A. Use of the Indicators
B. Limitation of Indicators
C. Un-used Indicators
As underlined above, the activities of a NFP are in line with sustainable development of the forestry sector. The analytical studies and prospectives undertaken of the forestry situation of a country back up a number of national references of biological, economic, social and institutional order. It is therefore interesting to see if they correspond to Indicators of sustainable forest management.
In the NFP process, each sector-based study is organised into three steps: (a) a formulation of the existing situation; (b) a proposition of activities to be carried out; and (c) an estimation of the future beneficiaries. On this basis, the Indicators can be arranged into the following categories:
a) Formulation:- Situation element (sector review)
- Alert element (identification of priority constraints)b) Realisation
c) Evaluation of progress achieved:
- Follow-up element
- Evaluation element
The analysis of available NFP studies of the six chosen countries enabled to list the Indicators mentioned in the sector-based studies of NFP and enumerate them (see Annex 2: The Indicators Recognised in the Sector-based NFP Studies). The Table below indicates in which category the Indicators belonged and how they are divided up between Formulation, Realisation and Evaluation.
The number of Indicators and their Allocation
|
Category of Indicators |
Total Number of Indicators |
Indicators Found in the NFPs of the 6 Countries Studied |
||||||
|
Number |
%* |
Playing a Part in |
||||||
|
Formulation |
Implementation |
Monitoring |
Evaluation |
|||||
|
Situation |
Alert |
|||||||
|
State and change process of forest resources |
22 |
9 |
41 |
9 |
1 |
|
9 |
2 |
|
Biological diversity |
14 |
7 |
50 |
4 |
1 |
|
3 |
4 |
|
Health and vitality |
18 |
1 |
5 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
Production of wood and other forest products |
11 |
6 |
54 |
3 |
|
|
5 |
1 |
|
Soil and water protection |
9 |
4 |
44 |
1 |
2 |
|
2 |
1 |
|
Socio-economic function |
26 |
15 |
58 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
3 |
|
Legal and institutional frameworks |
9 |
6 |
66 |
1 |
|
6 |
|
|
* Percentage of Indicators found in the NFPs of the six countries studied compared to the total number of Indicators initially identified (see Annex 1).
In this way, 48 Indicators (of a total of 109) were found in the processes of the NFPs studied. The categories of Criteria and Indicators concerning (i) State and change process of forest resources: ii) Socio-economic functions: and iii) Legal and institutional frameworks, seem to have a very significative role in the process (formulation and follow-up/evaluation phase for the first two categories and realisation phase for the last).
However, the impact of the Indicators appears to differ (see Annex 3: Indicators Recognised in the NFP of the Countries Studied).
1 The unavoidable Indicators
In every study and for all countries, a certain number of Indicators appear constantly. Thus, 5 Indicators belonging to State and change process of forest resources are particularly mentioned (-Forest area, -Other wooded land area, -Area of forest and vegetation types, -Forest plantations area per species category and -Forest area converted to other uses). These, therefore reveal that knowledge of forest resources and their utilisation is essential and stress the important role of forest resources assessment.
As for Socio-economic functions, the production (-Volume of wood production, -Production of non-wood forest products, -Value of wood products, -Value of non-wood forest products and -Value from biomass energy), and the recreation aspects (-Area managed with primary objective: leisure and tourism) are mentioned parallel to the economic performances (-Share of forest sector in GNP et -Forest sector trade balance).
Finally, the importance of a legal and institutional framework (-National forest policy, legislation and regulations and -Institutional instrument and tools) is underlined, together with economic (-Economic framework and financial instruments) and scientific aspects (-Valorisation of local expertise, knowledge and local technologies and -Transfer and adaptation of appropriate technologies).
As for the evaluation of the results expected from sustainable development, the Indicator - % of managed forest according to a management plan or management guidelines, should measure the results accomplished.
2 Particular Indicators
Moreover, in the six cases studied, other indicators were found, although their role seems to concern national problems such as fuelwood or demographic pressure.
