Publications

Criteria and indicators for biodiversity are an important component of sustainable forestry, but identifying those elements of biodiversity that are most critical to sustainability has been a challenge. Over the past few years, a number of innovative approaches have been developed to provide some operational criteria by which progress can be measured. These include the concepts of Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value (FECV), developed by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF), develope d by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These concepts embody the idea that at-risk species and ecological communities, and other ecological values, require special management by forest managers. This technical bulletin evaluates ways in which NatureServe’s biodiversity tracking systems and data support the identification and management of critical components of biodiversity, and identifies priorities for improving NatureServe’s utility to forest managers.