A discussion paper prepared for review by the fifty-first session of the FAO Council
Comments received from FAO council programme committee
A supplementary paper prepared for the FAO Council
The FAO Council reports
1 Document CL 51/20
OBJECTIVES
The broad objective which the Quebec Conference of 1945 laid down for FAO was to supply an expanding world economy with the forest products necessary to sustain the general welfare. This involves not only the growing of timber but extends to harvesting operations and wood processing, the integration of forest management with industrial management and the marketing of forest products. It also includes other basic benefits that man derives from the forest: protection of agricultural lands; regulation of stream and groundwater flows and prevention of floods, avalanches, wind and water erosion; provision of range lands for livestock and wildlife; amenities and recreation opportunities to expanding urban societies and other social benefits. All this has to find a place in FAO's outlook on forestry.
The long-term objectives of FAO have, however, by no means remained static. We live in an era of rapid change. In 1945, and several years afterward, the world was not yet aware of the population explosion now recognized as one of the most remarkable features of the time and bound to strain also the world's forest resources during the decades ahead. Technical advances, too, are most remarkable; products, processes, systems and methods are changing fast, as is also the political, economic and social setting within which forestry development must be carried out. Readjustments in strategy and changes in emphasis in targets are thus imperative.
In view of the new range and complexity of the problems faced, and because of limited resources, FAO's action programme in forestry has had to be increasingly concentrated in the last five years on certain areas of priority. These may be categorized as accelerating the contribution of forestry and forest industries to economic and social development, and guiding member countries on a fundamental reconsideration of the aims of forest management in a changing world economy.
ORGANIZATION AND MAIN AREAS OF WORK
The organization of the Forestry and Forest Industries Division has been based on two principles:
(a) organization is a dynamic concept and requires constant adjustments to changes in policy;
(b) operational efficiency must be constantly improved.
A new structure for FAO's work in forestry is given in document CL 51/9. The structure over recent years has comprised the Office of the Director and five branches: for Forest Policy, Forest Management, Forest Logging and Transport, Forest Industries and Utilization, and Forest Economics. These constitute the substantive units of the Division, each responsible for a wide group of specialist functions as well as for technical servicing and backstopping of field projects on a subject-matter basis.
Direction and coordination stem from the Office of the Director. Within this the Operations and Coordination Office was as of 1 June 1968 reconstituted into an Operations Office and Administrative Unit.
The Division was the first segment of the Organization to outpost officers in the regions, antedating the appointment of Regional Representatives. The purpose was to get closer to the local problems in the different parts of the world and to build up working contacts with Member Nations more readily than is possible from Headquarters. Periods of outposting have been rotated with duty at Headquarters or on field projects, so that by now, at Rome and in the regional offices, an experienced and versatile staff has been built up.
To cope with its responsibilities in the field of forest industries, FAO has established Forest Industries Advisory Groups jointly with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) at Santiago, and for Africa (ECA) at Addis Ababa. A similar group is operating under regional United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funds for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) at Bangkok. The ECE/FAO Timber Division at Geneva serves a somewhat similar function for Europe.
With a view to coordinating work with other programmes, the Division is provided with liaison officers for the FAO/IBRD Cooperative Programme and World Food Programme.
As of June 1968, the total number of Regular Programme professional posts was 44 at Headquarters, and 9 outposted in the regions. The total of UNDP (Special Fund) posts was 603, of which 12 were at Headquarters. Under the UNDP (Technical Assistance) sector there were 63 posts, and under trust funds, mainly as associate experts, 47 posts in the field and 4 temporarily at Headquarters.
Divisional work is conveniently grouped in two major areas: forest resources and forest industries and trade. These divisions are made on the basis of the stage of the production and distribution functions. Throughout run the unifying influences of economics and planning which provide two areas of work which must necessarily be interwoven with the others.
In agriculture some form of institutional structure evolved in many countries at an early period. In the case of forestry, basic legislation and administration for a largely public domain have had to be recently created ab initio in many countries. This was in recognition of the fundamental principles of forest policy approved by the FAO Conference in 1951, which the Division has constantly striven to have implemented in member countries.
The Division has been seeking to produce a revised edition of its early study Forest policy, law and administration which constituted a logical declaration of the rules governing the intervention of the State in the forestry sector, and provided national forest services with the background for their consideration of forest policy problems. The work has been delayed but may be completed in 1970/71.
Institutional problems of forestry are a main preoccupation of the Division. These problems are initially mainly agro-silvicultural and centre around man/forest relationships. But as the process of economic and political development gains momentum, the institutional problems become more socio-economic in character. Forestry then must strengthen its connections and interrelations with industry and trade and other sectors of the economy. This is a natural evolution. Furthermore, forestry and forest industries development must be integrated into nationwide economic plans and programmes.
