10.2 Progress towards sustainable forest management
2023-02-28 12:00:00 UTC
N/A
Headline indicator for Target 10. Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity friendly practices, such as sustainable intensification, agroecological and other innovative approaches, contributing to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of these production systems, and to food security, conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services.
This indicator aims to monitor the progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM) which is a central concept for Target 10.
The definition of SFM by the UN General Assembly contains several key aspects, notably that sustainable forest management is a concept which varies over time and between countries, whose circumstances – ecological, social and economic – vary widely, but that it should always address a wide range of forest values, including economic, social and environmental values, and take intergenerational equity into account. Clearly a simple measure of forest area is insufficient to monitor sustainable forest management as a whole. The significance of the five sub-indicators can be briefly explained as follows:
Indicator definition
“Sustainable forest management” (SFM) has been formally defined, by the UN General Assembly, as follows:
[a] dynamic and evolving concept [that] aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations” (Resolution A/RES/62/98)
The indicator is composed of five sub-indicators that measure progress towards all dimensions of sustainable forest management. The environmental values of forests are covered by three sub-indicators focused on the extension of forest area, biomass within the forest area and protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources. Social and economic values of forests are reconciled with environmental values through sustainable management plans. The subindicator provides further qualification to the management of forest areas, by assessing areas which are independently verified for compliance with a set of national or international standards.
The sub-indicators are:
A dashboard is used to assess progress related to the five sub-indicators. The adoption of the dashboard approach aims at ensuring consideration of all dimensions of sustainable forest management and provides for clear view of areas where progress has been achieved.
Other key concepts and definitions:
ForestLand spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use.
Above-ground biomass All living biomass above the soil including stem, stump, branches, bark, seeds, and foliage.
Protected areas Areas especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.
Forest area within protected areas Forest area within formally established protected areas independently of the purpose for which the protected areas were established.
Forest area with management planForest area that has a long-term documented management plan, aiming at defined management goals, which is periodically revised.
Independently verified forest management certificationForest area certified under a forest management certification scheme with published standards and is independently verified by a third-party.
Units of measure
SUB-INDICATOR | UNIT |
Annual forest area change rate | Percent (%) |
Above-ground biomass in forest | Tonnes per hectare |
Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas | Percent (%) |
Proportion of forest area under a long-term forest management plan | Percent (%) |
Forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme | 1000 hectares |
National data on forest area, biomass stock, forest area within protected areas, and forest area under management plan are reported directly by countries to FAO for pre-established reference years. Based on the country reported data, FAO then makes country-level estimates of the forest area net change rate using the compound interest formula. The proportion of forest area within protected area and under management plan is calculated using the reported areas for each reference year and the forest area for year 2015.
Data on forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme are reported to FAO by the head offices of respective forest certification scheme. Reported data include the area certified under each certification scheme, as well as areas that are double-certified by the two schemes. That allows for estimating the total certified forest area, adjusted for double certified area.
No dashboard traffic lights are made at country level.
Sub-indicators 1 to 4
Sub-indicator 5
The methodology for the SDG 15.2.1 indicator is published in SDG indicators metadata on UNSD website at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/
Sub-indicators 1 to 4
Sub-indicator 5
Data with updated time series and including year 2020 was released in July 2020 as part of FRA 2020 dataset. Next release of a complete FRA dataset is scheduled for 2025. More frequent reporting on forest area and other key indicators will be applied from 2024 onward. Data on forest certification is updated annually.
Data availability:
The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 collected data from 236 countries and territories.
% | 79% | 51% | 23% | 100% |
sub-indicators 1 to 4.
for sub-indicator 5.
sub-indicators 1 to 4
sub-indicator 5,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The geographical coverage of each sub-indicators is provided by region in the above table.
At country level
For the above-ground biomass sub-indicator, imputation of the missing values has been carried out by FAO for those countries with at least one data point in the time series. The value of the data point closest in time was used as imputed value. For those countries where no value was reported for any of the reporting years, no imputation was done and the values for all years were set as “Not Available”.
