The Forest Monitoring Project: Collaborative Commitment to Forest Sustainability

Mark Matuszewski (Presenter)

Among the best methods to insure both the necessary credibility and comfort levels associated with an assessment process is the need to insure a broad level of interest, participation and support for that process.  The establishment and management of the Forest Monitoring Project (FMP), an effort directed by the Sustainable Forest Initiative’s (SFI) Expert Review Panel (ERP) offers an example of that breadth of collaboration.

As external advisors to the American Forest and Paper Association’s (AF&PA) SFI, the ERP was established to monitor the general progress of the program and provide advice and direction.  With a membership of 18 acknowledged leaders from across the natural resource spectrum, six each from academia and associations, the conservation community, and public land management agencies, the ERP concluded that insights into SFI’s influence on the management of participating forestlands could best be provided by in-the-field observations.  This conclusion triggered yet a broader base for collaboration expanded to include the ERP, individual organizations, agencies and networks represented in its membership, and the environmental grantmaking community, which resulted in the establishment of the FMP in February, 1999.

The ongoing work of the FMP continues to expand collaborative cooperation, as SFI program participant management units are randomly selected, local teams are assembled, visits conducted and reports are compiled and delivered, all across the country.

The FMP provides more than an example of a collaborative approach or specific methodology for the assessment of sustainable forest management practices (as outlined in SFI’s objectives).  The project also serves as an example of the advantages available in leveraging the broad base of interest and support currently attracted to the sustainability of this nation’s forests.

Workshop VI: Monitoring Forest Management

Sustaining
Southern
Forests

a conference sponsored by the Southern Forest Resource Assessment