Since June 1992, significant progress has been made in defining sustainable Forest management. The approach taken has been to establish criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management. The criteria constitute a set of key elements that define the scope of the concept of sustainable forest management. They reflect a series of broadly held societal values-the environmental, social and economic benefits of forests that should be maintained for future generations. Indicators are chosen to provide measurable features of each criterion. These criteria and indicators should serve a number of purposes, by providing (1) a set of key terms that can be used in future international discussions on forests, (2) a framework against which countries can evaluate their forest policies, (3) a mechanism for rationalizing and evaluating international aid and technical cooperation programs, and (4) a means of resolving difficulties in international discussions on trade in products from sustainably managed forests. The criteria and indicators have been developed through a series of regional and international processes that are very similar in approach. The challenge now is to put them into practice, to refine the measurement and definition of the indicators, and to explore linkages between national-level criteria and indicators and the implementation of sustainable forest management at the working level.