FAO/IUFRO committee on bibliography
Wood preservation
Asia-Pacific forestry commission
Periodic accounts have appeared in Unasylva of the work of the Committee on Bibliography sponsored jointly by FAO and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).1 Professor E. Saari of Finland continues as Chairman of the Committee, which held its eleventh session in Spain (Lourizan and Madrid) in September 1959.
1 See Vol. 9, No. 4, 1955; Vol. 10, No. 4, 1956; Vol. 11, No. 3, 1957; Vol. 13, No. 2, 1959.
The main task taken up by the Committee when it was first established in 1949 after the Third World Forestry Congress, was the elaboration of a world system of classification for forestry literature, and its translation into the working languages of FAO and IUFRO (English, French, Spanish, and German). This first objective has now been attained. The basic version in English of the Oxford Decimal Classification (ODC) was unanimously accepted by IUFRO in 1953 and by the Fourth World Forestry Congress, 1954, and was also approved by the FAO Conference. It has been formally incorporated into the Universal Decimal Classification System of the International Federation of Documentation, The Hague. Authorized translations have been published in German (1957) and in Spanish (1959), while the French authorized version is due to be published in 1960. Translations have also been made into a number of other languages (Finnish, Dutch, Romanian, Italian, Czech, Turkish), but the committee assumes no formal responsibility for the correctness of these. A continuing responsibility remains, however, in regard to emendations to the ODC, primarily so as to cater for the normal development of the forestry sciences in scope and diversification.
The procedure for this has been outlined in Unasylva and amendments have been published in 1957 and 1959. A third set of amendments, as examined and discussed at the committee's eleventh session, will be published in a forthcoming number of Unasylva and in Forestry Abstracts. The German text of these amendments is to appear in leading Austrian, German and Swiss forestry periodicals.
At the request of FAO's European Forestry Commission, a system of classifying and cataloguing forestry film material on the basis of the ODC has been elaborated.
Multilingual forest terminology
The second major task to be undertaken by the Joint Committee has been the compilation of a multilingual forest terminology. The basis of procedure and the mechanics of preparation have also been described in Unasylva (Reprints are available on request.) By the close of 1959, practically all identical or closely similar terms and definitions in use in the English language groups of countries, (the United States of America and the Commonwealth) had been discussed and placed on cards for distribution free of cost, to national terminology committees: 250 copies of each card have been prepared, but at present some 80 sets only are being regularly distributed and a circular letter has been sent by the committee's Chairman to all known national terminology committees, as well as to forest services, reminding them of the service available. The letter reads as follows:
" The collaboration between the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau, Oxford, and the Society of American Foresters, Washington, referred to on page 165 of the article entitled 'Multilingual Forest Terminology,' appearing in Unasylva, Volume 9, Number 4, 1955, was resumed in autumn 1959, and although progress in this complicated task will necessarily be slow, nearly 200 cards bearing agreed terms and definitions in English have already been issued to national terminology committees that have requested them. Other such committees, as and when constituted, are invited to apply direct to Mr. Ford Robertson, Director, Commonwealth Forestry Bureau, South Parks Road, Oxford, for the number of sets they need. If they have not already done so, they should inform both him and the Secretary, Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography, Forestry and Forest Products Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, of their full designation and postal address.
Requests for these cards may please be limited to the number of sets calculated to effect their purpose (vide para. 3.6 to 3.7 of the above cited article in Unasylva). It is expected that each Terminology Committee, after making its corresponding cards in the local languages, will want to file:
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English cards |
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By AN Alphabetically by terms |
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Own cards |
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By AN Alphabetically by terms." |
The FAO/IUFRO Committee has agreed that national terminology committees must accept full responsibility for their own definitions, and that the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau should be approached only in cases where either there is some doubt about the meaning of the English definition, or there exist substantial differences between the meaning of a term in English and its agreed equivalent in the other language.
In order to expedite this unspectacular but essential work, and enable a useful influence to be exercised on the nomenclature of the fast-developing forestry sciences, full advantage will be taken of terms and definitions established by international bodies working in specialized fields of forestry or in other related fields.
