The second meeting for the Focal Points of the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) for North Africa, was held in Tunis-Carthage, Tunisia, from 18 to 20 October 2000.
The Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (acronym - FOSA) is an initiative led by FAO and carried out in partnership with all African nations, the African Development Bank, the European Commission, regional and sub-regional inter-governmental organisations, the World Bank and others. The Forestry Outlook Study for Africa was endorsed by the African countries at the 11th Session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC), held in Dakar, Senegal in April 1998. Activities under FOSA commenced in October 1998, and will run through July 2002.
FOSA is a process for analysing the future potential of the forestry sector, contributing to the well being of African citizens through its economic, social and environmental functions. FOSA will analyse the status, trends and driving forces shaping African forestry, provide a region-wide vision of the sector for the year 2020, and identify policies, programme and investment options that will help move the sector in desirable directions.
The African Continent has been subdivided into sub-regions, regrouping the countries that have similar economic links. The sub-region of North Africa includes the following countries: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Libya.
In every country, the Ministry in charge of forestry has appointed a FOSA Focal Point who will coordinate the activities at national level and who will prepare the country outlook paper. Instructions and advice concerning its content were given during the planning meetings organised in 1999 in every sub-region. FAO's financial contribution to each FOSA Focal Point is 1,000 US $. A number of technical notes were regularly sent to support them in their reflection work on the outlook of their forestry sector.
After approximately ten months of work, every FOSA Focal Point was able to present a first draft of their country outlook paper. Besides, sub-regional consultants were identified and asked to work with the Focal Points at sub-region level. This sub-regional report will integrate these national outlook studies and will further be based on a number of special thematic studies (sub-regional and some regional in nature). The creation of an information and reflection network amongst all the FOSA Focal Points will be an important support for the writing of the sub-regional report.
The country forestry outlook papers, now underway in each country, aim to capture the African countries' perception on the future of their forestry sector by the year 2020.
The objectives of the North African workshop for FOSA Focal Points were the following:
present the draft country outlook paper, and state the progress made ;
provide the FOSA Focal Points with new elements on the outlook methodology;
introduce the sub-regional consultants and discuss the terms of collaboration with the Focal Points; and finally present the FOSA future activities
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