FO: LACFC/2000/12

1.    During the Nineteenth session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) held in Panama City, Panama (17-21 June 1996) an important part of the programme was dedicated to Item 5 of the Agenda, referring to strengthening the role of the Regional Commissions.

2.    In this context, in addition to analysing other subjects related to strengthening the LACFC, the Commission recommended that subregional work mechanisms be established as an integral part of its structure, not only to deal more closely with specific topics related to sustainable forest development but also to raise the level of cooperation, coordination and information among countries and to facilitate the participation of the Region in other regional or global bodies.

3.    The Commission therefore recommended to Member States and FAO that subregional mechanisms be formally established for the purpose of effective LACFC intersessional activity. It recommended that the following subregional groups be set up:

1. Central America and Mexico
2. Caribbean
3. Amazon
4. Southern Cone

4.    Inter- and intra-group coordination and the operational practicalities would be the responsibility of the Executive Committee of the Commission, the Chairperson and respective Vice-Chairpersons, together with the Secretariat of the Commission.

5.    During the 20^th session of the Commission (Havana, Cuba, 10-14 September 1998), the subregional groups met again in work sessions to programme their activities for the 1998-2000 period. The proposals formulated and which were included in the Report of that session, are included in Appendix 1.

6.    During the 20^th session of the Commission the following members were elected to the Executive Committee until the 21^st session:

7.    As a follow up to the recommendations with respect to strengthening the role of the regional forestry commissions in the period between the 20^th and 21^st sessions, the Executive Committee and the Subregional Groups held several meetings with the participation of the Forestry Officers of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

1. Meeting of the LACFC Bureaux in the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile, 7 - 8 January 1999

8.    This meeting was attended by Messrs. Fidel Ramos (Cuba), Dimas Arcia (Panama) and Atilio Ligrone (Uruguay).

9.    The purpose of this event was to discuss in detail the activities identified in the subregions and prepare a strategy for the implementation of priority actions in the workplan, including the responsibilities of the different parties, financing needs and proposals and the eventual necessary coordination between the subregions. The opportunity of this meeting was also taken to discuss other subjects of importance to the Region which would be analysed during the 14^th session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO), from 1 to 5 March 1999, in the satellite meeting of the Bureaux of the Regional Forestry Commissions, and the second Ministerial Meeting on Forestry Activities between 8 and 9 March 1999, all of them at FAO Headquarters in Rome

2. Meeting of the Bureaux of the Regional Forestry Commissions

10.    On the occasion of the 14^th session of COFO, a meeting of the Bureaux of the Regional Forestry Commissions was held, to discuss matters that they wished to be considered by COFO and to allow the Bureaux to present an overview of the recent activities of the regional commissions, discuss their experience in detail, consider regional matters, and initiate the process of identifying the main subjects to be considered in the forthcoming meetings of the Commissions.

11.    On the occasion of this meeting, a satellite meeting of the Bureaux of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission was held with the members who had attended COFO.

3. Meeting of the LACFC Bureaux in Montevideo, Uruguay, 27 - 28 May, 1999

12.    The purpose of the meeting, attended by the Chairperson of the Bureaux and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico and Southern Cone Subregional Groups, was the presentation of regional and subregional activities of the FAO Regional Office, and the reports of the Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission's subgroups. An analysis was also made of the regional project to support national forestry programmes financed by the Government of the Netherlands.

4. Meeting of the Subregional Group for Central America and Mexico

13. On the occasion of the Regional Workshop on the Contribution of Forestry in Mitigating Climatic Change in Central America (Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 2-8 October 1999) a meeting was organised in the framework of the Commission with the forestry authorities and the focal points of national forestry programmes in Central America to analyse, revise and contribute to the progress of the national forestry programmes of the countries of the subregion. The Chairperson of the Commission also participated in this meeting and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Central America and Mexico Subregional Group.

5. Meeting of the Subregional Group for the Caribbean

14.    On the occasion of the Workshop on the formulation of forest policies for the Caribbean (St. George's, Grenada, 1-5 November 1999), a meeting of the Subregional Group for the Caribbean was held, which was jointly organised with the meeting of the Technical Cooperation Network of the Caribbean on Related Forestry and Environmental Matters. During this meeting, two main subjects were reviewed: the Work Programme of the Commission's Subregional Group for the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, and the future of the mentioned Network.

