Forest Tenure

PT Musi Hutan Persada, a forestry company growing wood for pulp in South Sumatra manages about 200 000 ha of forest plantations, 90% of which consists of Acacia mangium. Most of the plantations are in an area with high rainfall and on red-yellow podzolic soil with inherently poor fertility and low pH.

This study describes the concept of a management information system (MIS) developed for the Center for International Forestry Research. A definition of MIS and the institutional background are given, followed by a description of the organisational structure, definition of MIS requirements and the procedures and results of an information requirements survey.

Between March 1997 and February 1998 three tests of Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for assessing the sustainability of community-managed forests were conducted by the Center for International Forestry Research.

The CIFOR C&I Toolbox series is designed to help people make assessments of management in particular production forests where people live and work in and around the forests. The assessment include aspects relating to management, environment and human well-being. The toolbox has developed a generic set of principles, criteria and indicators, related method and samples.

Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool developed for complex problems. In a situation where multiple criteria are involved confusion can arise if a logical, well-structured decision-making process is not followed. Another difficulty in decision making is that reaching a general consensus in a multidisciplinary team can be very difficult to achieve.