ABSTRACT
Criteria and indicators (c&i) to assess sustainability as developed by CIFOR are tools designed to deliver information required to conceptualize, evaluate, and implement sustainability (Prabhu et al. 1998a) (see Table 1-3, Chapter 1). They denote a hierarchy of linked items (principles, criteria, indicators, and verifiers), such that the information accumulated at lower and more concrete hierarchical levels is used to assess the related items of the upper, more abstract levels (CIFOR 1999a). The C&I framework represent a type of communication network that allows the different actors involved in forest management to discuss the requirements for sustainability and to inform one another about progress toward the goal. Since the 1992 Rio “Earth Summit,” whose declaration identified the concept of sustainable forest management as a promising option for maintaining tropical forests (UNCED 1992), various sets of criteria and indicators have been developed to help evaluate progress toward more sustainable forms of development at the national scale and in commercial management units. Significant efforts have also been undertaken to address the needs and demands of small producers within the criteria and indicators (IUCN 1997; Colfer et al. 1999a, 1999b; Ritchie et al. 2000; Pokorny et al. 2003a).
