North American Forest Commission Inventory, Monitoring and Assessment Working Group Integrated Working Group Meeting March 3-6, 2008 Simon Bridge Canadian Forest Service Natural Resources Canada.

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 2 Background Need for North American perspective on forest inventory, monitoring and reporting All three countries are revising their approaches to National Forest Inventory Opportunity  To increase consistency in analysis and reporting  To move towards a common framework for inventory and monitoring

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 3 Objectives Share research and information Take advantage of opportunities for collaboration and scientific exchange on forest inventory and monitoring Focus on:  Fostering compatible approaches  Use of remote sensing and other technologies  Sponsor and facilitate exchanges to build capacity  Advise member countries  Fostering communication

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 4 Accomplishments Presentations:  NAFC Commission Meeting (Vera Cruz)  Monitoring, Science and Technology Workshop (Denver)  CIF/SAF Joint AGM (Edmonton) Reports:  North America regional assessment  Remote sensing tools for forest inventory

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 5 Current Activities Regional Forest Resources Database What: A spatially defined forest inventory database for North America using:  FAO ecological reporting framework  Common protocols to facilitate data exchange, evaluation and assessment Why: Support an NAFC objective to have consistent forest reporting for all major North American forest ecosystems from a continental perspective. How: 1. Enlist country forest inventory experts to outline preliminary structure and attributes for database development. 2. Hire a contractor to evaluate, document and report on database feasibility and potential outputs.

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 6 Current Activities

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 7 Current Activities

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 8 North American Forests

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 9 Next Steps Further develop Regional Forest Resources Database; Present findings of regional assessment at 2009 World Forest Congress; Regional workshop for FRA 2010 at next WG meeting (June 2008, Canada)

March 3-7, 2008 NAFC Integrated Working Group Meeting, Washington, DC 10 Membership Mexico: Alberto Sandoval Arturo Victoria Francisco Takaki Takaki Rigoberto Palafox Rivas USA: Greg Reams Brad Smith Michael Wilson Canada: Mark Gillis Simon Bridge Joe Kapron