Forestry activities have gained increased prominence over recent years as a result of growing concern among policy makers, interest groups and the public over the fate of forests. Major emphasis is now being placed on sustainable management of forests, i.e., the need to balance production of goods and services with conservation of the resource base.
In order to move towards optimum use and conservation of forests, policy makers, interest groups and the public at large require reliable information on the environmental, social and financial value of forests. Among the types of information most needed for responsible decision-making is that on economic value of forests in their own right or relative to alternative uses of land. Estimation of forest value is also necessary to determine the impacts of forestry projects and programmes. However, a lack or weakness of methodologies to provide realistic estimates of the worth of forests (particularly tropical forests) and the benefits they can and do provide is a continuing constraint to sustainable forestry. Conventional analysis often fails to adequately capture many forest benefits that either do not enter the market or cannot for other reasons be adequately valued in economic terms. Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Brazil in June 1992, calls specifically for development of “appropriate methodologies to assess the value of forests in a comprehensive manner”.
This publication reviews approaches which can overcome the limitations of conventional analysis and provides a reference framework to help clarify what can and cannot be done. It suggests the approaches to use under various circumstances and, through a series of comprehensive annotations, refers the reader to other documents which provide detailed methodological guidelines.
Valuing Forests: Context, Issues and Guidelines, completes a three-part series of FAO Forestry Papers, the other two being: Economic Assessment of Forestry Project Impacts (Forestry Paper 106, Rome 1992) and Assessing Forestry Project Impacts (Forestry Paper 114, Rome 1993). The series is the fruit of close collaboration among the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, the Environmental and Natural Resource Policy and Training Project (EPAT) sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and FAO. While the opinions expressed are those of the authors, the document reflects a combination of the perspectives and experiences of the collaborating organizations.
Preparation of this publication and the series was coordinated by the Policy and Planning Division of the Forestry Department of FAO. FAO wishes to express its gratitude to the authors of this publication - Dr. H.M. Gregersen and Dr. A. Lundgren of the College of Natural Resources of the University of Minnesota, USA; Mr. J.E.M. Arnold of the Oxford Forestry Institute, UK; and Dr. A. Contreras-Hermosilla of the World Bank. We also thank Ms. Carol Turnbull of the University of Minnesota for preparation of the annotated bibliography in the annex and Ms. Clara Schreiber for editing and typing the manuscript “many times”. Other staff members from the collaborating organizations, including particularly Mr. Marc René de Montalembert and Mr. Mafa Chipeta of FAO, participated actively in the development and review of the publication's content.
David A. Harcharik
Assistant Director-General
Forestry
Department
