Practical assessment and monitoring of forest biodiversity

This briefing note explores the many uses of the Forest Integrity Assessment (FIA) tool, which can be used by smallholders, community members and medium-sized land holdings to monitor change in forest biodiversity over time. 

The FIA provides a checklist which guides assessors through the process of evaluating biodiversity levels. This is adapted to the different forest types to ensure that indicators are locally relevant. This checklist takes into account:

• Structure and composition
• Impacts and threats
• Focal habitats
• Focal species.

Each of these categories is measured in relation to the integrity of natural forest types (those which have experienced marginal human disturbance).

Download: 11 Practical assessment and monitoring of forest biodiversity [ENGLISH]

This document is part of a series of briefing notes about responsible sourcing and production. Download the other briefing notes below. 

• 1 Delivering responsible sourcing in practice: an integrated approach [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE] | [INDONESIAN] | [FRENCH]
• 2 Introduction to landscape or jurisdictional initiatives in commodity agriculture [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE] | [INDONESIAN] | [FRENCH]
• 3 Implementing responsible sourcing – using landscape or jurisdictional initiatives [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE] | [INDONESIAN] | [FRENCH]
• 4 Building on legality [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE] | [INDONESIAN] | [FRENCH]
• 5 Smallholder engagement [ENGLISH] | [PORTUGUESE]
• 6 Geospatial risk assessment and 'no deforestation' commitments [ENGLISH]
• 7 The High Carbon Stock Approach: an update [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [INDONESIAN] | [FRENCH]
• 8 Responsible sourcing in practice: supplier engagement [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE]
• 9 Socio-environmental monitoring of the cattle sector in Brazil [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE]
• 10 Delivering company commitments to zero deforestation commodity supply chains [ENGLISH] | [PORTUGUESE] | [FRENCH]
• 12 Accelerating implementation of responsible sourcing commitments: A Framework for Progress to 2020 and Beyond [ENGLISH] | [PORTUGUESE]
• 13 Agricultural Commodity Responsible Sourcing (ACRES): taking action within and beyond supply chains [ENGLISH] | [SPANISH] | [PORTUGUESE]