The International Conference on the Contribution of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management: the Way Forward (CICI-2003), held in Guatemala City in February 2003, discussed the potential benefits of a common set of criteria to characterize SFM based on existing sets of criteria elaborated by regional and international processes on C&I. These should facilitate the sharing of information and demonstrating progress towards sustainable forest management. Participants identified seven thematic areas of sustainable forest management common to all regional and international criteria and indicator processes (see table 8).
Table 8: Seven thematic areas of sustainable forest management common to all regional and international criteria and indicator processes
1. Extent of forest resources |
2. Biological diversity |
3.Forest health and vitality |
4. Productive functions of forest resources |
5. Protective functions of forest resources |
6. Socio-economic functions |
7. Legal, policy and institutional framework |
The global FRA update for 2005 uses the common thematic areas as agreed at CICI 2003, and acknowledged by FAO COFO in March 2003. Its scope covers all but the seventh thematic area, the "legal, policy and institutional framework". This approach has been recommended by Kotka IV and was requested by COFO 2003.
As recommended by Kotka IV, and confirmed by COFO 2003, FAO has established an advisory group to support the FRA process. In consultation with this advisory group FAO has further developed the overall approach to the 2005 update of FRA recommended by Kotka IV as well as a list of tables related to data to be compiled from countries. FAO also strengthened the efforts to build a network of national correspondents for FRA and held a national correspondents training session in November 2003 in Rome to make them familiar with upcoming reporting requests and formats and to receive feedback for the finalization of the FRA 2005 update data collection scope and procedures. The following 16 global reporting tables were discussed at the meeting (see table 9).
Table 9: 16 Global reporting tables for the FRA 2005 update
T1 |
Extent of forests and other wooded land |
T2 |
Ownership |
T3 |
Designation (of forest and other wooded land functions) |
T4 |
Characteristics of forests and other wooded land |
T5 |
Growing stock |
T6 |
Forest biomass |
T7 |
Forest carbon |
T8 |
Disturbances |
T9 |
Forest tree species |
T10 |
Forest composition |
T11 |
Wood removal |
T12 |
Value of wood removal |
T13 |
NWFP removal |
T14 |
Value of NWFP removal |
T15 |
Sites for social function |
T16 |
Employment |
Following the discussion at the national correspondents training, the table on "Sites for social functions" was dropped from the FRA 2005 update data request. The data submitted by countries to the remaining 15 tables should allow FAO to report on many aspects covered by the different C&I processes. In fact, these 16 tables were generated, inter alia, by taking into account the results of analyses of similarities of indicators of the existing C&I processes, one of which was presented at CICI 2003.
The terms and definitions used in FRA 2000 were based on the consensus agreement of the participants of the expert consultation on global FRA 2000 in Kotka in 1996 (Kotka III 1996). These terms and definitions were published as FRA Working Paper No. 1 (1998). Some of the definitions were clarified in FRA Working Paper No. 33 (FAO 2000) and in the "State of the world's forests 2001" (FAO, 2001a). In the preparation of the FRA 2000 report some definitions were re-visited in the light of experience during FRA 2000. All main definitions agreed at Kotka III and revised versions are published in the FRA 2000 main report (FAO 2001). For several key definitions these definitions are still considered the most relevant references.
In the process of preparation of the FRA 2005 update FAO has compiled or elaborated definitions to be used in the FRA update (see “Global Forest Resources Assessment Update 2005 – FRA 2005 – Draft Terms and Definitions”, FAO, Rome 2003). The definitions specified draw from a wide variety of sources, and build on definitions used in earlier FRA global assessments. While the intention is to keep the base FRA definitions as they are and thus ensure the comparability of data in time series, several definitions have been modified, taking into consideration recommendations from experts in various fora, including those described in previous chapters of this paper.
However, to date, several of the definitions proposed in the FAO document are not widely agreed or continue to create confusion or inconsistencies. Thus, the need for a process of further refining and agreeing on common classifications, terms and definitions is also evident from this draft document. It is therefore advisable to jointly analyse the set of definitions proposed in this document, identifying those that are solidly established and those that are disputed. What has to follow is a step-by-step thorough discussion and agreement on all major terms, with the understanding that these should remain constant over time as much as feasible. See also chapter 7 on recommendation for the way ahead and the potential roles of C&I processes.
Quite some progress in understanding between different bodies has been made in the FAO led harmonization meetings in 2002. A list of characteristic forest-related definitions was set up in the first meeting (table 10):
Table 10: Desirable characteristics of forest-related definitions
To be useful, internationally applicable forest-related definitions should be: |
- clear, concise, objective and unambiguous in the context used; |
- information-rich (predictive, useful and effective for the intended use) and not driven by exceptions |
- practical and easily applicable in all countries so that data collection, meaningful reporting and verification are possible and cost-efficient; |
- easily adaptable to national systems; |
- consistent over time and harmonized over space (and international process); |
- seamless with related non-forest definitions to allow their consistent use in various international fora; |
- constructed or harmonized in such a way that the current reporting requirements from countries are reduced. |
The harmonization meetings also proposed a comparative framework for harmonizing forest-related definitions in the form of a matrix where the definitions of a number of concepts and terms can be listed, described, compared and related to different uses (international conventions, FRA, etc.) and stakeholders.
In comparing existing definitions in use in their respective areas of work, the two expert meetings concluded that differences were minor in the definitions of a range of terms (see table 11). The meetings identified ways in which the definitions could be further harmonized or the differences which could be dealt with. The meeting identified other terms that were used primarily in a regional rather than a global context, and with differing meaning from region to region, and a range of inconsistent terms and definitions. The summary results are shown in table 12.
Table 11: Status of harmonization of forest related definitions as identified by the harmonization meetings led by FAO in 2002
Minor differences |
Regional definitions with different meanings |
Inconsistent terms & definitions |
Terms referring to the condition or quality of forests |
• forest |
• old-growth forest |
• other land (other than forest |
• forest plantation |
The definitions document for JFSQ used by FAO/ECE/EUROSTAT/ITTO contains a range of terms that were developed on the basis of existing classification systems. The definitions for all products are consistent with those used in the ISIC and harmonized commodity classification system (see chapter 4.3). This agreed document contains:
- General terms (coniferous, non-coniferous, tropical)
- Transactions (removals, production, import, export)
- Primary Products (e.g. round wood, fuel wood, sawn wood, panels, pulp and paper)
- Secondary processed wood and paper products
This document covers forest products based on wood. It does not include non-wood forest products. It also contains standard conversion factors used in reporting production and trade:
- Forest products measures
- Approximate equivalents for forest measures
- Weights and volumes
The document “Terms and definitions applied in the UN-ECE/FAO temperate and boreal forest resources assessment 2000” formed the basis of the regional FRA 2000. For the update in the context of reporting to the MCPFE “State of Europe’s Forests 2003” this document formed the basis for the resulting MCPFE C&I for SFM terms and definitions document. It shows the status of harmonization of forest terms and definitions mainly in the European context as well as areas where further work is desirable.
