Page 54 - 4. Pre-Course Reading-Training on Forestry Audit 2019

Auditing Forests: Guidance for Supreme Audit Institutions

RESEARCHABLE RESEARCHABLE
TOPIC SUB-TOPIC RSIK CRITERIA
QUESTION SUB-QUESTION
Forest Management Planning Biodiversity and Have the planning Is the management • All administrative levels have appropriate
ecosystem loss. procedures been plan appropriate capacity for planning sustainable forest
Forest fires. sound and effective? to the scale and management, in consideration of all thematic
Illegal logging. intensity of the elements of sustainable forestry.
Unemployment. operations, up to • A legal/regulatory framework gives forest
Social problems. date, clearly stated, owners and managers with the power to
Decreased carbon and applicable? assemble or to order forest management plans.
storage. • All forests (despite ownership) are managed
Shortage of according to a management plan. If not, then
raw materials the percentage of forest area managed
for industry. according to a management plan is increasing
compared to the previous situation (for example
5, 10, 20 etc. years).
• Management objectives are set rationally
for each management unit. Objectives should
be flexible enough to allow the forest manager
to adapt to present and future variations in
54 physical, biological, and socio-economic
circumstances - keeping in mind the overall
objectives of sustainability.
• If appropriate, the size of each production
forest management unit should preferably
be a function of the felling cycle, the average
harvested volume per hectare and annual
timber outturn target of the operating agency
(state forest enterprises, concessionaire, etc.)
• A legal/regulatory framework regulates public
participation in forest management planning,
decision-making, data collection, monitoring
and assessment.

Does the planning Does a detailed • A legal/regulatory framework describes the
include a forest inventory allow requirements for forest mapping and the
inventory? planning of forest methods of forest inventory.
management and • Sufficient forest inventories exist for keeping
timber harvesting track of both the current and potential quantities
operations? of commercial tree species for any future timber
production.
• If appropriate, representative series of
permanent sample plots are established.
• A national agency or institutional framework
with the capacity to supervise the existence
and quality of forest inventories.

Does the silvicultural Is the choice of • The silvicultural guidelines for timber and
concept exist? silvicultural concept non-wood forest products exist and are
aimed at sustained implemented.
yield at minimum • Information, which provides the basis for
cost, enabling rational choice of silvicultural practices
harvesting now (inventories and measurements from growth
and in the future, and yield plots, as well as data on market
while respecting demand for various end uses of timber
recognized other products), is gathered.
forest management • A progressive silvicultural system should
objectives? be developed, one that allows for gradual
improvements in practices as better information
becomes available. The harvesting intensity
and the design of harvesting should be integral
parts of the silvicultural concept.