FO:LACFC/2000/INF.4  |
| FO:LACFC/2000/INF.4 |
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORESTRY COMMISSION |
TWENTY-FIRST SESSION |
Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia, 4 - 8 September, 2000 |
EXTRACT OF THE REPORT OF THE MEETING ON FORESTRY RESEARCH IN LATIN AMERICA (Curitiba, Brazil, 23-26 November, 1999) |
Information Note |
1. During the First Latin American Congress of the International Union of Forestry Research Organisations (IUFRO) held in Valdivia, Chile, from 22 to 28 November 1998, FAO and IUFRO decided to organise two joint meetings for the Latin American and the Caribbean region on forestry research and on forestry information. Brazil, offered to host the meetings through the "Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria" (EMBRAPA) (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), and the "Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Florestas" (CNPFlorestas) (National Centre of Forestry Research).
2. The first event, Meeting on Forestry Research in Latin America, was organised by the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile, in collaboration with the Forest Resources Division of the Forestry Department of FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy.
3. The organization of this meeting took into account a recommendation to FAO and the Member Nations of the region, expressed at the Twentieth Session of the Commission, in order to reinforce interlinkage and the exchange of technical and scientific information from research, through horizontal technical cooperation among countries, in the framework of the subregional groups, with the support of FAO.
4. The second event, 6th Meeting of the Forestry Information Network for Latin America and the Caribbean, was organised by IUFRO in the framework of the Latin American and Caribbean Information Systems Network.
5. The National Centre of Forestry Research, was the institution in charge of the local organisation of both meetings.
6. The general purpose of the Meeting on Forestry Research in Latin America was to provide an opportunity, in the regional context, to discuss the achievements, potentialities and problems of forestry research and exchange information and experiences relating to the latest developments in this field and the short term challenges.
7. The specific objectives were to:
8. The main objective of the 6th Meeting of the Forestry Information Network for Latin America and the Caribbean, was to follow up the actions carried out in 1999, on the basis of the commitments and resolutions adopted in the 5th Meeting of the Network held in November 1998 in Valdivia, Chile. The event was addressed both to specialised agencies in information and documentation for the forestry activity, as well as to forestry research agencies in general and, in particular to the directors of forestry institutions and centres in the Region.
9. The meetings were attended by 50 participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador , Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. In addition, these meetings were also attended by representatives of the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
10. The meetings were carried out between 23 and 26 November 1999, at the Altareggia Hotel in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.
11. The successive sessions comprised plenary conferences and group work meetings. A study tour to the National Centre of Forestry Research was also included.
12. Session II was initiated following Session I (Inaugural ceremony), and divided into two parts. The first consisted of the presentation of the summary reports on the situation of forestry research in the countries of the four Subregional Groups: Caribbean (Spanish speaking for this meeting), Southern Cone, Amazon Region and Central America and Mexico.
13. The summary reports of said Subregional Groups, which had been established by the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC), were prepared before the meeting on the basis of the country reports prepared in accordance with a guideline that had been sent in advance to the participants in the Meeting on Forestry Research in Latin America.
14. The second part of Session II, consisted of the presentation of the summary report on the situation of forestry research in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish speaking for this meeting). Said report had also been prepared before the meeting on the basis of the four summary reports on the situation of forestry research in the countries of the Subregional Groups, summarising the situation of forestry research at the regional level.
15. The four subregional summary reports and the regional summary report are available at the FAO Regional Office in Santiago, Chile.
16. The conclusions and recommendations of the Meeting, of a general nature, which apply to the Latin American and Spanish speaking Caribbean region as a whole, were formulated in a work session on the basis of the conclusions and recommendations regarding the situation of forestry research made by the participants of the Subregional Groups: Southern Cone, Amazon Region, and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean (Spanish speaking for this meeting). Said conclusions and recommendations are included below.
Sustainable forest management. A new Challenge
17. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), carried out in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, established the concept of sustainable forest management, applicable to every type of forest, according to which, not only economic aspects should be considered, but also environmental, social and cultural aspects related with forest management.
18. Most of the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region recognise the agreements adopted in the UNCED, including Agenda 21, and the Forestry Principles, and most of them also participate in some of the number of processes aimed at defining Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management. In addition, many countries of the Region adhere to the Action Proposals of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, approved by the Nineteenth Special Period of Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in 1997, and participate actively in the discussions of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, in the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission(SDC). With these actions, the countries of the Region recognise the importance of sustainable forest management in every type of forest and work actively towards achieving this objective. Likewise, most countries participate actively in the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change, among others.