At regional and global levels
Scale of application: Global, Regional, National
Scale of data disaggregation/aggregation: national data was aggregated to form regional and global indicator
Global/ regional scale indicator can be disaggregated to national level:
National data is collated to form global indicator:
Yes
Detailed methodology and guidance on how to prepare the country reports through an online reporting platform and to convert national data according to national categories and definitions to FAO’s global categories and definitions is found in the documents “Guidelines and Specifications” (www.fao.org/3/I8699EN/i8699en.pdf) and “Terms and Definitions” (www.fao.org/3/I8661EN/i8661en.pdf).
FAO supports the reporting process through capacity development on reporting methodology and remote sensing. The reporting platform provides easy access to relevant and freely available global remote sensing data sets and products.
For those sub-indicators where there are gaps in the data set, only the countries with complete data for the relevant years (either provided by the countries or estimated by FAO) are included in the regional and global aggregates.
6d.1 Description of the methodology
Sub-indicator 1 - Annual forest area change rat
Unit: Percent
Reference period: 2010-2020
Method of estimation: Compound annual change rate formula as follows:
where:
r = compound annual change rate for the period t1 -t2
ti = time i (year)
AFt1= forest area at t1
AFt2 = forest area at t2
Translation to dashboard/traffic light
The following flowchart explains the logic behind the translation of this indicator to a dashboard/traffic light:
The forest area change direction is determined by examining the value of the forest area change rate for the most recent period, a negative value indicate a loss of forest area, a zero value means that forest area is stable, and a positive value means that forest area has increased. The change in forest area loss rate is based on a comparison of the annual forest area change rate for the period 2010-2020 with the annual forest area change rate for the period 2000-2010 (baseline).If forest area change rate is negative (= forest loss) then: annual forest area loss rate = - (annual forest area change rate)
Comments:
This traffic light takes into consideration both the direction of forest area change (if forest area increases or decreases) as well as changes in the rate of forest area loss – the latter important in order to indicate progress among countries that are losing forest area but manage to reduce the loss rate.
The baseline should be updated every 5 years. In 2020 a new baseline was calculated for the period 2000-2010 based on updated country data.
Sub-indicator 2 – Above-ground biomass in forest
Unit: tonnes/hectare
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation: Reported directly by countries
Translation to dashboard/traffic light:
The indicator value for the latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value reported for 2010.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in stock per hectare, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Sub-indicator 3 – Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas
Unit: Percent
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation:
Where:
AFP = Forest area within legally established protected areas
AF = Total forest area
Translation to dashboard/traffic light:
The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value reported for 2010.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in forest area within protected areas, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comment:
Using forest area in 2015 as denominator for estimating this indicator ensures that the time series of percentages reflect real changes in the forest area within legally established protected areas and is not affected by changes (losses or gains) in total forest area.
Sub-indicator 4 – Proportion of forest area under a long-term forest management plan
Unit: Percent
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation:
Where:
AFMP = Forest area under a long-term management plan
AF = Total forest area
Translation to dashboard/traffic light: The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value for previous reporting year for assessment of continuity of progress since last report.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in areas under forest management plan, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comment:
Using forest area in 2015 as denominator for estimating this indicator ensures that the time series of percentages reflect real changes in the forest area under forest management plan and is not affected by changes (losses or gains) in total forest area.
Sub-indicator 5 – Forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme
Unit: Thousand hectares
Reference year: Latest reporting year (as of June 30)
Method of estimation: Data is collected directly from the databases of each certification scheme and provided to countries for validation.
Translation to dashboard/traffic light: The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value for previous reporting year for assessment of continuity of progress since last report.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the previously reported value is calculated; r>1 means an increase in areas under an independent forest management certification scheme, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A small interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comments:
Using June 30 as the date for reporting, allows for the certification bodies to have their databases updated so they can provide information to FAO by end of the year, and then be included in the annual reporting to SDG in the beginning of the following year.
