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Box T10. Indicators Derived from the Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI)
The purpose of the GFI Framework is to provide a framework for understanding forest governance
across a variety of developing country contexts, and based on widely agreed principles of good
governance. The Framework consists of key principles and components used to define good
governance. The resulting matrix provides 94 governance indicators or diagnostic questions to
assess the quality and adequacy of governance aspects relating to four key issues:
• Forest tenure: the spectrum of ownership, use, access and management rights to forests,
which shape relationships between people and forests by defining who can use what
resources, for how long and under what conditions;
• Land use planning: the iterative and multi-stakeholder process to determine optimal land
uses that maximize benefits for current and future generations;
• Forest management: management and control of forest use, including conservation,
community, and extractive uses, and conversion for agriculture, infrastructure or other
activities.
• Forest revenues and incentives: collection and management of revenues from productive
forest uses, and the design and implementation of economic incentives affecting forests.
The indicators (too numerous to list here) are organized according to three major components of
forest governance: the actors, the rules and the practice, and assess the extent to which a particular
aspect of forest governance reflects one or more of five principles of good governance: transparency,
participation, accountability, coordination and capacity (these are carefully defined in the GFI).
The GFI indicators aim to provide an objective but qualitative assessment of processes and
arrangements that determine how forest management decisions are made. The focus of these
indicators is on how decisions are made, rather than what decisions are made. For example, indicators
addressing the management of resource funds consider the transparency of processes for prioritizing
spending, rather than the particular programs funded. Each indicator is framed as a diagnostic
question, which is broken down into several elements of quality that describe the various attributes
that must be met to demonstrate good governance.
For each diagnostic question, an indicator value of (i) Low, (ii) Low-Medium, (iii) Medium, (iv)
Medium-High, or (v) High is possible based on documented explanation of the extent to which the
elements of quality are met. Each indicator includes an analytical explanation for the value assigned.
The indicators can be applied at the national or project level, but cross-national comparisons are
discouraged. The table below presents an example of a GFI indicator – community forest tenure –
which could be adapted to a forest carbon project situation.
Source: ICV/IMAZON/WRI. 2009. The Governance Of Forests Toolkit (Version 1): A draft framework of
indicators for assessing governance of the forest sector.
http://www.wri.org/project/governance-of-forests-initiative
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