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1. Sk Abidur Rahman
S u s t a i n a b l e F o re s t M a n a g e m e n t
MSc Students
Department of Environment and Forest Resources
Chungnam National University, South Korea
C r i t e r i a a n d I n d i c a t o r s
for Dry Land Asia Process

2. Presentation Outline
Overview
Global initiatives on evolving national level criteria and indicators for Sustainable Forest Management
The dry forests in Asia
Dry Forests in Asia and SFM C&I
Reporting on progress towards sustainable forest management
Some important issues in the implementation of SFM in the region
Conclusions
Recommended plan of action and strategy at the regional level
Thailand
Bangladesh
Bhutan
China
India
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Sri Lanka

3. B A S I C S

4. • There are many definitions about the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). Among them The
General Assembly of the United Nations adopted in December 2007 the most widely,
intergovernmental agreed definition of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM): “Sustainable Forest
management as a dynamic and evolving concept aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social
and environmental value of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations.” (UN
General Assembly)
• The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) pioneered the development of criteria and
indicators for sustainable forest management of tropical forests in 1992.
• Sustainable forest management must keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological,
economic, and socio-cultural.
Overview
• World’s drylands contain 1.1 billion hectares of forest, corresponding to 27 percent of the world’s
forest area and 18 percent of the dryland area. Approximately 51 percent of these forests are dense,
having canopy cover of 70 to 100 percent.

5. • Criteria and indicator’s objective to reserve the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable
forest management, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase
effort to prevent forest degradation. Also, enhance the forest-based economics, social and
environmental benefits.
• There are currently nine on-going international and/or regional criteria and indicators initiatives,
involving approximately 150 countries.
• A workshop on "Development of National-Level Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainable
Management of Dry Forests in Asia" was held in Bhopal, India,
• Now referred to as the "Dry Forest in Asia Process," nine Asian countries jointly developed a
regionally applicable set of national-level criteria and indicators relevant for dry forests in the region.
Overview

6. Fig: Forest distribution in drylands

7. Fig: Forest as proportion of total dryland area, by region, FAO 2019

8. Fig: Forest Cover in Asia, and Pacific Region

9. Fig: Asia has 33.4% of world Forest Cover by land, 10.4 % in south Asia. It account for 21 percent of the world's dry forests

11. Fig. 2. Participating countries in the various ongoing international processes on criteria and
indicators for sustainable forest management (source: Casta ̃eda (2000).

12. • Globally all these processes have recognized the seven elements of
criteria for sustainable forest management
Global initiatives on evolving national level criteria and indicators for Sustainable Forest Management
Fig: Elements of SFM
• National level criteria and indicators are non-legally binding
agreements.
• At national level, the criteria for sustainable forest management
remain the same but indicators may vary based on the local
conditions viz., social, economic, environmental and geographical
which do not alter the basic philosophy and remain mutually
consistent.

13. Criterion 1: Extent of forest and tree cover
Area of natural and man-made forests
Area of dense, open and scrub forest
Area under trees outside forests
Forest area diverted for non-forestry use
Extent of encroachment in forest areas
Criterion 2: Maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
Extent of natural regeneration
Extent of secondary forests
Extent of forest area under:
Noxious weeds
Pests and diseases of epidemic proportions
Extent of forest area affected by:
Grazing
Fire
Storms
Floods
Droughts
Wind
Details of 48 Indicators of Dry Asia Process

14. Criterion 3: Maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity
Extent of protected areas
Number of threatened keystone, flagship and endemic species of plants and animals
List of flora and fauna
Extent of non-destructive harvests
Percentage of cover by forest type
Mechanisms for the conservation of genetic resources
Criterion 4: Conservation and enhancement of soil and water resources and other environmental
functions
Extent of watershed areas under management
Area under shelter-and green belts
Duration of streamflow and water yield
Extent of soil erosion
Change in level of water table
Change in sediment load
Criterion 5: Maintenance and enhancement of forest productivity
Extent of forest area under forest management plans
Changes in growing stock of wood and NWFPs
Difference between annual allowable and actual cuts
Annual removable NWFP
Area of afforestation and new plantations including agroforestry
Degree of technological inputs
Contribution of forest to GDP through total economic value

