Can Traditional Forestry Accounting Contribute to Measuring the Sustainability of a Forest Enterprise?

Wien

2009

S. 101-109

1 Abb., 2 Tab., 13 Lit. Ang.

Artikel aus einer ZeitschriftUnselbständiges Werk

200162440

Since Rio (1992) various sustainability processes on the international level have been aiming at securing sustainability on national and/or regional levels. Criteria and indicator indices for sustainable forest management, for instance, were established as a result of the so-called Pan-European Process. As forest management takes place in the institutional framework of forest enterprises, which have - at least in Central Europe - a long tradition of sustainability, it is necessary to define the indicators also at the operational level. Sustainability on the operational level has always been focussed on resources; however, it has substantial deficits, in particular, with regard to the value aspects of the forest assets and the non-market products. Thus, the following questions arise: Which of the Pan-European indicators are of relevance for securing sustainability in an enterprise, and which can be provided by the accounting system (being the fundamental instrument for information supply and controlling)? Which data does accounting supply? What can it contribute to? How would it have to be developed further? A study at the Vienna Institute for Silviculture, including expert inquiries and case studies in forest enterprises in connection with the L2 project, assessed 43 indicators on the basis of different properties. Its outcome could be used to establish a catalogue of indicators for the individual company. The main problem of an accounting system is the lack of consideration of annual changes in forest assets and the dissatisfactory recording of the environmental services. These problems are aggravated by serios weaknesses of forest surveys in practice. In this paper a list of operationally relevant criteria and indicators is presented, the shortcomings of the accounting system are briefly addresses, and concepts for their overcoming are dealt with.