Indicators are descriptive data representing a condition and conveying information on changes or trends in that condition. Indicators may provide guidance on actions to be taken, and they are also an important component of national and global checks and balances to ensure that decisionmaking is in accordance with the requirements of society. Decisionmakers at different levels (farm, regional, national, international) require different kinds of indicators depending on the kinds and level of their decisions. The probability of greater relevance, utility, and application of indicators increases if decisionmakers and other stakeholders are involved in the choice of indicators and the development of monitoring systems. Indicators are already in regular use for economic and social data. For example, gross national product is an indicator of total wealth; life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy rates are indicators of social well- being. In contrast, few such indicators are available to assess, monitor, and evaluate changes in the quality of land resources or the impact of human interventions in the landscape. The publication and data links provided in the Indicators page represent efforts to fill this void.

The Guidelines for Impact Monitoring
Authors: Karl Herweg (CDE), Kurt Steiner (GTZ), Joep Slaats (KIT)

"A key activity in promoting sustainable development, as identified at the Earth Summit +5 conference in 1997, is a revitalized rural investment strategy. This would include intensified production to meet growing demands while concurrently ensuring conservation of natural resources and promotion of sustainable land management. Important components in this strategy include development of indicators and procedures for monitoring impacts of projects, programmes, and policies on the productivity and quality of land resources. These are required to guide and advise us a we struggle to make the right choices."

Indicators of Land Quality and Sustainable Management, Annotated Bibliography
Authors: J. Dumanski, S. Gameda, and C. Pieri (The World Bank)

Few indicators are available to assess, monitor, and evaluate changes in the quality of land resources or the impact of human interventions in the landscape. This annotated bibliography is one of a series of activities being undertaken by the World Bank, in cooperation with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and other national and international partners, to correct this void.

NRM Indicators Database: (These datasets are currently available to Bank staff only).

The NRM Indicator Datasets report national-level rankings for 110 Bank client countries in the production and consumption aspects of natural resources management. The datasets are divided into the following sectors: forestry, agriculture, livestock, water supply and fisheries. An additional dataset touches on resource stocks in relation to biodiversity, although no attempt is made to include consumption issues with respect to this resource. The sector datasets draw heavily on the global data collected by FAO, supplementing where necessary with data from the World Resources Database (WRI, 1997) and the Bank's own World Development Indicators (WB, 1998). The index of biodiversity used in the report was produced by the World Conservation Monitoring Center.