15.    Regarding the latter point, the countries recommended that the Network be incorporated in the Commission's Subregional Group for the Caribbean. Additionally, a programme of work for the Subregional Group was analysed.

16.    The main needs, opportunities and challenges of the Caribbean countries relating to the forestry sector were discussed and analysed in detail in this meeting and recommendations were made.

6. Meeting of the Subregional Group for the Caribbean

17.    During the Workshop on Economic Valuation of Forest Products and Services (CATIE Headquarters, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 22-26 May 2000), for Caribbean English-speaking countries, a meeting of the Subregional Group for the Caribbean was carried out to report on current forestry initiatives in the Caribbean and to discuss future activities, focusing on joint activities after the 21^st session of the Commission in Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia.

18.    In the Commission's present meeting, enough time was set aside in the programme for the Subregional Groups to follow up their previous discussions to identify subjects and activities that may be executed effectively between the 21^st and 22^nd sessions of the Commission.

APPENDIX 1

PLANS OF WORK OF THE COMMISSION'S SUBREGIONAL GROUPS:
CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO,
AMAZON AND SOUTHERN CONE

REPORT AND WORKPLAN OF THE CARIBBEAN SUBREGIONAL GROUP

Countries participating in the meeting of the Group: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

1. Introduction

The Group recognized and reaffirmed the relevance of the LACFC decision to work during the inter-sessional periods in a subregional framework in order to benefit from the advantages of sharing certain geographic, ecological, economic and cultural characteristics.

It also noted that few activities had been put into effect since the last session of the Commission, mainly because of the shortage of funds.

It reiterated the need to take advantage of all the fora and frameworks for negotiation that had opened up in the subregion, such as the CARICOM and the recently established Association of Caribbean States, to promote debate and to raise governmental awareness of forest issues.

It also took note of the activities conducted by the Caribbean Technical Cooperation Network on Forestry and Related Environmental Matters, and called on the non English-speaking countries of the subregion to establish contact and look into the possibility of becoming members.

The Group unanimously reiterated the importance of maintaining a subregional negotiation framework, without regard to language, ecological and territorial differences, and expressed its firm intent to focus its attention on the common problems.

2. Plan of action for the 1998-2000 biennium and the medium term

The Group identified the following priority actions to be implemented with the support of the FAO Subregional Office:

• To immediately relay to the member countries of the Group that had not attended the 20^th session of the Commission a summary of the main aspects dealt with and the present programme of work, so as to solicit recommendations, suggestions and endorsement of the proposed activities.

• Through the current Chairman of the Group, to inform the Ministry of External Affairs of the coordinating country of the Group of the need to include the topic of sustainable forest development in discussions related to subregional negotiations as a way of expressing common concern for the protection of natural resources and the environment.

• With the technical support of the Subregional Office and by the end of 1998, to prepare a regional project of horizontal cooperation to implement the forest development strategy proposed by FAO, with an emphasis on support to national forest programmes.

• With the purpose of exchanging experiences and defining a forest strategy for the subregion, to hold a meeting of the countries concerned in the first half of 1999, for which the group would request technical and financial support from FAO and from interested potential donors.

• On the basis of the above meeting, to formulate a detailed plan of action for the implementation of specific activities to be executed before the 21^st session of the Commission.

REPORT AND WORKPLAN OF THE CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO SUBREGIONAL GROUP

Countries participating in the meeting of the Group: Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama.

1. Introduction

This plan of work of the Central America and Mexico Group includes aspects that relate to guidelines issued at the 19^th session of the Commission which need to be consolidated, and aspects that complement efforts by countries of the subregion, in order to address the subject of forests under a broad perspective. Other aspects reinforce the principle of sustainability which were discussed at the 20^th session of the Commission.

2. Medium-term objectives for the Subregional Group

• To consolidate lines of action directed at forest sustainability.
• To promote more efficient management of the financial resources needed for the Region.
• To raise national forest planning capacities, linking forests to the other sectors.

