North American forestry commission
Near East Forestry Commission
Latin American Forestry Commission
Personnel
FAO coin plan
Mexico was host to the fourth session of the North American Forestry Commission from 2 to 7 October 1967. Under the chairmanship of Noé Palomares, Undersecretary of Forestry and Wildlife, more than 50 delegates from the member countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States, and observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) attended the meetings at the University of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City.
The representative of FAO at the session was Jack C. Westoby, Deputy Director, Forestry and Forest Industries Division. A.L. Best, FAO Regional Forestry Officer, acted as secretary. This was his swan song prior to retirement and his successor has since been named: G.H. Behrendt, who was formerly forestry adviser and then FAO Country Representative in Nicaragua.
The heads of the three delegations highlighted the progress in forestry that had taken place in their countries since the last session in Washington in 1966. In Canada, capital expenditures of over U.S. $500 million in 1966 were illustrative of the resilience of the pulp and paper industry. The trend toward ever larger forestry enterprises continued. The nation's annual cut was expected to rise by 300 percent over present levels by the year 2000. The federal service was greatly expanding forestry research activities and advisory committees had been appointed to decide priorities and facilitate co-operation with the provinces. Under the Land Inventory Program about 250 million hectares were being classified according to capability for agriculture, forestry, recreation and wildlife; as a consequence, much marginal agricultural land had been acquired for conversion to forest production.
As regards Mexico, a third National Forestry Convention had been held in 1966 where full discussion had been accorded to the most important current problems of forest protection and utilization, trade in forest products, forestry in rural development, wildlife and outdoor recreation. The greater part of the population was wholly ignorant of the significance of the forests to the country's economic development and this was undoubtedly a major obstacle to the introduction of sound forest management. To improve the situation, a public relations campaign had been launched under the sponsorship of the Forest Service using all modern means of mass communication; forestry had become a regular feature in the press, on the radio and television. The national forest inventory was continuing according to plan and the resulting information was being made available to industrialists, investors and agencies concerned with economic development. Research was being directed mainly, to studies of the main forest pests of the tropical and temperate zones and of afforestation possibilities. Work in the field of wildlife management was concerned mainly with the conservation of the migratory waterfowl of North America which have their winter resting areas in Mexico.
The Chief of the United States Forest Service, Edward P. Cliff, reported an enormous upsurge of public interest in the use and management of the nation's forests. Analyses of future trends and identification of the problems to be solved by the turn of the century had been set out in a broad program for agriculture and forestry entitled Agriculture 2000. A far-reaching land classification program had been started in the western part of the country and in Alaska, involving about 200 million hectares of forest and range lands. Legislation had broadened the opportunities for reducing air and water pollution, enhancing natural beauty, and the better management of forest lands.
The commission has four working parties whose activities were reviewed at the session. The Working Party on Forest Insects and Diseases had arranged for the printing in English of a report on Important forest insects and diseases of mutual concern to Canada, United States and Mexico; publication of a Spanish edition was intended. Other publications issued included a report on plant quarantine procedures and a directory of forest pathologists in North America. The commission recommended that a seminar and study tour be organized for special training in the recognition and control of major forest insects and diseases, and in the administration of quarantine regulations, to minimize the spread of forest insects and pathogens in domestic and international trade. It also recommended that Canadian experts should assist in studies of the taxonomy and ecological characteristics of Mexican pine sawflies and in determining the possibilities for biological control.
The Forest Fire Control Working Party issues a periodic newsletter on fire equipment and fire control techniques. A preliminary classification system has been developed for forest fire literature and the English-Spanish version of a fire control terminology is being worked out. The commission recommended that a campaign should be started to extend the use of standardized forest fire prevention signs throughout North America. It proposed that a forest fire prevention poster contest be organized and a film festival. It also recommended that another regional seminar and study tour on forest fire prevention and control should be organized by FAO; the next in this series was at present planned to be held in Australia.
The Working Party on Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation had circulated lists of United States research scientists, prepared reports on forest recreation research studies and another on the future development of wildlife conservation in Mexico. Agreement had been reached upon the essentials of a curriculum for professional training in management and research related to wildlife and outdoor recreation.
