Determination of an integrated set of principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers for the evaluation of ecological sustainability of forest management in Costa Rica

Abstract

Esta investigación contempló el proceso para desarrollar un conjunto integrado de PCI&V para la evaluación confiable y eficiente de la sostenibilidad ecológica del manejo forestal en las zonas Norte y Atlántica de Costa Rica. El proceso tomó como base los PCI&V relacionados a la sostenibilidad ecológica de la Comisión Nacional de Certificación Forestal de Costa Rica (CNCF) y del Centro para la Investigación Forestal Internacional (CIFOR). Se incorporó el aspecto de integración de elementos de los dos entes con la meta de lograr un balance entre los aspectos de la buena práctica que caracterizan los PC&I de la CNCF y los aspectos del monitoreo de los resultados del manejo forestal que caracterizan los PCI&V del CIFOR. La metodología contempló tres fases de evaluación con la participación de un grupo multi-disciplinario de expertos en las áreas de manejo y ecología forestal. Las tres fases abarcaron una evaluación de gabinete según importancia relativa de cada elemento, la aplicación, prueba y evaluación en el campo del desempeño de los PCI&V, y un taller final con un grupo ampliado de expertos para la revisión, discusión y consenso de los resultados.

The research herein presented was carried out with the general objective of developing an integrated set of site-specific PCI&V for the reliable and efficient evaluation of ecological sustainability of forest management in Costa Rica. The process began with an initial set of PCI&V comprised of elements from the Costa Rican national forest management standard (CNCF 1999) and the CIFOR generic C&I template (CIFOR C&I Team 1999). The concept of integration of elements from the two original sets of C&I was incorporated with the objective of reaching a balance between aspects which define good forest management practices, typical of the CNCF set (predominated by elements which evaluate forest management inputs and processes), and aspects which monitor forest management impacts, typical of the CIFOR set (predominated by elements which evaluate the results of forest management. The desired outcome was the determination of an integrated set of PCI&V comprising elements for evaluating the inputs (objects or intentions, i.e. forest management plan), processes (actions, i.e. silvicultural treatments, timber extraction) and results (state or response of eco- or social system components to forest management, i.e. state of regeneration) of forest management. The research process consisted of three phases of evaluation and participation by a multi-disciplinary group of experts in forest ecology and management. The three phases included: evaluations on the relative importance of the initial PCI&V; application, testing and evaluation in the field and a final workshop with a larger group of experts for the revision and approval of the results and recommendations.