Impact indicators for measuring change in the natural resource base

Specifically, the impact indicators include: six soil resource indicators (to measure water- and wind-caused erosion, soil productivity and degration, land use, and run- off), five water resource indicators (to measure availability of ground and surface water, upstream flooding, irrigation efficiency, surface water pollutants, and groundwater contamination), four plant resource indicators (to assess local farming practices, the carrying capacity of rangeland, and the status of forests and wetlands), and two ecosystem indicators (to evaluate general ecological deterioration, and to measure the relative productivity in calories of food produced in a soil-plant ecosystem). The document also provides a checklist of baseline data needed to implement the indicators. It is not feasible to use a common set of impact indicators for all interventions, the document concludes; variations in climate, soil, and vegetation in different locations and over time require different sets of indicators.