15. Criterion 6: Extent of forest resource utilization
6.1 Per capita wood and NWFP consumption
6.2 Import and export of wood and NWFPs
6.3 Recorded and unrecorded removals of wood and NWFPs
Criterion 7: Socio-economic, cultural and spiritual needs
7.1 Extent of contribution of forest management activities to food security and other livelihood needs
7.2 Level of recreation, cultural, religious and aesthetic needs.
7.3 Gender-related indices in forestry (GDI in HDR of UNDP)
7.4 Extent of application of traditional knowledge
7.5 Direct and indirect employment in forestry and forest industries
7.6 Contribution of forest to the income of forest-dependent people
Criterion 8: Policy, legal and institutional framework
8.1 Existence of national forest policy and legal framework
8.2 Extent of community, NGO and private sector participation in forestry activities
8.3 Investment in forestry research and development
8.4 Human resource capacity building mechanisms
8.5 Existence of forest resource accounting mechanisms
8.6 Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
8.7 Existence of mechanisms for information dissemination
8.8 Extent of transfer of technology
8.9 Fiscal and monetary incentives for investing in forestry activity
8.10 Benefit sharing mechanism for stakeholders engaged in forest management activities
8.11 Existence of conflict management mechanisms
8.12 Changes in number of forest offences

16. • Forests in Asia account for 18.5 percent of the world forest
cover.
• According to FAO's global ecological zoning, the largest
proportion of Asia's forests (47 percent) is in the tropical
zone. Tropical and subtropical dry forests in Asia account
for 21 percent of the world's dry forests. While Asia's
subtropical dry forests account for 11 percent of the world's
subtropical dry forests.
The dry forests in Asia

17. Country
Total land area* (000
ha)
Extent of forests Dry forest as % of total
forest area**
Area* (000 ha) % of total land area*
Bangladesh 13017 1 334 10.2 5
Bhutan 4 701 3 016 64.2 15
China 932 743 163 480 17.5 11
India 297 319 64 113 21.6 70
Mongolia 156 650 10 645 6.8 -
Myanmar 65 755 34419 52.3 70
Nepal 14 300 3 900 27.3 50
Pakistan 77 087 2 361 3.1 72
Sri Lanka 6 463 1 940 30.0 67
Thailand 51 089 14 762 28.90 53
Table . Extent of dry forests in member countries of the Dry Zone Asia Process, FAO 2021.

18. • India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have about 70
percent of their forests categorized as dry zone forests. In
Nepal and Thailand dry forests cover about 50 percent of the
total forest area. Bangladesh, Bhutan and China have 11, 15
and 5 percent of dry forests, respectively.
• The dry forests of Asia occur in areas with rainfall ranging
from 500 to 1 000 mm per year.
• The main problem in implementing forest management
schemes in the dry forests is the intensity of land use.
• Collaborative forest management has been introduced on a
larger scale in almost all the member countries of the Dry Zone
Asia Process.
The dry forests in Asia
• Many dry Asian countries are party to Objective 2000 of ITTO
(Like China, Myanmar), which stipulates that all forest
• China is member of ITTO and has also joined the Montreal
Process and is a member country in the regional initiatives for
dry zone forests of Asia. Pakistan, with considerable dry forests
(72 %) is the member of the Near East Process.

19. Asian Community participation initiative for SFM:
• It is interesting to note that almost all Asian countries introduced the strategy of community
participation in forest management about two decade ago. These community-based forest
management groups are known as Forest User Groups (FUGs) in Nepal, JFM in India, and
Community Forestry Groups in China, Thailand and Myanmar.

20. Dry Forests in Asia Process and SFM C&I
• Different Asian countries namely Bhutan, China, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and
India participated in the dry forest Asia region.
• The deliberation led to identification of 8 National Level
Criteria and 48 Indicators (C&I) for Sustainable Forest
Management of Dry Forests in Asia.
Sl.
No.
Criterion No. of Indicator
1 Extent of forest and Tree Cover 5
2 Maintenance of Ecosystem, Health
and Vitality
4
3 Maintenance and Enhancement of
Biodiversity
6
4 Conservation and Enhancement of
soil and water Resources and others
Environmental Functions
6
5 Maintenance and enhancement of
forest productivity
6
6 Extent of Forest Resources
Utilization
3
7 Socio-economic, cultural and
spiritual Needs
6
8 Policy, Legal and Industrial
framework
12
Total 8 criteria and 48 Indicators

