Review of Country Initiatives and Activities in Developing and Implementing Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Dry Forests
Set of National-level Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Dry Forests in Asia
Follow-up Plan of Action for Further Development and Implementation
To facilitate discussion during the workshop, nine country reports were presented. These reports were mainly meant to inform other Asian countries of: (a) forest management activities in each country and (b) advances that each country had made towards the implementation of criteria and indicators at the national level.
Each country participating in the workshop presented an overview of recent activities aimed at supporting sustainable forest management in their respective countries, with particular emphasis on initiatives and activities related to criteria and indicators. The aim of the presentations was to identify successes, weaknesses, and hurdles in developing and applying criteria and indicators at the country level.
All of the nine participating countries have at least some recognized indicators for monitoring forest management. Some countries (i.e. China, India, Myanmar, Thailand) have established national processes for developing criteria and indicators as part of recognized international initiatives. In several countries, however, existing indicators are not systematically organized in a manner consistent with international initiatives.
China is a member of both ITTO and the Montreal Process, and is actively developing national and sub-national-level-criteria and indicators consistent with these initiatives. Support is being provided by the UNDP/FAO "Capacity Building, Research and Extension for Sustainable Forest Management Project." In 1995, China established the Sustainable Forestry Research Center, which has a lead role in developing and testing criteria and indicators for the country.
India, which is a member of ITTO, launched the "Bhopal-India Process" in early 1999. An initial workshop identified a "base set" of national-level principles, criteria and indicators for assessing forest management in India. Efforts are now underway to sensitize the forestry community to the potential of criteria and indicators for monitoring progress toward sustainable forest management, build political support, and test the relevance of various criteria and indicators in different conditions around the country.
Myanmar completed a final draft set of criteria and indicators for both national and forest management unit levels in October 1999. The draft criteria and indicators are based largely on the ITTO criteria and indicators. Myanmar is a member of both ITTO and ASEAN. In 1997, Myanmar established a Dry Zone Greening Department to focus development, conservation, and protection activities in the country's extensive dry zone.
In 1998, Thailand's Forest Research Office proposed a set of 6 criteria and 54 indicators to the Royal Forest Department, which established a special committee to take further steps in development and implementation. In 1999, however, Thailand, which is also an ITTO member, agreed to join other ASEAN countries in adopting ITTO's new criteria and indicators for sustainable management of natural tropical forests as the main framework for the ASEAN region. Thailand is also conducting ongoing research and development of criteria and indicators at the forest management unit level under a pilot study initiated with support from the Danish Forest and Landscape Institute, World Bank, CIFOR, and Chiang Mai University.
Nepal, which is a member of ITTO, has developed specific criteria and indicators at the national level for community forest management, leasehold forestry, and forest user groups. These criteria and indicators are not yet organized and applied in a systematic manner, however.
Mongolia monitors a wide range of basic indicators for forest management, including those related to forest resources protection, exploitation, and rehabilitation. It also has "environmental reporting indicators," including 18 for forestry, that are collected and reported annually by local administrations to the central government. The Ministry of Nature and Environment also tracks a number of forest-related indicators as part of its forestry database for planning and decision-making. Some 27 forestry indicators are monitored for inclusion in the country's State of Environment Report.
Bhutan tracks several forestry "performance indicators" to measure success of forestry projects and activities, particularly those under World Bank support.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh monitor a traditional array of basic forestry indicators as part of the regular functions of the Forest Department. To date, however, these countries have no initiatives to consolidate these indicators in a systematic manner consistent with international criteria and indicators processes.
All countries of the region face a number of common constraints in developing and implementing criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, such as:
· lack of understanding of the potential of criteria and indicators for monitoring progress toward sustainable forest management;· weak capacity for implementing criteria and indicators;
· inadequate data availability or capacity for collecting data; and
· inadequate testing of the practicality, feasibility, and value of criteria and indicators under various conditions.
After very engaging discussions, participants were able to agree on a set of 8 national-level criteria and 49 indicators for the sustainable management of dry forests in Asia (Annex 4). Participants also agreed that this initiative needs an identity to make an impact. The initiative was named the "Regional Initiative for the Development and Implementation of National-level Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Dry Forests in Asia.
Participants discussed a follow-up plan of activities intended to facilitate the implementation of national-level criteria and indicators in Asia over the next two years. They further expressed their commitment towards this objective.
The plan called for Asian countries to: (a) seek national political and technical support from forestry authorities to continue developing the set of criteria and indicators and to speed up implementation, (b) obtain the necessary support from national and international institutions for training and for improving national capacities for conducting research on the applicability of these tools, and (c) seek endorsement of the initiative from the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission at its next session in 2000. Details of the plan are described in Annex 5.
The plan of action also calls for financial support to:
· facilitate the development of an action framework for initiating sustainable forest management in different countries;· assist in identifying international, regional and national organizations for technical facilitation;
· identify international donor agencies for project formulation on adopting sustainable forest management; and
· assist in identifying research and training institutions for work related to sustainable forest management.
