ITTO releases new edition of C&I
13 September 2016

Measuring REDD +: Local people receive training in measuring tree diameters to estimate carbon stocks in the Meru Betiri National Park, East Java, Indonesia, as part of ITTO project PD 519/08 Rev.1(F). Photo: FORDA.
C&I are an important policy instrument for operationalizing the concept of sustainable forest management. Criteria characterize the essential components of SFM, and indicators are ways of assessing each component. When monitored over time, C&I show changes and trends in the biophysical, socioeconomic and policy conditions relevant to SFM.
ITTO pioneered the development of C&I in tropical forests in the early 1990s with the aim of enabling the assessment of the condition of tropical forests in producer member countries and identifying weaknesses in forest practices and the improvements needed. Since then, nine C&I schemes covering some 150 countries have been established, collectively encompassing all the world’s major ecozones.
The new edition of the C&I has seven criteria and 58 indicators. Criteria characterize the essential components of sustainable forest management, and indicators are ways of assessing each of these components.
The new edition was developed by a team of experts, with inputs from ITTO members and the International Tropical Timber Council. A downloadable format for reporting on C&I will be available on ITTO’s website soon.
Download the digital file from the policy papers and guidelines library.