The Committee proposes to produce an initial sample list of terms and definitions, as ready for the English-speaking group, for submission to the Twelfth IUFRO Congress to be held in Vienna in September 1961. Language-group committees have been set up for French, German, and Spanish. Brazil expressed interest in participating in a Portuguese terminology based on the Committee's work and there are plans for the formation of a Scandinavian group whose aim it would be " to promote the acceptance of concepts as defined in the multilingual terminology ".
World list of forestry literature
Another project in which the Committee is involved is the preparation of a World List of Periodicals and Serials of Interest to Forestry, to be issued by FAO. It is expected that the information so far collected can be published in loose-leaf form in the middle of 1960. Supplementary material will be published from time to time.
Classification and cataloguing of forestry film material
The form of catalogue recommended by the Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography and approved by the European Forestry Commission's Tenth Session is a card system based on the ODC and maintained separately from any other catalogue, embodying the following features. The cards should be filed at least:
1. according to the ODC coding for their subject matter,2. according to the ODC coding for the country producing the film, but many centers may, in addition, want:
3. to file according to physical locality also, i.e., according to the country in which the film is taken, and
4. to subdivide this by subject matter.
It is suggested that cards prepared for filing under (1) and (2) above be white and cards under (3) and (4) tinted, and that due regard be paid to the precepts embodied in the Introduction to the ODC, especially Section 5.
The ODC coding in the top left-hand corner consists, in the example given, of three sets of subheads: 23, regeneration and formation of stands; 37, transport; (497.1) the auxiliary number indicating the physical locality filmed, here in Yugoslavia.
The ODC coding in the top right-hand corner is that of the producer or filming country (here Germany) preceded by the " form " number for films (084.122).
It is suggested that cards prepared for filing under (1) and (2) above be white and cards under (3) and (4) tinted, and that due regard be paid to the precepts embodied in the Introduction to the ODC, especially Section 6.
An example of the information that should be available on a standard 126 × 75 millimeters (5 × 3 inches) card for a film made, for instance, in Yugoslavia by a German producing agency on the general subject of forest regeneration and the transport problems involved, is given below:
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23: 37: (497.1) |
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(084.122) (43) |
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Title: (in original language, with translation in either English, French, German or Spanish) | ||
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Synopsis: (in original language, with translation on back of card if space on front does not allow for this). | ||
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Producer: | ||
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Distributor: | ||
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Date: |
Length (in min.) |
Width (in mm.) |
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Language versions: |
Sound |
Color |
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Price (local currency): (a) for purchase (b) for hire | ||
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Audience: Schools - General - Technical | ||
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Clearance for use on television: | ||
The ODC coding in the top left-hand corner consists, in the above example, of three sets of subheads: 23, regeneration and formation of stands; 37, transport; (497.1) the auxiliary number indicating the physical locality filmed, here in Yugoslavia.
The ODC coding in the top right-hand corner is that of the producer or filming country (here Germany) preceded by the " form " number for film (084.122).
Preservation techniques have become established practices for extending the useful life of wood and wood products, and their use is expanding. The reasons advanced for this trend are the relative scarcity of naturally durable timbers, rising labor costs which favor the use of materials with a long-service life, the decreasing cost of preservatives, and the development of improved treatment methods and equipment. Closer international co-operation is required to secure the spread of sound developments.
These are some of the conclusions reached by the Ad hoc Group of Experts on Wood Preservation which was called together at Rome 1-4 December 1959. The meeting was arranged to give guidance to FAO on the extent to which the Organization could usefully promote international cooperation on wood preservation matters and to recommend a program of action.
The first such meeting in this field arranged by FAO, it was attended by experts invited from Austria, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, India, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom, and an observer was present from Indonesia. Written contributions were received also from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Malaya, New Zealand, Philippines and the United States of America. Mr. F. Becker (Germany) was elected Chairman of the meeting and Mr. A. Purushotham (India) nominated as Rapporteur.
The main contributions of wood preservation are:
1. By utilizing preservative-treated secondary or non-durable timbers, the drain on primary durable timber species can be reduced. Also these premium timbers can he reserved for export markets to gain foreign exchange credits. Similarly preservative treatment of imported timbers serves to extend their service life, thus reducing the drain of foreign credits by an importing country.2. Utilization of a larger number of indigenous timber species can make the opening-up of new areas of forests an economical proposition, and permit improved forest management of forests already under exploitation.