21. Bangladesh
• Bangladesh's total area of forest land is about 17.5% of
the country's area of which about 5 % is dry forests.
• According to the (FAO), about 1.4 percent of the world
forests were deforested from 2000-to 2015. In
Bangladesh is 2.6 percent which is almost double the
global average.
• Bangladesh monitors a traditional array of basic forestry
indicators as part of the regular functions of the Forest
Department. To date, however, this country has no
initiative to consolidate these indicators in a systematic
manner consistent with international processes for
criteria and indicators.
• The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has given priority
to the sustainable management of forests and tree
resources. The 7th Five-Year Plan (7FYP) of
Bangladesh, the country’s main planning framework for
development, focuses on sound natural resources
management. It sets goal for increasing forest cover to
20% by 2020 (GED, 2015). But, not achieved.
• For Bangladesh forest monitoring The Bangladesh forest
inventory (BFI) has 7 criteria and 47
• Also, an integrated national forest monitoring system for
SFM and conservation in Bangladesh Launched in 2018,
the Bangladesh Forest Information System (BFIS)
Fig: Forest Cover of Bangladesh

22. Criteria I: Biodiversity and conservation
Criteria 2: Disturbance, forest degradation and resilience
Criteria 3: Economics and livelihood
Criteria 4: Forest area and characteristics
Criteria 5: Measuring progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM)
Criteria 6: Ownership
Criteria 7: Forest productivity
Criteria 8: Protective functions
Bangladesh
• Bangladesh face challenges to implement SFM or manage forest due
to different issues.

23. Bhutan
• Forest cover remains steady, and the country is
carbon neutral. Bhutan possesses 72.4 % of land areas
under forests of which 15 % is dry forests.
• The Kingdom of Bhutan is a high forest cover, low
deforestation (HFLD) country known for its efforts to
conserve biodiversity and its philosophy of gross
national happiness.
• The country's first forest management plan,
developed in 1964, was mainly focused on timber
harvesting.
• All forests in Bhutan are governed by principles of
sustainable forest management under the Forest Act
1995.
• Bhutan has formulated the general principals to guide
its forest management plan but has not yet developed
detailed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest
management.
• Bhutan’s has own effective and rigorous forest
conservation framework, forest cover has increased over
the past decades and deforestation is well curbed, yet the
forestry sector has the potential to contribute
significantly more to Bhutan’s economy and peoples’
livelihoods.
• As discussed, Bhutan has one of the highest
percentage forest covers in the world and is a leader in
forest conservation.
• Yet Bhutan must deal with various challenges to its
forests and the forestry sector to maintain at least 60
percent of Bhutan’s land area under forest cover.
• However, In 2020, it lost 1.29kha of tree cover.

24. China
• China was home to a forest area of just over 80 million hectares in
1949, with a forest coverage rate of only 8.6 percent.
• China's forest coverage rate to over 23 pct 2020.
• Of which about 11.0% is dry forest.
• China is a member of both ITTO and Montreal Process and is actively
developing national and sub-national criteria and indicators consistent
with these initiatives.
• In 1995, China established the Sustainable Forestry Research Center
with the Chinese Academy of Forestry leading efforts in developing and
testing criteria and indicators for the country which is receiving support
from UNDP/FAO's Capacity Building for Research and Extension for
Sustainable Forest Management Projects.
• Forestry Action Plan for China's Agenda 21 and establishing
demonstration areas to test and refine the criteria and indicators.
• China has provisionally developed a Framework of Criteria and
Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management with 8 criteria and 80
indicators. Of these indicators, 11 can be implemented, 55 required further
investigation, 9 needed long term testing, research and development, and 5
remain uncertain.
• Also, in 2018, China set a target to achieve forest cover over 30% of its
land by 2050.
• Hence, China struggle with forest loss. In 2020, it lost 328kha of
natural forest.
Figure 1. The forest cover map of China.

25. India
• India's early forest management policies supported agricultural and
timber production as top priority but have gradually evolved to
ensure environmental stability and ecological balance.
• At present, the forest cover of India is 80.9 million ha (24.62 %) and
about 86.0 % of this is dry forest.
• On the positive side, 36,130 Village Forest Committees (VFCs) are
working with government forest departments, to protect and manage
about 15 % (10.24 m ha) of the total forest area (Pandey 2000).
• However, the formal mechanism to monitor the impact of
community management is not in place.
• India committed to ITTO's Objective 2000. The Indian Institute of
Forest Management, Bhopal motto-initiated action and launched the
Bhopal- India Process of SFM in 1998 to develop a practical and
measurable set of C & I for monitoring the progress of forest
management.
• A series of national technical workshops and consultation meetings
were held to sensitize communities, forest managers, NGOs and
researchers about the need to develop a national and sub-national set
of C & I. A set of national level C & I was evolved, refined and
adopted.

