Leading authorities to meet in Brazil in September-October 1975
Kenneth FS King from Guyana new head of FAO forestry
COFO reviews FAO's forestry programme
Shifting cultivation problems call for integrated approaches
IUFRO information systems working party is link to AGRIS forestry programme
Developing countries should aim self-sufficiency
Wood preservation discussed in Vienna
Research in Pakistan on nitrogen fixing forest plants
Pine from a Canadian lake bottom
Foresters are registered in the Philippines
What are the best uses for tropical forests? A major international meeting taking shape
The management, protection and utilization of the world's tropical moist forests will be the subject of an FAO international conference to be held next year in Brazil.
The "Technical Conference on Tropical Moist Forests" will be held from 29 September to 10 October 1975, in Rio de Janeiro. Silviculturists, environmentalists wildlife biologists, specialists in logging practices and the technology and economics of wood industries in the tropics will be among those expected to contribute to the meeting.
There will also be study tours in the Amazon forests before and after the conference.
Land-use policies
Land use in tropical forest areas will be a major subject of discussion. This will include such questions as which tropical ecosystems should be classified as "of exceptional value" and made into reserves such as national parks, and which lend themselves to systematic long-term management as renewable resources for the production of timber and other forest products. The conference will also examine the question of conversion of natural into man-made forests, as well as the need for land for additional food production in the tropics.
Environmentalists are expected to take up the subject of how man-induced changes affect different kinds of tropical ecosystems and which tropical forests within these ecosystems can best or least tolerate man's activity.
Since there has never been a truly comprehensive world survey of forests, only crude estimates of global totals are possible. According to these estimates there are nearly 4 000 minion hectares of forests in the world, of which almost 2 000 million are in tropical regions. Of the latter, approximately 700 million hectares are tropical moist forests. The conference will confine itself to tropical moist forests at altitudes up to 1 300 metres.
Tropical forests, although intensively used in some parts of the world, are by and large underutilized. The much greater number and wider variety of species of trees in the tropics as opposed to temperate zone forests make management and exploitation of tropical forests difficult and expensive. In addition, many of the tropical forests are located far from major world markets, and are for the most part in developing countries which often lack the infrastructure - roads, ports, services and supporting industries - necessary for putting them to full economic use.
When forests disappear
The tropical forests which at present contribute most to world trade are located in southeast Asia, followed by Latin America and Africa. The concern of the governments of countries in these areas regarding ways to manage and utilize their forests is frequently expressed at international forestry meetings held at FAO.
Uncontrolled agricultural expansion and indiscriminate cutting for timber have often resulted in serious and widespread erosion, droughts and floods in tropical areas. Many experts even predict the ultimate disappearance of tropical moist forests if this trend is allowed to continue. Leaving forests unmanaged and underutilized, however, is seen by many governments as a wasteful practice which they can ill afford.
With this background in mind, the conference will attempt to arrive at guidelines for better management and use of tropical moist forests.
Kenneth F.S. King, former Minister of Economic Development of Guyana, has been appointed Assistant Director-General in charge of the Forestry Department of FAO.
The appointment, which became effective on September 1, was made by Dr. A.H. Boerma, FAO Director-General. Dr. King succeeds Börje K. Steenberg, of Sweden, who retired in August. Dr. Steenberg is rejoining the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm as a professor.
The new head of the Forestry Department was an FAO staff forester from 1964 to 1972, when he returned to his country to become Minister of Economic Development. He resigned as Minister in order to rejoin FAO. Born in 1929 in Georgetown, in what was then British Guiana, he holds degrees in law from London University and in forestry from the University of Wales. In 1963 he received a doctorate from the University of Oxford with a thesis on land use in the tropics with special reference to Guiana.
Dr. King began his career as a forester in British Guiana in 1949. His responsibility included supervision of forest permits and leases, and sawmilling. In 1962 he received an FAO forestry fellowship which included visits to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Two years later he joined the forestry staff of FAO and was outposted to the Department of Forestry of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. There he taught legislation and administration and forest policy, engaged in research, and advised the Government on its forestry policy and management. In 1968 he was transferred to FAO headquarters in Rome where he was Chief of Forestry Development Planning, and then Forestry and Land Use Officer with the FAO/World Bank Cooperative Programme.
Dr. King is author of numerous articles on forestry and land-use policies and practices.
The second session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), made up of representatives from 62 national forest services, met in Rome in May to review FAO's forestry programme.
Many of the 49 delegates and 13 observers were heads of national forest services. Ten international organizations were also represented. A.M. Oseni, head of the Forest Service of Nigeria, was chairman of the meeting, which lasted for seven days.
In reviewing FAO's forestry activities COFO saw the following as medium-term priorities: forestry institutions and education; tropical forestry in dry and humid zones; the contribution of forestry to integrated rural development; and environmental and forest conservation activities.
In defining the functions of Regional Forestry Commissions, COFO recommended that they be maintained in their present form, as independent bodies, subsidiary to neither COFO nor the FAO Regional Conferences.
