# Presentation: 034338

## Southern Roundtable on Sustainable Forests 2005 Fall Conference

**Sustainability Refresher Course**

- Jennifer Moore Myers, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Southern Global Change Program
- Jennifer Hayes, UDSA Forest Service, Southern Research Station

## Introduction to Sustainability

- There is no universally accepted definition of sustainable forest management (SFM), although the term is used throughout the world
- However, there is one definition that seems to make its way around...

## “Sustainable Forests” What Does this Mean?

**“****Sustainable Forests” ****What Does this Mean?**

** **_**SUSTAINABILITY:**_** **
- To meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- Bruntland Commission Report (1987)

## “Sustainable Forests” What Does this Mean?

**“****Sustainable Forests” ****What Does this Mean?**

- View of Sustainable Forests over time
- Forests for food and fiber
- Sustained Yield
- Multiple-Use Sustained Yield
- Sustainable Forest Resources Management
- Triple Bottom Line
- Constantly evolving and changing

**Notes:**
Sustained Yield (1944) This act was implemented to foster the stability of forest industries, employment of communities, and generate taxable revenue from the forest wealth through continuous supply of timber and forest products.  This act also secured the benefits of forests in maintenance of water supply, regulation of stream flow, prevention of soil erosion, amelioration of climate, and preservation of wildlife. 
Multiple Use Sustained Yield (1960) Our National Forests are to be administered for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife, and fish purposes.  
Sustainable Forest Resource Management means very different things to different people, as we mentioned earlier.  However, the critical elements are that it includes social, economic and environmental components.  This triple bottom line is becoming more regularly integrated into land management activities...forest certification is an example of this. 

## The Venn Diagram-                                   Shows the Necessary Interconnections of Sustainability

**Economic**

**Social**

**Environmental**

- SFM seeks to integrate approaches for ensuring that none of these values is diminished

## Necessary Information Integration for Achievement of Sustainable Forest Resources

- International

- National

- Regional

- Sub/Eco-Regional

- Community

- Individual

**Sustainable Forests**

## Sustainable Forest Initiatives

***Brundtland Commission***

***Market Forces***

- Certification   Initiatives

- FSC, SFI,   Smartwood,            Green Tag, etc.

- Certified Forest     and Operations

- Forest Management Units

- Community   Forest Initiatives

- Model Forests

- LUCID

- CIFOR FMU Tests

- Rio Earth   Summit

- Santiago  Declaration

- National/  International Reporting     Initiatives

- Montreal Process (Roundtable on Sustainable Forests)

- National Scale Criteria and Indicators Set

- Regional/ Statewide Initiatives

- Oregon State/ NE area

**Regional Workshops**

- Regional and Sub-Regional C&I Development

- Model Based on pg. 13 in FS I&M Institute Report #4

- Payments for Ecosystem Services

## The Montréal Process is the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests 

It was formed in Geneva, Switzerland in June 1994 to develop and implement internationally agreed criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests 

- The Montréal Process is the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests
- It was formed in Geneva, Switzerland in June 1994 to develop and implement internationally agreed _criteria and indicators_ for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests

## Montréal Process

**1992 Earth Summit** called upon all nations to ensure sustainable development, including the management of all types of forests
- The summit produced a **Statement of Forest Principles**, and other conventions with implications for forest management
- Following the Earth Summit, Canada convened an international seminar in 1993 focused specifically on **criteria and indicators **and how they can help define and measure progress towards sustainable development of forests
- The **Montréal Process** began in 1994 with the first meeting of the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests

## Montréal Process

- Membership in the Working Group is voluntary and currently includes countries from both hemispheres, having a wide range in natural and social conditions:
- 	Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russian Federation, US, Uruguay
- The member countries represent about 90% of the world's temperate and boreal forests
- Europe's forests are not included – they are being addressed by the Helsinki or Pan-European Process
- The following Criteria and Indicators can be found in your booklets

## 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

## Montréal Process Indicators

- 	Each of the 7 Criteria has associated indicators, a quantitative or qualitative variable which can be measured or described and which, when observed periodically, demonstrates trends
**Montréal Process Criteria****	****	****	****Number of Indicators**
- 1. Conservation of biological diversity				9
- 2. Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystem		5
- 3. Maintenance of forest ecosystem health				3
- 4. Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources		8
- 5. Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles		3
- 6. Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socio-
- 	economic benefits to meet the needs of society			19
- 7. Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest
- 	conservation and sustainable management			20

## What are the C&I?

- Criteria and indicators (C&I) 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
- C&I are used to monitor and assess national trends in forest conditions and forest management and provide information essential to the formulation of policies that promote sustainable forest management

## Oregon First Approximation Report

- Oregon Board of Forestry and the Oregon Department of Forestry
- Information for each Indicator:
- Can this indicator be quantified?
- Trends
- Data sources and availability
- Reliability of data
- Scale
- Recommended action for data collection
- References
- Report identified critical data needs and will be used to hone OR’s Forest Practices Act and Board’s strategic planning process

## The Crosswalk Project

- NCSU: April Grecho and Erin Sills and FS: Susan Fox, Jen Hayes, Dave Wear
- Crosswalk for the Southern Forest Resource Assessment and the Montréal Process C&I
- Identified where SFRA can help us measure indicators and where additional data sources in the southern US are needed

## Collaborative effort between FS NA and states
Use Montréal Process C&I as framework
Develop regional baseline indicators
Scale appropriateness, reliability, feasibility, utility, ability to measure over time, ease of analysis/interpretation
State and regional indicators on-line: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/sustainability
Regional assessment every 5 years for reporting and NAASF & FS strategic planning
Information available in your booklets

- Collaborative effort between FS NA and states
- Use Montréal Process C&I as framework
- Develop regional baseline indicators
- Scale appropriateness, reliability, feasibility, utility, ability to measure over time, ease of analysis/interpretation
- State and regional indicators on-line: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/sustainability
- Regional assessment every 5 years for reporting and NAASF & FS strategic planning
- Information available in your booklets

## Forest Management Certification Systems and the C&I

- Certification is a related approach to SFM that provides evaluation standards for forest practices that benefit landowners and consumers
- Each enhances dialogue about the other but serves different purposes – distinct but complimentary tools for SFM
- Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative are two major systems in use today

## Forest Management Certification Systems and the C&I

**C&I and Certification Similarities:**
- Voluntary, non-regulatory participation
- Commitment to good, consistent data collection and reporting
- Triple Bottom Line: economic, environmental, social
- Gauged against standards that include criteria and indicators
- Contributions to society’s understanding of SFM
**C&I and Certification Differences:**
- C&I = descriptive, certification = prescriptive
- Varying scales
- No performance expectations vs. performance standards
- Public policy makers vs. private landowners

## National Roundtable on Sustainable Forests

- Convened first meeting September 1998.
- Multi-stakeholder process “to serve as a forum to share information and perspectives that will enable better decision making in the U.S. regarding sustainable forests.”
- Established as open and inclusive process and characterized by shared commitment to goal of sustainable forest management.
- Working motto: “Better data lead to better dialogue, which leads to better decisions.”

## National Report on Sustainable Forests

- Analysis of the available data on the status, condition, and trends of US forests
- Identifies data gaps and recommends next steps for SFM
- Consistent and comparable with analyses of other Montréal Process countries
- Produced by the national Roundtable on Sustainable Forests ...

## National Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (2)

- Core Group and Working Groups
- Recent and Current Activities:
- Lessons Learned:  Participant Perceptions of the Regional Workshops
- Multiple Perspectives Report
- Integration Workgroup (Range, Water, Minerals and Forest Roundtables)
- Tribal Forest Sustainability

## Southern Roundtable on Sustainable Forests

- Land of Sky Regional Council
- The Southern Environmental Law Center,
- Auburn  University
- Southern Forest Research Partnership
- Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere Program
- National Wild Turkey Federation
- Southern Region Extension Forestry

- USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station
- Weyerhaeuser
- Mead Westvaco
- The Forestland Group, LLC
- The National Woodland Owners Association
- The Southern Group of State Foresters
- North Carolina State University

- The SRSF is led by a steering committee with representatives from the following organizations:

## Long Term Goals
To foster a sustainable forest resources ethic in the South.
To establish measures of forest resources sustainability in the South.
To stimulate on the ground action that promotes forest sustainability

- _Long Term Goals_
- To foster a sustainable forest resources ethic in the South.
- To establish measures of forest resources sustainability in the South.
- To stimulate on the ground action that promotes forest sustainability

## Recent and Current Activities

- 2003 Conference in Charleston
- 2004 Goal and Vision Defining Session
- RFP Projects—4 Funded
- Report Card Snapshot

## Conclusions

- This is a process, the end point is not yet defined, but there are goals.
- Success depends on involvement at all levels (international to local).
- Creating a sustainable forest resource ethic is essential to the health of Southern forests.
- Get involved

## Websites

**Southern Roundtable on Sustainable Forests**
- _[http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/srsf](http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/srsf)_
**The Montreal Process**
- _[http://www.mpci.org/whatis_e.html](http://www.mpci.org/whatis_e.html)_
**The Roundtable on Sustainable Forests**
- _[http://www.sustainableforests.net/](http://www.sustainableforests.net/)_
**The National Report on Sustainable Forests**
- _[http://www.fs.fed.us/sustained](http://www.fs.fed.us/sustained)__ _