26. • However, the efforts to establish a relevant set of C & I at subnational (provincial
level) and FMU level are at various stages of development (Prasad 2000).
• The Government of India set up a National Task Force on SFM in November 1999,
and appointed IIFM as the Nodal Agency (IIFM 2000a).
• The committee reviewed and modified a draft set of C & I and finally adopted the
Bhopal-India Process with 8 criteria and 43 indicators at national level (Table 2).
• Also, India developed its national set of 8 Criteria and 37 Indicators for the Sustainable
Management of its Natural Forests adopted in the National Working Plan Code 2014.
• The Government of India through IIFM also implemented an ITTO-sponsored project
on Sustainable Tropical Forest Management through Community.
• In collaboration with Kerela Forest Research Institute, Peechi and CIFOR,
development and implementation of C & I in teak forest plantations in central India
was also undertaken (Sankar et al. 2000).
• In India there are also have other initiative like forest certification, SFM FAO, World
Bank, NAPCC, In Himachal Pradesh, Different schemes under Ministry of
environment, forestry and climate change, Government of India initiatives for SFM.
India

27. • However, many states in India have also promoted JFM in good forest areas as
well.
• Hence, India struggle with forest loss. In 2020, it lost 132kha of natural forest.
India

28. Mongolia
• Forest area (% of land area) in Mongolia was reported at 9.1011 % in
2020.Among this forest boreal forest dominated by larch, pine, and birch trees.
• The boreal forests of the world, also known as “taiga”, is one of the largest biomes
on the earth. Taiga makes up 29% of the world's forest cover.
• Mongolia monitors a wide range of basic indicators for forest management,
including those related to forest resource protection, exploitation, and
rehabilitation. It also has 18 forestry environmental reporting indicators that are
collected and reported annually by local administrations to the central government.
Some 27 forestry indicators are monitored for inclusion in the country's State of
Environment Report.
• Mongolia's C & I for sustainable forest management are still evolving, and testing
of these is needed.
• In 2005, the Government approved the Green Belt National Programmed (2005
Government Resolution No. 44), which is still being implemented. The main goal
of the Programmed is to establish a green belt/forest strip along the Gobi Desert
and steppe region in the southern part of the country to slow down the
desertification and sand movement. The programmed has three stages (2005–2015,
2016–2025 and 2025–2035).
• In May 2015, the State Great Khural adopted the new State Policy on Forests
(2015 Resolution of the State Great Khural No. 49), designed for the period until
2030.
• The 2015 National Biodiversity Programmed for the period 2015–2025, largely
based on and inspired by the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and
its Aichi Biodiversity Targets (adopted in 2010 at the CBD COP 10), determines 14
goals under four strategies: Goal 7 aims at increasing forest cover to 9 per cent by
2025 through the improvement of forest management, "thereby protecting forest
biodiversity".
• The 2015 State Policy on Forests reinforced approaches such as ensuring multi-
stakeholder participation in forest management, creating good forest governance
and promoting science/evidence-based forest management.
• Hence, in 2020, it lost 465ha of tree cover.

29. Myanmar
• Around 42.92 % (28.5 million ha) of Myanmar's land area is covered by forest of
which 70 % are dry forests (FAO, 2020).
• Myanmar's National Forest Policy of 1995 identifies six priority areas for forest
development: protection, sustainability, and basic needs of the people, efficiency, and
people's participation and public awareness.
• Myanmar completed a final draft set of criteria and indicators for both forest
management unit level and national level in October 1999 (Dah 1999). The draft criteria
and indicators are based largely on the ITTO criteria and indicators.
• Myanmar is a member of both ITTO and ASEAN. In 1997, Myanmar established a
Dry Zone Greening Department to focus development, conservation, and protection
activities in the country's extensive dry zone.
• In 2020, it lost 299kha of natural forest.
• The following policies, legislations, instructions, and strategic action plans
have entered into force in Myanmar for the sustainable management of forest
resources, the protection, and conservation of natural biodiversity, and responding
to climate change by mitigation and adaptation measures.

