According to the specifications proposed by the organisers of this second meeting, the national representatives presented their method of work (difficulties and degree of collaboration), the content of the main chapters dealing with the engines of change, the forestry sector by the year 2020, and its implications.
a) National report from Morocco: Mr Mohamed BENDAHMANE
During the meeting, it was explained that the report was based on an official document of forestry policy in Morocco, finalised in 1999. The FOSA Focal Point had to convince his ministry in charge that the FOSA method is appropriate despite the recently and similarly written document. The work group was composed of a small number of civil servant foresters (7). Within the course of his presentation, Mr Bendhamane gave details on the engines or instigators of change (population growth, global economic performances, environmental resources, tourism, agriculture...). Then he explained that several scenarios had been proposed but only one was retained: the one called "specialisation".
b) National report from Algeria: M. Mustapha GOUSSANEM
The report was achieved by a pluri-disciplinary working group composed of 15 persons. Mr Goussanem stressed how interesting such a process was for his country.
After identifying the main engines of change, two identified scenarios were described: the first one predicts the worsening of the present tendencies and the second one the moderation of these tendencies. Mr Goussanem analysed succinctly the improving factors and then drew some general conclusions from the study.
c) Report from Tunisia: M. Ghazi GADER and Hamed DALY
The national report was achieved by a small working group that mainly comes from the "Direction Générale des Forêts".
Mr Gader and Daly could identify the engines of change, among which were burdensome tendencies. They presented the situation of the forestry sector in Tunisia and emphasised the efforts undertaken in various fields of forestry and mainly in the forest industry. They talked about the changes and the measures required to facilitate their execution.
d) National report from Libya: Mr. Adman GIBRIEL
The new representative of Libya first apologised for his country's delay in producing the national report, which is due, in particular, to the recent restructuring of the administrative system. He presented an overview of the Libyan forestry, its potential and its close links to other sectors such as agriculture. He also talked about the difficulties the sector faced, amongst other, desertification. The need for a reflection in terms of sustainable development was stressed.
e) National report from Sudan: Mrs Amira AWAD
Mrs Awad explained that the report had been undertaken by a multidisciplinary working group that regularly met. She pointed out that it had been difficult to think about the future, because the country was going through a terrible crisis. She presented the engines of change and the factors of inertia for the future of the forest sector. Then she gave details on two scenarios: the scenario "the dream" and the pessimistic scenario (prolongation of present tendencies).
Mauritania and Egypt: the focal points coordinator from Mauritania and Egypt could not take part in the workshop for various reasons, although their reports had been handed out before the meeting.
Remarks
The presentation of national reports was followed by discussions that mainly concentrated on the changes and more particularly on the identification of strong and weak signals for every country.
The difficulties encountered by some countries concerning the work were mentioned. (see recommendations).
Within the context of this second workshops the participants went to the Bizerte region where they visited the Zilia site. A participative rural development pilot project is being carried out there. The participants were warmly welcomed by the members of the forestry service of Sejenare (district of Bizerte Forests), as well as by the inhabitants and members of the AFIC Association, with whom several exchanges took place.