3. Making timber last longer is equivalent to increasing timber supplies.
4. The proper use of wood preservative techniques in housing can in most areas and particularly in tropical areas help in improving housing standards and providing increased service life to wood structures.
Three items received particular consideration by the experts assembled at Rome - international problems in wood preservation, its use in housing and other construction, and special problems of wood preservation in tropical areas and, in relation to these, a program of work was suggested and individuals and sub-groups designated to carry out a number of tasks. Unification of nomenclature and definitions was one of the tasks singled out. Another agreed on was laboratory tests with fungi and insects. For some other laboratory as well as field tests, a list of priorities was established.
It was recognized that there is great scope for increasing the service life of wood in housing and other construction. The nonavailability of treated wood of the type needed and at the right time probably has been the biggest obstacle to its wide use in housing.
The great variation in local conditions, both with regard to hazards and the availability of naturally durable woods, make it difficult to offer any general recommendations, but full advantage should be taken of the sound building construction practices recommended in instruction manuals prepared in some countries. In areas with a tropical climate, all nondurable wood species should receive preservative treatment. A compilation of information relative to the behavior of treated timber in houses and the methods for curative treating in situ was needed; this was already provided for in the program for concerted action in the field of housing drawn up for the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies.
It was decided that a beginning should be made by preparing a short general leaflet for distribution in the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, covering the principal hazards to which timber was exposed when used in tropical and subtropical areas, the protective measures required, and referring to proper design and construction. A publication dealing with preservation aspects of timber used in rural construction was desirable, and in due course a specification manual on the treatment of timber for housing.
Problems of wood preservation in tropical areas in general do not differ in nature from those encountered in temperate zones. Differences in the severity of exposure, in the amount of knowledge available, in economic and other operating conditions may, however, require different solutions. The problems should be approached from the standpoint of (a) improvement of treating facilities, and (b) expansion of research activities. A methodical approach was mapped out towards the better use of naturally durable wood as well as of wood which requires preservative treatment. In underdeveloped areas it is the initial rise in costs of the processed timber that is holding up the spread of wood seasoning and wood preservation on a satisfactory scale. However, processed timber can, for example, be made available to the public through co-operative societies or community development organizations. The largest consumptions of timber in the underdeveloped areas would be for buildings, and consequently wood preservation should pay good dividends both in the public and private sectors.
Although in many countries government departments were already aware of the advantages to be gained by the pursuit of a policy employing efficient prophylactic treatment of timber, nevertheless there should be a more widespread aim to make known the advantages of using effectively preserved timber in those cases where treatment favours the interests of consumers.
In discussing the program and organization of FAO's work, the expert group noted that no mechanism for worldwide cooperation in the field of wood preservation existed at present. It therefore strongly recommended that the work initiated by this meeting should be continued and that a permanent working party on wood preservation should be established to stimulate and co-ordinate development in wood preservation on a world basis.
Asia's need for wood products - particularly for paper in its various forms - will increase enormously over the next 15 years according to estimates given to delegates at the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission's fifth session held in New Delhi, 12-18 February 1960. Sixteen nations2 of the FAO's Regional Commission were represented at this session, at which the first draft of a regional appraisal of wood resources and requirements, prepared by FAO in co-operation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE), was released for the first time.
2 Australia, Burma, Cambodia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaya, Netherlands, New Zealand. Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America. Observers were also present from the International Labour Organisation, the, World Meteorological Organization, and the International Organization for Standardization.
Taking present consumption and demand as a base, and projecting on the basis of increasing population and income and improving economic and literacy standards, the study shows that even at a most conservative estimate, the region's annual requirements for industrial wood products will roughly double by 1975. This will mean that there will be a yearly need for an additional 75 million cubic meters of industrial wood in various forms. If production increases as now contemplated, this would mean a shortage of 20 million cubic meters, as against a shortage at present of about 3 million cubic meters, imported from outside the region.
