A slower-growing world
African future
Monitoring forests by satellite and computer
Conservation in Zaire
Educational materials
Facing the future: mastering the probable and managing the unpredictable. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Washington, D.C., USA, 1980. 426 pp Price: $20.00.
Economic growth can no longer occur at the historical 1945-73 trends, according to this survey by a study group of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Scenarios for possible futures are developed in terms of trade, monetary, and income infrastructures. The overall assessment of future economic growth is optimistic, but social and environmental problems are clearly spelled out and the book warns of the lack of political will to address crises.
A good survey is given of trends that endanger the economies of both industrialized and developing nations. With regard to Third World development strategies, attention is given to the need for strong agricultural sectors combined with good soil conservation programmes; to the transfer of technology; and to creative initiatives industrialized nations might make toward developing ones.
Environment and development in Africa. United Nations Environment Programme and the Environment Training Programme (ENDA.)/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1980. c.100 pp. Price: c. $14.00.
This soon-to-be-released book is a UNEP study of the future prospects for African development within an environmental framework. The book analyses specific components of this topic such as population increase, food supply, health, urbanization, industrialization, economics, technology, agricultural production, deforestation and desertification.
Monitoring forest canopy alteration around the world with digital analysis of Landsat imagery. Edited by D.L. Williams and L.D. Miller, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, 19 79. Softcover pamphlet with colour and black-and-white photographs. 45 pp.
Satellite remote sensing of forest ecosystems has moved from detection and identification to monitoring. The result, this pamphlet's editors conclude, will be to improve the forest management process by closely following alterations in the forest canopy caused by shifting cultivation, tropical forest exploitation, insect infestations and natural canopy closure.
Seven different case studies are included, all of which were at least partially conducted and written by one or both of the editors, D.L. Williams and L.D. Miller. Included are: (1) alterations of forested watersheds in the Re public of China; (2) exploitation in the central Nigerian forest reserves; (3) exploitation on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border; (4) canopy closure in the pine forests of North Carolina; (5) insect defoliation in Pennsylvania; (6) forest site-index mapping in Colorado; and (7) shifting cultivation in northern Thailand.
Aspects de la conservation de la nature au Zaïre, by Dr. Kabala Matuka. Editions Lokole, Kinshasa, Zaire, 1976. 312 pp.
With special attention to Zaïre, Dr. Kabla Matuka's book addresses itself to three fundamental principles of conservation: the need for rational utilization of resources; the development of the concept of conservation; and the degradation of the environment, emphasizing the laws which govern Nature's delicate balance. (French only)
A publication and price booklet, updated as of April 1980, is available through the British Paper and Board Industry Federation. Educational materials include books, papers, leaflets, charts, videocassettes, tape/slide presentations and reference and text books.
Some of these might have particular value for developing countries. For example, there is a series of 28 self-instruction packages for education and training entitled The paper- and board-making process. This is available, together with a tape/slide presentation for schools entitled Paper.
Other relevant items include a Paper booklet suitable for children, a handbook of paper projects, a large chart (free) describing how paper is made, energy and water-saving checklists, a calculations booklet, as well as such specific, technical materials as An operator's guide to aqueous coating.
All inquiries should be directed to: Information Department, British Paper and Board Industry Federation, 3 Plough Place, Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1AL, England.
among the FAO technical papers . . .
a continuously expanding list of studies dealing with specific problems of forestry. Many of these papers are available in all three languages - English, French and Spanish. All are available, on payment of handling charges, from the Distribution and Sales Section FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100, Rome; or through l the authorized sales agents and booksellers listed on the inside back cover.