6d.2 Additional methodological details
See above
6d.3 Description of the mechanism for collecting data from countries
The data for sub-indicators 1 to 4 are reported to FAO by National Correspondents, national experts officially nominated by the countries to coordinate compilation of data from different national sources. The FRA National Correspondent network currently covers 187 countries and territories. National Correspondents compile country reports using commonly agreed terms and definitions and a standardized reporting methodology. The actual reporting is facilitated by a dedicated online platform, where all the National Correspondents are asked to document data sources and how they computed and reclassified data to comply with the international definitions.
For sub-indicator 5, forest certification, data are provided by head offices of respective forest certification scheme.
Data reported by countries to FAO are subject to a rigorous review process to ensure correct use of definitions and methodology as well as internal consistency. A comparison is made with past assessments and other existing data sources. Regular contacts between national correspondents and FAO staff by e-mail and regional/sub-regional review workshops form part of this review process.
All data submitted by countries to FRA, including the FAO estimates made in case of desk studies, are available at the FRA online platform (https://fra-data.fao.org). The platform also includes the sub-indicators for 15.2.1. A request for validation is sent to the respective Head of Forestry before finalization and publishing of data.
The indicator is the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 15.2.1
No
The FRA guidelines includes data disaggregation by Indigenous peoples and local communities for forest ownership and management rights. This means countries have the tools and guidance and thus possibly the capability to produce disaggregated estimates by IPLC ownership/management rights (provided countries wish and have the requirement to collect and report data at the national level). Countries are encouraged to report on the elements related to forest ownership and management rights, noting that these attributes contribute to the long-term effectiveness of forest management.
The indicator is linked to Goal A Indicator “extent of natural ecosystems by type” (forest data), and Goal B “Functions and services provided by ecosystems, by service type.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Anne Branthomme, anne.branthomme@fao.org
Websites:
http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/
https://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals-...
References:
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Guidelines and Specifications (www.fao.org/3/I8699EN/i8699en.pdf)
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Terms and Definitions (www.fao.org/3/I8661EN/i8661en.pdf).
United Nations. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2007 (https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/62/98).
10.2 Progress towards sustainable forest management
2023-02-28 12:00:00 UTC
N/A
Headline indicator for Target 10. Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity friendly practices, such as sustainable intensification, agroecological and other innovative approaches, contributing to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of these production systems, and to food security, conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services.
This indicator aims to monitor the progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM) which is a central concept for Target 10.
The definition of SFM by the UN General Assembly contains several key aspects, notably that sustainable forest management is a concept which varies over time and between countries, whose circumstances – ecological, social and economic – vary widely, but that it should always address a wide range of forest values, including economic, social and environmental values, and take intergenerational equity into account. Clearly a simple measure of forest area is insufficient to monitor sustainable forest management as a whole. The significance of the five sub-indicators can be briefly explained as follows:
Indicator definition
“Sustainable forest management” (SFM) has been formally defined, by the UN General Assembly, as follows:
[a] dynamic and evolving concept [that] aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations” (Resolution A/RES/62/98)
The indicator is composed of five sub-indicators that measure progress towards all dimensions of sustainable forest management. The environmental values of forests are covered by three sub-indicators focused on the extension of forest area, biomass within the forest area and protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources. Social and economic values of forests are reconciled with environmental values through sustainable management plans. The subindicator provides further qualification to the management of forest areas, by assessing areas which are independently verified for compliance with a set of national or international standards.
The sub-indicators are:
A dashboard is used to assess progress related to the five sub-indicators. The adoption of the dashboard approach aims at ensuring consideration of all dimensions of sustainable forest management and provides for clear view of areas where progress has been achieved.
Other key concepts and definitions:
ForestLand spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use.
Above-ground biomass All living biomass above the soil including stem, stump, branches, bark, seeds, and foliage.
Protected areas Areas especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.
Forest area within protected areas Forest area within formally established protected areas independently of the purpose for which the protected areas were established.
Forest area with management planForest area that has a long-term documented management plan, aiming at defined management goals, which is periodically revised.
Independently verified forest management certificationForest area certified under a forest management certification scheme with published standards and is independently verified by a third-party.
