FO:LACFC/2002/3

1. This note is to inform the Commission on activities undertaken by FAO in the forestry sector in the Region, both in the Regular Programme and in the Field Programme. Information is also provided regarding the recommendations and requests of the 21^st Session of the Commission.

REVIEW OF FAO FORESTRY REGULAR PROGRAMME

National forest programmes

2. National forest programmes are the primary mechanisms for countries to implement the agreements from the international dialogue on forests and to achieve sustainable forest management. During the period, Project GCP/RLA/127/NET came to an end, in which the Government of the Netherlands provided direct support to national forest programmes in the Region. In its place, a new modality of cooperation was started in 2001, known as the FAO/Netherlands Partnership Programme (FNPP), coordinated by the FAO Forestry Department in Rome. The FNPP includes a significant component in support of national forest programmes.

3. In 2002 the National Forest Programme Facility was launched by FAO in collaboration with a number of international donors. This is an innovative new approach to supporting national forest programmes through sharing knowledge between countries and international organizations, and through support to capacity building within countries. The Facility will emphasize participation by all stakeholders and the importance of addressing cross-sectoral linkages in national forest programmes.

International Year of Mountains

4. In November 1998, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the year 2002 as the International Year of Mountains (IYM). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was invited to serve as the lead agency, a role approved by the FAO Council in November of the same year.

5. As requested by the Commission during its 21^st Session, FAO supports the celebration of the III Latin American Congress on Watershed Management, an important follow-up to the IYM, envisaged to take place in Peru in April 2003.

6. With the aim of coordinating and organizing the events at a national level, 16 countries in the Region established National Committees for the IYM. The activities have drawn together interest and actions regarding mountains and their populations, resulting in events like, for example: the II International Meeting on Mountain Ecosystems that took place in Huaraz, Peru, between June 12 - 14 2002, where 300 participants from 16 countries signed the Declaration of Huaraz, a commitment to the sustainable development of mountain ecosystems; on 13 June, 2002 during the "World Food Summit: 5 years later", delegates from 200 countries signed a declaration at a special event as a long term commitment regarding the sustainable development of mountains, including a core group of 15 countries, among which were Bolivia, Guatemala, Jamaica and Peru; in May 2002 a Regional Conference of Mountains for Latin America and the Caribbean was organized in Cuba with the presence of most countries of the Region.

Technical Cooperation Networks

Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on Watershed Management

7. As a direct follow-up to the International Year of Mountains, FAO is supporting the organization of the III Latin American Congress on Watershed Management that will be organized by the Government of Peru in April 2003. The Congress will also support the International Year of Fresh Water (2003).

Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on National Parks, other Protected Areas and Wildlife

8. According to the Report of the 21^st Session of the Commission, as Technical Secretariat of the Network on National Parks, other Protected Areas and Wildlife, FAO consulted the member countries on the future of the Network, concluding that the countries were interested in continuing with their activities whilst acknowledging the benefits for the Region. The Network is the sole regional mechanism capable of acting as a neutral and coordinated forum for discussion and agreements on common topics of interest. The Ministry for the Environment of Brazil, the institution elected as the Network Council coordinator, together with the Technical Secretariat and in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will organize, in October 2002, a meeting with the national coordinators of the Network to develop a working plan and prepare a Region's common stance related to specific topics that will be presented during the V World Congress on Parks, to be held in South Africa in September 2003.

Sustainable forest management

9. Sustainable forest management is the cornerstone for conserving forests while ensuring that the population and future generations benefit from them. FAO has been developing different initiatives oriented toward the search for excellence in the management and use of forests in different regions. RLC has conducted a recent study about concrete cases of sustainable forest management, taking economic, social and environmental criteria into account. This initiative will be added to other studies aimed at searching for a consensus on excellence regarding forest management. FAO, together with the Government of Guatemala and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), is organizing an international conference on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in November 2002.

Regional Model Forest Network

10. In 1992, the Canadian Forestry Service established a programme of Model Forests, aimed at fostering alliances among beneficiary groups and institutions based on a common interest in the management and use of forests. A Model Forest proposes a coordinated and shared work in one given wooded area, including industrial companies, forest land owners, groups of rural and indigenous people, governmental institutions at different levels and academic institutions.

11. On 25-26 October, 2001 the third meeting for the creation of the Regional Model Forest Network for Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina with the participation of representatives from member countries of the Regional Steering Committee of the following countries and institutions: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the Secretariat of the International Model Forest Network (IMFN), the UNDP, FAO and the IICA.

12. FAO approved a technical cooperation project to formulate a pre-investment proposal for the sustainable management of the Los Pericos-Manantiales Watershed in the province of Jujuy, Argentina, as a demonstration area for sustainable development in mountain forest ecosystems.

