Selecting indicators for assessing sustainable land management

While the importance of the concept of the sustainability of land management practices is now widely accepted, there remains considerable debate on methods of identifying sustainability. This paper proposes a series of criteria which can be used to select indicators for assessing the sustainability of land management systems. ‘Sustainable land management’ is defined using the five objectives of productivity, security, protection, viability and acceptability. The paper introduces the concept of ‘areas of concern’, which are defined as any factor able to influence the ability of a production system to meet the five objectives of sustainable land management. Environmental indicators used to monitor areas of concern must be sensitive to management actions and must be related in a functional way with those parts of the system which may be at risk. Indicators must have identified critical values beyond which a particular system of land management is no longer sustainable. Critical values for indicators often depend on an understanding of the mechanisms which control the relationships between management and the final arbiter of sustainability. Critical values may vary depending on the characteristics of the system but will be independent of management, although management will influence the rate at which an indicator approaches its critical value. It is argued that the criteria used to select biophysical indicators can also be used for selecting indicators of the economic, social and commercial aspects of sustainability.