The Forest Tree Improvement Working Party had elaborated a program which would enable Mexican trainees to visit Canada and the United States. It had published technical papers on the advantages of forest tree improvement techniques, a description of quarantine measures and procedures for handling plant materials in international exchanges; it had also arranged for the exchange of information on seed in surplus supply and available for other countries. The commission made a number of recommendations relating to this field of work.
The attention of the commission was drawn to a number of significant developments in forestry and forest industry practices which had come about in North America: for instance multiprocessing timber harvesting systems development; forestry radar altimeters; use of helicopters at night in fire-fighting; electronic system for forest fire reconnaissance; airborne fire detention; water bombers; lightning sensor system; portable chemical units for servicing aerial tankers; automatic fire stations and new tank trucks.
The next session of the commission is scheduled for autumn 1969 in Canada, and the Deputy Minister, Canadian Department of Forestry and Rural Development, J.L.E. Couillard, was elected the new chairman of the commission.
The fifth session of the FAO Near East Forestry Commission was held at the Agricultural Research Department Building at Jubaiha, Amman (Jordan) from 25 to 30 September 1967. The meetings took place under the chairmanship of Salah Jum'ah, Director-General of the Forests, Range and Soil Conservation Department of Jordan. Participants represented nine countries¹ and the United Nations Development Program. Nils Osara, Director of the Forestry and Forestry Industries Division, represented FAO, and Khalid Hamad, FAO Regional Forestry Officer, acted as Secretary. Prior to the session, the Commission's Working Parties on Forestry Education and Research and on Watershed and Range Management met under the chairmanship of Hassan Kittani, Director-General of Forestry of Iraq, and of Mahmoud Juneidi (Jordan) respectively.
¹ Cyprus, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic, an observer from the United Kingdom and representatives from the United Nations Development Program.
The chief items of discussion at the commission's session were the state of forestry in the Near East and the prospects for establishing tree plantations on agricultural lands. With few exceptions, such as Iran (Caspian forests), the Sudan (south) and Turkey - there is no sizable forest area in the region so that forest policy in the Near East is largely synonymous with afforestation policy.
Most countries still have much investigation to be done before policy is transformed into long-term afforestation plans. Many of the relevant decisions have to be taken outside the forestry sector but, at the same time, it is for the forest services to make proposals and provide the data on which governments can base their decisions. Despite FAO'S Mediterranean Development Project little assessment has yet been undertaken of input/output ratios and rates of return to be expected from plantations. Areas to be afforested have not yet been selected, nor have the means been thought out as to what is required to implement afforestation plans - and, in particular, from where the financing is to come and how. Consequently, the case for planting programs has generally not been put forward convincingly enough to give substance to the national forest policies which have already been adopted.
Nevertheless, the rate of afforestation is certainly on the increase, even though still inadequate measured by the region's needs. Even if some of the needs might conceivably be met from east and central Africa, afforestation with quick-growing species remains a task of primary importance. The present area under tree plantations in the region is estimated at 152,000 hectares with the equivalent of another 120,000 hectares in the form of row plantations on agricultural areas. The commission felt that 450,000 hectares of commercially exploitable plantations ought to be established by 1985 in the region. Some 50 percent would be best dispersed on the moister parts of the rain-fed agricultural tracts and at least 10 percent on areas under irrigation. The other 40 percent might have to replace natural forests. This would mean more than doubling the present total effort.
The commission also reviewed some of the social and political difficulties involved in tree planting. However sound the technical approaches may be, success will not be attained unless what needs to be done can be attuned to the traditions, attitudes and ways of the local people. Common objections to growing trees are that they compete with agricultural crops for soil moisture and nutrients, harbor harmful insects and pests, or impede the cleaning of irrigation channels. Counter arguments must be founded on scientific demonstrations. National forest administrations must present real data about tree plantations on agricultural lands if they can in fact substantiate their advantages. From Turkey, for example, figures could be given where poplar trees on good and on average soils had given annual revenues double those from wheat and maize.