These figures do not take into consideration Mainland China nor the staggering gap between demand and supply of fuelwood in the region, particularly in India and Pakistan. Figures given in the study show that, in 1975, fuelwood supplies will fall short of needs by 40 million cubic meters, even without provision for replacing cow dung by wood as a source of domestic fuel. The use of cow dung as a fuel is disastrous in terms of loss of soil fertility, to the extent that it is often said to mean that meals are cooked by burning food. In India, for example, it is calculated that some 200 million tons dry weight of cow dung are burned every year, or about half a ton per person. If this manure could be used as fertilizer for agriculture, India's annual food output could be increased by 7 million tons of food grains. Yet, if only 30 percent of this burnt cow dung were to be preserved for agricultural purposes, another 150 million tons of fuelwood would have to be found in 1975. Supplies would have to be trebled if the burning of dung were to cease altogether.
One of the most striking features of the study is the orders of magnitude revealed. Far East countries consume far greater amounts of wood and wood products than earlier estimates had indicated. Nevertheless, they still appear to consume only 87 million cubic meters of industrial wood and 262 million cubic meters of fuelwood annually.
The study makes a powerful case for increased intraregional trade in wood and wood products. Traditionally, in the past, countries of the region have exported certain wood products outside the region and have in turn imported converted products. But with an increasing economic growth, and the need for more and more wood products other than hard timbers in the region, this pattern is likely to change. For instance, continental Southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia, Malaya, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Viet-Nam), which now has a small deficit in industrial wood, should by 1975 have an annual surplus of about 3.6 million cubic meters. Similarly, insular Southeast Asia (Brunei, Indonesia, New Guinea, North Borneo, the Philippines, Sarawak) should increase their annual surplus of 2 million cubic meters to one of about 9.4 millions. However, South and East Asia, (Ceylon, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea) which now has a total deficit of only one million cubic meters, will by 1975 have a deficit of about 30 millions, even assuming a reasonable rate of progress in forest development. There is thus an opportunity for considerable intraregional exchange.
The most rapid rise in wood requirements is likely to be in the area of pulp and paper. Demand for paper and paper products is expected to rise during the next 15 years by 170 percent in Oceania, 310 percent in south Asia, and 280 percent in the rest of the region. This means that additional raw material needs will be about 19 million cubic meters by 1965, and about 32 million cubic meters by 1975. The region has potentially enough paper-making fibre, and the obstacles to expansion are economic rather than technical. At an average rate of $ 130 investment per cubic meter, new capital required will be about $ 2,500 million by 1965, and $4,200 million by 1975.
These figures may seem astronomical, but they compare very favorably with the sums that will have to be spent on purchases from abroad if domestic production is not stepped up. If campaigns to wipe out illiteracy are to gather force, if foodstuffs are to be preserved through proper packaging, if urgently needed industrialization is to go ahead, more and more paper and paper products will be required. Unless steps are taken to provide these from the region's own forest resources, vast amounts of foreign exchange will be expended, to the detriment of other urgent programs. FAO, again with ECAFE and the United Nations Bureau of Technical Assistance Operations, is organizing a conference on Pulp and Paper Development in the Far East in Tokyo later this year, and it is hoped that solutions to some of the problems involved will be found there.
Forestry development, the study insists, must not be planned in isolation as it often now is, but in close co-ordination with agriculture and industry. The protective role of the forest must also be taken into account. In certain areas this may well transcend wood production in importance. The annual cost of soil erosion and flooding to the region runs into many thousands of millions of dollars, and much of this is due to forest destruction.
The study makes a challenge to governments. Egon Glesinger, Director of FAO's Division of Forestry and Forest Products, in presenting it to the session, expressed his belief that it will have served a useful purpose even if its only result is to bring home to governments what will attend failure to develop and implement far-sighted plans for investment in forestry and forest industries. The study will be printed later in the year and then be fully discussed at the next session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission which should recommend specific action programs, covering probably:
1. gradual elimination of shifting cultivation and uncontrolled forest grazing;2. more complete utilization of forests at present exploited and the elimination of waste in all subsequent stages of wood utilization and processing;
3. development of virgin forests;
4. establishment of intensively managed plantations of fast-growing species and the planting of trees outside the forest; raw material for long-fibred pulp should receive high priority;
5. development of forest industries and especially the
establishment of pulp and paper mills;6. rapid expansion of trade within the region, and in particular between the countries in Southeast Asia, which are well endowed with forest resources, and the countries of South Asia and East Asia which are faced with rising deficits.