Mangrove Ecosystems

13. Within the scope of the Regional Office's Natural Resources Priority Group, work continues with the formulation of a proposal for a multi-regional project "Participatory Management in Mangrove Areas", in Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, with the objective of developing alternatives for the use of mangrove resources by the coastal areas populations, through an agreed and multi-institutional effort, seeking an impact on the concerned macro region.

Regional meetings on methods for monitoring of forest concessions

14. In the scope of the ad-hoc working group of Caribbean countries with large extensions of forests, the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean organized two meetings (February 27 to March 2, 2001, in Georgetown, Suriname and June 25 - 27, 2002, in Cayenne, French Guyana) with the purpose of exchanging technical information on forest management and monitoring forest concessions. Representatives from the forest departments and forest training and research institutions of Belize, French Guyana, Guyana and Suriname participated in the workshops.

Training course on the reduced impact of forest exploitation and transport

15. The activity was held in Trinidad & Tobago and organized in cooperation with the Topenbos Guyana program and the Guyana Forest Commission for the forests services members and the private sector. It was funded by the US Forest Service, through the International Institute for Tropical Forests, of Puerto Rico.

Workshop on concepts and methods of participatory forest management

16. In cooperation with the NGO Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the workshop was held from February 12 to 16, 2001, with 19 participants from the Caribbean countries.

Expert consultation on private forestry programmes - ideas for the promotion of forestry activities in private land

17. The workshop counted with the participation of 28 professionals from seven Caribbean counties. It was carried out in Trinidad & Tobago, from August 28 to 31, 2001. Its report, prepared by the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean summarizes the results and conclusions and includes the reports of the participant countries.

Regional Workshop for the designation of vegetation mapping focal points in the Forestry Departments of Caribbean countries

18. Organized in December 2001, in cooperation with International Institute for Tropical Forestry, Puerto Rico, the workshop had the objective to create linkages between the Caribbean vegetation mapping program developed by that institute and the concerned activities of the forestry national offices in other countries of the sub-region.

Meeting of the Forestry Directors in the LACFC Caribbean Sub-regional Group and the Caribbean Forestry Commission

19. In the framework of the COFLAC Caribbean Subgroup two meetings were carried out. With the purpose of organizing a ad-hoc working group with Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti, a meeting was held in Santo Domingo, in October 2001, for the develop a technical cooperation program between Cuba and Dominican Republic. CANARI organized a regional workshop, from January 28 to March 2, 2002, with the purpose of promoting the participatory forest management. Under this activity a meeting of the eight forest directors of the sub-region was held for discussing the technical cooperation of the Caribbean Subgroup.

XI Meeting of the forestry professionals in the Caribbean

20. The Organized by the US Forest Service the meeting was an important forum for technical discussions on urban forestry for the Caribbean professionals. The 2002 event took place in the Virgin Islands, USA, from June 11 to 14.

Expert consultation on forestry education and training in the Caribbean

21. With the cooperation of the University of Guyana and the International Development Department of the United Kingdom (DIFD), the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean organized a meeting, from July 9 to 12, 2002, for strengthening the cooperation in forest training.

Workshops on forestry conflict management

22. In cooperation with the CANARI, the FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean organized three national training courses to forestry officers, in Jamaica (March 8 - 10, 2001), San Vincent (May 14 - 16, 2002) and Trinidad & Tobago (July 2 - 4, 2002).

Monitoring deforestation and forest fires

23. From March 11 to 15 2002, support was given to a Training Programme on Assessment Methods of Deforestation and Forest Fires, using satellite derived data, for 12 Latin American countries, in São José dos Campos, Brazil, organized together with the Society of Latin American Specialists on Remote Sensing (SELPER)-Brazilian Chapter. The programme was inserted within the framework of topic 3 - "Monitoring deforestation and forest fires" of the working programme of the Amazon Sub-regional Group of the Commission approved at the 21^st Session of the Commission.

REVIEW OF FAO FORESTRY FIELD PROGRAMME

24. The FAO Forestry field programme in the Region has not undergone significant changes in content compared to the period prior to the 21^st Session of the Commission held in September 2000. The programme consists of 25 projects distributed among 16 countries and covering four sub-regions, with the following distribution: three projects in countries of the sub-region of the Southern Cone, 13 projects in countries of the Amazon sub-region, four projects in the Caribbean sub-region and nine projects in the Central American and Mexican sub-region.

25. In spite of the decline in FAO's general field programme in other regions of the world compared to the 1998-2000 period, the field programme with the forestry sector in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded, and it has recovered the slump it went through during the previous period, reaching the amount of 57 million US dollars¹.