Thus, the provision of fuelwood is regarded important in every case and requires the Indicator:-Average consumption of fuelwood per caput and per year. With the exception of Cape Verde where there are no more forests, preservation of natural forests imposes that other States take into account the Indicator: - Area of strictly protected forest reserves, and forests that are protected by a special management regime and change process. In the same way, data are expected on: -Biomass according to forest types, -Total standing volume and - Average standing volume, possibly by vegetation zones or site classes.
As for Indonesia and Vietnam, where demographic pressure is very high, the occupation of forest land justifies the use of -Forest area by ownership type and the particular attention to -Number of endangered forests and change process.
Even if the Indicators of the Legal and institutional frameworks category are fully used in the processes of NFP studied, it appears that they are insufficient to express the complexity of legal and institutional aspects. Certainly, the importance of these aspects is re-affirmed in the framework of the Ecuadorian Consultation on the Process of Tarapoto.5 However, the NFP of Ecuador enables a wider vision for the understanding of the state of the forestry sector and to build up propositions relating to the precise needs of: (i) legislation; (ii) the institutional framework; (iii) integration and institutional coordination; (iv) investment promotion; and (v) the valorisation of human resources
5Study particular to Ecuador: Proceso de Tarapoto sobre criterios e indicadores de sostenibilidad de bosque amazonico, republica del Ecuador - enero 1997.
In fact, the use of Indicators belonging to the Legal and institutional frameworks category reduces the comprehension of the particular processes of each country. For Ecuador, the elaboration of a forestry policy is a new procedure, whereas in Indonesia, a forestry code exists and steps towards is planning have already been implemented. In the Vietnamese example, the role of the war (which lasted 30 years) in the stale-mate situation of the forestry sector cannot be quoted, nor that of the substantial international assistance in favour of Vietnameses forests.
Furthermore, the reflection conducted in Vietnam refers to other Indicators: (-Area of strictly protected forest reserves and forest that are protected by a special management regime and change process, -Number of endangered species/number of forest species, and change process, -Forest land area with compacted soil and/or -whose physical properties have been altered or -Management of landscape). However, these seem too isolated to describe the reality of the country. Indeed, demographic pressure and substantial human settlements in mountainous forestry zones are key factors to deforestation and define measures to be taken for sustainable forest management.
In Cameroon, the objectives of "forest product marketing" have constraints, such as infrastructure, the proportion of commercial species or demographic pressure which remain invisible through the Criteria and Indicators, while in Senegal the mission of "Responsabilisation of rural populations" poses the problem of local mentalities that cannot be easily estimated in the framework of the Criteria and Indicators.
In the case of Cape Verde, the Criteria and Indicators cannot easily be adjusted to a country with no natural forests. Sustainable development of forest plantations is subject to a lasting valorisation of the whole of the agricultural sector. To obtain a coherent understanding of the agro-silvo-pastoralism sector, the predominance of socio-cultural and socio-economic constraints must therefore be detailed and analysed with subtly to grasp the complexity of the country.
Comparatively to the other examples, it appears that the Criteria and Indicators available for Indonesia allow to describe, analyse and evaluate better the situation of the country. In Indonesia, where there is high forest potential and a strong forestry sector, the use of Criteria and Indicators provides the necessary references for sustainable management and conservation of an important wood-exporting country.
More than half the Indicators of our initial list (61 out of a total of 109) do not appear in the NFP processes of the six countries. Several reasons explain this situation.
Among these 61 Indicators, 33 were only defined in the framework of the Helsinki and Montreal Processes. As the relate to temperate zone specifications, it seems logical that these indicators do not appear in our case study which only covers tropical countries.
As for the 28 Indicators left over, they were presented at the UNEP/FAO and/or Tarapoto initiatives and their absence can be explained in two ways:
· The information mentioned is important, but was unavailable. There is no reference in the six cases to be studied.Examples:
- Areas affected by insect attacks or diseases or
- Annual clearing of forest ecosystems which contain endemic species· The Information mentioned can be considered as beyond the immediate demands of the country.
Examples:
- Number of forest species which have a reduced distribution area compared to their area of origin or
- Change in the balance of nutritional elements and soil acidity (CEC and pH) in the course of the last 10 years
