criteria for SFM. All these criteria become outcome parameters of the principle: forest products and services are sustained.
Table 4.2. The generic knowledge of economical criteria for SFM Category
Text Principle 2
Forest products and services are sustained Criterion 2.1
Forest has a normal series of diameter size-gradation, a normal volume and a normal increment.
Criterion 2.2 Normality in non-timber forest products and services
4.1.2.4. Social Criteria
Forests are natural resources that many parties have interests in. Governments, in most countries, act as regulators, ideally responsible for making
the best use of and maintenance of forests. Local communities who live nearby are greatly dependent on forests. Timber companies, in most cases, depend on
the ability of forests to produce timber. Non-Government Organizations NGOs empower and advocate on behalf of local communities, helping them to claim
their rights. Other parties such as universities, research institutes and international communities play a role in declaring their interests in having more
sustainable forests. Since one party does not own a forest exclusively it is important to
manage it cooperatively. In other words a forest should be managed in a multi- stakeholder environment. This was chosen as the principle of the social aspect.
This principle meets the idea that a forest is a public good, where the external requirements of managing it cannot be avoided.
The rights of relevant stakeholders should be acknowledged. This means relevant stakeholders must be identified, along with their rights to forests - either
legally or informally. Informal rights include pre-existing rights that have existed for a long time before legal rights have been declared by the government. Each
stakeholder derives a fair benefit from the forest, according to their rights. A forest is known as a complex ecosystem - therefore there is always an
incomplete knowledge available in forest management. Under these circumstances, forest management prescriptions must be treated as working
hypotheses. These working hypotheses could be right or wrong. Working hypotheses are subjects which modify and improve situations when they are
executed in the real world. The stakeholders’ abilities to learn ways of modifying and improving the current system is a criterion of sustainability. This situation is
described in Figure 4.7. Table 4.3 shows social criteria for SFM.
Figure 4.7. Learning mechanisms of stakeholders Prescriptions
formulas techniques of
forest management
As working hypotheses go
into the world Current
knowledge Tested in the
real world
Learning mechanism
Table 4.3. The generic knowledge of social criteria for SFM Category
Text Principle 3
Forest is managed in the multi-stakeholder environment Criterion 3.1
Rights of stakeholders are established fairly and acknowledged Criterion 3.2
Fair benefit distribution among the stakeholders Criterion 3.3
All relevant stakeholders have a learning capacity in relation to the complexity of forest ecosystem management
4.1.2.5. The Complete CI Set
