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Forests for the Future
Montréal Process Criteria
and Indicators
December 1999
Table
of Contents
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Forests
- Key to a Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy
Home to at least 70 percent
of the world's terrestrial animals and plants, forests provide
us with essentials such as timber, medicines, food, water
and jobs. Forests also clean the air we breathe and, by absorbing
carbon dioxide, reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere. They help filter pollution from our lakes
and rivers and protect against flooding, mudslides and erosion.
Forests are renewable resources and rich, resilient ecosystems.
When managed sustainably, they can supply us with goods and
services, conserve biodiversity and stabilize the environment
for generations to come.
 At
the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, world leaders recognized the importance
of forests to sustainable development by adopting the Statement
of Forest Principles and Agenda 21, the international sustainable
development action plan. Governments and non-governmental
groups soon recognized the pressing need to reach a common
understanding of what is meant by, and how to achieve, sustainable
forest management (SFM).
Since Rio, several national
and international initiatives have been launched to improve
our understanding of and measure progress toward SFM. The
most comprehensive and potentially far reaching of these are
the regional and international initiatives on criteria and
indicators (C&I) for SFM, which now involve more than
100 countries. Criteria are categories of forest values that
we wish to maintain; indicators are measurable aspects of
these criteria. Never before have so many countries, with
such diverse forest interests and circumstances, rallied around
a single approach to assessing trends in forest conditions
and forest management.
Of all the C&I initiatives,
the Montréal Process is geographically the largest,
encompassing most of the world's temperate and boreal forests.
Similar initiatives include the Ministerial Conference on
the Protection of Forests in Europe; the Tarapoto Proposal
for the Amazon Basin countries; the Central America, Near
East and Dry Zone Africa regional initiatives and the International
Tropical Timber Organization, which pioneered work on criteria
and indicators for sustainable tropical forest management
as early as 1990.
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The
Montréal Process - Assessing the State of Our Temperate
and Boreal Forests
 In
September 1993, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) sponsored an international seminar in Montréal,
Canada, on the sustainable development of boreal and temperate
forests, with a focus on developing criteria and indicators
for the assessment of these forests. After the seminar, Canada
drew together countries from North and South America, Asia and
the Pacific Rim to develop criteria and indicators for non-tropical
forests and, in June 1994, the initiative now known as the Montréal
Process began. The European countries elected to work as a region
in the Pan-European Forest Process in the follow-up to the Ministerial
Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe.
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Montréal
Process Member Countries
Twelve countries on five
continents
Argentina, Australia, Canada,
Chile, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand,
Russian Federation1, United States of America and Uruguay
| Participating
countries account for |
| 90% |
of
the world's temperate and boreal forests (as well as areas
of tropical forests) |
| 60% |
of
all forests on the globe |
| 35% |
of
the world's population |
| 45% |
of
world trade in wood and wood products |
|
The
Santiago Declaration - A Commitment to Action
In February 1995, the Montréal
Process countries, meeting in Santiago, Chile, issued a declaration
containing a comprehensive set of seven national-level criteria
and 67 indicators to guide policymakers, forest managers and
the general public in the conservation and sustainable management
of temperate and boreal forests. The Santiago Declaration
is an important step toward implementing the SFM principles
agreed to in Rio.
 The
Montréal Process C&I are intended to be applied,
at the national level, to all the forests of a country, across
all types of land ownership. They consider SFM in a holistic
way, taking into account all forest goods, values and services.
By endorsing these C&I, each participating country has
made a commitment to work toward the sustainable management
of all of its forests.
| Contents
| Top |
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Montréal
Process Criteria
- Conservation of biological
diversity
- Maintenance of productive
capacity of forest ecosystems
- Maintenance of forest
ecosystem health and vitality
- Conservation and maintenance
of soil and water resources
- Maintenance of forest
contribution to global carbon cycles
- Maintenance and enhancement
of long-term multiple socio-economic benefits
- Legal, institutional
and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable
management
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Criteria
and Indicators - Characterizing the Essential Elements
of SFM
Criteria and indicators characterize
the essential components of SFM, and provide a framework for
answering the fundamental question, "What is important
about forests?" They recognize forests as ecosystems
that provide a wide, complex and dynamic array of environmental
and socio-economic benefits and services. Used to monitor
and assess national trends in forest conditions and forest
management, C&I provide information essential to the formulation
of policies that promote SFM.