Considering the principles of World Forestry Congresses, COFO recommended a number of provisions for inclusion in their rules of procedure.
COFO endorsed the Forestry Department's subprogramme proposals for the next budget biennium, 1976-77, recommended the appointment of a second forestry officer for the African region, and the establishment of an international programme of forest products and price information and analysis.
COFO is one of three technical committees of the FAO Council, the Organization's second ranking governing body after the Conference. The other two FAO technical committees deal with agriculture and fisheries.
Trees, posters and postage
A set of four attractive tree posters suitable for display in schools and offices are offered by the British Forestry Commission.
The colour posters are of English oak (Quercus robur), silver birch (Betula pendula), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). They measure 51 x 76 cm and cost 40p each or £1.50 for the set. The address of the Forestry Commission is 25 Savile Row, London W1X 2AY.
The United Kingdom postal authorities have also issued stamps in honour of two trees, the English oak (9p stamp) and the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) (10p stamp).
More emphasis should be put on multidisciplinary approaches in dealing with problems of shifting cultivation in tropical forests.
This was the advice of tropical forestry specialists meeting at FAO in the third session of the Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics. The Committee recommended that a conference of a multidisciplinary nature be held on land-use policies in tropical zones and that special emphasis be given to shifting cultivation as a major problem in tropical forests.
Sixty delegates and observers from 19 governments and nine international organizations attended the meeting in Rome in May, and covered a broad range of subjects in tropical forestry. Among their recommendations was one that FAO increase its work on the potential properties of lesser known tropical wood species.
The Committee also:
- Approved and supported the forthcoming FAO Technical Conference on the Tropical Moist Forests, to be held in Brazil from 22 September to 3 October.- Recommended for discussion at its next meeting the desirability of a technical conference on dry-zone forestry.
- Recommended the renewal of discussions between FAO, UNDP and other financing agencies for the establishment of a tropical timber bureau.
A newly formed "Information systems" group of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) held its first meeting in Rome last May in connexion with FAO's AGRIS Forestry Programme.
The establishment of the group (Working Party S 6.03-03 on Information Systems) was recommended by the Executive Board of IUFRO when it met in Canberra in October 1973. The new working party agreed to act as a link between AGRIS Forestry and IUFRO members, and recommended participation in AGRIS.
Mr. S. Schrader, of the Federal Research Organization for Forestry and Forest Products, Reinbek/Hamburg, and Miss Mary O'Hara, of the United States Forest Service, were named Leader and Deputy Leader respectively of the working party.
Further information may be obtained from:
Mr. S. Schrader,
Bundesforschungsanstalt fin Forst- und Holzwirtschaft Dokumentation
2057 Reinbek Bez. Hamburg,
Schloss Federal Republic of Germany
MORE PULP MILLS NEEDED TO COPE WITH GROWING WORLDWIDE PAPER SHORTAGE, SAYS FAO COMMITTEE
If the demand for paper continues at its present rate there may be a serious world shortage two years from now, according to a group of pulp and paper experts which meets annually at FAO. There is already a severe shortage of paper in developing countries.
The FAO Advisory Committee for Pulp and Paper, consisting of members from 21 countries, found that the present tight supply/demand situation for paper is basically due to a shortage of production capacity for pulp. This points to the need for additional investment in new pulp capacity, and increased recycling of wastepaper and the use of lighter and thinner paper grades as a means of stretching the pulp supply.
Pulp production capacity, the Committee agreed, is limiting the output of paper and paperboard. Reported planned additional pulp capacity to 1976 can provide for a maximum average annual expansion of only 4 percent. This capacity includes all that can be brought on-stream in the next two years. Should requirements for paper and paperboard continue to grow at the average annual rate of the past 10 to 15 years - 5.5 percent - an annual shortfall of nearly 8 million metric tons could result by 1976 unless changes in production patterns are made.
It takes at least three years for a pulp mill to go from the drawing board into production.
"Without further substantial new mill investments, the shortage may grow in succeeding years," said an FAO statement on the Committee meeting.
"The difficult situation in developing countries," said FAO, "points even more to the well-recognized need for them to become more self-sufficient in pulp and paper production in order to be assured of essential papers for commerce, communication and education."
The Committee also received the annual world capacity study for pulp and paper prepared by the FAO Secretariat. This report estimated that the world capacity for production of paper and paperboard in 1974 amounted to 167.8 million tons, 4.5 percent more than in 1973.
World pulp capacity was estimated to be 133.8 million tons in 1974, which is 5.7 million tons or 4.5 percent more than in 1973.
Protection of wood from bacteria and fungi, marine wood preservation, treatment of joinery work and wood-based panels were among the subjects discussed at the last meeting of the International Group on Wood Preservation.
During the three-day conference, held in June at the Austrian Timber Research Institute in Vienna, considerable attention was given to research and development in various countries on bacteria and fungi.
