EUROPEAN CRITERIA AND MOST SUITABLE QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
ADOPTED BY THE FIRST EXPERT LEVEL FOLLOW-UP MEETING OF THE HELSINKI CONFERENCE, GENEVA, June 24, 1994
1.1. Area of forest and other wooded land and changes in area (classified, if appropriate, according to forest and vegetation type, ownership structure, age structure, origin of forest)
1.2. Changes in:
a. total volume of the growing stock
b. mean volume of the growing stock on forest land (classified, if appropriate, according to different vegetation zones or site classes)
c. age structure or appropriate diameter distribution classes
1.3. Total carbon storage and, changes in the storage in forest stands
2. MAINTENANCE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND VITALITY
2.1. Total amount of and, changes over the past 5 years in depositions of air pollutants (assessed in permanent plots):
2.2. Changes in serious defoliation of forests using the UN/ECE and EU defoliation classification (classes 2, 3, and 4) over the past 5 years
2.3. Serious damages caused by biotic or abiotic agents:
a. severe damage caused by insects and diseases with a measurement of seriousness of the damage as a function of (mortality or) loss of growth
b. annual area of burnt forest and other wooded land
c. annual area affected by storm damage and volume harvested from these areas
d. proportion of regeneration area seriously damaged by game and other animals or by grazing
2.4. Changes in nutrient balance and acidity over the past 10 years (pH and CEC); level of saturation of CEC on the plots of the European network or of an equivalent national network
3. MAINTENANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF PRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS OF FORESTS (WOOD AND NON-WOOD)
3.1.Balance between growth and removals of wood over the past 10 years
3.2. Percentage of forest area managed according to a management plan or management guidelines
3.3. Total amount of and changes in the value and/or quantity of non-wood forest products (e.g., hunting and game, cork, berries, mushrooms, etc.)
4. MAINTENANCE, CONSERVATION AND APPROPRIATE ENHANCEMENT OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
4.1. Changes in the area of:
a. natural and ancient seminatural forest types
b. strictly protected forest reserves
c. forests protected by special management regime
4.2. Changes in the number and percentage of threatened species in relation to total number of forest species (using reference lists e.g., IUCN, Council of Europe or the EU Habitat Directive)
4.3. Changes in the proportions of stands managed for the conservation and utilisation of forest genetic resources (gene reserve forests, seed collection stands, etc.); differentiation between indigenous and introduced species
4.4. Changes in the proportions of mixed stands of 2-3 tree species
4.5. In relation to total area regenerated, proportions of annual area of natural regeneration
5. MAINTENANCE AND APPROPRIATE ENHANCEMENT OF PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONS IN FOREST MANAGEMENT (NOTABLY SOIL AND WATER)
5.1. Proportion of forest area managed primarily for soil protection
5.2. Proportion of forest area managed primarily for water protection
6. MAINTENANCE OF OTHER SOCIO-ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS AND CONDITIONS
6.1. Share of the forest sector from the gross national product
6.2. Provision of recreation: area of forest with access per inhabitant, % of total forest area
6.3. Changes in the rate of employment in forestry, notably in rural areas (persons employed in forestry, logging, forest industry)