24 April 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has released a technical series, titled ‘Indicating progress: uses and impacts of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.’ The report reviews more than 20 years and US$30 million of investment by ITTO in criteria and indicators (C&I). Overall, it notes the importance of C&I in promoting and assessing sustainable forest management (SFM) as well as the key role ITTO has played in elaborating C&I, especially in the 1990’s.

The report considers five C&I processes: ITTO C&I; the African Timber Organization/ITTO principles, criteria and indicators (ATO/ITTO PC&I); Tarapoto Process; Pan-European C&I; and Montreal Process. The report assesses these five processes against the seven elements of sustainable forest management (SFM). These include: extent of forest resources; forest biodiversity; forest ecosystem health and vitality; productive functions of forests; protective functions of forests; socioeconomic functions of forests; and legal, policy and institutional frameworks.

Based on the analysis of processes and results, the report recommends that steps should be taken to strengthen the impact of ITTO C&I in the field. The report also calls for a review of ITTO’s national and forest management unit (FMU) C&I, and strengthened partnerships with the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). [ITTO Press Release] [Publication: Indicating Progress: Uses and Impacts of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management]