FO:NEFC/02/5

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS FROM THE GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2000

Global highlights

1. Since 1946, FAO has regularly reported on the world's forest resources. The Forest Resources Assessment Programme (FRA) has completed the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000), which provided the single most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information and knowledge on the world's forests. The FRA 2000 Main report was released on the Web in October 2001, followed by printed editions. In addition, country profiles on forest resources were prepared for all countries and made available on the Web.

2. The FRA 2000 work was carried out by FAO, in the field and at its headquarters in Rome, with the assistance of donors, partners and member countries. One component, the compilation of country data for Temperate and Boreal forests (including the NEFC countries of Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) was co-ordinated in Geneva, jointly by FAO and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The assessment relied largely on the collection and analysis of forest inventory results from individual countries. One of the greatest strengths of FAO's global assessments is the close collaboration with and involvement of the countries in this process, ensuring a high degree of ownership and transparency in the results.

3. FRA 2000 concluded that, world-wide, the conversion of forests to other land uses continues at a high rate - particularly in the tropics. At the same time, natural expansion of forests, largely on land previously used for agriculture, is high - particularly in the temperate zone. In addition, forest plantations continue to be established at a rate of about three million hectares annually. Taken together, the annual net change in forest area was -9.4 million hectares during the 1990s (Table 1.)

Table 1. Annual changes in forest area, 1990 to 2000 (million hectares per year)

The FRA 2000 Main report is available at:  www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/main/index.jsp  The Forestry country profiles are available at www.fao.org/forestry/country/nav_world.jsp

NEFC countries

4. The forest resources of the NEFC countries is summarized in Table 2. The land area is 14.3 percent of the global land area, however, the forest area is less than 2.81 percent of the world total. Thirteen countries have more than 1 million hectares of forest land. The largest area is in Sudan with about 57 percent of the total forests in the region, followed by Turkey, Somalia, The Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, Morocco, Pakistan, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. These thirteen countries account for about 105 million hectares and 96 percent of the total forest area of the countries. The remaining countries have about 4 million hectares. Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have only plantations.

5. Reduction of forest area and the degradation of forest resources due to overgrazing, urbanisation, conversion of forests to agricultural lands and the over-exploitation of local woods remained a major constraint to forestry sector development in most countries. At the same time, investments in forest plantations increased the forest area in a number of NEFC countries. The changes in forest for the period 1990 - 2000 are given in Table 2. It is noteworthy that the Sudan accounts for most of the deforestation in the region, although the available data are unprecise for this country. In Sudan the FRA 2000 results highlighted a situation of progressive degradation and reduction of East African forests due to social conditions created by war and the limited potential area of forests.

6. The results on the assessment of the above ground biomass show that NEFC countries have very dry and degraded forests. Although wood fuel is one of the main source of energy, the average of woody biomass density is very low (36 tonnes/ha) and only The Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Algeria and Turkey have more than 50 tonnes/ha while most of the remaining countries have less than 30 tonnes/ha. The contribution of forest plantations to woody biomass is very high for Algeria, The Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Tunisia and for small and dry countries like Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Table 2. Forest resources in the NEFC region

Source: FRA 2000 Main report
Note: Countries are sorted according to forest area 2000.

7. The survey methods and quality of information vary among countries. The Sudan has only a partial forest inventory that covers the "gum belt" regions and extrapolations to the national level are uncertain. Information from Turkey is based on literature review and secondary sources; Somalia have old and fragmented information; The Islamic Republic of Iran has a survey based on satellite images, aerial photos and a field survey was carried out for the Caspian forests and central Zagros in 1999. For other parts of the country a sample inventory was used.

8. The assessment for Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as for most of the temperate and boreal countries, has been done through literature review and country submissions.

9. Morocco prepared the National Forest Inventory in 1995 and included also the assessment of the forest resources of Western Sahara. Although Algeria has started updating its Forest Inventory, it still refers to the data collected in 1982. Information used by FRA 2000 was generated from a countrywide inquiry led by a local consultant that updated the 1982 inventory on the basis of local knowledge.