 The
seven criteria identified by the Montréal Process include
vital functions and attributes (biodiversity, productivity,
forest health, the carbon cycle, and soil and water protection),
socio-economic benefits (timber, recreation and cultural values)
and the laws and regulations that constitute the forest policy
framework.
The Montréal Process
indicators are ways to assess or describe the criteria. For
example, the "extent of area by forest type relative
to total area" and "the number of forest-dependent
species" are indicators of biological diversity (Criterion
1); "forest land available for timber production"
and "total growing stock" are indicators of forest
productivity (Criterion 2). Many indicators are quantitative,
such as the percentage of a country's forest cover. Others
are qualitative or descriptive, such as indicators related
to forest planning, public participation, and investment or
taxation policies. All indicators provide information about
present forest conditions and, over time, signal the direction
of change in the forests.
Together, the seven criteria
and the 67 indicators of the Montréal Process reflect
an ecosystem-based approach to SFM and the need to serve human
communities. They bring renewed rigour and breadth to forest
management and to Report planning, monitoring, and policy
development. The Montréal Process C&I are not static;
they will be continually reviewed and refined to reflect new
research findings, advances in technology and an increased
capability to measure indicators.
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Progress
to Date - First Approximation Report and Other Milestones
 After
endorsing the Santiago Declaration, the Montréal Process
member countries prepared a First Approximation Report on
country efforts to collect data on the C&I. They also
established a Technical Advisory Committee to provide advice
on technical and scientific issues. This report was compiled
from national reports by member countries and presented at
the 11th World Forestry Congress in October 1997. These first
national reports provide baseline information and highlight
gaps in the available data for each indicator. Future national
and Montréal Process reports should be based on improved
national forest assessments and provide a more comprehensive
picture of forest conditions in Montréal Process countries.
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Montréal
Process Milestones
June 1992
Countries participating at the Rio Earth Summit, Brazil, agree
to Forest Principles and Agenda 21
September 1993
More than 60 countries attend Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE) Seminar on temperate and boreal forests in
Montréal, Canada.
June 1994
Montréal Process Working Group launches, in Geneva,
Switzerland, development of C&I for temperate and boreal
forests.
February 1995
Montréal Process countries endorse the Santiago Declaration
and commit to use agreed-upon C&I as assessment and monitoring
tools at the national level.
June 1996
Montréal Process countries establish a Technical Advisory
Committee and agree to prepare a joint First Approximation
Report by October 1997.
February 1997
Montréal Process publishes a progress report, and distributes
it at the 4th Session of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on
Forests in New York, USA.
October 1997
Montréal Process publishes its first approximation
report and presents it at the 11th World Forestry Congress
in Antalya, Turkey.
December 1999
Montréal Process countries publish "Forests for
the Future", a brochure describing the purpose and objectives
of the Montréal Process.
April 2000
Montréal Process countries publish their Year 2000
report: "Progress and Innovation in Implementing Criteria
and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management
of Temperate and Boreal Forests"
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Criteria
and Indicators - Easy-to-Use Tools to Assess National Progress
Examination of periodic national
reports on the various indicators will help the public and
decision-makers in the Montréal Process countries identify
current status and trends in almost all aspects of forests.
Over time, they will document the changes and outcomes that
result from forest management.
 These
reports, already being produced by Montréal Process
member countries, may include information on indicators such
as the percentage of forest cover by forest type, forest hectares
burned by wildfire, jobs in the forest sector and populations
of threatened (or formerly threatened) wildlife species.
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Future
Challenges - Building Partnerships to Improve Forest Management
In addition to Governments,
the Montréal Process has also involved environmentalists,
the forest industry and other stakeholders in the development
of national level C&I and, in some cases, the preparation
of the first national reports. The Montréal Process
has maintained close contact with the other international
initiatives using C&I to assess the state of the world's
forests, and will continue to do so.