A basic element for articulating the action of FAO in the field of forest policy vis-à-vis national services is the network of six Regional Forestry Commissions, for which, together with the Mediterranean Forestry Subcommission, the Division provides a continuing secretariat. From their establishment - European Commission 1947, Latin American and Asia-Pacific Commissions 1949, Near East Commission 1953, African and North American Commissions 1959 - these commissions have constituted the intergovernmental medium through which to discuss forest policy trends, exchange experiences and information, and study technical and economic problems of common interest. The results of the commissions' activities are recorded in the documentation attested by the Forestry index published by the FAO Documentation Centre.
The cycle of regional timber trends studies that have been conducted by FAO during the past decade in cooperation with the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions, and which culminated in 1966 in the study Wood: world trends and prospects, has assumed great significance in this respect also. They provide an essential part of the background against which national forest policies and development plans can be formulated. Beyond that, in the context of the contribution which the Division is making to FAO's Indicative World Plan for Agricultural Development 1965-85, forestry sector accounts on a country basis are being evolved with a view to determining the impact which forest industry development could have upon the economy of individual countries.
The successful implementation of forestry development plans requires, apart from capital for investment, the availability of trained personnel at both professional and technical levels. FAO's aim in forestry education and training is to adjust the educational effort to the priorities that result for the forestry sector from the targets set for general economic development. A methodology has been evolved for the assessment of manpower requirements for the development of the forestry sector and adjusted to the targets of overall educational plans. The Division has also prepared programmes for educational development in the developing regions: the first, for Africa, has already been completed; that for Latin America is expected to be completed in 1969, followed by one for Asia and the Far East. The Division has also assisted in schemes for cooperation between groups of countries in forestry education for example, an agreement has been reached between Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to organize a common system of forestry education and training. A similar agreement is under discussion for the Central American and Caribbean area.
Basic to all of the Division's work is its statistical programme of providing country data comparable at the international level on resources, wood removals from the forest, output of forest products, trade flows in these goods and of many associated matters, e.g., forest fires, the sector of national income and labour. This means not only the collection but improvement in standardizing and assuring comparability in concepts, definitions and reporting techniques. The volume of work grows with improved reporting and heavier demands for data.
The appraisal of forest resources and their physical environment is a fundamental requirement for sound planning at all levels from the enterprise to international work. New and developing techniques aid in this difficult and often neglected job. Project field work and training, as well as standardization of approach and of presentation of data, remain a major area of the Division's programme.
The economic approach has become common throughout nearly all of the programme, even to the stage of having expertise distributed in several units. Analytical work remains mostly concentrated in special sections.
Forest resources
Work in this area is concerned with how and where to grow, protect and harvest economically the rising volumes of wood that the world is requiring. Emphasis in relation to using natural forests is on the special problems of heterogeneous tropical forests. The dynamic possibilities of man-made forests are also stressed, together with the hazards they present.
Perhaps the greatest change that has come to forest management at the enterprise level is that, in determining the objectives of management, national and international considerations have come to carry more weight. This, together with the strong demand for large and uniform quantities of raw materials as the base for forest industries, particularly for pulp and paper and wood-based panels, has given impetus to the creation of man-made forests far from where they might otherwise have been considered. In turn this has also led to the application of genetics and tree seed selection in speeding up and improving forest production.
Forest management has also increasingly to look beyond the growing of wood to the harvesting of the wood crop. The processing from stump to mill gate is the most vulnerable link, often the economically decisive link, in the whole chain to the final consumer. These considerations explain the establishment of a new Branch and expansion of staff two years ago within the Division to work toward promoting better methods in logging and transport, the two phases of the production process that decisively affect, for example, the ability of wood products to compete on export markets.
In several countries the role of the forest as a wood producer is already subordinate to its role as a provider of physical protection benefits and social values. Furthermore, the natural habitat for much of the world's wildlife is constantly encroached upon by man and the colonization process. Thus along with action to encourage output of forest products, the Division has been trying to ensure that adequate precautions and suitable measures are taken so that forests provide the added social benefits demanded by rising standards of living, and that the multiple-use concept is adequately introduced. In the whole broad field of conservation and wildlife management, good collaboration has been maintained with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and with the International Biological Programme.
Forest industries and trade
Forest products penetrate into every sector of the economy and the demand for them is directly linked with the process of economic growth. Consumption is rising fast.
Today there is a reasonably clear idea of how much wood the world is going to need five years or so hence, as well as of the major changes likely to take place in the wood and wood-using sectors. FAO's regional timber trends studies indicate that by 1975 the world will need about 560 million cubic metres more wood annually than it did in 1961. About 450 million cubic metres of this additional quantity will be required for industrial use, which is a probable rise of 43 percent in 14 years.
A growing share of industrial wood will be required for pulp products and wood-based panels, consumption of which could rise by 110 and 150 percent respectively over the period. This compares with a 23 percent rise in sawnwood consumption, and virtually no change for industrial wood consumed in the round.
About 70 percent of this extra industrial wood will be required for use in the advanced, high use countries. This would seem to offer opportunities for developing countries well endowed with forest resources or forestry potentials. In fact, forest products now rank among the fastest growing exports of certain countries and in some cases are the top earners of foreign exchange.