10. Data for Pakistan was available only for 1990; estimates for Saudi Arabia are based on a 1994 inventory of the south-western part of the country using aerial photos and fieldwork. For other parts of the country, estimates are based on annual reports and studies. Afghanistan carried out a systematic forestry inventory, published in 1993, based on remote sensing images from 1989 to 1991, with maps and technical reports. The information on forest cover for Yemen was done using satellite imagery, aerial photos and fieldwork and was published in 1993.

11. For Iraq and Lebanon, information on forest cover is based on surveys and studies conducted prior to 1990. Tunisia has started updating its forest inventory that involves comparable mapping methodologies and sampling designs. The sampling schemes are, however, based on independent sets of temporary plots. Information for Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic as well as for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Egypt, Cyprus, Djibouti and Malta is based on literature review and secondary sources of annual reports and studies. Finally, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates reported on records and surveys of only planted areas.

Conclusion

12. Reliable information on forest resources are essential to generate alternative scenarios, and based on these to formulate and implement forest policies. FRA 2000 concluded that such information is lacking in most of the world's countries, making the process towards sustainable forest management difficult. This conclusion led FAO to present, among others, the following recommendations in the FRA 2000 Main report:

• Further emphasis should be placed on capacity building to improve national forest assessments. The best way to improve global assessments is to improve national assessments.
• Continued work is needed to improve methodologies and techniques for data collection and analysis, particularly for systematic and representative field observations of broad sets of forest parameters complemented by remote sensing technology. Only through first-hand and representative observations can a solid basis for forest policy processes be established.
• Country participation and the role of the FAO Regional Forestry Commissions should be increased in planning and implementing all phases of future assessments, from data collection through analysis.

Where do we go from here?

13. Following FRA 2000, FAO's process for assessing global forest resources, as well as its support to member countries in their national assessments, will be reviewed.

14. One important event is a planned expert consultation in mid-2002 that will evaluate FRA 2000 findings and develop recommendations for future global assessments, as well as FAO's support to national inventories and assessments.

15. Recommendations from the Regional Forestry Commissions are valuable in this process, leading towards proposals for consideration by COFO 2003. The Commission is therefore invited to comment on the FRA 2000 Main report in general, and its recommendations in particular.

16. The Commission is also asked to comment on the specific points below, related to current priorities and activities of the FRA Programme.

17. The FRA Programme would benefit from closer interaction with and through the RFCs. The Commission is invited to propose focal points for this interaction, that could also serve as advisors on FRA activities in the region:

• The planned FRA expert consultation 2002 will discuss the establishment of a global team of specialists to give advice to FAO's forest resources assessments. Such a team would consist of leading technical experts from all regions and meet on an annual basis. The Commission is asked to comment on this arrangement;
• The expert consultation will also consider the reporting frequency and format of the global forest resources assessments. It has been proposed that global information should be updated and improved on a continuous basis as new information becomes available. Global statistics could be generated at two-year intervals, corresponding to the SOFO cycle. Comprehensive assessments could be made at five or ten year intervals. Other options include to assess one region at a time and have a rolling scheme. The Commission is asked to comment these options;
• In its global assessments, FAO strives to involve countries to the extent possible. In future assessments countries could be encouraged to maintain their data directly in FAO's Forestry Information System using modern information technology. FAO and its member countries may also want to streamline international reporting mechanisms to meet requirements from an increasing number of international fora. The Commission is asked to comment these possible developments in global forest resources assessments;
• The FRA Programme is intensifying its support to national forest inventories and assessments to address information gaps in many countries. The support would generally be in the form of needs assessments and implementation of pilot surveys. The surveys would cover variables related to the forest resources as such, but also the management and uses of these resources, including indicators of sustainable forest management. The surveys would be based on systematic and representative field sampling and be designed to generate new and valuable knowledge also in the pilot phase;
• The FRA support to national forest inventories and assessment will require extra-budgetary funding from donors. The Commission is invited to comment on the priority of investments in systematic forest resources information in the region.