 Work
on the First Approximation Reports revealed gaps in available
data. It also showed that much useful information is available
inside and outside the forest sector, which, because of time
constraints, could not be included in the first national reports.
Such data can be incorporated into future national reports,
as well as in the First Montréal Process Forest Report,
to be produced in 2003. As countries move to collect data
and monitor and report on indicators more comprehensively,
it will become increasingly critical to engage the active
participation of the full range of interested parties. Indigenous
people, local communities, private forest owners, industry,
academia and others can help provide the data needed for assessment.
They can also make decisions about the use of forest land,
and they have a stake in and can influence policies affecting
forest management.
As national trend forest data
for individual Montréal Process countries become available
through application of C&I, the challenge will be to interpret
the trends in relation to sustainable forest management and
to make changes, as required.
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The
Outlook - Influencing Decision-Making on Forest Policy
Achieving meaningful results
in SFM requires a long-term commitment by governments and
other forest owners. Forests are complex and dynamic ecosystems;
only better knowledge, experience, and understanding can lead
to more effective approaches to forest assessment and management.
 Implementation
of the Montréal Process C&I is now a priority for
member countries. Ongoing monitoring will provide the information
necessary to assess national trends in forest conditions and
to make the policy decisions needed to move countries toward
the sustainable management of their forests. Work on C&I
requires continuous adaptation to new information, experience,
greater capabilities and changing needs of societies. As we
move into a new millennium, the Montréal Process C&I
have the potential to be a leading innovation in forest management.
The decision to apply C&I
reflects a recognition of their value and their utility for
measuring progress; ultimately, they will be meaningful only
if countries are committed to using them to make needed national
policy changes in response to trends in the indicators. The
ultimate contribution by C&I to the protection and management
of the world's forests will therefore be determined by the
citizens and decision-makers of each country.
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Contacts:
The Montréal Process
Working Group is supported by a Liaison Office hosted by Canada.
- Ms Kathryn Buchanan, R.P.
F.
Montréal Process Liaison Office
Tel: 1 613 947 9061
Fax: 1 613 947 9038
kbuchana@nrcan.gc.ca
For more information on country
contacts, please contact the Liaison Office or the Montréal
Process Website.
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Argentina
Director
Direction de Forestación
Buenos Aires
Fax: 54 11 4349 2102
Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca
y Alimentacion
03 Buenos Aires
Fax: 54 11 4349 2103
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Australia
Assistant Secretary
Forest Industries Branch, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
& Forestry
Canberra
Fax: 61 2 6272 4875
http://www.affa.gov.au
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Canada
Policy, Planning & International Affairs, Canadian
Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
Fax: 1 613 947 9038
http://nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/cfs-scf/index_e.html
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Chile
Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF)
Santiago
Fax: 56 2 671 5881
http://www.conaf.cl
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China
Department of International Cooperation, State Forestry
Administration
Beijing
Fax: 86 10 6421 3184
Chinese Academy of Forestry
Beijing
Fax: 86 10 6287 2015
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Japan
Department of International Cooperation Office, Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries
Tokyo
Fax: 81 3 3593 9565
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Republic of Korea
Director,
International Cooperation Division, Korea Forest Service
Daejon
Fax: 82.42.481.4009
http://www.foa.go.kr
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Mexico
SEMARNAP
Mexico
Fax: 52 5 554 3599 (658 3556)
http://www.semarnap.gob.mx/
INIFAP
Mexico
Fax: 52 5 554 3599 / 658 3556
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New Zealand
International Forest Policy Office
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Wellington
Fax: 64 4 498 9891
http://www.maf.govt.nz
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Russian Federation
Department of International Cooperation, Federal Forest
Service of Russia
Moscow
Fax: 7 095 953 0950
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United States of America
Assistant Director for Policy,
Office of International Programs, USDA Forest Service
Washington, DC
Fax: 1 202 273 4750
http://www.fs.fed.us/
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Uruguay
Division Forestal
Montevideo
Fax: 598 2 401 9706
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©
1998 Montréal Process Working Group. All rights reserved.
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