EVERY TWO years representatives of all the Member States of FAO meet together in conference to review the world situation and what the Organization is doing about-it, and in the light of this review, to agree on a program of work and budget for the two years ahead. The Twelfth Session of the Conference of FAO was held in November and December 1963.
On these occasions the initial survey of FAO's current and proposed activities is made by specialized committees covering the major fields of responsibility of the Organization. One of these committees deals with forestry and forest products, and this time the members of that committee came from a greater number of countries than ever before, 68 representatives from 49 countries. These countries represent, however, less than half the total membership of FAO which now stands at 111 states. At this session of the Conference, Algeria, Burundi, Rwanda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda were elected members, and Kenya, Malta and Zanzibar associate members. South Africa has since given notice of withdrawal as a member of FAO.
The background theme for the discussions of the Conference was given by President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika who delivered the McDougall Memorial Lecture with which the Conference customarily opens. "A continuation of the present chaos in which the rich get richer and the poor stay poor is unacceptable to those of us who are conscious of our poverty," he said. He called for a planned world attack on poverty, otherwise the poorer countries must retreat into deliberate economic isolation for the time being.
During the course of the Conference, N. A. Osara, Director of the Forestry and Forest Products Division, developed further the idea that one form of such an attack might be an expansion of trade in forest products; this is likely to become an important aspect of the United Nations' Conference on Trade and Development due to be held in 1964. "The magnitude of our activities is well justified against the fact that forest industries constitute one of the world's major industries, the gross value of the annual output being around $35,000 million and the labor force numbering well over 5 million."
Later, after paying tribute to his precedessor in the post of Director, Egon Glesinger, he said: "Although I have participated in FAO activities ever since the early years of this Organization, this is my first attendance at the FAO Conference and its Committee on Forestry and Forest Products. I have been very impressed by the level and work of this committee. Discussions have been of a really high professional standard. We in FAO certainly feel that such a committee is a strong support for the Division and its activities, not only for the coming biennium but also for the longer future... It is my sincere hope that we all have been able to win your confidence, so essential for our future work."
He welcomed especially J. B. Nicholson, Minister of Forestry, who headed the Canadian delegation to the Conference. "There are only a few countries in the world which have a cabinet minister whose duties concentrate entirely on forestry and forest industries. It would certainly be desirable for other countries to follow this example because matters concerning forestry and forest industries do not easily get the attention they should unless they are presented and defended by top people at the top level."
The Director went on to note: "This is the first time that there have been delegates exclusively representing the most prominent forest industries. This must be considered a very important development. It is a sign of the growing interest in our activities in the industrial field."
"We are also proud," he continued, "to have had with us Edward P. Cliff, chief of the largest forest service among the member countries of FAO. We have been further honored by the presence of Professor Eino Saari, the acknowledged doyen of world forestry, and it is of the highest value to us to have had as a delegate a former staff member of the Division, Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse, whose judgment and advice are based on first-hand knowledge and understanding."
So the Organization's work in forestry and forest products has been charted for another two years. The importance which Member Governments are attaching to the development of forestry and forest industries as an integral part of their general economic development is clearly evidenced by the growing number of field projects for which FAO is being given responsibility.