19. The participants recognise that important social and cultural changes are taking place in the Latin American and Caribbean region, especially in connection with the values that society assigns to forests and wild areas in general. There is increasing awareness regarding environmental, social and cultural values associated with forests.
20. They also recognise that forest management will necessarily become more complex, in the search for a balance between wood production, non wood forest products and the other goods and services that society demands from forests.
21. In the face of this new situation, the participants recognise the urgent need to increase knowledge regarding the complex forest ecosystems existing in the region, their use and conservation to satisfy the needs of the users and the well being of the community in general, all of which gives raise to important challenges in terms of forestry research, among which priority has been assigned to:
Forestry research capacity
22. The participants recognise that many countries of the Region have a long tradition in forestry research and that they have made great progress as regards knowledge of their resources and in matters of forestry development. However, they agree that professional, economic and infrastructural capacity is not enough to face the immense task of reorienting forestry research in order to meet the demand for knowledge imposed by sustainable forest management, as defined in the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission, and by the various initiatives on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management, in which nearly all the countries of the Region are participating.
23. The participants recognise that, in many countries of the Region, there are important institutional deficiencies in connection with forestry research. The following are recognised among them:
The role of the private sector
24. The participants recognise that the contribution of the private sector is very diverse. In some countries, like Chile and Brazil, the private sector contributes strongly to forestry research, in others less. However, it has to be recognised that the objectives of the private sector on forest research are more oriented towards economic reasons.
International cooperation
25. International cooperation has played an important role in developing forestry research in a number of countries of the Region and should continue making an important contribution, especially in the countries with the most needs. In spite of this, the participants consider that cooperation has been limited and that there are not enough background data at the national level regarding the results obtained. On the other hand, it is also pointed out that international cooperation has not been able to create or strengthen local capacities and that it tends to concentrate on only a few countries, which are not always the ones requiring it most.
Present and future research
26. The participants recognise that most of the research conducted so far in the countries of the Region has concentrated on the establishment and management of forest plantations, generally with introduced species. In most countries research on natural forests has been relegated to second place, which translates into the loss of value of these ecosystems.
27. Forest plantations have played an important role in the development of forestry in many countries of the Region. The participants recognised that forestation must be incentivated, as a complement to natural forest management.
28. In view of this new situation as regards forest management, the participants have identified a series of subjects which should be assigned priority in research in the coming years. These subjects are the following:
Recommendations
The participants recommend that the Governments of the Region
29. Work on the design of explicit and stable multisectorial policies, stressing the importance of forests as a factor of economic, environmental and social development, taking into account in their design the effective participation of the various interest groups.
30. Revise forestry institutions for the purpose of strengthening the institutions in charge of forestry research, ensuring resources for basic and long term research, which is fundamental in order to progress towards their sustainable management.
31. The participants recognise and stress the importance of the role that the private sector must play in forestry research and urge governments to seek new mechanisms to incentivate the private sector to participate in forestry research, particularly in research for public knowledge.
32. Assign more resources to obtaining knowledge regarding forest ecosystems, through permanent forest inventories, including, in addition to information on wood stocks, information on non wood forest products and other goods and services provided by forests.
33. Deepen studies on existing research capacity, specially as regards technical and scientific capacity, infrastructure and operational resources, both national as well as those provided by international cooperation.
The participants suggest to international agencies and bilateral cooperation institutions
34. That it is necessary to develop forestry research programmes, with ample local participation in all their phases, making it possible to create or strengthen local research capacities, that will be able to continue research work, after financing of the project or programme has ended.
35. That it is necessary to provide funds for infrastructure and not only for operational expenses. Strengthening the institutions ensures sustainability of the activity in the long term.
36. International cooperation institutions must pay greater attention to demand, providing local researchers with the opportunity to participate more actively in the basic definitions of the projects or programmes.
Other recommendations
37. The participants consider that it is fundamental to strengthen communication means and cooperation between the institutions both at the subregional as well as the regional level, by strengthening the networks and technical publications.
38. The participants agree to inform the authorities related with forest and forestry activities about the conclusions and recommendations of the Meeting on Forestry Research in Latin America. They likewise request FAO to inform the Governments of the countries, the Central American Council on Forests and Protected Areas (CCAB-AP), the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC), the International Forestry Research Centre (IFRC), and the Secretariat of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and others, about the results of the meeting.