XIV WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS, Durban, South Africa, 7-11 September 2015 Sustainable Forest Management Developments in New Zealand seen through the lens of the Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators (C&I) framework Tim Payn*1, Tim Barnard1, Steven Cox2, Liam Millard1, John Novis2, Alan Reid2 1 [email protected]; Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), Rotorua, New Zealand 2 Ministry for Primary Industries, Wellington, New Zealand Abstract New Zealand has recently completed its third national „state of the forests‟ report using the framework of the Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators. These reports (2003, 2008, and 2015) give a very valuable picture of the forestry environment over a period when much change occurred. This paper presents some of the key changes in Sustainable Forest Management in New Zealand over that period in the context of global and national drivers such as international climate change initiatives and the global economic environment, changes in national policies, and a greater market need for information on forestry‟s social license to operate. The value and utility of C&I frameworks for monitoring assessment and reporting of forest information and the effectiveness of the C&I as a communication tool is presented with examples of tools developed to both communicate data and facilitate dialogue. New developments using the C&I framework for „futures analysis‟ is also presented and discussed. Overall, C&I have proved to be a very significant foundation in providing a common language for dialogue around the meaning of sustainable forest management. They have contributed to a range of forest related activities in New Zealand including structuring and focussing research programmes, organising Forest Company monitoring programmes in support of third party certification, teaching SFM, and providing a national picture of the state of New Zealand‟s forests over time. Keywords: Forest, Monitoring, Assessment, Reporting, Criteria and Indicators, Sustainability, Frameworks Introduction At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio a set of Forest Principles (UNCED 1992) was announced and a number of Sustainability initiatives launched aimed at both reducing deforestation rates and managing forests sustainably for multiple products. These initiatives led to the development of Criteria and Indicators (C&I) frameworks to both describe and report progress on SFM. Criteria cover the essential components of sustainable forest management (Economic, Environment, and Social), and each criterion is underpinned by a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators that, when measured over time, give a picture of trends in conditions. New Zealand is a member of one of these sustainability initiatives, the 12 country Montréal Process 1(MP). The Montréal Process Working Group focusses on temperate and boreal forests and is concerned with the definition of SFM and development of ways of reporting progress towards 1 www.montrealprocess.org sustainability. Since 2000 the MP has produced a series of country reports, based on its 7 Criteria2 and 54 indicators, on progress towards SFM and contributed very significantly to global understanding of SFM. While C&I have mainly been used for national reporting there have been additional applications at the sub national and local level by some countries. Objective of the paper The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the history, use and relevance of the Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators framework in forestry in New Zealand and highlight some developments, achievments and possible future directions. As this paper serves as a review of the application of C&I in New Zealand, it draws on existing literature, business as usual work information gathering, and expert experience and opinion. More specifically it draws on: Three Montréal Process New Zealand „Country Reports‟ produced to date Other government and industry publications relating to forests and forest management A survey, based on similar projects by the FAO and ITTO to explore usage of C&I, and circulated nationally to forestry professionals. Interviews with several organisations spanning the forestry sector (including a government authority, research institutes and forestry associations). This work was analysed using quantifiable data (where applicable) to determine key trends and changes in sustainable forest management in New Zealand over the years since the framework was implemented, and to identify possible improvements that could be made for future reports. Use of the Montréal Process framework in NZ The main use of the framework in New Zealand has been in reporting on New Zealand‟s progress towards Sustainable Forest Management. This has been done through 3 ‟country reports‟ in 2003, 2008, and 2015. This has led to a wider understanding of NZ forestry internationally. However this is not the only use of the framework. Elements of the Montréal Process framework have been used in a variety of contexts in New Zealand over the past 20 years, including (but not limited to) the following: The (now wound up) state owned enterprise Timberlands West Coast Ltd. (TWCL) incorporated MP C&I in the development of its beech management plan in the late 1990s. The purpose of this was to provide a basis for monitoring changes to biodiversity and other ecological characteristics over time as a result of proposed beech logging within its estates. Montréal Process C&I were reviewed in 2013 along with a range of other local and international monitoring initiatives to inform the design of the New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard (NZSD) environmental monitoring framework for primary industries (MacLeod and Moller 2013). One forest management company has developed a comprehensive monitoring plan for its 78,000 hectare plantation operation that closely follows the Montréal Process C&I framework, with results presented annually in its Environmental Monitoring Report. This programme has resulted in a number of initiatives across the criteria including the development of the company„s own stream classification system (to minimise disturbance to fish populations through planting setback zones), as well as distribution of a “Threatened 2 1. biodiversity; 2. productive capacity; 3. health and vitality; 4. soil and water; 5. carbon and climate; 6. socio- economic; and 7. legal and institutional frameworks Species Field Guide” for field staff and contractors to encourage on-the-ground reporting and enhance the protection of biodiversity in its forests. Another forest management company with ~180,000 hectares has used the MP indicators as the basis for a monitoring system to provide evidence to support their FSC certification status. The New Zealand sustainable forest management standard NZS AS 4708:2014 was adapted from the Australian Forestry Standard (AS 4708:2013), which itself was developed within the framework of the MP C&I. This standard is now available for companies to have their management practises audited against and is likely to be linked to the global forest certification scheme “Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification“ (PEFC) which will enable NZ forestry companies to demonstrate their performance to a global benchmark. This is an excellent example of the utility of a common international understanding of the components of sustainable forest management. In 2014 Scion, working with several researchers from an indigenous Maori tribe developed a modelling tool to quantify the impact of climate change on sustainable livelihood capitals of the community within the Waiapu Catchment on the East Coast of New Zealand (Warmenhoven et al 2014). The Montréal Process C&I formed the basis of the 25 indicators used to define the status of each capital included in the model. The MP C&I were used to structure the synthesis of the diversity of stakeholder preferences and values for NZ forestry collected from multiple stakeholder interactions and planning documents (Hock 2013). The outcome of this synthesis was used to inform the design of the national research programme for sustainable management of planted forests The New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science (www.nzjfs.org) scope was reorganised to reflect the seven Montréal Process Criteria and the editorial board reconfigured to cover all of these categories. This ensured that all aspects of Sustainable Forest Management could be covered by the journal. The survey response rate was very low, with only seven surveys returned in various states of completion despite being widely distributed to New Zealand forestry professionals. However the responses yielded some interesting insights into the use of C&I frameworks.The sentiments gathered through survey and interview responses indicate that although Montréal Process Criteria and Indicators are being used by some organisations to aid in sustainable forest management activities in New Zealand, the overall uptake of this tool is low and the information it provides at a national level is not being used to good effect. Respondents with at least 20 years experience in the forest sector felt that the state of New Zealand‟s sustainable forest management has improved in that time but were divided over whether the use of MP C&I contributed to this improvement or not. For some at the sub- national level the purpose and value of using C&I frameworks in general is unclear, while for others the complexity involved in implementing them is beyond the scale of their organisation. Unlike some members of the Montréal Process, New
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