Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management: National Status 2000

Canada's efforts to report on progress in the sustainable management of forests began in earnest in 1995 with the release of a national framework of criteria and indicators (C&I) by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM). In 2000, the CCFM released its National Status 2000 report, which represents Canada's first attempt to document progress on the sustainability of its forests by reporting on 62 of the 83 indicators in Canada's national C&I framework. The selection of these indicators was based on the availability of information, on retaining those consistent with international C&I processes, and on indicators fully applicable at the national level.

National Status 2000 draws upon the best available information based on the best research and expertise available to establish, where possible, baselines from which progress can be measured for future reporting. In compiling this and previous reports on C&I, it became apparent that key, relevant data and information holdings are dispersed in a variety of formats throughout multiple agencies and institutions and that C&I reporting could be greatly improved with the establishment of a national mechanism to access the most accurate and up-to-date information. Fostering collaboration between the various data gatherers, information custodians and user groups is critical to improving the nationīs ability to report on sustainability of its natural resources.

The CCFM C&I framework is composed of six criteria representing forest resource values that Canadians have identified as wanting to enhance and sustain.

National Status 2000 highlights for each criterion include:

Conservation of biological diversity

The conservation of biodiversity ensures that forest ecosystems continue to be productive and to adapt to changing conditions. Since 1992, significant progress has been made toward the completion of a network of conservation areas representative of the diversity of Canada's forests. To ensure continued progress in conserving biodiversity, the federal, provincial and territorial governments, together with their partners, have reaffirmed their commitment, through Canada's National Forest Strategy (1998-2003), to completing a network of representative areas and to establishing inventories, plans, guidelines and monitoring programs for maintaining the network.

Maintenance and enhancement of forest ecosystem condition and productivity

The incidence of ecosystem disturbance and stress, the ability of the ecosystem to recover from those stresses, and biomass production are all indicators of forest ecosystem condition and productivity. These indicators provide the basis for improved decision making in managing forests as a renewable resource. National Status 2000 reports that knowledge regarding the impact of stressors such as pollutants and other human-induced disturbances on forest ecosystem condition and productivity is improving. For example, sophisticated fire information systems have improved Canada's ability to predict, monitor and fight forest fires. The report also explains how better understanding the frequency and severity of such disturbances can enable better assessments of how well ecosystems will recover from such disturbances.

Conservation of soil and water resources

Sustainable forest management acknowledges the critical role of forest ecosystems in regulating the flow of water and in preserving water quality and quantity for all living creatures. National Status 2000 discusses the guidelines and management objectives in place in Canada for the protection of soil and water resources in forest ecosystems. The report also reveals that, while it is difficult to provide quantitative indicators of this value, in general, guidelines to protect streams, riparian zones, steep slopes and other sensitive forest sites have been significantly increased and enhanced in recent years for both public and private lands across Canada.

Forest ecosystem contributions to global ecological cycles

Understanding the role forests play in global ecological cycles, such as those responsible for recycling the Earth's limited supplies of water, carbon, nitrogen and other life-sustaining elements, is essential for the development of sustainable forestry practices. By modeling carbon budgets, Canada is able to track the effects of forest disturbances on global carbon cycles. In the past, Canada's forests have acted like a carbon sink-removing more carbon from the atmosphere than they contribute. Since the 1980s, Canada's forests have started to release more carbon into the atmosphere than they absorb, possibly due to fire, insect infestations, harvesting and climate change. Whether Canada's forests will be sinks or sources of atmospheric carbon into the future has yet to be clarified. Canada's forest sector has made significant gains in reducing its use of fossil fuels and, as a result, carbon dioxide emissions have not increased despite significant increases in energy use and production.

Multiple benefits to society

Forests provide a multitude of benefits to society. Sustainable development requires that Canada's forests maintain their ability to provide this array of benefits for future generations, including non-market goods, environmental functions and preservation values. The increasing value that is being placed on the non-timber attributes continues to challenge policy makers and forest managers in their quest to ensure a sustained optimal mix of forest benefits for society now and in the future. Examples of indicators of multiple benefits that are presented in National Status 2000 include labour productivity in the forest sector, which has increased significantly over the last two decades, and expenditures on nature-based activities (Canadians spent over $11 billion on nature-based activities in 1996). The report also notes that the number of visits to Canada's parks increased almost 14 percent between 1990 and 1996.

Accepting society's responsibility for sustainable development

Sustainable development extends beyond trees and encompasses the people in forest communities. It is important that society's values are incorporated into management processes and that members of society are engaged effectively to ensure that forest resources are managed in a manner that is in the best interests of present and future generations. National Status 2000 provides evidence that governments and industry have increased public involvement in forest planning and management processes, and that the unique needs of particular cultures and communities are being recognized.

Future reporting

National Status 2000 provides valuable information relating to the sustainability of Canada's forests, but measuring the sustainability of forests is accepted as a long-term and progressive exercise. The challenges which lie ahead for evaluating progress toward sustainability include linking the indicators of various criteria to achieve an overall assessment of Canada's progress and defining indicator benchmarks.

Recognizing that sustainable forest management is an adaptive process and that assessing sustainability is a continuous activity, the CCFM will be undertaking a review of the 83 indicators in the 1995 framework. This review is expected to improve the relevance and efficiency of the indicators for reporting and assessing progress toward sustainable development.

National Status 2000 is available at http://www.ccfm.org

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