Forest Integrity Assessment
The Forest Integrity Assessment (FIA) tool empowers local communities and non-experts to assess the ecological condition and biodiversity of their forests by comparing them to natural, undisturbed forests in the region. Designed as an accessible, cost-effective and participatory tool, FIA helps establish forest baselines and track changes over time. This supports the protection of High Conservation Values and strengthens sustainable forest management practices.
Sustainable Development Goal 15 – Life on Land
Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
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FIA - Tracking Forest Health: A User-Friendly Participatory Tool for Sustainable Management
Responsible forest management is essential for maintaining and protecting biodiversity and high conservation values. However, biodiversity monitoring is challenging due to the need for expert knowledge, time, and cost. The Forest Integrity Assessment (FIA), developed by the HCV Network and WWF nearly 20 years ago, offers an alternative approach. Using visible forest features—like structure, microhabitats and the presence or absence of threats like invasive species as a proxy for species diversity, FIA allows for a suite of indicators to be assessed. These indicators are scored against pristine forest conditions for the same type of forest, to reflect the forest’s ecological integrity, based on the assumption that more complex, pristine forests support more species. As FIA does not require expert knowledge or equipment like eDNA, camera traps, or acoustic tools to measure species diversity directly, it is accessible for forest managers and local communities to assess their forest’s biodiversity patterns.
FIA can be adapted to any forest ecosystem and geography and is well suited to engage and empower local communities in forest management. FIA is a cost-effective and participatory tool that complements other monitoring methods, and is especially effective in helping to link forest management actions with ecosystem outcomes when used systematically for management planning and monitoring. With growing global focus on ecosystem condition as a key nature indicator, FIA is a smart way to start and build out assessment and monitoring.
Explore how this practical, accessible tool can transform local knowledge into actionable insights for healthier forests
For a detailed explanation of how FIA works and how to adapt the checklists, see the FIA Briefing Note and Manual, available in five languages.
HCVN is working with its members and users of the FIA, including WWF as a founding partner to improve the tool’s accessibility and usability.
The HCVN Secretariat can support regional FIA adaptation or training and help connect you with local partners.
Click on the map below to access links to local FIA resources and case studies.
Click on the dropdowns below to access links to local FIA resources and case studies.
Australia
FIA has been piloted with a First Nations council in Victoria, where forest condition measured using FIA will inform forest management decisions and monitoring. The accessible nature of FIA has helped resurface traditional knowledge and reconnect traditional owners with their forests. More information to share still needs to be gathered.
Brazil
Brazil
Cameroon
FIA has contributed to engage and empower local communities in forest management. A FIA procedure adapted for local communities in the Tridom region of Cameroon to monitor forest biodiversity and carbon stock, is improving community participation in forest management planning and monitoring.
FIA procedure adapted to southern Cameroon
Unlocking incentives for nature-based solutions with forest communities
Débloquer des incitations pour des solutions fondées sur la nature avec les communautés forestières
Chile
The expansion of eucalyptus plantations can have significant negative impacts on native forests. A WWF programme in Chile promoted FSC certification in order to reduce these impacts, while generating greater value in the timber industry. The FIA method was adapted to the Valdivia region, for small enterprise plantation managers to easily identify native forests that needed to be set-aside and threatened species with specific management needs.
FIA checklist adapted to the Moist Forest of the Valdivia Region
China
Research was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of FIA to determine community diversity in plantation forests managed under carbon sequestration projects in the Western Qinba Mountains. No correlation between FIA scores and forest condition in the plantations was found, with the authors noting that the FIA procedure should be adapted to specific contexts.
Guatemala
An adapted FIA procedure has been piloted for use with community enterprises who manage forest concessions in the Multiple Use Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, as part of developing and implementing Forest Management Plans. More information to share still needs to be gathered.
Indonesia
Versions of FIA adapted to specific user-contexts and forest ecosystem types, including peatlands, are being used by oil palm producer and plantation companies to monitor HCV set-aside areas and the biodiversity outcomes of remediation and compensation projects. An version of FIA has been developed for smallholder oil palm growers to identify natural forests that should not be cleared for new plantations.
FIA procedure adapted to SE Asian Lowland dipterocarp forests
Italy
FIA has been piloted by Istituto per le Piante da Legno e l'Ambiente (IPSA) in the Vercelli Province, Italy to demonstrate sustainable management and ecosystem services outcomes in the FSC-certified Bosque de la Partecipanza. The tool has been calibrated with species diversity assessments and used by NGOs as well as government forestry authorities. More information to share still needs to be gathered.
Laos
WWF promotes sustainable rattan and bamboo supply chains through support for community forest certification. FIA was adapted and training provided so communities could demonstrate sustainable management and comply with FSC certification requirements.
FIA checklist adapted to the dry and deciduous forests of the Greater Mekong
FIA checklist adapted to the evergreen forests of the Greater Mekong
Malaysia
Independent studies show that FIA scores align well with detailed biodiversity surveys, confirming its reliability as an indicator of forest health. The adapted FIA methodology is now used in long-term biodiversity conservation projects, and was piloted in Royal Belum State Park to monitor habitat health and assess the effectiveness of habitat in supporting critical ecosystem services. The smartphone app of this FIA methodology developed by SEARRP makes FIA particularly accessible and user-friendly in this region.
FIA procedure adapted to SE Asian Lowland dipterocarp forests
Mozambique
FIA was included in an evaluation of biodiversity methodologies, to generate a framework for assessing ecological condition of Miombo Woodlands as part of Mozambique’s biodiversity offsetting system. The adapted FIA was not able to distinguish open from dense undisturbed Miombo forest, but did perform better than other methodologies in separating between degraded Miombo and other condition types.
Panama
The FIA methodology was adapted to tropical forests in the Darién Region as part of a WWF programme to support forest communities implement sustainable forest management.
FIA checklist adapted to the tropical forests of the Darién Region
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Portugal
Portugal
Sweden
The Naturvärdesbedömning or Nature Value Assessments - an early iteration of FIA – has been used for the last 20 years as a self-assessment tool by small forest managers and co-operatives. Here it is primarily used to identify native forests important for biodiversity that should be set-aside prior to final harvesting or road construction.
FIA checklist adapted to Scandinavian forest types
Research evaluating Habitat Heterogeneity Score for predicting species richness
Turkey
The FIA tool was adapted and piloted to the assess the status of biodiversity in and around hazelnut orchards in the Black Sea region. More information to share still needs to be gathered.
United States
The Forest Biodiversity Assessment tool helps small forest land owners in the Pacific North-west assess impacts on biodiversity, take management decisions to mitigate impacts, and support monitoring
For countries indicated without projects, FIA has been piloted and used, but more information still needs to be gathered