FAO publishes Food and agriculture legislation, a selection of laws and regulations of international interest. Notes on some recent forest legislation are reproduced below
Canada
· An Act respecting the Department of Forestry. 1 August 1960. (Statutes of Canada, 1960, 8-9 Eliz. II, Vol. I, Ch. 41, pp. 487-491).
This Act, which came into force on 1 October 1960, sets up a Department of Forestry presided over by a Minister of Forestry.
The duties, powers and functions of the minister extend to and include all matters over which the Parliament of Canada has jurisdiction relating to the forest resources of Canada. Inter alia, the minister shall provide for the conduct of research relating to the protection, management and utilization of the forest resources of
Canada and the better utilization of forest products. He may undertake, promote or recommend measures for the encouragement of public cooperation in the protection and wise use of forest resources. He may also, with the approval of the Governor in Council, enter into agreements with the government of any province or with any person for forest protection and management or forest utilization, for the conduct of research related thereto, or for forestry publicity or education.
The Governor in Council is authorized to establish forest experimental areas and to make regulations for the protection, care and management thereof.
Czechoslovakia
· Forestry Act: an Act relative to forests and forest operations. 17 November 1960. Sbírka Zakonu Cesckoslovenske Socialistické Republiky, No. 72, 28 November 1960, text 166, pp. 585-592).
Parts I and II of the Act deal with the forest land, and contain detailed provisions with respect to the protection and use thereof.
Part III concerns forest care, the organization and technical administration of forests. Competent authorities and organizations are listed. Part IV provides for the preparation of management plans, valid for ten-year periods.
Pursuant to Part it, forests are divided into productive forests and special or protection forests. This part also deals with seed production and nurseries, afforestation and regeneration. It provides for technical improvements, designed to avoid the deterioration of conditions regarding water, soil, and climate, as well as the harmful of water and erosion.
Protection measures are prescribed in Part VI, which contains prohibitions against damage to stands and technical installations or pasturing livestock. Authorization is required for the extraction of tree stumps. Other measures concern protection against plant, insect or animal pests, wind and fire.
Part VII of the Act relates to felling and transport, and Part VIII to forest workers, their health, transport and feeding. Conditions must be created such as to allow workers to contribute to the development of forestry and to display their initiative and activity.
Ghana
· The Wild Animals Preservation Act, 1961: an Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to wild animals, birds and fish and to continue the observance of the Convention signed at London on 19 May 1900. 22 March 1961. (Act 43 of 1961, 9 pages).
The main provisions of the Act concern the appointment of honorary game officers, the issuance of permits for collection of specimens, the restrictions on export and import of trophies, the marking of trophies, the prohibition of hunting by motor vehicles or aircraft and of surrounding animals by fires. The President is given wide powers to make regulations for the administration of the Act and of the five schedules thereto. Such schedules list, respectively, the genera completely protected, the genera of which the young are specifically protected, the genera of which females accompanied by young are protected, the genera of which only a limited number may be killed and the genera as to which measures may be taken to reduce numbers.
The Act actually incorporates several provisions of the Convention relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural Site, signed at London on 8 November 1933.
Pakistan
· Resolution No. P and P (1)-1 (15) 60 of the Ministry of Industries constituting a panel on the wood working and plywood industry. 21 February 1961. (The Gazette of Pakistan, Extr., 22 February 1961, pp. 676a-676e).
The terms of reference of the panel are to take stock of the existing installed capacity; to assess the country's requirements in respect of products of this industry; to devise ways and means for stepping up production and effecting economies so as to make the products competitive in export markets; to consider and suggest ways and means for solving difficulties experienced in respect of raw material requirements which will include exploiting indigenous resources for meeting such requirements; to consider assistance required in respect of tariff protection, technical knowledge, labor problems, etc.; and, generally, to recommend such measures as may be required to ensure a healthy development of the industry.
The panel includes officials of the Central Government and corporations, representatives of the governments of West Pakistan and of East Pakistan, and representatives of the industry.
United States of America
· An Act to authorize and direct that the national forests be managed under principles of multiple use and to produce a sustained yield of products and services, and for other purposes. 12 June 1960. (Public Law 86-517, 86th Congress, H. R. 10572, 1 page).
As it is the policy of Congress that the national forests are established and shall be administered for outdoor recreation, range, timber, water" shed, and wildlife and fish purposes, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to develop and administer the renewable surface resources of the national Wrests for multiple use and sustained yield of the several products and services obtained thereform. "Multiple use" is defined as the management of all the v various renewable surface resources of the national forests so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the needs of the American people. There should be achieved a high-level annual or regular periodic outputs of said resources without impairment of the productivity of the land.
Venezuela
· An Act approving the Agreement for the establishment on a permanent basis of a Latin-American forest research and training institute under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 30 September 1960. (Gaceta Official, No. 26.372, 1 October 1960, pp. 195.543-195.547).
The Agreement establishes on a permanent basis, under the auspices of FAO, the Latin-American forest research and training institute set up in 1956 on a temporary basis. The seat of the institute is the forestry school of the Universitad de Los Andes, Mérida, in the State of Mérida, Republic of Venezuela. Its aims and functions are to conduct research, especially applied research, which may effectively contribute to proper conservation, utilization and development of the forest resources of Latin America; to give courses of instruction for the specialized training of forestry technicians; to gather, classify and distribute scientific material; and to keep contracting governments abreast of the theoretical and practical work being done in forest and forest products research by other competent agencies in the area with a view to promoting regional cooperation in this field.
Yugoslavia
· Basic Forests Act. 20 April 1961. (Sluzbeni List Federativne Narodne Republike Yugoslvije, No. 16, 26 April 1961, text 262, pp 357-363).
This new basic Act, very detailed, is applicable to all forests, whether collectively or privately-owned.
Chapter I distinguishes between working forests, intended for the production of wood and other forest products; protective forests, used for the protection of soil and water resources; and special-use forests, such as national reserves and parks or forests used for scientific research. This chapter also provides for the creation of forest districts and the establishment of a forest land register.
Chapter II regulates forest management. Long-term plans, the provisions of which are compulsory, are drawn up by specialized bodies. Special measures are to be taken for the protection of forests against fire, insects and other menaces.
Chapter III provides for the grouping of forests to the extent that such operations are rendered necessary for rational management, work mechanization, protection against erosion, and reforestation.
Chapter IV deals with forest inspection and lays down the responsibilities and powers of the competent agencies.
