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Criteria and indicators (C) for sustainable forest management (SFM) are an important tool to monitor forest condition and assess forest management in individual countries, as well as an instrument to support forest policy making, public communication and international forest− −related reporting. Many European countries have formulated and adopted their own sets of C based on guidelines developed under the Forest Europe process (formerly MCPFE). Despite effective sustainable forest management in Poland has been practiced for decades, no formal set of C has been adopted so far. The aim of this paper is to outline international processes of SFM monitoring and Poland’s international obligations concerning forest management reporting, as well as the political and legal frameworks for formulating a set of adequate criteria and indicators for SFM. The paper reviews the most important documents and legal acts concerning the standard− ization of the principles of forest management in the international forum, as well as international conventions concerning – directly or indirectly – management and protection of forest resources. The review shows that for nearly three decades within the Forest Europe, intensive measures to develop, improve and disseminate C for sustainable forest management in individual countries have been taken. Poland has actively participated in the Forest Europe process from its very beginning, it is also a signatory to all declarations and resolutions developed within the process, as well as a party to most of the significant forest−related international conventions and agreements. Despite several attempts, Poland has not yet managed to develop and adopt a set of its own C for sustainable forest management that would allow to measure specific quantitative and qualitative characteristics and to support monitoring trends in sustainability of forest man− agement over time. Although the annual report on the condition of forests in Poland contains information about the condition of forest resources and the health of forests and their changes, as well as about the functions performed and ecosystem services provided by forests, its content and the structure are not formally regulated and are not in line with the C recommended by Forest Europe. This lack of clearly established C may make it difficult to compare situa− tion year−by−year and to clearly assess the degree of implementation of the principles of SFM in Poland., Sylwan 165 (3): 233-244

In many countries, forest management and its assessment are based, to a varying extent, on national criteria and indicators (C) for sustainable forest management (SFM). Data on forests and forest management collected in Poland largely correspond to the scope of pan−European indicators developed under the Forest Europe process, however, no standardized national set of C has been developed and implemented so far. In this paper we discuss the processes and systems used in Poland to: 1) monitor forests and forest management, and 2) collect and publish information about forests, in terms of their use for development and implementation of national criteria and indicators of SFM. The framework of forest condition monitoring in Poland consists of several elements, of which the most important are: Forest Monitoring (FM), National Forest Inventory (NFI), stand−wise inventories and the continuous monitoring of damages in forests managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding. More and more information on the Polish forests is shared publicly, mainly via the national portal of Forest Data Bank. There are several reports published yearly: statistical yearbooks published by the Statistics Poland, NFI results, annual reports on updated forest area and forest resources, results of FM in Poland and annual reports on forest protection and damages. In the recent decades much progress has been made in digitalization of forest management and planning which has resulted in steady improvements in the coverage of information on forests and its accuracy provided to stakeholders and general public. Data sources analysed in this paper can be a good source of information for the national set of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management although further enlargement of available information on forests is advisable., Sylwan 165 (4): 267-278

The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the sets of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (C) in the Forest Europe signatory countries in terms of their origin, structure, scope and practical use in the forestry decision���making process and forest policy���making. The analysis was conducted as desk research based on available publications, including applicable legal acts, reports, research publications or conference materials. In some cases, direct contacts with local experts were also made. Most European countries with significant forest resources have introduced their sets of criteria and indicators. The Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (Forest Europe process), played a significant and positive role in this process. The set of C developed through the process served as a starting point and template for actions in member states aimed at systematizing and formalizing the monitoring of forest management in their territory. However, some countries with significant forest resources have not yet developed national sets of C This is particularly the case for six countries with a forest area of more than 4 million hectares: Germany, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Italy and Ukraine. Altogether, sets of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) have been developed in 20 countries out of the 46 Forest Europe signatory countries, although their status and timeliness varies. In most countries, the criteria and indicators for SFM are the basis for periodic reporting on the condition of forests, communication with the public, and in some countries they are also a formal instrument for monitoring the results of policy decisions and administrative actions. We conclude that the differentiation of solutions used in individual signatory countries of Forest Europe should also be a guide for the development of the Polish set of C, which ��� referring to the developed solutions at the European level ��� should also refer to the specificity of Polish forestry and take into account the issues important for forest management in our country., Sylwan 165 (7): 519-532