Criteria and indicators
- Canada’s national C&I reporting
- Biological diversity
- Ecosystem condition and productivity
- Global ecological cycles
- Economic and social benefits
- Society's responsibility
Canada’s national C&I reporting
Sustainable forest management (SFM) means managing our forests to balance a range of values for the benefit of present and future generations. Putting that concept into practice is a complex job, one that requires practical, science-based tools.
Here's where criteria and indicators, or "C&I,” come in. Just as we can assess the state of our health based on a set of indicators, so too can we assess the state of our forests. C&I give interested parties—from government policy-makers to forest companies, from certification bodies to woodlot owners—a consistent way to define, assess, monitor and report progress in achieving SFM.
At the national level, Canada has one set of C&I (6 criteria, 46 indicators) for sustainable forest management. The provinces and territories either have their own C&I or are adapting the national set to their own needs.
What are C&I?
In a way, criteria are the themes of SFM and indicators are the measurements.
Criteria describe the different forest values—environmental, economic, social and cultural—that are part of SFM. An example from Canada’s national C&I is “Ecosystem condition and productivity.” This criterion looks at how well forest ecosystems cope with and recover from disturbances while remaining productive.
Indicators describe the ways in which a criterion actually gets assessed. They are objective measures that can be supported by data. Under “Ecosystem condition and productivity,” two indicators are “Area of forest disturbed by fire, insects, disease and timber harvest” and “Proportion of timber harvest area regenerated by artificial and natural means.”
By recording information on the same indicators over time, C&I users can keep on top of changes and trends. That way, their decisions about forest management can be based on real evidence. C&I can also highlight gaps in information—for instance, incomplete statistics on forest disturbance and reforestation.