UN Commission on Sustainable Development: Indicators of Sustainable Development

Area of Focus
Forest and Rangeland Frameworks

This publication presents the third set of Indicators of Sustainable Development and provides suggestions on how to adapt them to national conditions and priorities. The indicators of sustainable development presented here reflect the valuable experiences of countries and international organizations over the past fifteen years since the adoption of Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro. The publication also provides guidance on applying and adapting the CSD indicators for the development of national indicator sets. The role of indicator frameworks is briefly discussed, and a succinct description of all indicators is included.

Indicators

  • This indicator refers to the forest area that is managed according to defined principles of sustainability. This could include locally, nationally or internationally-recognized standards for "certified" forest management. However, certification does not automatically mean that forestry is being conducted sustainability as standards for what is sustainable may vary among countries and regions.
  • Defoliation can be caused by disease, physical force (extreme storms), and pest insects. Most trees can recover from defoliation, but it can be a serious source of stress and will reduce photosynthetic activity and growth.
  • This simple metric reflects the proportion of a landscape that is forested.