26. In line with the trend during the previous period, the amount financed by trust funds under the FAO/Governments Cooperation Programme (GCP) has risen slightly. On the other hand, the project of cooperation with the programme for alternative development regarding the illicit production of coca in Bolivia was substantially strengthened with resources from the Government of the United States of America, channeled through the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). This project accounts for 25 per cent of the field programme's total budget in the region.

27. Projects financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands still hold an important place in the field programme, reaching over fifty per cent of the total budget. However, it can be observed that national projects with Dutch cooperation funds consist mainly of old projects that are scheduled for completion in 2002, and it is foreseeable that these projects will not all be extended or replaced due to changing policies regarding international cooperation in the Netherlands. The Government of the Netherlands has begun a new system of cooperation with FAO through the FAO/Netherlands Partnership Programme (FNPP). This Programme consists of a part of the Netherlands' commitment to international agreements signed under the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and is oriented mainly to financing countries' national efforts to formulating and executing National Forest Programmes.

28. It is anticipated that projects funded by Unilateral Trust Funds (UTF) will continue to grow, with budgetary resources from the Governments of the beneficiary countries or from loans from international banks. Funding under this method of financing doubled between the period 1998-2000 and increased two and a half times between 2000-2002. The number of projects financed with funds from private institutions (MTF), has decreased in relation to the previous period, but it still considered as a valid source of financing with a potential for growth.

29. The forestry programme financed by the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), with resources from the FAO regular programme, underwent a significant increase, exceeding historic averages for the Region. It is expected, however, that these funds will not grow much more because the Programme's global resources have not undergone any changes.

Programme	N° of Projects	Budget (US$)
TCP	12	2,138,372
GCP	12	30,398,928
UNIDCP	1	14,500,000
MTF	1	278,229
UTF	3	8,697,829
FNPP	2	1,068,000
TOTAL	25	57,081,358

30. The field forestry programme in the region is dominated by two large hubs: support for the formulation and execution of national forestry strategies and policies within the framework of national forestry programmes, represented by 10 projects and 15% of resources; and the promotion of participatory forestry development in rural communities, consisting of 15 projects and consuming 82% of the field programme's resources.

31. These two hubs propose, on the one hand, to contribute to reinforcing institutions responsible for the forestry sector through the promotion of national forestry programmes, seeking a wide and participatory consensus with the different national actors. On the other hand, to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in those rural communities and small rural producers, impelling agricultural and forestry production, environmental education and sustainable forest management.

32. FAO continues to work toward strengthening synergies between the regular programme and the field programme, as recommended by the Commission at its last session.