Concerning marine wood preservation, the group suggested that for natural durability experiments a network of six experimental stations, located in Canada, Italy, Guyana, New Zealand, India and Papua-New Guinea, would be internationally useful.
Delegates from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands gave information about preservatives used in their countries in tests on joinery work.
The meeting agreed that not enough work has been done on the treatment of wood-based panels. Mention was made of experiments in Australia on particle board, using phenol and tannin glues, and in the Federal Republic of Germany on bonded particle board.
FAO stressed the importance of such work, as wood-based panels are being used increasingly in building construction for exteriors and as structural members, and lesser known species are going into the manufacture of panels. This is expected to be a subject of discussion at the forthcoming FAO World Consultation on Wood-based Panels to be held in New Delhi in February 1975.
The group received a review of FAO projects in Africa and Latin America, where diffusion treatment methods are in use. The simplicity and low cost of diffusion treatment make it especially attractive in developing countries.
Results of a questionnaire related to wood preservatives, environmental pollution and health hazards were presented by Dr. Willeitner, of the Federal Research Organization for Forestry and Forest Products, Reinbek/Hamburg. The questionnaire, returned by 31 countries, showed how the use of preservatives differed from country to country.
B.N. Prasad, Rome
At the university of Islamabad, Pakistan, scientists have undertaken a survey of nonleguminous tree species that can fix nitrogen. Nitrogen-fixing plants, more commonly thought of as legumes, can assimilate and fix the free nitrogen in the atmosphere with the aid of bacteria living in the root nodules.
The ability of nonleguminous nitrogen-fixing plants, such as species of alder, to thrive in agriculturally uneconomic regions is also important because of their beneficial potential for dual association with other species. More knowledge of nonleguminous nitrogen-fixing genera would be of great value in natural colonization of wastelands, and reforestation and plant disease control in areas where nitrogen deficiency is a limiting factor and fertilizer application costs may be uneconomical.
The work is being done under a five-year grant of 1 171 830 rupees ($118 367) from the United States.
Pine logs submerged for 50 years in 10 to 13 metres of water have proved to be sound enough for conversion into lumber, chips and boiler fuel.
The logs were taken from the bottom of Monte lake in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia by Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd. Most logs brought up by divers showed no signs of deterioration. The company hopes to make a small profit on recovery of at least 5 million board feet of old lumber in the lake. The work was part of the rehabilitation and modernization of a sawmill which operated there for many years.
Foresters in the Philippines are now required to register with a Board of Examiners for Foresters. Legislation, which created the registration, was supported by the Society of Filipino Foresters in an effort to give professional forestry recognition throughout the country.
The Act, entitled "The Forestry Professionalization Law," also includes provisions for forestry school review and malpractice investigations.
To qualify for registration, foresters must have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in forestry or they must pass an examination held by the Board of Examiners for Foresters. Violators of the Act can be fined. The Board has the power to revoke the certificate of registration for malpractice or unethical conduct.
As Börje Steenberg retires
When Börje Steenberg was called to Rome in 1967 to head FAO's forestry programme, he was at the height of an exceptionally successful scientific career. First as a professor of physical chemistry, and then as director of paper technology and research at Sweden's Forest Products Laboratory, he played a decisive role in bringing science into the paper industry, an industry which for a long time had managed to remain more of an art and a craft than a modern technology. Scientific awards and honours came to him from many quarters, including the rarely given doctorate honoris causa of the Swedish Royal College of Forestry.
From his start at FAO, Börje Steenberg worked on the systematic development of a strong structure for forestry. He applied his managerial talents, his strength and his tireless energy to hammering the Forestry Department into the shape he wanted. What has emerged is a department with not only a clearly visible structure, but an inner coherence which has been an example for other units in FAO. Naturally enough, he earned opponents as well as friends.
One of Steenberg's most important concerns was strengthening the forest industries side of the Department. This grew from his appreciation that forestry and forest industries depend upon each other and can only develop properly if they are interconnected and balanced.
Steenberg was not a simple boss. His keen mind, his ability to understand quickly, the very diversity of his knowledge and interests, permitted him to get to the essence of complicated matters. He would address his opinions to such matters - or the people involved in them - promptly, directly, critically, and sometimes in unorthodox ways.
His ability to absorb great volumes of diverse kinds of reading matter, and to comment and quote from them at the right moment, was frequently depressing to his colleagues. He could be hard on people, especially those who disappointed him or who did not come up to his standards, but he could also be patient and humane. Börje Steenberg is neither an ivory tower intellectual nor a cold scientist. Walking amid the cultural riches of Italy, for instance, he was always spiritually at home. He understood about the big and small joys of life, and, thank God, he also used his sense of humour.
I have tried to give an impression of an extraordinary man with, in fact, many of the classical qualities of the Renaissance man.
His farewell to FAO will certainly not be the end of his activities. The Forestry Department is greatly obliged to him.
HANSJÜRG STEINLIN, Director FAO Forest Resources Division
