Technical Workshop on the Refinement of the

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• Technical Workshop on the Refinement of the
• Montreal Process Indicators
• Criteria 4, 5
• Atlanta, Ga.
• April 5, 6 2005

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Why are indicators important?

• Shape social understanding of forest and the
  forces that influence them
• Places natural resource management on par
  with economic indicators that leaders and the
  public will understand
• A framework to coordinate natural resource
  inventory, assessment, planning and coordination
• Provides citizens interested in forests with a
  tool to encourage society to address the needs
  of forests

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Why should you be interested in indicators?

• To better communicate with your
  publicsneutral ground
• Help repair a hopelessly fragmented
  administrative landscape
• Build a bridge between ecosystem management,
  sustainable development, certification,
  environmental services etc,
• Help the forest sector take the initiative.

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What indicators are not

• For producing international reports
• International indicators. They are national
  indicators developed internationally

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What is an indicator?
www.m pci.org

• Latin indicare -- disclose, point out, announce
  or estimate.
• Provide a clue to something that might
  otherwise be undetectable
• They quantify and simplify
• A communication tool
• Not intended to provide the full picture
• Indicators will evolve

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Attributes of good national indicators
www.m pci.org

• Are relevant to key issues, policies, or goals,
  or societal values.
• They are neutral description of what is.
• Are easy to understand and meaningful to a
  variety of audiences.
• Are drawn from reliable data sources and
  founded in technical and scientific theory.

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Attributes of good national Indicators (Contd)
www.m pci.org

• Data are available from existing sources or
  possible to collect.
• Have meaning at a national, State or regional
  level
• Data are representative of environmental
  conditions, pressures on the environment or
  societys responses.
• Are linkable to economic models, forecasting
  and information systems.

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Strategy
www.m pci.org

• Groups and countries are sensitive about
  changes
• All agree that the indicators can be improved
• The United States will be able to sell a
  limited number of suggestions
• Focus on the most important indictors
• Look at the indicators as sets -- emphasis,
  adequacy
• Be very clear, provide rationale