New thinking about forestry and forest industries emerges from series of FAO meetings
Indonesia will be the site of the 8th World Forestry Congress in 1978
What is the African Timber Organization?
How best to utilize and maintain the wealth of vast tropical forest resources is a frustrating and persistent problem for many forest-rich but otherwise poor developing countries. Leaders in forestry and forest industries from developing and developed countries have recently completed discussions on the subject at FAO. Their proposals indicate current thinking and probable future developments in forestry and forest industries in the tropics as well as some new directions at FAO.
One of the four meetings which took place in November 1976 was a Working Group Consultation on Pulp and Paper Industries. It brought together Third World ministers of development and pulp and paper executives from developed countries for the first time at that level in a United Nations specialized organization to discuss ways to remove bottlenecks to investment in pulp and paper mills in developing countries. The FAO's Forestry Department and Industry Cooperative Programme sponsored the working group.
The other three meetings were of FAO statutory bodies which normally convene at two-year intervals: the Committee on Forestry, made up of chiefs or representatives of national forest services of 59 governments plus delegates from international organizations; the Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics, consisting of leading specialists in tropical forestry problems, and the Committee on Forestry Education, professors of forestry and deans of forestry schools.
Final reports and follow-up action are now being prepared at FAO.
Delegates from developing countries were particularly concerned with ways to change policies and organizational structures of national forest services in order to break away from patterns left over from colonial times. Those patterns were for overseas dependencies to be utilized as sources of cheap, unprocessed logs to be manufactured into finished products in distant metropolitan centres.
Using more species to increase production
A line which ran through many of the discussions involved the need to substantially expand the horizons of forest products through the use of many more species of tropical timber than are currently used, and by manufacturing pulp and paper from large varieties of mixed tropical hardwoods. These activities were seen as already possible but requiring further research to make them economically practical. Such research, it was agreed, should be undertaken in internationally coordinated programmes and with a sense of urgency hitherto missing.
The meetings also served to explain new policy directions undertaken by FAO's Director-General, Mr. Edouard Saouma, as he completed his first year in office. Mr. Saouma is putting strong emphasis on practical and action-oriented field programmes and de-emphasizing long-term, academic and headquarters-oriented activities. There were discussions of how forestry, inherently a long-term endeavour, could be harmonized with agricultural policies and programmes that are geared to other and more immediate objectives.
Mr. Saouma, a Lebanese agronomist, in his opening address to the Committee on Forestry said, "foresters are, in principle, correct to emphasize the long-term benefits of forest resources but... the hungry and the undernourished must be fed and... dire needs for capital and foreign exchange for fundamental and vital investment have to be secured through what appears to be short-term sacrifice of long-term benefits." Emphasis was put on the need for increasing production, whether of food or of wood, in developing countries.
Dr. K.F.S. King, Assistant Director General in charge of the FAO Forestry Department, a former Minister of Development of Guyana and a forester by profession, expanded this theme.
"Inherently fertile land that is under forests, and that is capable of sustained agriculture, should," he said, "be transferred to farmers if it can be demonstrated that it is more advantageous to the nation in a socioeconomic sense to do so."
He went on to say that " in some developing countries certain forests will have to be reserved in 'wilderness' conditions because of the demands of the people; other forest areas, particularly around the towns, will have to be maintained or be established for recreation and amenity. Elsewhere, attempts should be made to increase the productivity of both natural and artificial forests, and preference ultimately should be given to those types of forest that are most productive. This increased productivity can be attained through the more efficient utilization of more species, a wider range of sizes of trees, and the utilization of the branches and roots of trees in addition to their boles."
This coin calling attention to the importance of forestry in national development was recently put into circulation by the Government of Jamaica. Three million of the coins were minted. They were designed by Christopher Ironside of the London Royal Mint.
Farming and forestry - and good management
Agri-silvicultural schemes, such as those which involve the cultivation of crops between the rows of tree plantations, were also encouraged for developing countries. Such activities frequently have failed, it was noted, because they were started enthusiastically but not carried out systematically, or were not given enough time and attention in later stages. Well-managed agri-silvicultural projects in the tropics have the advantage of providing employment in the countryside while they are producing both food and wood for construction, fibre and fuel.
More so than at past FAO meetings of this kind, it was stressed that while over half of the world's forest resources are located in developing countries, these countries are earning relatively little from their forests. Third World forests, Mr. Saouma noted, contribute less than 20% of the industrial wood consumed in the world and of this volume only 4 % is in the form of wood products. Most of their wood exports are logs, to which value is then added by processing which takes place in industrialized countries.
