Forests are More than Trees: How to Measure Their Real Value

The Commission advocates a Forest Capital Index
World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development

Forests are a capital asset that sustain the global habitat. To manage this capital for the public good, societies need indicators of the status of the world's forests, and estimates of their ecological and socio-economic value.

The Forest Capital Index (FCI) is intended as a tool for international forest policy. The FCI underpins society's concern for intergenerational equity.

The FCI could:

• permit evaluation of progress in sustaining forest capital for each country;
• serve as a benchmark for assessing whether forest capital is increasing or declining;
• facilitate a global framework for valuation of forest ecosystem services;
• create market mechanisms to compensate countries for ecological services.

The FCI could provide a uniform numerical indicator of each nation's current forest capital. A suite of indicators of forest qualities might be used, such as: surface area; standing biomass; net primary productivity; species richness and diversity; age class of trees; leaf area index; soil fertility measures; soil organic matter content; and the health of forest stands. Examining the changes in these indicators over time will treat international comparisons of forest decline more equitably than absolute measures of deforestation.

Condensing the suite of ecological indicators, appropriately weighted, into one dimensionless number offers a simple tool to compare the progress of countries across numerous categories. Imputing a dollar value to the services provided by the forest then becomes possible, and can then be reflected in a workable form in the international dialogue about compensation for global forest services.

Current Status: The Commission, in partnership with like-minded institutions, is actively pursuing ways of developing the FCI concept. More information about the Commission's initiatives is posted on its website: http://iisd.ca/wcfsd. Other institutions and individuals are invited to join the Commission in this endeavour.