30. No. Years Forest-focused policies, legislations and instructions
1 1995 Myanmar Forest Policy
2 2012 Environmental Conservation Law
3 2014 Environmental Conservation Rules
4 2016 National Land Use Policy
5 2018 Forest Law (Revision of 1992 Forest Law)
6 2018 Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Areas Law (Revision of 1994 Protection of Wildlife and Protected Areas Law)
7 2018 Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Areas Rules ( 2002 Protection of Wildlife and Protected Areas Rules)
8 2019 National Environmental Policy
9 2019 Myanmar Climate Change Policy
10 2019 Community Forestry Instructions (Revision of 1995 and 2016 Community Forestry Instructions)
11 2019 Forest Rules (Adds to and revises 1995 Forest Rules)

31. Fig: Myanmar Forest Cover in different periods.

32. Nepal
• In Nepal forest cover was reported at 41.59 % in 2020. About 50.0% of
its total forest area are categorized as dry forests.
• Nepal has enacted several policies and strategic plans to guide the
country's natural resource development.
• Nepal also member of ITTO, Nepal has developed specific criteria and
indicators at the national level for community forest management,
leasehold forestry, and forest user groups. These criteria and indicators
are not yet organized and applied in a systematic manner, and that they
are not in conformity with C & I of other processes/initiatives.
• There were 8,957 FUGs. These FUGs managed some 651,764 ha of
public forests. The FUG is a legal entity and possesses several rights
and responsibilities.
• Despite the rapid loss of forests worldwide, forest area in Nepal has
increased in the past two decades, covering around 41 per cent of the
country's total area. Even during Nepal's political instability and rapid
urbanization, the success achieved in forest conservation is
commendable.
• The term 'community forest' in Nepal means a state-owned forest
handed over to a users' group for development, conservation and use in
pursuit of the collective interest of the local households.
• Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced at COP26 that Nepal
would increase forest cover to 45% of its area by 2030 when he along
with the leaders of 124 countries signed the Glasgow Leaders’
Declaration on Forests and Land Use pledging to halt and reverse
forest loss and land degradation.
Figure: Map of Nepal showing forest cover

33. Sri Lanka
• Forest cover in Sri Lanka has dropped considerably during last four decades to a
current figure of about 34.16 % (2020).
• Dry forest in Sri Lanka is about 59 % of total forests (Ranagalage et al., 2020).
• In the past Sri Lanka's main forest management objective was wood production,
but current management strategies tend towards sustainable forest management for
multiple purposes, incorporating input from local communities. The forest
department monitors a traditional array of basic forestry indicators as part of its
regular functions.
• However, Sri Lanka now is in the process of developing national level criteria and
indicators of SFM consistent with criteria and indicators of international processes.
• The Sri Lanka Dry-Zone Dry Evergreen Forest ecoregion supports one of Asia’s
largest Asian wildlife ecosystem.
• The ecoregion represents the tropical dry forests throughout most of Sri Lanka.
Unlike in other dry forests, most trees in the Sri Lanka Dry-Zone Dry Evergreen
Forests retain their leaves during the dry season. Only two other ecoregions exhibit
this phenology: the East Deccan Dry Evergreen Forests ecoregion and the
Southeastern Indochina Dry Evergreen Forests.
• Community Forestry Management (CFM) has been identified as one of the best
approaches for sustainable forest resource management and livelihood
enhancement of the communities dependent on forest resources.
• The priority conservation actions are to: 1) prevent encroachment into the existing
protected areas system, which provides adequate spatial coverage to conserve the
representative biodiversity; and 2) manage these protected areas as larger complexes
together with the adjacent forest reserves to expand the ecological space for the
large mammals.

34. Thailand
• Thailand is moderately forested and at present has 38.9 % in 2020.
• In 1998, Thailand's Forest Research Office proposed a set of 6 criteria and 54
indicators to the Royal Forest Department, which established a special committee to
take further steps in development and implementation.
• However, in 1999 Thailand, which is also an ITTO member, agreed to join other
ASEAN countries in adopting ITTO's new criteria and indicators for sustainable
forest management of natural tropical forests as the main framework for the ASEAN
region.
• Thailand is also conducting ongoing research and development of criteria and
indicators at the forest management unit level under a pilot study initiated with
support from the Danish Forest and Landscape Institute, World Bank, CIFOR, and
Chiang Mai University.
• The countries of the region have enacted community-based forest policies in the
early 1990s, but there is no scientific mechanism for monitoring progress towards
sustainable forest management.
• However, In 2020, it lost 119kha of natural forest.