Biology and politics: interrelationship
Dr. King saw two factors - one biological, the other political - as central to the problem of creating forest industries in the tropics. One is the great botanical variety of species typical of tropical forests which makes them technically and economically difficult to utilize in industrial processes that are traditionally geared to a few species and uniformity in size and other characteristics such as density.
The other factor which, he said, was probably more important, was that "there is generally a lack of knowledge on the part of political decision-makers of the enormous potential for development which the tropical forests possess and, therefore, the political will so vital for the development of this resource does not exist."
He urged developing countries to be more self-reliant and not to become too dependent upon foreign technical assistance.
But he saw "massive programmes of education and training" as a key area for increased foreign aid. "It is here... that external technical assistance is most appropriate, particularly with regard to training for industries development."
Still, he warned, "the problems cannot be solved as expeditiously as we from the developing world wish, if we rely solely on the-help of our friends from the developed countries."
Greater emphasis on the creation of efficient but small mills was seen as vital to the more rapid creation of wood products industries in developing countries. This, however, should not exclude investment in large, essentially export-oriented mills in the tropics.
In the past, the developing countries were frequently told that economies of scale required that only large, export-oriented operations were viable for such industries as pulp and paper. But the investments often proved too large.
The result was that the growth of efficient, small industries much better suited to the needs and the scale of the national economy were effectively discouraged. It is this one-sided approach, it was felt, that needs to be abandoned and replaced by more flexible economic thinking.
Another part of the new direction of work at FAO under Mr. Saouma's leadership is an effort to use national institutions in developing and developed countries to carry out projects and tasks which, formerly, were handled by FAO staff. Two programmes consistent with this new direction were presented by Dr. King to the Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics.
One calls for the assigning of research to forestry institutes in developing and developed countries for the marketing of many potentially useful but at present little used lesser-known tropical tree species. The FAO Forestry Department and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) were proposed as the units to coordinate this work.
The other programme involves much more use of mixed tropical hardwoods for the production of pulp and paper. This was seen as feasible now, and such mills already exist, for example in Colombia and the Philippines, but, said Dr. King, more empirical research and investigation were required on the technical-economic side in order to take full advantage of a great potential while at the same time maintaining ecological safeguards.
The Committee supported these suggestions and plans are now for FAO to bring one or more institutions or agencies in tropical developing countries together with institutions or agencies in developed countries already working on these problems. Such work is being done, for example, at national forestry institutes in France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, Japan and the United States.
Pulp and paper - investment potential
High-ranking representatives of eleven governments and five companies attended the Working Group Consultation on Pulp and Paper industries sponsored by the Forestry Department and the Industry Cooperative Programme.
Investment in pulp and paper was hindered by fear of nationalization, the participants agreed, "notwithstanding the availability of insurance for such nationalization." The summary report of the meeting recommended that in joint ownership agreements of mills between governments and foreign industries, "there should be included legal mechanisms which will regulate inter alia the procedures for nationalization, or at such time when the foreign investor might voluntarily offer his shares to the host government."
Among other conclusions of the meeting were:
· Long-term lending institutions would be turned to in most cases to provide the largest part of the funds needed for pulp and paper mills in developing countries.· Fees for management services should normally cover expenses plus less than three percent of annual turnover, and fees for marketing services should normally be from three four percent of annual turnover.
· Investment incentives should be provided to assist the enterprise to compete in world markets.
· On the question of which partner should bear the burden of establishing infrastructure, each case should be considered on its own merit.
Represented at the meeting were:
Burma, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. The companies were Macmillan Bloedel, Canada; Olinkraft, Parsons and Whittemore and St. Regis Paper, the United States; and Svenska Cellulosa, Sweden.
T.M.P.
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The Eighth World Forestry Congress will be held in Djakarta from October 16 to 28, 1978. The announcement was made by the Government of Indonesia and the FAO during the November meeting of the FAO Committee on Forestry. The last World Forestry Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1972, had some 2000 participants from forest services, institutes, universities, industry, commerce and professional societies. A similar attendance is expected at the next congress. In trade of tropical wood and wood products Indonesia plays a leading role in the world. Logs and wood products accounted for $680 million in foreign exchange in 1974, second only to petroleum as an export earner. Along with the Congress, plans are being made for study tours to principal forestry and forest industries sites located in central Java, Bali and Kalimantan. These will take place immediately before and after the Congress itself. The organizers of the Congress would also like to ascertain interest in a proposed forestry film festival and an exhibition of forestry equipment during the Congress. Individuals and organizations interested in participating in these activities should contact: The Secretary-General with a copy of correspondence to: The Associate Secretary-General |
Interview with Joseph E. Baidoe
The following radio interviews was made during the third session of the, FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) in November 1976. It is between Joseph F. Baidoe, Deputy Secretary General of the newly created Africa''. Timber Organization, attending COFO as an observer, and Robert O. Miller, Chief of the FAO Information Division's Radio Branch. It was broadcast over various domestic and short wave services heard in Africa. Those interested in further information about the African Timber Organization (Organisation africaine du bois) should contact Mr. Baidoe in care of the Organization, B.P. 1077, Libreville, République gabonaise.
