Development of an Assessment System for Sustainable Forest Management in South China

The thesis describes an indicator system based on the concepts of harmony degree and development degree among social, ecological and economic aspects in assessing sustainable forest management in a unit level. The harmony degree displays the balance among the three subsystems in equilateral triangle space. The development degree gives the threshold for judgments. The list of criteria and indicators is combined with Montreal Process, FSC Principle and National C &I in China. This dissertation modifies the methods from CIFOR with expert consultation and AHP methods. The process is described with data coming from a case study in Kaihua State-owned forest Farm in ZheJiang province in south China. Interviews of experts and staffs have been conducted for the selection of indicators. The final list of Criteria and Indicators defined three subsystems including 15 criteria and 59 indicators in the forest management unit, in terms of ecological condition, community concern and economic development. For state-owned forest farm, this indicator system will fulfill both international and national requirement. For the farm management, it will help to meet the demand of forest certification.