OTHER FEATURES OF THE SESSION
Satisfaction was expressed that national progress reports oil forestry had been submitted by all member nations with only one exception. The main features of these reports are summarized in the final report of the session.
The report of the Third Session of its Teak Subcommission was approved by the Commission and its recommendations endorsed. This report is available separately.
It was noted with appreciation that the Asia-Pacific grading rules, Hardwood Logs other than Teak, and Sawn Hardwood Timber (Non-Teak) had been printed by FAO. The Commission also heard with pleasure that a final draft of the "Standard Nomenclature of the Exportable Timbers of the Asia-Pacific Region had been agreed upon and could now be printed.
An ad hoc Working Party on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers was convened prior to the main session, to draw up a general program of action for a permanent body eventually to be established.
The terms of reference should be " the promotion of international collaboration with regard to the training of forest workers and to working techniques in forest operations and timber transport, in order to support national efforts aimed at increasing productivity, better utilization of forest resources, prevention of accidents, and improvement in the working conditions and standards of living of forest workers ".
It was decided that the International Labour Office (ILO) should be invited to collaborate in the activities of the Committees in sectors of interest to that Organization, such as vocational training and prevention of accidents among forest workers. The program of work of the Committee should cover, in order of priority, the following fields of activity:
(a) training forest workers, foremen and officers; accident prevention;
(b) hand tools, their use and maintenance;
(c) mechanization; technical and technological studies; testing;
(d) work organization.
Implementation of this program would be entrusted by the main Committee to study groups each responsible for a particular sector.
Silvicultural and forest management research
The Commission took note with appreciation that under the able guidance of their respective co-ordinators, the Subcommittee on Pinus and Eucalyptus (Mr. P. A. Daley, United Kingdom) and the Subcommittee on Lowland Tropical Rain Forests (Mr. J. Wyatt-Smith, Malaya) had produced three separate papers containing a wealth of valuable information for countries that are facing the problems of introducing and expanding their plantations of pines and eucalypts, and the management of lowland evergreen rain forests.
The most promising pine species for introduction trials appear to be:
(a) Pinus merkusii, P. hondurensis for wet tropical localities from plains up to 3,000 feet;(b) P. khasya, P. longifolia, P. insularis for wet tropical and subtropical highlands;
(c) P. tropicalis, P. cubensis, P. occidentalis for moist tropical localities;
(d) P. strobus var. chiapensis for tropical and subtropical localities with 40 to 70 inches (1,000 to 1,750 millimeters) of rainfall.
Studies are to be initiated on other tropical conifers such as Araucaria, Podocarpus, Agathis, Cupressus, etc., that are to be found naturally in the tropics.
Forest products research
In the absence of its Chairman (Mr. Stanley A. Clarke) the report of this Committee was presented to the Commission by Mr. M. R. Jacobs of Australia. Note was taken that, in accordance with recommendations of by the previous session, work continued to be carried out correspondence among the members of the Committee. Progress, or statement of results, conclusions and suggestions were reported on the following items:
1. co-ordination of research and exchange of information;2. problems connected with the manufacture and use of phenol resin from the bark of mangrove and other species;
3. design of timber structures in tropical countries with special reference to strength grouping, stress grading and the design of joints;
4. uniform methods of testing, strength grading and presentation of results and derivation of design data from test results;
5. methods of testing the veneer-peeling qualities of different tropical species;
6. tests for pulping qualities of tropical broadleaved species.
The Commission noted with satisfaction that a list, had been compiled of the equipment and other facilities available in the laboratories of Australia, Burma, India, Malaya, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Election of officers
The Commission unanimously elected Shri R. C. Soni, Inspector-General of Forests to the Government of India, as its new Chairman until its Sixth Session. Mr. E. T. Tirikatene, Minister of Forests of New Zealand, and Mr. M. Tasdique Hussain, Inspector-General of Forests of Pakistan, were elected First and Second Vice-Chairman, respectively, for the same term of office. The Commission appointed two Rapporteurs in the persons of Mr. P. A. Daley (United Kingdom) and U Tun Kyaw (Burma).