3. Priorities of the Subregional Group between the 20^th and 21^st sessions of the Commission

• Forest policies and planning.
• Forest protection (fires and disease).
• Criteria and indicators sustainable forest management.
• Awareness of the state of research.
• Forest products and services (valuation and markets).

4. Priority activities for intersessional periods

• To foster coherent forest policies both within the sector and with other sectors, and to give practical effect to national forest programmes.
• To exchange experiences; training in detection and control of fires and pests.
• To validate regional criteria and indicators at country level to facilitate their adoption.
• To critically assess the state of forest research and promote the exchange of knowledge.
• To prioritize and value forest assets and services.

REPORT AND WORKPLAN OF THE AMAZON SUBREGIONAL GROUP

Countries participating in the meeting of the Group: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

1. Introduction

The member countries of the Amazon Subregional Group attending the 20^th session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) elected Peru as Vice-Chairperson for the period up to the 21^st session. The Group, conscious of its responsibility for the sustainable conservation, management and development of the largest, richest and most luxuriant expanse of tropical forest on the planet, and of the difficulties in ensuring adequate coordination, cooperation and exchange of information amongst themselves, met with the intention of strengthening multinational relations and facilitating the participation of the Region in other regional and international bodies.

2. Priority issues and activities

The collaborative meeting unanimously identified and endorsed the following issues as priorities items for the forestry agendas of the member countries:

• Monitoring of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest mangement.
• Deforestation, reforestation and forestation.
• Measures and activities to prevent and control forest fires.
• Strategies for clean development.
• Valuation of protected areas and forest production areas.

The initial activities envisaged for the corresponding period include:

• Opening of a Web page by member countries to exchange information on issues and activities addressed by the Amazon Group and inform other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Compilation of information on national initiatives for forest conservation and management. This information should include activities developed by government bodies and by the national and international private sector in each member country.
• Coordination meeting to examine progress in the member countries of the Group, if possible in June 1999, in Peru.

NOTE: In addition, every opportunity arising from meetings to be held in the region in the upcoming months will be taken (TAC, FRA 2000, etc).

The member countries undertake to prepare periodic reports on the agreed topics, to be distributed by the Vice-Chair for general information and used in all relevant events to secure the required consensus.

REPORT AND WORKPLAN OF THE SOUTHERN CONE SUBREGIONAL GROUP

Countries participating in the meeting of the Group: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

1. Introduction

The member countries of the Southern Cone Group (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) plus Bolivia, which joined the Group on this occasion on an ongoing basis, identified the need to continue to work together on matters that had been of common concern in the past and were still priorities in their respective forest sectors.

Issues were also identified for the Group's Plan of Work for 1999-2000. These areas of common concern are fundamental for bilateral or multilateral, cross-sectional cooperation, if programmes are to truly reflect countries' concerns and be tailored towards efficient use of available resources.

The countries in the Group are conscious of the differing levels of development that exist relative to the topic areas selected for this period and therefore see the need for both integrated action, involving the whole Group, and specific collaborative activity among countries with different levels of progress.

2. Work agenda 1999-2000

Issues of continuing collective interest are:

• Forestation and reforestation
• Control of pests and disease
• Management of shared watersheds
• Genetic conservation and endangered species
• Programme against desertification
• Gender in forest activity
• Collaboration in policy orientation and forest legislation.

Suggested related activities include:

• Forest inventory and land register (1)
• National system of forest information (1)
• Sustainable management of native forests (1)
• Surveys of potential markets (2)
• Establishment of postgraduate school (2)
• Programme of appraisal of the role of plantations and native resources in the socio-economic and environmental development of the Subregion (2).

( ) Priority

The following priority (1) activities are proposed:

• Project: Forest inventory and land register
  General objective: to help interested countries with the many activities associated with compiling an inventory and land register.
  Duration: two years
  Funding: interested parties amd international agencies.
• Project: National system of forest information
  General objective: to raise awareness and integration among the public and private sectors of the countries in the Group
  Duration: permanent
  Funding: interested parties
• Project: Sustainable management of native forests
  General objective: to determine sustainable management models for the native forests of the Region
  Duration: To be determined (3 years)
  Funding: European Union, Office National des Forêts (France)