35. Assessment
of SFM
Under the criteria and indicators' guidelines for Dry
Zone Asia, all criteria are to be monitored based on
individual indicators. As an example, Criterion 3
"Maintenance and Enhancement of Biodiversity" has,
among others, the following three indicators dealing
with:
• Extent of protected areas.
• Number of threatened keystone, flagship and endemic species of
plants and animals.
• Mechanisms for the conservation of genetic resources.
Reporting on the progress made towards sustainable
management of dry forests will be done on a country-
to-country basis (i.e., country report).

36. Some important
issues in the
implementation of
SFM in the region
• Willingness of government and it’s policy about SFM.
• The main problem in implementing forest management
schemes in the dry forests is the intensity of land use.
People living in and around the forests depend heavily
on the forest for the collection of food, fodder,
medicines, fuel and a wide range of other products and
services.
• Forests are of critical importance to the livelihoods of
these communities for Asian.
• Considering the fragility of the dry forest areas and
recognizing that the "policing approach" of
conservation and protection has not succeeded, greater
emphasis is given to people's participation in forest
management.
• In the last decade most, Asian countries has
experimented with collaborative or co-management
programmes to various degrees involving the local
communities rather than the SFM C&I.

37. Strategy and
future of
action
• National Commitment to SFM needs to be improved. Countries of the region are
committed to bring more and more forest areas under collaborative management regime
(JFM, FUG, community forestry etc.).
• However, there appears to be a general lack of awareness at government level to develop
and implement SFM. This can be addressed by organizing inter-governmental consultation
among member countries.
• International organizations like CIFOR, IUFRO, FAO may have experimental sites in
collaboration with identified and focal institutions to raise awareness and train foresters and
NGOs to develop appropriate indicators for measurements.
• FAO propose some strategies and action plan for promoting SFM at regional and national
level that are
. Identify a national-level nodal agency/focal action point.
. Assess the financial requirements and possible funding source to hold national and
sub-regional workshops in order to continue raising national awareness that criteria and
indicators are good tools for achieving sustainable forest management.
.Continue developing the set of criteria and indicators according to national needs.
.Harmonize and converge criteria and indicators with other region/national initiatives.
.Identify research and training needs for enhancing the capacity of stakeholders to apply
the criteria and indicators in the field.
.A web site on C & I and its measurement should be developed.
.In addition, a timeframe should be set out for adoption of SFM for all forest types.
• FAO/UNFF can help member countries to develop suitable projects for financial
assistance. There are several on-going World Bank and other donor-driven projects in
different countries of the region. While these projects have provided for community
participation, the aspect of monitoring through the development and implementation of C & I
is generally lacking. Projects can investigate these aspects to promote action for adopting
sustainable forest management framework.

38. • Dry zone forests are amongst the most fragile forest ecosystems in the world.
• Due to excessive pressure on extraction, the rate of forest degradation and deforestation in the region is
alarmingly high, requiring urgent SFM implication.
• The forest management system is not only weak, but also unreliable. Very attractive forest policies with
laudable objectives have failed to address this malaise because there has been no compliance mechanism available.
• Community participation is essential to the management of dry zone Asian forests.
• However, there again has been no mechanism to monitor the progress towards SFM yet.
• In respect of developing a set of C & I for SFM, this region has been lagging. Also, commitment of the member
countries to ITTO Objective 2000 has not resulted in concrete action.
• Some countries join multiple C&I process and implemented some of criteria, taken other initiatives to develop
and implement C & I at national and FMU level. But most of the dry Asia countries didn’t achieve their goal on
SFM.
• In most parts of the Asian countries, participatory forest management has been introduced about two decade
ago, although in many areas the community-initiated forest management is much older.
• China join both monitorial process and Dry Asia process and they implemented some criteria and indicators.
• Myanmar has also been following the development but the progress towards development and field testing of C
& I is also at a preliminary stage. India, because of its bio-cultural diversity, chose to have its own Bhopal-India
Process for evolving C & I for SFM to improve forest management conditions for the well-being of its people and
ecosystem. Other countries of the region have not formally initiated any concrete action in this direction.
• While the C&I framework may not be the only mechanism for monitoring, assessing and reporting on SFM, it
is the only one that has so far been widely accepted and is being used by many countries.
• Community-initiated Forest management aims to provide integrated benefits to all, ranging from local
livelihoods, providing biodiversity and ecosystem services, reducing rural poverty, to mitigating effects of climate
change.
Conclusion

39. THANK YOU !

40. QUESTIONS