In the ten years from 1955 to 1965, exports of these products grew in value from U.S.$280 million annually to U.S.$770 million and may well reach U.S.$1500 million by 1975. These facts form the background to the new emphasis in the Division's work on trade development and in particular market intelligence and dissemination to member countries of information on markets, prices, transport costs and trade flows of forest products.
Many developing countries feel that the advanced countries must accelerate capital investment and active industrial participation by established industries in similar activities in the developing areas of the world, if increased economic activity and employment opportunities are to be gained. Because of multiplier and other effects, forest industry development may have a considerable impact on general economic growth.
Despite many developing countries having a favoured position with respect to resources suitable for some forest products, there are many obstacles in the way of a quick development of industries. These include lack of trained manpower, infrastructure, concentrated demand, suitable forest resources and/or favourable forest location. Much of the Division's efforts under field projects are concentrated in assisting Member Nations in overcoming such impediments and constraints, and in encouraging phased programmes of development of forests and forest industry as part of general national development plans. Through this experience, FAO has accumulated considerable expertise and has built up sizeable headquarters and regional cadres of forest industries specialists and economists, readily available to provide advice and assistance to Member Nations. It can also call upon, if appropriate, the services of many public or private contracting firms and agencies.
METHODS ADOPTED TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES
To carry out its mandate, FAO's Forestry and Forest Industries Division has to be equipped to appraise and evaluate world forestry problems and to determine those priority areas where international action is most needed and can be most effective. The inclusion within the Division of its own statistics, trade, economics, documentation and operational units has aided in these complex tasks, despite the long-standing limitation on the staff resources which can be allocated to some of these activities. The divisional periodical, Unasylva, for instance, now in its 22nd volume, continues to be prepared with only a modest resource.
As previously reported to the Council, in the early years of the Organization emphasis had to be on the so-called basic regular programme methods of FAO, on exchange of information, studies and reports and the framing of resolutions. But as the new field programmes developed in keeping with the increase in the membership of FAO (now totalling 119 member countries), the situation changed rapidly. The UNDP(SF) funds now made available for forestry projects currently total some U.S.$62 million - spread over on average a period of four years (excluding counterpart government contributions) - compared with U.S.$2.68 million for two years of Regular Programme (1968/69) activities. Some 40 percent of the time of Regular Programme staff is needed to make these field projects tick over.
Although for administrative purposes the regular programme and field programmes are treated separately by the Organization because they are financed from different sources, in practice they are indissolubly wedded and complement each other.
Work under the Regular Programme is planned in terms of function as well as type of activity. This facilitates the establishment of subsector priorities (e.g., education, man-made forests, pulp and paper) as well as the choice of the most effective method for implementation (e.g., through studies, meetings, collation and dissemination of information, advice). For instance, the preparation of a regional programme for forestry education is a type of activity that is best promoted through studies of local conditions and of the manpower requirements in relation to forestry development, whereas the establishment, management and utilization of man-made forests is a line of activity that is best promoted through a well-organized and documented meeting, symposium or demonstration project. A review of forest policy is a topic for an exchange of views and experiences among policy makers of Member Nations; the Regional Forestry Commissions ordinarily provide the forums for such an exchange. The philosophy underlying the Division's work under the Regular Programme is that FAO's efforts are the efforts in sum of the community of nations - the secretariat is but the organizational means to secure the carrying out of the intentions and ideas of FAO Member Nations.
Obviously, the Division can only satisfy the demands made on its services by Member Nations to the extent that its resources permit. It has managed to extend its capacities through studied cooperation with the United Nations (Regional Economic Commissions), the World Food Programme, other agencies of the United Nations family, and with nongovernmental international bodies and bilateral aid agencies. Increasing collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations International Development Organization (UNIDO) is expected. A much wider achievement has thus been possible than the limits of regular programme funds and resources might suggest.
One organizational element that has proved most valuable in promoting the objectives of FAO is that of advisory committees and panels of experts, of which the FAO committees on pulp and paper, on wood-based panels and on forestry education and tropical forestry may be cited. Much is hoped, also, of the new panel of experts on forest gene resources. When the Division first started, it had a standing advisory committee of specialists of acknowledged status. These other bodies have derived in time from that original one.
Technological progress and economic and social advancement in developing countries cannot be advised into existence through studies and reports and the airing of views at international meetings of experts. Beyond such activities direct development must be promoted, geared to the needs and potentialities of each country. It is in this respect that the field programmes have assumed so much importance in the last few years. By mid-1968, the Division had brought to completion 11 UNDP Special Fund national projects, was operating 52 and had another 7 approved projects not yet operational, in all 70 projects, besides participating in a number of others operated by other FAO Divisions. The Division had responsibility for some 7 percent of the total UNDP(SF) allocation or over 18 percent of UNDP(SF) funds administered by FAO. A wide field of development activity is covered by these projects, ranging from surveys and inventories of forest resources, plantation establishment, wildlife, land use and watershed management, establishment of forestry research organizations and education institutions at the professional and technical levels, logging and training centres, to feasibility studies covering harvesting, transport and the different kinds of industrial utilization, including manufacture of pulp and paper.