Units of measure
SUB-INDICATOR | UNIT |
Annual forest area change rate | Percent (%) |
Above-ground biomass in forest | Tonnes per hectare |
Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas | Percent (%) |
Proportion of forest area under a long-term forest management plan | Percent (%) |
Forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme | 1000 hectares |
National data on forest area, biomass stock, forest area within protected areas, and forest area under management plan are reported directly by countries to FAO for pre-established reference years. Based on the country reported data, FAO then makes country-level estimates of the forest area net change rate using the compound interest formula. The proportion of forest area within protected area and under management plan is calculated using the reported areas for each reference year and the forest area for year 2015.
Data on forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme are reported to FAO by the head offices of respective forest certification scheme. Reported data include the area certified under each certification scheme, as well as areas that are double-certified by the two schemes. That allows for estimating the total certified forest area, adjusted for double certified area.
No dashboard traffic lights are made at country level.
Sub-indicators 1 to 4
Sub-indicator 5
The methodology for the SDG 15.2.1 indicator is published in SDG indicators metadata on UNSD website at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/
Sub-indicators 1 to 4
Sub-indicator 5
Data with updated time series and including year 2020 was released in July 2020 as part of FRA 2020 dataset. Next release of a complete FRA dataset is scheduled for 2025. More frequent reporting on forest area and other key indicators will be applied from 2024 onward. Data on forest certification is updated annually.
Data availability:
The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 collected data from 236 countries and territories.
% | 79% | 51% | 23% | 100% |
sub-indicators 1 to 4.
for sub-indicator 5.
sub-indicators 1 to 4
sub-indicator 5,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The geographical coverage of each sub-indicators is provided by region in the above table.
At country level
For the above-ground biomass sub-indicator, imputation of the missing values has been carried out by FAO for those countries with at least one data point in the time series. The value of the data point closest in time was used as imputed value. For those countries where no value was reported for any of the reporting years, no imputation was done and the values for all years were set as “Not Available”.
At regional and global levels
Scale of application: Global, Regional, National
Scale of data disaggregation/aggregation: national data was aggregated to form regional and global indicator
Global/ regional scale indicator can be disaggregated to national level:
National data is collated to form global indicator:
Yes
Detailed methodology and guidance on how to prepare the country reports through an online reporting platform and to convert national data according to national categories and definitions to FAO’s global categories and definitions is found in the documents “Guidelines and Specifications” (www.fao.org/3/I8699EN/i8699en.pdf) and “Terms and Definitions” (www.fao.org/3/I8661EN/i8661en.pdf).
FAO supports the reporting process through capacity development on reporting methodology and remote sensing. The reporting platform provides easy access to relevant and freely available global remote sensing data sets and products.
For those sub-indicators where there are gaps in the data set, only the countries with complete data for the relevant years (either provided by the countries or estimated by FAO) are included in the regional and global aggregates.
6d.1 Description of the methodology
Sub-indicator 1 - Annual forest area change rat
Unit: Percent
Reference period: 2010-2020
Method of estimation: Compound annual change rate formula as follows:
where:
r = compound annual change rate for the period t1 -t2
ti = time i (year)
AFt1= forest area at t1
AFt2 = forest area at t2
Translation to dashboard/traffic light
The following flowchart explains the logic behind the translation of this indicator to a dashboard/traffic light:
The forest area change direction is determined by examining the value of the forest area change rate for the most recent period, a negative value indicate a loss of forest area, a zero value means that forest area is stable, and a positive value means that forest area has increased. The change in forest area loss rate is based on a comparison of the annual forest area change rate for the period 2010-2020 with the annual forest area change rate for the period 2000-2010 (baseline).If forest area change rate is negative (= forest loss) then: annual forest area loss rate = - (annual forest area change rate)
Comments:
This traffic light takes into consideration both the direction of forest area change (if forest area increases or decreases) as well as changes in the rate of forest area loss – the latter important in order to indicate progress among countries that are losing forest area but manage to reduce the loss rate.
The baseline should be updated every 5 years. In 2020 a new baseline was calculated for the period 2000-2010 based on updated country data.
