Development of common indicators of sustainable forest management

The scope of sustainable forest management has been defined by a range of criteria and indicators, each applicable to certain local needs and situations. At the same time, public expectation of forest management have been evolving, and new indicators are constantly being proposed. It is possible to draw on the expertise represented by different criteria and indicator schemes to identify a set of indicators that are likely to be relevant to most situations. When this was done for British Columbia, Canada, it became apparent that there were many gaps in our understanding of indicators, and that there were also some areas that were poorly developed. Here we identify that socio-economic and cultural indicators of sustainable forest management are particularly weak and suggest the use of indices of social capital and the creation of a criterion dealing specifically with Aboriginal issues would help remedy these deficiencies.