The present task of many forest services relates mostly to the conservation of soil and water resources, particularly in connection with irrigation and land settlement projects. Agriculture remains the backbone of most national economies and is the main form of land use. Closer cooperation of foresters with those responsible for the development of the agricultural sector is regarded as of paramount importance if forestry is to make its proper contribution to general development. Regulated grazing and improved forms of range management are regarded as aspects of the introduction of proper management and use of natural forested areas.
The commission noted with interest the regional work carried out by FAO under the Indicative World Plan for Agricultural Development 1965/85, the results of which have been published in a provisional study for the Near East. It noted that, according to this provisional study, net imports of forest products might be expected to rise from the present level of U.S. $180 million to $500 million by 1985; however, without considerably increased investment in forestry and forest industries, the latter figure could be as much as $875 million. The commission regarded the methodology used by FAO in its forestry contribution to the Indicative World Plan as of value to governments in making decisions on financing forest development.
Considering the character of forestry in the Near East, the commission assigned an important role to public relations efforts in the promotion of forestry in the region; it stressed that only continuous efforts can have any lasting impact in the field of public relations.
The commission reviewed the work of its subsidiary bodies, its own future activities and the whole program of work of FAO in the field of forestry and forest industries. It decided to dissolve its own working parties and to appoint rapporteurs and/or ad hoc working groups to study specific problems in the fields concerned as the need arose.
On 29 September an excursion was arranged by the host, the Hashemite Government of Jordan, to show delegates the natural cover of evergreen oak in the northern uplands of east Jordan, soil and water conservations works in the Wadi Ziglab, the country's main natural pine/oak forests and a typical forest nursery at Ain Jamea.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago played host to the tenth session of the Latin American Forestry Commission from 4 to 9 December 1967 at Port-of-Spain. The meetings took place under the chairmanship of C.H. Murray, Conservator of Forests of Trinidad and Tobago, and there were 60 participants representing 13 member countries and several international organizations.²
² Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Guyana, Jamaica, Netherlands (Surinam), Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Belize), United States of America, Venezuela, observers from the Inter-American Development Bank, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, Latin American Forest Research and Training Institute and Organization of American States as well as representatives from the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program and the World Food Program.
Reviewing the state of forestry in the region, the commission recorded considerable progress since its last session in Brazil in 1964. There was still much to be done to incorporate the forestry sector - to a degree commensurate with its potentialities - in government plans for socioeconomic progress. Planning had become the order of the day in Latin America and in view of efforts toward economic integration it was of great importance that governments had medium and long-term forestry plans, and a clear definition of their forest policy. In countries with dense, low-income populations, the social advantages of forestry development must have-priority over other objectives.
The inadequate standing of government forest services was still the principal limiting factor for progress in forestry where, this had been overcome there was a clear correlation with forestry progress. On the other hand, the commission agreed that the institutional structure and place of official forest services must permit close association between the forestry sector and the agriculture sectors, and facilitate the co-ordination of resource development with the planning of related industries.
Governments, from their reports, were clearly making increasing efforts to control the causes of forest destruction but in general these were still in no way commensurate with the seriousness of the problem. It is estimated that about 10 million hectares of forests are still being cleared annually in Latin America to no great purpose. Although new or revised forest laws are being promulgated, all too often they are ineffective because they cannot be enforced. The commission urged Member Governments to take stronger measures to secure forest reservation and to define clearly the areas involved. Stress was laid on the need to gain the support of public opinion for forestry - the best way to do this was to make the forests pay dividends and in this context the commission welcomed the increasing number of forest Reinvestment surveys, supplemented by industry feasibility studies, being undertaken by FAO.
With regard to forestry education, considerable progress was noted, both at the professional and sub-professional level, but the lack of career prospects often still militates against attracting a high level of students. Training of skilled workers had improved but still scarcely fringes the needs.
In discussions on the prospects for the development of Latin America's forest industries, delegates again recounted the shortcomings which have many times been repeated: inadequate size of plants, low degree of utilization of installed capacity, outdated machinery, lack of grading rules for products, relatively high processing costs and scarcity of qualified technicians. Despite its vast area of forests, Latin America still has an unfavorable balance of trade in forest products: the annual deficit for pulp and paper alone is around U.S. $200 million. The anticipated demand for forest products in the near future means that extraordinary efforts will be needed to reduce dependence on imported pulp paper. It may entail, besides industrial improvements, more plantations of softwood species and an increased drive by Latin American countries to persuade the industrialized importing countries to facilitate the entry of processed forest products.