Sub-indicator 2 – Above-ground biomass in forest
Unit: tonnes/hectare
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation: Reported directly by countries
Translation to dashboard/traffic light:
The indicator value for the latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value reported for 2010.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in stock per hectare, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Sub-indicator 3 – Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas
Unit: Percent
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation:
Where:
AFP = Forest area within legally established protected areas
AF = Total forest area
Translation to dashboard/traffic light:
The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value reported for 2010.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in forest area within protected areas, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comment:
Using forest area in 2015 as denominator for estimating this indicator ensures that the time series of percentages reflect real changes in the forest area within legally established protected areas and is not affected by changes (losses or gains) in total forest area.
Sub-indicator 4 – Proportion of forest area under a long-term forest management plan
Unit: Percent
Reference year: Latest reporting year
Method of estimation:
Where:
AFMP = Forest area under a long-term management plan
AF = Total forest area
Translation to dashboard/traffic light: The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value for previous reporting year for assessment of continuity of progress since last report.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the value reported for 2010 is calculated; r>1 means an increase in areas under forest management plan, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A narrow interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comment:
Using forest area in 2015 as denominator for estimating this indicator ensures that the time series of percentages reflect real changes in the forest area under forest management plan and is not affected by changes (losses or gains) in total forest area.
Sub-indicator 5 – Forest area under an independently verified forest management certification scheme
Unit: Thousand hectares
Reference year: Latest reporting year (as of June 30)
Method of estimation: Data is collected directly from the databases of each certification scheme and provided to countries for validation.
Translation to dashboard/traffic light: The indicator value for latest reporting year is compared with the indicator value for previous reporting year for assessment of continuity of progress since last report.
The ratio (r) between the current indicator value and the previously reported value is calculated; r>1 means an increase in areas under an independent forest management certification scheme, r<1 means a decrease while 1 indicates no change. A small interval for r has been established to indicate a stable condition, and traffic-light colors are assigned as follows:
Comments:
Using June 30 as the date for reporting, allows for the certification bodies to have their databases updated so they can provide information to FAO by end of the year, and then be included in the annual reporting to SDG in the beginning of the following year.
6d.2 Additional methodological details
See above
6d.3 Description of the mechanism for collecting data from countries
The data for sub-indicators 1 to 4 are reported to FAO by National Correspondents, national experts officially nominated by the countries to coordinate compilation of data from different national sources. The FRA National Correspondent network currently covers 187 countries and territories. National Correspondents compile country reports using commonly agreed terms and definitions and a standardized reporting methodology. The actual reporting is facilitated by a dedicated online platform, where all the National Correspondents are asked to document data sources and how they computed and reclassified data to comply with the international definitions.
For sub-indicator 5, forest certification, data are provided by head offices of respective forest certification scheme.
Data reported by countries to FAO are subject to a rigorous review process to ensure correct use of definitions and methodology as well as internal consistency. A comparison is made with past assessments and other existing data sources. Regular contacts between national correspondents and FAO staff by e-mail and regional/sub-regional review workshops form part of this review process.
All data submitted by countries to FRA, including the FAO estimates made in case of desk studies, are available at the FRA online platform (https://fra-data.fao.org). The platform also includes the sub-indicators for 15.2.1. A request for validation is sent to the respective Head of Forestry before finalization and publishing of data.
The indicator is the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 15.2.1
No
The FRA guidelines includes data disaggregation by Indigenous peoples and local communities for forest ownership and management rights. This means countries have the tools and guidance and thus possibly the capability to produce disaggregated estimates by IPLC ownership/management rights (provided countries wish and have the requirement to collect and report data at the national level). Countries are encouraged to report on the elements related to forest ownership and management rights, noting that these attributes contribute to the long-term effectiveness of forest management.
The indicator is linked to Goal A Indicator “extent of natural ecosystems by type” (forest data), and Goal B “Functions and services provided by ecosystems, by service type.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Anne Branthomme, anne.branthomme@fao.org
Websites:
http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/
https://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals-...
References:
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Guidelines and Specifications (www.fao.org/3/I8699EN/i8699en.pdf)
Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Terms and Definitions (www.fao.org/3/I8661EN/i8661en.pdf).
United Nations. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2007 (https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/62/98).
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