INTRODUCTION

1. The Regional Workshop on National Forest Programmes in the Near East Region was held in Istanbul, Turkey, 11-12 October 1999. It took place in accordance with the recommendations of the 13^th Session of the Near East Forestry Commission, held in Damascus, Syria 6-9 December 1999, which requested FAO to continue assisting the region in the formulation and implementation of the National Forest Programmes, NFPs, in the Near East. This is one of the priorities given by COFO and other Statutory Bodies to the issue of national forest programmes, with special reference to supporting countries which have not started nor applied their own special activities in this field.

2. Twenty-five participants representing 18 Near East and some Central Asian countries attended the meeting. The Turkish Ministry of Forestry hosted and provided organisational facilities for the meeting. Two resource papers were presented, one providing an overview of the state of national forest programmes in the Near East and another gave indication on the concept process and approaches to the formulation of national forest programmes. Different countries provided information to the participants on the situation of their planning and programming processes. Among the main constraints and difficulties raised by the countries were, the lack of clarity in many countries about the concept of national forest programmes to consider a planning exercise as such, the lack of national capacity to carry out this type of exercises, the lack of enough international technical and financial support with this purpose in the region and the need for specific training activities. The representatives from countries from Central Asia claimed more strong and specific attention and support to their needs, especially from FAO.

3. Most of the member countries of the Near East region continue to be interested in the implementation of national level the NFPs, as a step towards sustainable development. Successful implementation in the Near East region, however, will continue to require training and external support in order to assure that the process remains active. To achieve specified goals, countries called on FAO and other organizations to continue providing the necessary assistance
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4. The objectives of the Regional workshop were to review, discuss and report to the Near East Forestry Commission, or any other fora as appropriate, on the following issues:

• To create awareness on the desirability of having a comprehensive strategic framework to guide the sustainable development of the forestry sector,
• to inform and exchange experience between countries on the participatory, holistic and intersectoral approaches to the formulation of national forest programmes and
• to discuss with the international donor community ways and means to support programme formulation and implementation.

5. To facilitate the discussions three Background Notes had been prepared by three experts, covering.

CONCLUSIONS

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

6. The participants of the meeting expressed their gratitude to the Government and people of Turkey who hosted the meeting and for their warm welcome and generous hospitality particularly in view of the recent natural disaster.

1. It is obvious that many participants are not certain about the Concept of NFPs.
2. There is need for more contacts, meetings, workshops, working groups, study tours etc. to clarify the concept and how it relates to ongoing forest related activities in each country of the NE Region.
3. To date the involvement of countries and donor support in the Near East, Central Asian and Caucasian region is lowest compared to countries in other regions.
4. The inherent climatic conditions of aridity and dessert conditions in most countries of the region and the population pressures on vegetation and tree cover make the urgent need for action, more imperative than in other regions.
5. There are just as many regional organizations and finance agencies in the NE region as in other regions to assist member countries in the formulation and implementation of NFPs. There is obvious need to exert more efforts to sensitize them to that effect. These include the League of Arab States (LAS) and its specialized agencies such as ALECSO, AOAD, AAAID, ACSAD and BADEA. The financing agencies include the Islamic Development, Bank and Bilateral Funds such the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kuwait Fund for Development, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development etc.
6. The definition, formulation and implementation of national forest programme need to be based on a national dialogue among interested parties.
7. Financing national forest programmes should be based principally on resources mobilization within the country. External assistance, important as it is, cannot be a substitute but can only supplement national financial mechanisms.
8. There are definite roles to be played by individual member countries, by the Near East Commission and by FAO to address the situation.
9. The situation in the newly independent-countries in Central Asia and the Caucaus deserves a special attention.
10. The meeting also recognized that conflicts and international embargo can seriously affect the possibilities of countries to prevent degradation and restore degraded forest ecosystem.

RECOMMENDATIONS

7. On the basis of the above conclusions, the regional workshop on NFPs recommends the following.

(a) To member countries:

• The Forest Authorities to initiate NFPs and sensitize to the cause relevant government entities, local groups, NGOs and specialized regional organizations.
• To set-up a national focal unit made of 2-3 persons, with adequate administrative, logistic and other support to list all the national activities relevant to NFPs.
• The Forest Authorities need to secure political recognition for the role of forests and trees in environmental and ecological stability, socio-economic development, in food security and peoples well-being .
• Based on recommendation No.3 the Forest authorities should urge the relevant Ministries e.g. Agriculture, Environment, Finance etc. To secure the involvement of relevant regional organizations and finance agencies in the implementation of NFPs.
• Countries in the Region should encourage an effective and direct collaboration and communication to each other for exchange of ideas and experiences in NFPs process.

(b) To FAO and the Near East Forestry Commission:

• Organize technical assistance and group training for members of country focal units on how to transform the information and data collected into the NFP appropriate format.
• Appoint a National Forest Programme regional advisor on the same basis as in other regions and attach him/her to the Near East Regional Office. The advisor should be knowledgeable on the ecology, cultural and socio-economic background of the region.
• Assist individual member countries in the preparation and formulation of their NFPs.
• Assist member countries to identify potential donors to support in the implementation of NFPs in the Region.
• Appoint a special advisor on permanent or ad-hoc basis for the newly independent countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus Region.

Annex 1
AGENDA

REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON NATIONAL FOREST PROGRAMMES

FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE NEAR EAST
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
11-12 October 1999

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS