Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

NOTE 7.2
Establishing Forest Management Information Systems
Monitoring of projects, activities, and, more
broadly, land-use practices has become more
sophisticated, cost effective and, where relevant,
participatory. The application and use of monitoring
approaches in the forestry sector have been expanded to
assess progress in projects and programs and to identify
aspects that need modification (see chapter 7, Monitoring
and Information Systems for Forest Management).
What is an FMIS? An FMIS is an information technology
(IT) system used as an aid for planning and monitoring forest
management and conservation activities. The FMIS can
potentially manage a wide range of spatial and alphanumeric
data. Potential applications include its use in forest
classification and mapping, rangeland and wildlife management,
timber inventory (including projections of growth
and yield), and for planning sustainable use and conservation
of forest products and biological goods and services.
Integrating management processes and appropriate
computer-based tools can greatly enhance the effectiveness
of gathering and storing data and then transforming it
(using models and analytical processes) into useful information
for the sustainable management and conservation
of forest resources. However, these tools also require great
care and planning in their development because they are
expensive and time consuming to develop and maintain.
Start-up costs include hardware and software acquisition,
staff training, and data entry, the combination of which
could consume about 80–90 percent of project budgets.
Who could use FMIS and how? Various users (private
companies, state forestry agencies, ministries of agriculture
or forestry, NGOs, scientists and academics, donor agencies,
and more) would have different needs for an FMIS, including
forest monitoring and research, as well as the more traditional
forest management planning.
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Private industry uses FMIS to better manage timberlands
and the fiber supply chain from the forest management
unit (FMU) level onward. FMIS can also support multiobjective
forestry as required by forest certification
schemes, laws, or policies.
Government agencies use FMIS to plan the management
of forest lands for multiple uses (fiber supply, tourism,
biodiversity conservation, watershed management, and
other environmental services). Government uses for such
systems (the focus of this note) will differ by institutional
structure and land and forest ownership patterns. 1
OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
FMIS architecture. Establishing an FMIS is not just
“computerizing” existing hard copy systems of forest
management. FMISs have a standard system architecture
(see box 7.13), but the complexity and sophistication of
this architecture can vary depending on whether the
FMIS serves specific projects or small operations or is
part of wider corporate tools for large industry or government
use. The architecture of an FMIS should be compatible
with organizational and management needs and,
while recognizing the limitations of current management
capability and data availability, should be flexible enough
to allow for the incorporation of improved management
processes, new data, and new technologies.
Design and selection guidelines. The FMIS is essentially
a computer system, requiring hardware and software,
as well as data, to be useful. Selecting the right hardware and
software requires a good understanding of the system’s
needs and applications, as well as the frequency of use of the
various applications. Consequently, technology and applications
specialists are needed to help with the design,
startup, and debugging of a system.
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