MILLER: Mr. Baidoe, what is the purpose and scope of your Organization?
BAIDOE: The African Timber Organization, ATO, or AOAB, in French, is an international organization of cooperation and consultation in the fields of forest economy and timber trade.
MILLER: What is its purpose?
BAIDOE: To encourage member countries to study and coordinate the activities in these fields with a view to obtaining much greater economic return from their forest products.
MILLER: When was the Organization created?
BAIDOE: Considerations were started in 1974 but it wasn't until May of 1976 that the various protocol agreements were signed by the contracting countries.
MILLER: What is its membership now?
BAIDOE: The membership stands at 10 African timber producing and exporting countries with possibly five others joining later on. In Africa actually you can divide the whole forestry problem under two headings: you have timber-surplus countries in Africa; you also have timber-deficient countries in Africa. As far as our Organization is concerned, the membership at the moment is made up of timber-surplus countries, with the exception of Nigeria which, owing to its vast development programmes, is now more or less timber-deficient to some extent.
MILLER: Will the Organization be active in helping the timber-deficient countries increase their timber output?
BAIDOE: Yes, very much so because quite apart from considerations of managing the existent forests on a more rational basis we also have a duty of reforesting areas which are not under active forest management at the moment. We are also very much interested in reforestation.
MILLER: Does the African Timber Organization also help now or does it plan to help in the training of foresters and various categories of work that go along with the development of forests?
BAIDOE: This is so. At the moment we have it to start on our programme but once we get going, training will be one of the area; which we will actively encourage. Right now we are ready to identify the various areas where this training will be needed. At present forestry requires a different attitude toward the practice of forestry. Time was when in forest management all that was required was to take an inventory of the resources and then see how best to market them. Now present economics require that not only an inventory of the accounting but an inventory that more or less evaluates the resources is required. There has been a new dimension to forestry education and we shall have to take all this into consideration in our training programme. So definitely training will be one of the major fields that the Organization will concern itself about.
MILLER: In the picture of development in Africa today what role do the forests play specifically?
BAIDOE: Well, the forests play quite a big role both in national and international trade. Standards of living very much depend on the availability of raw materials in the form of fuelwood and also in the form of building timber. And then, too, these African countries depend largely on earnings, foreign earnings from whatever forest products they can sell. On top of all this forestry contributes very markedly toward the creation of work: jobs for many people in construction, in logging, in commerce and in management, and in the industries that are yet to be created. The employment creation role of forestry varies from country to country, but as a general rule I think that the contribution of the forestry sector to the national economy is quite great in the wood-surplus areas of Africa.
MILLER: And conversely, what would it mean to those timber-deficient countries if they improve their forestry operation?
BAIDOE: Oh yes, there too, the effect is bound to be considerable because some of these timber-deficient countries are dependent on other materials, for example agricultural wastes for their energy requirements. They have to import fertilizers and things of that nature. If they can reforest some of the wastelands not only will they be contributing toward their own needs for forest produce but they will also be improving their agricultural sector.
MILLER: What are the major timbers that the African countries produce and for what purposes are these timbers used?
BAIDOE: Well, the timbers are mostly broad-leafed timbers. These are high utility timbers. They are used mostly for decorative purposes, cabinet making, joinery and for heavy construction works.
MILLER: Is there enough timber of other kinds that would make Africa a force in the production of pulp and paper eventually?
BAIDOE: Yes, in some of the countries, a start has already been made in this direction, toward creating or increasing plantations to meet requirements of the pulp and paper industry. Even right now the existing forest resources are quite capable and are pressing the technology to contribute quite substantially toward the pulp and paper requirements of these countries.
MILLER: Are these countries now or will they be in the future in a position to compete viably with the timber sources already in the world?
BAIDOE: Yes, I think with the proper rational policies this would be one of the aims of our organization. We aim to rationalize the trade and to be in a position to compete efficiently in all sectors of the forest industries and trade in all sectors at the international level.
MILLER: Thank you very much.