Some 30 World Food Programme projects of immediate concern to the Division have also been approved as at early 1968, involving a total cost to WFP of some $47 million.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
The problems encountered since the last review by the Council are of two broad categories: those inherent in the complex nature of FAO's tasks and those resulting from the constant pressure on the resources of the Division.
The disparity that exists between the levels of technological knowledge and socio-economic attainment among FAO's Member Nations presents the greatest challenge. This makes the spread of problems, needs and requirements of international forestry extremely wide. Some 80 percent of FAO's Member Nations are still at or striving to reach the "take-off" in economic development. The stages reached in forestry development among them differ. In some, forests are still regarded as a free gift to fell, clear, cultivate, graze or hunt. It is left to nature to strike a balance between man's wants and forest regrowth. In others, concepts of community benefits of forestry have developed and institutional arrangements for the protection of forest resources and their rational utilization for the general interest, as opposed to individual gain, have evolved and are applied. In countries where national planning has evolved, forests are now looked upon as a potential raw material resource to be utilized for economic and social growth.
At the far end of the scale there are the developed Member Nations with well-established forestry administrations and institutions but where heavy demand for forest products and other social benefits, competition for markets or from substitutes, create quite a different range of problems and requirements.
Globally, the problems of forestry are accentuated today by contradictory trends and inconsistencies; a growing demand for wood products has to be satisfied by a diminishing forest area; production costs have to be controlled in the face of rising wages; new products have to be developed against competition from other materials and substitutes; technological advances have to be applied although education and training are inadequate; greater investments are required against keen competition for capital resources; the varied functions of the forest have to be reconciled with low wood production costs and integrated into a changing social pattern.
The original aims given to FAO have thus made it in recent years more and more difficult to concentrate effort. The needs in international forestry are so wide that FAO is constantly tempted to spread itself too thinly. This situation cannot be met just by structural changes, although such changes will, it is hoped, result in better operational efficiency and simplification of procedures. In the longer run more outside sources of funds will have to be tapped.
EVALUATION OF RESULTS ACHIEVED
A number of points were made in the last review paper submitted to the FAO Council at its forty-third session in October 1964.2 It can be further said now that FAO continues to provide a world centre for the whole range of matters pertaining to forestry and forest industries. It has earned the confidence of the great European and North American forest industries as a neutral centre for discussion of their problems. It also serves as the mainspring of the ECE Timber Committee serviced by the joint FAO/ECE Timber Division which brings together the east European and west European countries for consultations; other international forums for such discussions, such as in UNCTAD, are derived from FAO. But, beyond this, FAO is especially valued as a medium for transferring and adapting ideas and practices in forestry to the diverse circumstances of its many Member Nations in all regions of the world.
2 See Unasylva, Volume 18 (4), Number 75.
FAO has certainly helped bring about a wider understanding of the potentialities of forestry in economic and social growth. Through its integrated approach to forest and forest industries management, it has continued to try to overcome the traditional divorce in many countries between those responsible for the growing of wood and those responsible for its processing. The need for integration between forest production, logging and transport, processing and marketing, a requirement dictated by technical, industrial, economic, social and political considerations, is now more universally understood and accepted.
FAO has also attempted to spark off forestry development in many countries. Perhaps this has constituted the Organization's biggest achievement in the forestry sector in recent years. Witness such disparate items as the establishment of a forestry department at the Ibadan University College in Nigeria, of logging training centres in India supported also by bilateral aid, the forest surveys in the Amazon basin of Brazil, or the Institute for the Development of Forest Resources and Industries in Chile.
FAO has also been associated with attracting international financial support for forestry development. It has recently undertaken a number of missions for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and for the regional international banks. An economic review of the forestry sector (Central America), identification of forestry projects (Gabon), market development (Kenya, Madagascar and Tanzania), evaluation of an industrial pulpwood plantation programme for India, are examples of such missions. Close involvement in the FAO/Industry Cooperative Programme, in particular the recent establishment of a Forestry and Forest Industries Subgroup, has increasingly attracted the attention of industrialists in the advanced countries, whether connected with private or public agencies, to the investment opportunities in many countries of the developing world.
Though much has been accomplished, mistakes have also been made from which it is hoped lessons have been learned. There are instances where field projects did not fully succeed either because the countries concerned were not ready for them (they did not have the counterpart funds or staff to support, match and continue the multilateral effort) or because the project itself did not really merit high priority as against other national needs and requirements. In some cases, multilateral and bilateral aid programmes were not harmonized, resulting in duplication of effort. Mistakes in the selection of international field staff have been made and at Headquarters staff have often had to work under such pressure that they have been unable to devote enough time to the thorough planning of projects and continual evaluation of performance. These are problems generally encountered within the Organization and are not peculiar to forestry. Remedies and solutions are constantly sought.
