Criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of tropical forests

ITTO pioneered the development of criteria and indicators (C&I) for the sustainable management of natural tropical forests in the early 1990s and has continued to provide leadership in their review, improvement and implementation. C&I are tools for defining, assessing and monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management. They list the main factors that influence the health and productivity of a forest (“criteria”) and propose indicators that, if measured over time, will help managers assess the extent to which management is consistent with forest sustainability and the wellbeing of forest-dependent communities.