Regarding forest plantations, the commission noted the secretariat report that there were about 1 million hectares of hardwood plantations and 500,000 hectares of coniferous plantations established in countries of the region. The rate had apparently grown to about 90,000 hectares per year and national reforestation programs promised a further increase up to about 200,000 hectares per annum in the near future. The commission felt that this rate by no means exhausted the possibilities presented by the extensive areas available for afforestation nor did it cover the expected increased demand for forest products; in fact it was considered that planting programs should be raised to 300,000 hectares per year by 1985 which would call for an annual investment of the equivalent of $50 to 60 million at today's prices. To obtain such sums on reasonable terms was the obstacle; hence the need not only for national measures such as tax exemptions and other incentives but also for credit facilities, perhaps supported by international financing institutions. The commission noted the favorable experience of some countries in using afforestation schemes to promote social development; in particular in economically depressed areas otherwise lacking in employment opportunities. In addition, the taungya system of establishing new tree crops could overcome some problems of shifting cultivation and lead to better land use in areas with high population density and shortage of cultivable land.
The commission also reviewed the status of forestry research activities in the region; was informed about the work of the Latin American Forestry Research and Training Institute at Mérida, Venezuela; discussed the forestry contribution to the FAO Indicative World Plan for Agricultural Development, and made some proposals in regard to future programs of work of FAO. In order further to promote international collaboration in forestry research, the commission resolved to reestablish the regional Forestry Research Committee, to which it elected Frank Wadsworth, Director of the Tropical Forestry Research Institute at Rio Piedras (Puerto Rico), as chairman.
The commission's Committee on National Parks and Wildlife also held a two-day session in Port-of-Spain under the chairmanship of I. Costantino, Deputy Director of Forestry of Argentina. After the results of the meeting had been reported to the full commission, delegates commended particularly the following actions:
1. Elaboration of basic concepts for declaration of principles which should underlie the establishment and management of national parks in Latin America.2. A statement of guidelines for the management of national parks in Latin America.
3. The initial compilation of a selected bibliography on national parks in the region.
A number of excursions organized during the session provided delegates with opportunities to become familiar with the Forest Department's activities related to teak and pine plantations, timber utilization, and the establishment of a sanctuary for the particular protection of the national bird, the scarlet ibis.
Leslie J. Vernell, Forestry and Forest Industries Division, represented FAO at the session and F. Barrientos Fernandez, FAO Regional Forestry Officer, acted as secretary.
We regret to record the untimely deaths of K.K. LUND and R.D. SCHULTZ, both project managers of United Nations Special Fund forestry projects operated by FAO.
Knut Lund (Finland), who died on 29 October 1967 joined FAO in 1964 as project manager for a preinvestment study on forest industries development in Ceylon. Before joining FAO, he was manager of a wood exporting firm at Helsinki.
Robert Schultz (Canada) died on 3 February 1968. He came from Vancouver and in 1965 was appointed manager of a project for forest and forest industry development in China (Taiwan). Before joining FAO, he was president of the Schultz Timber Co. Ltd of Vancouver.
René GACHOT (France) has been appointed UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia. Assigned by FAO as forestry adviser to Brazil (1951 to 1956), he has been serving for the past five years as UNDP Resident Representative in Peru. Previously he held the post of Deputy FAO Representative in Latin America (1956 to 1962).
Lucas A. TORTORELLI (Argentina) has been appointed by UNDP as senior agricultural adviser in Peru. Formerly FAO forestry adviser in Brazil, he had before that served on FAO forestry missions in Paraguay, Colombia and several other countries, and earlier was for several years the FAO regional adviser on forestry education and research, with headquarters in Mexico.
Worldwide issuance in 1963 of postage stamps supporting the aims of FAO played the double role of raising funds for national Freedom from Hunger campaigns and drawing public attention to the problems of hunger. The recently instituted FAO Coin Plan seeks to achieve similar success by encouraging Member Governments to strike special coins. This selection with a forestry motif indicates that some of the world's present coinage would need little adaptation.
