Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

the overall development phase of the FMIS and, if different,
the agency that would operate the system.
Implementation of this assignment should aim to be
inclusive and transparent and should specifically seek to
engage a broad range of stakeholders, including forest owners
(public and private); forest managers (public and private);
conservation and protected areas managers; the
wood-using industries; the forestry consulting profession;
researchers and academics; NGOs; regulators; relevant government
ministries, such as finance and environment; and
the international agencies supporting the forest sector.
The Phase I consultancy should be led by a forester who has
a clear understanding of modern forest management principles,
processes, and information requirements. The Phase II
consultancy should include a forester who has worked on the
development of FMIS elsewhere, supported by an IT specialist
with experience in developing standards for the management
of large-scale IT projects. As is the case in the Phase I
consultancy, the “FMIS forester” should have knowledge of
the principles of modern, sustainable forest management
and demonstrated experience in applying those principles in
the design, development, and implementation of Management
Information Systems and Decision Support System
tools in a variety of contexts for forestry organizations.
In Phase III, the bidders (normally international FMIS
consulting firms) should propose the mix of expertise and
type and level of experience that they believe will best suit
the achievement of the objectives.
Duration
Experience shows that the full development and installation
(with training) takes much more time than planned.
Although it would vary with the size and complexity of the
system being contemplated, in general an FMIS developed
“from scratch,” using no or few existing FMIS components,
would probably take five to seven years to full implementation,
while the adaptation and installation of an already
developed system may take two to three years. A good, wellused
FMIS may never be “completed,” but rather will evolve
with a changing understanding of needs and with changes
in technologies and technological capabilities within user
and support groups.
Expertise Required
NOTES
1. There is a tendency on the part of local and in-house IT
specialists to want to develop a system in-house. However,
World Bank experience shows that this is very time consuming
and costly; more costly than adapting an existing
system. Most firms that develop and market systems provide
the implementation and training expertise needed to get
their systems up and running.
2. Open source standards for software and data (including
spatial data) are being developed in Europe and North
America to reduce the likelihood that users are “trapped” by
a specific manufacturer or technology. For example, for a
long time ESRI used a proprietary data format that made it
difficult (if not impossible or illegal) for other GIS or GIS
component suppliers to tap into the ARC/Info data. So even
when someone came along with a better technology, the
user could not upgrade technologies without a huge and
expensive effort. In general, “open-source” does not mean
that developers cannot maintain their trade secrets—they
do not have to show their source code—it just means that
there is an agreement to adhere to codes and standards (for
example, the use of metadata dictionaries) that ensure a
client is not trapped by a particular technology.
NOTE 7.2: ESTABLISHING FOREST MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 273