THE intense global debate on sustainable development and sustainable management of natural resources can be traced back to the 1970s, when there was a growing concern regarding their depletion and degradation. Sustainable development is commonly defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable forest management has been considered as an integral component of sustainable development since the UNCED. Conference at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, also called the Earth Summit. After the summit, where international forest principles were formulated for the first time by world leaders and the first global policy on sustainable forest management was adopted, the notion of sustainable forest management rapidly gained interest. Accordingly, the forest resources and lands should be managed sustainably to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual functions, and for the maintenance and enhancement of biological diversity. The concept got support and recognition in various international fora for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. There have been numerous initiatives and processes in the world to streamline the efforts  towards sustainable forest management.  

Over the years since then, the criteria and indicators approach developed as a potent tool for assessment, monitoring and reporting of sustainability of forest resources. Now, some indicators relating to forest area change have been included among 48 indicators of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, particularly under Goal 7, to ensure environmental stability which contains Target 9 – integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes, and reverse the loss of environmental resources. The indicators for it are indicators 25 (proportion of land area covered by forest) and 26 (ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area) towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. 

 Sustainable forest management encompasses all the three components of sustainability, viz. ecological, economic and socio-cultural well-being. It has been defined by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) as ‘the process of managing permanent forest land to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of forest management with regard to the production of a continuous flow of desirable forest products and services without undue reduction of its inherent values and future productivity and without undue undesirable effects on the physical and social environment’. 

Sustainability is not an absolute, independent of human conceptual framework. Rather, it is always set in the context of decisions about what type of system is to be sustained and over what spatio-temporal scale. Given the abstract nature of sustainability, the criteria and indicators approach provides a framework to define the parameters and goals of socio-cultural, economic and ecological aspects relating to sustainability and assess progress  towards them.

Forest management in India 

The forestry sector in India is among the first in the world to be managed on the lines of modern scientific management. Establishment of forest management from the middle of the eighteenth century incidentally coincided with the industrial revolution in the West. The forests emerged as important resources during the pre-independence period, as the demand for raw materials increased, and a need was felt to expand the railway network.

 Forestry was thus production-oriented at that time. However, the basic change in perception was brought by the National Forest Policy of 1952, from production forestry to focus on meeting objectives of maintaining ecological balance on the one hand and meeting the needs of stakeholders in the best possible way on the other

 The 1988 National Forest Policy focused on the maintenance of environmental stability, conservation of natural heritage by preserving the natural forests and meeting the basic needs of people, and also maintaining the relationship between the tribals and other dependent people, thus encompassing ecological, economic and social aspects of forest management. There is however an urgent need to monitor and ensure proper implementation of these policy implications. The quantifiable approach like criteria and indicators to monitor and implement these objectives of sustainability is imperative.