Converging global indicators for sustainable forest management

Policy-makers in most countries now recognise the need to conserve biodiversity, forest productivity and the prosperity of forest dependent communities in the long-term. There is wide recognition of the importance of forested watersheds to hydrological regimes and water quality and the significant cultural, social and aesthetic values of forests. Policies are now directed at achieving sustainable forest management (SFM). Criteria and indicators (C&I) define SFM but obtaining agreement on what SFM is has proven to be a difficult task internationally and nationally. International activities including the work of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), the European Union (EU) and the Montreal Process (MP) for temperate and boreal forests outside Europe, have, over the past decade refined C&I for SFM to the point now that there is substantial agreement between them. This paper reviews progress towards defining SFM and shows through a synthesis of the ITTO, EU and MP C&I the emergent consistency in defining SFM. The implication is that there are now sufficiently specific and agreed principles, C&I to guide policy-makers towards SFM. While much work remains to be done to operationalise the C&I, the gap between these agreed criteria and current practice for forest management is so wide that progress can be made within the frameworks while refinement continues.