of sustainability of the Amazon forest was held in Tarapoto, Peru, in February 1995. The workshop was organized by the secretariat of the Treaty. Several documents were used as background including the outcome of the FAO/ITTO Expert Consultation on Harmonization of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management.
Twelve criteria and 77 associated indicators were approved. They are grouped into three categories: national level, management unit level, and services at the global level.
FAO/UNEP REGIONAL ACTIVITIES ON CRITERIA AND INDICATORS
FAO and UNEP organized an expert meeting in November 1995 to discuss criteria and indicators at the national level, focusing on Sub-Saharan, dry-zone countries which had not been directly considered within other initiatives.
The conclusions of the expert meeting have been endorsed by the FAO African Forestry and Wildlife Commission which met in South Africa at the end of 1995. The Commission recommended further developing, adapting and testing the proposed criteria and indicators. FAO and UNEP are planning to organize other regional meetings to address C & I for the Mediterranean North African and Near East countries and for Central America.
COMMENTS
The process of developing criteria and indicators to ensure sustainable forest management has mobilized researchers, managers and politicians, as well as the participation of other interested groups. The different approaches being developed so far could be merged into one umbrella system with some different substructures for different situations and realities. However this would require scientific flexibility and political will, as well as financial assistance and sufficient time for negotiations.
There is no doubt at this stage that a major effort has been launched to look for feasible mechanisms to ensure sustainable forest management.
The different processes developing C&I have identified some indicators which could be 'easily' fed with the necessary data and which could be of common use, subject to agreement on their definitions and assessment methodologies. For example, forest cover, forest types, woodlands area, the number and extent of protected areas, the proportion of forest area managed primarily for water protection, could fall into this category.
Some other indicators could face a difficult time in being universally accepted. For example, indicators such as 'value of wood products' or 'value of non-wood forest products', both considered in practically all the existing initiatives, will need further defining and clarification. Does, for example, the value of wood products include all wood products or just commercial timber and fibre? Does the concept of non-wood products embrace goods and services, as underlined in the UNCED Forest Principles, or just the goods? Is it possible at this stage or in the near future to provide reliable information on subjects such as 'rate of increase of sustainable recreation and tourism activities' (Tarapoto proposal)? How could we measure and compare 'research and development capacity' (Dry-Zone Africa)?
Some other questions arise. One of them relates to the complexities of its application. Considering that it took more than sixteen years to have available a decent, but still far from perfect, assessment of the world's forest cover, one may wonder how long could it take to have the rest of the most basic parameters necessary to respond to the long list of indicators. Most developing countries and several countries with economies in transition, do not have the information required. Another question is: if and when the criteria and indicators are accepted and eventually applied by a significant number of countries, how and when are the indicators going to be monitored and by whom? It is clear that the whole process still needs further refinement, negotiation and a pragmatic step by step approach. It should not be forgotten that, in the case of forestry, the final objective is still to encourage, promote and idealistically ensure the sustainable management of forests.
NOTES
1 Non-legally binding authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
2 Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela
REFERENCES
Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT) (1995) Pro Tempore Secretariat. Proposals of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainability of the Amazon Forest. Results of the Regional Workshop held in Tarapoto, February 1995. Lima, Peru.
Intergovernmental Seminar on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management. ( 1996) Background Document Edited by Granholm, Heikki et al. Helsinki, Finland.
Montreal Process ( 1995) Statement on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests. Results of the Meeting of the Working Group in Santiago, Chile.
Montreal Process (1995) Santiago Declaration. Results of the Meeting of the Working Group in Santiago, Chile.