New strategy for sustainable forest management pushed

A breakthrough in the quest for quality forest management is expected to make a difference in the country’s forest areas. This is the development of a management tool, which is the set of criteria and indicators (C and I) for sustainable forest management (SFM).

C and I is a voluntary tool that has developed largely on a regional basis, i.e. Pan European, Latin America, etc. but initiatives are international like International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) for the tropics. At present 150 countries have adopted this tool. This tool will help generate the essential information that are basically needed in assessing the forest policies, efficiency of usage of forest resources and efficacy of forest management interventions. It is use in reporting and assessing trends of sustainable forest management evaluating constraints and determining corrective actions essential for forest management.

In the country the development of C and I was realized through the financial assistance of the ITTO through a project entitled "Adoption and Implementation of an Appropriate Systemm of Criteria and Indicaors for the Philippines." It is being executed in the DENR thru the Forest Management Bureau, for the duration of 30 months starting 27 May 2004.

Towards its successful adoption, a top level project presentation was conducted last November at the Visitors’ Center, PAWB, Q