ITTO releases new edition of C&I

ITTO released a revised edition of its pioneering criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable tropical forest management. The aim of this revised edition of the ITTO C&I is to ensure that this instrument continues to meet the evolving needs of tropical forest stakeholders and to comprehensively inform the development of tropical forest policies and management practices. Among other things, the new edition will help tropical countries in reporting to ITTO and other processes, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and in establishing baselines for REDD+.

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.