Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

CHAPTER 7
Monitoring and Information Systems
for Forest Management
Information and monitoring systems for the forest sector
are instrumental for effective policies and planning, prioritizing
interventions, valuation of forest resources,
efficient investments, and engendering accountability. Relevant
forest information that is systematically and periodically
collected can enable effective implementation of policies,
inform decision making, and guide management (see
box 7.1). Current and accurate information on forests also
can help raise the profile of the sector and increase awareness
of forest resources’ potential. Abundant evidence points to
how inadequate information on forests and weak monitoring
capacity have resulted in poor forest policies, planning,
and management; hampered efforts to reduce illegal and
unsustainable extraction of forest resources and improve
transparency; and resulted in undervaluation of forest
resources. Such conditions, in turn, contribute to continuous
decline in area, health, stock, and flows of forest resources.
Emerging financing opportunities for sustainable forest
management under the climate change agenda will require
effective systems for monitoring forest cover and carbon
emissions and additional information on the resource base
and drivers of change. More specifically, efforts to enhance
the contribution of forests to reducing carbon emissions
(through reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation
[REDD] initiatives) will require participating countries
to establish a credible reference scenario on REDD
based on methodological guidance from the UN Framework
Commission on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Most
likely this will require assessments of historical emission
quantities and trends and establishment of a forest resource
database. The assessments of historical emissions and trends
can help identify a reference scenario. REDD pilot projects
will be undertaken between 2008 and 2012 with the hope
that REDD will be endorsed in the post-Kyoto climate protocol.
Any country selected for the pilot initiative will have
to design and implement a system that effectively monitors
and verifies its REDD.
Payment for environmental services from forests
requires that these services be properly valued, which, in
turn, requires that the forest resource base and other
resources (water, soil, and the like) be appropriately monitored.
Such forest information and monitoring can also
improve knowledge about the relationship between forests
and other environmental services and facilitate opportunities
to generate multiple benefits from forest resources. For
example, ongoing discussions on the role of forests in climate
change and the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) have stimulated efforts to include biodiversity benefits
as a consideration when identifying forest sites for
REDD. Information on forest cover and other relevant environmental
benefits would assist in identifying forest areas
with multiple benefits.
Better and more timely inventories and broader information
collection on forest resources enables planning and
implementing sustainable productive use of resources,
including determining allowable cut and plantation and
natural forest management. Information on forest use is
needed for monitoring changes in the resource base and
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