TRENDS OF THE DIVISION'S WORK
Through the experience gained over more than 20 years, there is today a clearer understanding of both the problems and opportunities in world forestry. The Sixth World Forestry Congress held in Madrid in the summer of 1966 clarified many issues. Since then, the steep rise in funds available for field programmes has helped focus attention down to the problems and potentials of individual countries. This trend will continue.
FAO's future functions in the forestry sector will be of two broad types, and in the following order of priority:
(a) assistance to Member Nations in their forest and forest industries development efforts (operational work);(b) promotion of the exchange of forestry knowledge in the world community of nations (functional activities).
This shift in emphasis toward developmental work in no way diminishes the importance of the substantive work of the Division. On the contrary, it provides a surer pragmatic basis for the formulation of Regular Programme activities.
The future priority areas, where FAO can best stimulate national or international action, may be listed as follows:
(a) Securing the national forest domain, appraising the availability of wood raw material and costs; enacting legislation and creating or strengthening administrative structures and institutions to ensure the proper management and utilization of forest resources(b) Establishing new or renewed forest resources, in areas where conditions for producing the wood that industries require, at low cost, are favourable; finding solutions for the special problems of the tropics
(c) Encouraging outside investment, or the granting of loans, for the establishing of forest industries, and raising the quality of products so that they are competitive on world markets
(d) Coordinating collaboration between industries and countries where sound expansion requires a larger scale of action, such as in some branches of pulp and paper production, in shipping and in market promotion
(e) In developed countries, providing training, technical assistance, capital and know-how to the forestry sector in developing countries
(f) Overcoming obstacles to increased trade in processed and further manufactured forms of forest products, and obtaining market acceptance of lesser known tropical woods.
The laying down of policies in these matters is a function of governments. The 14th Session of the FAO Conference endorsed the orientation of the Division's effort toward this type of action, especially through its field programmes. It proposed that future Regular Programme activities should provide stronger support to the whole development effort, with emphasis as follows:
(a) Linking fundamental research to practice in the field
(b) Tree seed services and germ plasm centres
(c) Wildlife management
(d) Arid-zone forestry
(e) Watershed management and forest influences
(f) Forest fire prevention and control
(g) Forestry education and training
(h) Land-use planning for forestry
(i) Institutional and management problems
(j) Expanded worldwide programme for the development of tropical forests
(k) Forest industry survey missions and development planning services
(I) Forest economics and marketing problems.
These conclusions of the Conference will be given effect in developing FAO's future programmes over the next five years. The present prospects of organizational changes are of themselves a step toward a greater freedom of action in strengthening FAO's forestry activities, enabling the Organization to cope more efficaciously with the challenges ahead.
3 Extracted from Document CL 51/6.
The committee noted the long and short-term objectives of the Forestry and Forest Industries Division and its main activities and methods of work presented in a comprehensive manner; it however considered that there should have been a clearer indication of priorities between different activities.
The committee noted that the major elements of the Forestry Division's work programme for the next five years were related to the Director-General's five "areas of concentration," but that the items included under the first four "areas" did not fully reflect the Division's real priorities. The committee considered that more information on the production or resource end of forestry would have reflected more accurately the picture of the Division's actual efforts. The committee recognized the importance of forestry activities in the economic development particularly of the developing countries and that the Division's work in forest industries, economics, and marketing could be a prime contribution to the Director-General's fifth priority area, "promotion of foreign exchange earnings and savings."
The committee questioned whether FAO could not give increased attention to afforestation, and also to farm forestry programmer that would increase fuel-wood production and facilitate soil conservation. The committee also raised a question on forestry in arid or semi-arid areas and was informed that emphasis on arid-zone forestry had been a strong feature of FAO's work for many years in the 1950s. Subsequently, emphasis shifted to quick growing species and manmade forests in general. However, more than half of 30 World Food Programme forestry projects and several UNDP(SF) projects were aimed at afforestation of arid zones, soil conservation and the arrest of desert encroachment. The committee considered that these fields needed greater attention in the future. It also recognized the need for additional assistance in forest fire control.
The committee was informed that the FAO Regional Forestry Commissions played a useful role in coordinating forest policy at the regional level and in stimulating regional cooperation. Examples included the important part played by these commissions in the preparation and completion of the cycle of regional timber trend studies, and the establishment of regional centres, such as the Near East Forest Rangers' School in Lattakia, Syria, and the Latin American Forest Research Institute at Merida, Venezuela. The committee also noted that the policy role of the commissions would gain in importance in the future, with the growing acceptance by Member Governments of concerted regional action.
The committee was also informed that in order to perform this role, it was often necessary for the Forestry Commissions to establish subsidiary bodies to study technical problems and report directly to the commissions. The committee however reiterated that the establishment of working parties on a permanent basis should be discouraged and activities performed by them should be carried out as far as possible through ad hoc meetings or by study groups. The committee noted with satisfaction that in the past two years 12 subsidiary statutory bodies serviced by the Forestry and Forest Industries Division had been suppressed and another three were being reexamined with a view to sharpening their objectives and simplifying their working procedures. The committee felt that more should be done in this direction.
