Freer-Smith Peter, Carnus Jean-Michel
UK Forestry Commission Research Agency, Forest Research, Farnham, Surrey.
Ambio. 2008 Jun;37(4):254-62. doi: 10.1579/0044-7447(2008)37[254:tsmapo]2.0.co;2.
The loss of forest area globally due to change of land use, the importance of forests in the conservation of biodiversity and in carbon and other biogeochemical cycles, together with the threat to forests from pollution and from the impacts of climate change, place forestry policy and practice at the center of global environmental and sustainability strategy. Forests provide important economic, environmental, social, and cultural benefits, so that in forestry, as in other areas of environmental policy and management, there are tensions between economic development and environmental protection. In this article we review the current information on global forest cover and condition, examine the international processes that relate to forest protection and to sustainable forest management, and look at the main forest certification schemes. We consider the link between the international processes and certification schemes and also their combined effectiveness. We conclude that in some regions of the world neither mechanism is achieving forest protection, while in others local or regional implementation is occurring and is having a significant impact. Choice of certification scheme and implementation of management standards are often influenced by a consideration of the associated costs, and there are some major issues over the monitoring of agreed actions and of the criteria and indicators of sustainability. There are currently a number of initiatives seeking to improve the operation of the international forestry framework (e.g., The Montreal Process, the Ministerial Convention of the Protection of Forests in Europe and European Union actions in Europe, the African Timber Organisation and International Tropical Timber Organisation initiative for African tropical forest, and the development of a worldwide voluntary agreement on forestry in the United Nations Forum on Forests). We suggest that there is a need to improve the connections between scientific understanding, policy development, and forestry practice, and also the cooperation between the various international initiatives and processes, so that the international framework is more effective and its influence is extended geographically.
由于土地利用变化导致的全球森林面积丧失、森林在生物多样性保护以及碳和其他生物地球化学循环中的重要性，再加上污染和气候变化影响对森林构成的威胁，使得林业政策与实践处于全球环境与可持续发展战略的核心位置。森林提供了重要的经济、环境、社会和文化效益，因此在林业领域，如同在环境政策与管理的其他领域一样，经济发展与环境保护之间存在着矛盾。在本文中，我们回顾了有关全球森林覆盖和状况的现有信息，审视了与森林保护及可持续森林管理相关的国际进程，并探讨了主要的森林认证计划。我们考量了国际进程与认证计划之间的联系及其综合成效。我们得出结论，在世界某些地区，这两种机制都未能实现森林保护，而在其他地区，地方或区域层面的实施正在进行并产生着重大影响。认证计划的选择和管理标准的实施往往受到相关成本考量的影响，并且在商定行动的监测以及可持续性标准和指标方面存在一些重大问题。目前有多项举措致力于改善国际林业框架的运作（例如《蒙特利尔进程》、欧洲保护森林部长级会议及欧盟在欧洲的行动、非洲木材组织和国际热带木材组织针对非洲热带森林的倡议，以及在联合国森林论坛上制定一项关于林业的全球自愿协议）。我们认为有必要加强科学认识、政策制定和林业实践之间的联系，以及各项国际倡议与进程之间的合作，以便使国际框架更具成效并将其影响力扩展到更广泛的地理区域。
