Olympia, Washington, U.S.A.
9 September 1994
CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY
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The International
Dialogue on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and
Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests met in
Olympia, Washington, USA from 7 to 10 September 1994. The meeting
was chaired by Dr. Ross S. Whaley, President, State University
of New York at Syracuse, with Dr. David Harcharik of the United
States Forest Service and Mr. Franklin Moore of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency as Vice-Chairs. The attached
annexes include the discussion draft (9.9.94 rev. 1), working
documents, agenda, and list of participants.
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The purpose of
the meeting was to advance the work of the Working Group on
Criteria and Indicators on Conservation and Sustainable Management
of Temperate and Boreal forests which last met in New Delhi,
India 28 July 1994. the reflections of the Olympia participants
on the discussion draft is reflected in the discussion draft
annexed to this summary. The Group split into two Sub-groups;
one reviewed and discussed the indicators of Criteria 1 through
5 and the other which reviewed and discussed Criteria 6 and
7.
Areas of Agreement:
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Countries participating
in the Working Group agreed to the text of Section 1, Introduction
with modifications taking into account the background and authority
of the Working Group activity; harmonizing the approaches of
countries to measure and report on indicators; the need to periodically
review indicators to reflect changes in scientific knowledge
and changing public demands. Minor changes in the introduction
reflect the Working Group's agreement on a general formulation
that reflects that criteria and indicators apply to all decision-makers
and not just those within governments and as well as the role
and expectations of all sectors of society, including indigenous
people.
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Working Group
countries agreed on a number of acceptable definitions to guide
future work, on obtaining the text of seven criteria and on
several indicators by which sustainable forest management will
be evaluated.
Areas needing further
work:
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There are however
some areas where considerable work is left to be done. They
include the need to address the degree to which there should
be congruence with the Helsinki Process on Criteria 4 and 7;
to decide on whether the criterion on carbon cycles should be
broadened; to appropriately address the issue of plantations
as distinct from natural forests; to address the issue of measurability
of indicators and how progress is effectively communicated to
society; and to address those indicators which do not adhere
to the definition for the term "indicator" found in
Section 2 of the discussion draft.
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Discussion was
held on eventual convergence among the various international
products and processes addressing on criteria and indicators.
It was recognized that the different processes were at different
stages of maturity or completion, and being conducted under
different authorities. For now, complementarily among the processes
will come from joint attendance at meetings and sharing of results.
A more formal convergence is not likely to emerge prior to the
April 1995 session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
Future meetings and
activities:
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Canada offered
to host the next meeting of the Working Group to be held in
Ottawa on 15 October 1994. Japan also re-affirmed their offer
to host a meeting of the Working Group on 17 and 18 November
1994 in Tokyo, and Chile offered to host a meeting of the Working
Group in Santiago in late January or early February 1995. Finland
mentioned that they are planning a Pan European Roundtable in
November. A Second Expert Level Meeting of the Helsinki Process
is planned in Turkey in January.
- China announced that they were
beginning a national process to develop national level criteria
and indicators.
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