The committee noted the current effort of the Forestry Division to prepare regional plans for forestry education and training. These plans were based on careful estimation of the needs for professional and technical forestry personnel at all levels of forestry development within a region. Such needs were compared with the education facilities in the region to indicate the kind of developmental action needed in forestry education and to indicate priorities for multilateral aid against the background of a well-defined overall strategy. The committee recognized that use should be made of facilities available at existing centres of forestry education within the region. In this connection, the committee emphasized that special importance should be given to training at the technical level so as to ensure its relevance to the immediate needs and capabilities of the countries in question.
The Committee recognized that the promotion of development activities connected with wildlife resources, outdoor recreation and national parks should continue as one of the priority activities under the Forestry Division's programme of work, especially in view of their importance to tourism which is proving to be a promising source of exchange earnings for many developing countries. The committee also noted that a rational use of wildlife resources through game cropping practices could, in some cases, help to augment otherwise inadequate supplies of animal protein food.
The committee endorsed FAO's leadership in promoting forest industry development. The expertise of FAO in all aspects of forestry assured development which was soundly based on the integration of all sectors of forestry. Such integration, which required a composite approach to the resources and industries, was necessary if development was to be technically sound and economically viable. The committee urged that cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) should be pursued on this basis. The committee was informed of FAO's work with its regional Forest Industries Development Advisory Groups and also through the FAO/Industry Cooperative Programme. It felt that more information about the role of hardwoods in pulp and paper manufacture would be useful to many member countries.
The committee also noted the Forestry Division's philosophy that forestry was concerned as much with people as with trees, and that a growing recognition of this in the forestry profession would facilitate the recruitment and placement of staff able to work effectively in the developing countries. It was important therefore that FAO stimulate foresters to be progressive and devise programmes which would be technically sound and fit in with the overall economic and social needs of countries. The committee was informed that the Forestry Division was attempting to do this through the large number of UNDP(SF) projects which it operated. Some members felt that the counterpart personnel in developing countries should be associated more fully with the formulation and development of such projects.
4 Document CL 51/20, Supplement 1.
After an exchange of views and discussions with divisional representatives, the committee noted in its report that it had found the descriptions of the Division's work programme in the document under reference to be presented in a comprehensive manner, but felt that there should have been a clearer indication of priorities. Particularly, additional information on the production or resource end of forestry might have resected more accurately the Division's actual effort.
The more important lines of activity proposed for the future had been grouped according to the Director-General's five "areas of concentration." They had been so grouped to ensure that they would not be overlooked. These lines of activity are important in their own right, and in order to prevent any possible distortion of their significance this supplement is presented to clarify further the priorities of the Forestry Division.
The objectives which the Quebec Conference laid down for FAO in 1945 have not changed, but the scope and tempo of FAO's work have broadened and quickened. The total effort of the Forestry Division is now oriented to two primary tasks:
(a) to facilitate the viable development of forests and forest industries in developing countries to enable them to take advantage of existing and potential opportunities for marketing of forest products on local and international markets;(b) to assist all countries in evolving and updating their capabilities for forest management commensurate with the changing needs of people and changing tasks of local forestry organizations.
Within this context, the programme of work of the Forestry and Forest Industries Division has been designed to respond to the changing needs of the Member Nations. As required, emphasis has shifted, through time, from one type of activity to another. At present the priority lines of activity are the following.
INDICATIVE WORLD PLAN FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
IWP is being built on a realistic examination of the resource and economic situation in nearly 100 different countries and territories. Present and future contributions of the forestry sector are being considered within the framework of overall economic and agricultural development. Forestry production possibilities are being analysed, as are the quantities and qualities of physical inputs that production goals will require. The kinds of economic incentives and institutional changes required to meet these goals are being examined. Similarly, the implications for investment and trained manpower of the policies and measures proposed are being examined in each case. Forestry sector accounts on a country basis are being prepared.
Basic to IWP and to all of the Forestry Division's work is its statistical programme of collating and assessing country data about the quality and quantity of forest resources, wood removals from the forest, output of forest products, trade flows in these goods, and many associated matters. A product of this effort was the cycle of regional timber trends studies which were conducted in cooperation with the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions and climaxed by the publication, Wood: world trends and prospects. This publication was the basic document for the Sixth World Forestry Congress held in Spain, 1966. The Division's analytical work, vital for policy-making, will continue. It requires not only data collection, but also the updating and standardization of such data to ensure comparability on an international level. Periodic collation and indexing of relevant literature, as done in the recently published FAO forestry index, 1915-66, are also necessary.
