Lima, June 17 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Forest experts from the public and private sector of 20 Latin American countries met again in the town of Tarapoto, Peru to define criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management in the Amazon.

They had met there 20 years ago with the similar objectives. The C&I must become essential tools for forestry companies and licenses, indigenous communities and other actors that enjoy a direct benefit from the woods, as well as for government agencies of the sector, stated the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one of the main organizers of the event.

Various international initiatives have already developed criteria and indicators, as in Tarapoto two decades ago.

“These C&I can only be correctly applied if the various actors find a direct benefit in implementing them when they are designing and monitoring their management plans,” said Jorge Malleux, FAO regional consultant and expert in evaluation of forestry resources.

This event is part of a series of regional workshops organized in Africa, Asia and Latin America by the FAO, with the support of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Forests, when managed and protected in a sustainable way, can play a key role in climate change mitigation, adaptation, maintenance of biodiversity, and economic development. Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most important forest regions, with nearly one-quarter of the world's forest cover according to the FAO.