FORESTRY EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Successful implementation of forestry development plans requires the availability of trained personnel at both the professional and technical levels. FAO's aim in forestry education and training is to encourage and support whatever educational effort is needed at the local level to ensure that the forestry sector contributes to the general economic development. In addition to its supporting role in 17 UNDP(SF) projects involving forestry education and training, the Division is preparing regional guidelines for the expansion and consolidation of forestry education programmes in developing countries. These are based on an assessment of professional and technical manpower requirements at all levels of forestry development within a region. Such requirements are then compared with the educational facilities in the region to indicate the kind of development action and external aid needed, and the priorities which are necessary to keep such development within the framework of a well-defined overall strategy. Today the qualitative aspects have become no less important than the quantitative aspects. Rapidly changing technology, changing demands on the forest, greater developmental emphasis and rising cost-consciousness all demand a critical reappraisal of the content of forestry education at different levels.
MAN-MADE FORESTS
The strong demand for large and uniform quantities of raw material as the base for forest industries has given impetus to the creation of man-made forests sometimes far from where they might otherwise have been considered. The quest for efficiency which such activity manifests has led to the study of tree production economics, the establishment of a seed procurement service and international forest tree introduction programme, cooperation with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) to promote the preservation of germ plasm in tree seed and vegetable stocks, and the study of fertilizer use in afforestation. In addition, work has begun on the preparation of a manual - Programming of large-scale afforestation projects - which was recommended by the recent World Symposium on Man-Made Forests. Concurrently, the supervision of experts in afforestation and forest tree improvement in 33 UNDP (SF) field projects and the provision of technical guidance in 30 World Food Programme projects participated in by the Forestry Division continue to be important responsibilities.
WILDLIFE AND FOREST RECREATION
In some developing countries the rational use of wildlife resources through game cropping practices can help considerably to augment otherwise inadequate supplies of protein foods. As noted in the very recent (1968) Intergovernmental Conference of Experts on the Scientific Basis for Rational Use and Conservation of the Resources of the Biosphere, wildlife may contribute to human existence as a supplementary or major form of land use, as a source of protein, leather, and fur, for hunting by tourists, or for attracting tourists to see and photograph animals in parks and reserves. The present large and spectacular wildlife populations in some developing countries play an important role in attracting tourists and substantially influencing the flow of foreign currency into those countries. In some of the African countries, for example, tourism is the second largest industry and is gaining an increasingly important role in national economies.
The Forestry Division administers the work of 27 field experts on UNDP (TA) assignments and in 8 UNDP (SF) projects. These experts are conducting wildlife and national park resource surveys, constructing roads in national parks, developing legislation and policies for national park management, devising programmes for outdoor recreation and tourism in national parks, training game wardens and national park personnel, and conducting research in wildlife biology. Under way also is the preparation of a handbook on wildlife management techniques, and collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and IUFRO to study the relationships between forest management and recreational use and to determine recreational needs and development potentials. Collaboration with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is also being undertaken to study specific investment proposals for expansion of recreation and tourist trade in several countries. These developments reflect a continuing evolution toward the multiple-use concept of land management which was endorsed by the Fifth World Forestry Congress in 1960.
LOGGING AND TRANSPORT
The logging and transport of wood and wood products are the two phases of the production process that, particularly in the developing countries, decisively affect the supply function of wood and the ability of wood products to compete in export markets. The significance of this is reflected by the fact that logging and transport experts are currently employed in 40 UNDP (SF) development projects. In addition to servicing these experts, the Division cooperates with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the conduct of regional training centres on logging techniques, and, through the FAO/ECE/ILO Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers, in studies on mechanization and organization of forest work. Assessment of logging inputs and techniques and, in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) studies of problems of maritime transport of wood products are also under way.
FOREST INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT (WITH EMPHASIS ON PULP AND PAPER)
It is estimated that by 1975 industrial wood requirements will amount to 450 million cubic metres more per year than they did in 1961. This represents an increase of about 43 percent. A growing share of this industrial wood will be required for pulp products and wood-based panels for which consumption could double or more by 1975. Although three-quarters of this extra industrial wood will probably be used in the developed countries, the opportunities are bright for increased production by developing countries suitably endowed with forest resources or forestry potentials. Forty experts in UNDP (TA) and UNDP (SF) projects are involved in the planning and evaluation of prospects for new pulp and paper and other forest industries, and are giving technical assistance to existing industries. Preparation for a regional conference on forest industries with emphasis on pulp and paper development scheduled for Mexico in 1969 is under way. Another major meeting of world-wide importance is the World Symposium on Wood in Housing and Structures with Emphasis on Low Cost Housing. The preparations for this meeting are carried out in close cooperation with the United Nations Centre for Housing, Building and Planning. Use of secondary species and wood preservation will be among the main items to be discussed at this meeting. In its work in forest industries development, FAO receives valuable guidance from its Advisory Committee on Pulp and Paper and Advisory Committee on Wood-Based Panel Products. Effort continues to evolve effective collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Through its work in the FAO/Industry Cooperative Programme, FAO has been able to channel assistance offered by private industries to those sectors in the developing countries which need and want it. Indicative of the significance of this activity is the growing number of companies requesting advice and information on investment opportunities in developing countries. During the past year, over 100 companies made such inquiries either through correspondence or visits of their representatives. FAO's role as a global repository of information and advice on forest industry and forestry development possibilities is steadily increasing in importance.
Growth of forest production value in billion U.S. dollars at 1960 prices
Forest products trade balance of developing countries million U.S. dollars
FOREST PRODUCTS REPRESENT A GROWTH SECTOR. - Forest products represent one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the area of FAO's responsibility. The growth of consumer demand for these goods tends, in both developed and developing countries, to be high in relation to the growth of national income. These graphs illustrate some aspects of this A situation.
TRADE DEVELOPMENT
It is especially in international trade that FAO's forestry and forest industries activities can have an obvious impact. Demand for tropical hardwood timbers in the developed countries continues to expand and consequently trade development, in products based on these woods, is favourable for developing countries. The export of unprocessed logs from these countries increased from $109 million in 1954 to $494 million in 1966 and resulted in a favourable shift in trade balance from $74 million net export to $364 million net export. Sawnwood, plywood and other wood-based panel exports grew from $154 million to $393 million and resulted in the net balance changing from net imports of $39 million to net exports of $127 million despite considerable growth in imports. FAO has a prime role to play in assisting countries to expand, and enrich with further processing, these exports on the basis of resource appraisals, production methods and efficient marketing. Unfortunately, the gains made in improved trade balance in logs and processed wood have been partly offset by a worsening of the pulp and paper trade balance from a net import of $361 million in 1959 to $646 million in 1966. The developing countries, however, have improved their relative position by supplying nearly three-quarters of their own requirements for pulp and paper in 1966, substantially better than the half which they produced a decade or so earlier. It is of great importance that the potential producing countries develop their pulp and paper industries on a well-planned and economic basis of assured supply and markets, and optimum mill sizes. Here, FAO has done, and can still do, very much to assist. Its help in assessing the impacts on trade of such institutional factors as tariffs, taxes, royalties, stumpage fees, and freight arrangements is also needed.
Maximum effort, during the next five years, by the Forestry and Forest Industries Division on these seven main areas of work is expected to make a major contribution to the promotion of foreign exchange earnings and the saving of import costs by the developing countries, and to the expanded development and use of the tropical forests of the world.
In keeping with the recommendations of the 14th
5 Extract from the provisional report of the fifty-first session of the FAO Council, paragraphs 186-189.
The Council recognized the importance of forestry activities in the economic development of the developing countries and agreed that the Forestry and Forest Industries Division's work in forest industries, economics and marketing could be a prime contribution to the priority area " promotion of foreign exchange earnings and savings."
It emphasized that priority should also be given to other work of the Division in afforestation, especially in arid areas, farm forestry, forest fire control, education and training, and forest influences in relation to the conservation of natural resources. FAO's work in conserving forest gene resources and developing high-yielding varieties of trees was acknowledged as being especially important for the future and deserving the cooperative support of international agencies. The Council agreed that this work also should extend beyond the protection of existing forest gene resources into the development and utilization of such resources having importance in the future. The need for close cooperation between the forestry and agriculture departments in this type of activity as well as in range management and the conservation of natural resources was acknowledged.
Session of the Conference and with emphasis corresponding to the changing needs of Member Nations, FAO also will continue to assist in the following aspects of forestry:
(a) Forest fire prevention and control(b) Arid-zone forestry
(c) Collaboration with IUFRO to establish a closer link between fundamental research and field practice
(d) Land-use planning
(e) Improvement of water storage and supply through improved management of forests and wildlands
(f) Solution of institutional and management problems which impede forest resource development and use.
Earnings and savings in the form of exchangeable currencies or credits continue to be principal incentives for the investment of local initiative in forestry. The development of forest industries and trade, therefore, is recognized as an outstanding opportunity to contribute directly to more rapid economic growth in the developing countries. It is an FAO endeavour of high priority then to seize such opportunity and, concurrently, to stand ready to assist Member Nations with their problems in the social and protective aspects of forestry which also are essential for ' sustained growth.
The Council noted the present status of negotiations with regard to preparations for the Seventh World Forestry Congress scheduled to be held in 1972. By 15 August 1968, which was the deadline set by the Director-General, four countries - Argentina, Chile, Greece and the U.S.S.R. - had expressed their wish to act as host for this Congress. The Council noted the statement by the observer from Argentina, supported by the delegations from Brazil and Colombia, confirming the invitation extended by his Government to hold the Congress in Argentina. Preliminary contacts with governments wishing to host the Congress would be completed in time to present to the Council at its next session the information it would need to select the host country for this important forestry event. In this connexion, the Council noted that the World Forestry Congresses were not a direct responsibility of FAO.
In view of its general approval of the recommendations of the Director-General and the Ad Hoc Committee on Organization to accord departmental status to the Forestry and Forest Industries Division, the Council suggested that the Director-General give special attention to the additional budgetary support the Department would need to further develop its forestry and forest industries activities within the framework of FAO's overall programme.
L. J. V.