Operational forestry projects in the Region as of July 2002
PROJECT TITLE	PROJECT SYMBOL	BUDGET	DATE OF BEGINNING	DATE OF END
TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME (TCP)
Sustainable management in forestry ecosystems of the Los Pericos-Manantiales watershed	TCP/ARG/2802	220,454	01.03.2002	01.02.2003
Aiding the consolidation Project of political, institutional and strategic instruments for executing the National Forest Programme	TCP/BRA/2802	317,000	01.08.2002	01.03.2004
Strengthening and training for sustainable entrepreneurial development using forestry products	TCP/COL/2801	258,000	01.08.2002	31.01.2003
Strengthening of and nationwide training for the execution of the National Forestry Development Plan	TCP/COS/2802	195,000	01.09.2002	30.08.2003
Marketing and the industrialization of timber coming from forestry plantations	TCP/COS/0066	52,000	01.06.2000	31.01.2002
Designing a strategy for fighting forest fires	TCP/CUB/0066	38,418	01.06.2000	30.06.2002
Aiding the transformation process in the forestry sector	TCP/HON/0065	222,000	01.03.2000	28.02.2002
Aiding the transformation process in the forestry sector - phase II	TCP/HON/2802	71,000	01.06.2002	31.12.2002
Aiding the national forestry round table	TCP/PAR/0065	123,500	01.02.2001	31.12.2002
Reinforcing the national capacity for the sustainable use of forestry resources	TCP/SUR/0065	130,000	01.07.2000	30.06.2002
Preparing the methodology for conducting the national forestry inventory	TCP/VEN/0166	126,000	01.08.2002	31.07.2003
Regional strategy for forest conservation and management in Central America	TCP/RLA/2803	385,000	01.08.2002	31.07.2003
	TOTAL PCT (12):	2,138,372
FAO/GOVERNMENTS COOPERATION PROGRAMMES (GCP)
Coordinating and implementing the Forest Action Plan, Phase II	GCP/BOL/028/NET	2,551.000,	01.08.1996	28.02.2002
Forestry community development in the Bolivian Altiplano	GCP/BOL/030/NET	6,425,209	01.01.1997	30.06.2002
Community participation development in the forestry sector (PACOFOR)	GCP/COL/022/NET	4,641,651	01.01.1998	30.12.2002
Aiding the overall conservation of natural resources in the Zapata Marshlands	GCP/CUB/011/NET	556,227	01.07.2000	30.10.2002
Aiding community forestry development in the Ecuadorian Andes	GCP/ECU/070/NET	4,980,855	01.01.1999	31.12.2003
Aiding the conduct and coordination of the Forestry Action Plan for Guatemala, Phase II	GCP/GUA/008/NET	2,204,633	01.07.1999	31.03.2003
Aiding the development of cooperatives and others forms of association for agricultural and forestry production	GCP/HON/019/NET	4,227,000	14.07.1995	28.02.2002
Aiding the national strategy for forestry development in Peru	GCP/PER/035/NET	1,831,730	01.08.1999	31.12.2002
Forestry information and a study into trends and perspectives of the forestry sector in Latin America and the Caribbean	GCP/RLA/133/EC	1,000,000	01.04.2000	01.04.2003
Inter-regional project for participating in the conservation of high lands, Phase III	GCP/INT/524/ITA	387,623	01.05.1992	30.04.2002
Conditions for formulating the Environmental Conservation and Rehabilitation Programme of the Colombian Massif within the framework of sustainable Development	GCP/COL/026/NET	1,243,000	01.12.2001	01.12.2002
Participatory forestry management in Uganda, Ghana and Guyana	GCP/INT/808/UK	350,000	15.05.2002	14.05.2005
	TOTAL GCP (12):	30,398,928
UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL PROGRAMME (UNIDCP)
Aiding the management, conservation and operation of forestry resources in the tropics of Cochabamba, Phase II	UNO/BOL/723/DCP	14,500,000	10.10.1997	31.12.2003
	TOTAL UNIDCP (1):	14,500,000
MULTILATERAL TRUST FUNDS (MTF)
Sustainable management of natural resources to the West of Pichincha	MTF/ECU/003/ECF	278,229	01.03.2000	30.09.2002
	TOTAL MTF (1):	278,229
UNILATERAL TRUST FUNDS (UTF)
Managing the micro-watersheds in mountain areas of Xochimilco preservation area	UTF/MEX/047/MEX	611,309	01.04.2000	31.03.2001
Forestry project for managing the River Chichina watershed	UTF/COL/025/COL	6,886,520	01.09.2001	08.2006
Rehabilitating four micro-watersheds affected by Hurricane Mitch in the municipalities of Posoltega, Telica and Quezalguaque (PROCASITAS)	UTF/NIC/028/NIC	1,200,000	14.12.1999	13.05.2001
	TOTAL UTF (3) :	8,697,829
FAO- NETHERLANDS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (FNPP)
Aiding national forestry programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean	FNPP/GLO/003/NET	468,000	01.04.2001	31.03.2003
Climatic change and forest cover in Central America	FNPP/GLO/002/NET	600,000	01.08.2001	31.07.2003
	TOTAL FNPP (2) :	1,068,000
	TOTAL (24) :	57,081,358

FOLLOW-UP TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 21ST SESSION OF THE COMMISSION

RECOMMENDATIONS	MEASURES TAKEN OR PROPOSED
FORESTRY SITUATION IN THE REGION (Topic 3)
a) Presentation of the forestry situation in the Region The Commission acknowledged that forestry institutions were still suffering from several difficult situations. Mentioned among them were a lack of coordination with other institutions, the low hierarchical level of public forestry administration, the lack of institutional capability and decentralization. Moreover, it expressed that forestry institutions are facing new challenges and demands from the sector, as a result of which FAO was recommended conducting an in-depth analysis of the different models of administration aimed at adapting the institutions to present and future needs. (paragraph 12)	A report was prepared on 17 countries wherein the characteristics, needs and priorities of the forestry institutions in the Region were examined. In addition, the situation in data and information on 19 countries in the Region were looked into and which were necessary for taking decisions. An analysis of administration models is currently being prepared within the framework of the national forestry programmes.
REPORTS FROM FAO (Topic 4)
c) National forest programmes The Commission recommended that the 4 sub-regional groups should be used as much as possible as support mechanisms in aid of national forest programmes. (paragraph 35)	The Executive Committee of the LACFC, consisting of a Chairman and three Vice-Chairmen from the Sub-Regional Groups, met on two occasions (Santiago, 2001 and Havana, 2002) aimed at assessing the sub-regional working programmes. In addition, the Sub-Regional Groups from the Caribbean met on two occasions to discuss the execution of their forestry programmes.
d) Technical cooperation networks The Cuban delegate pointed out that wood-based-energy had come to the forefront in his country as well as elsewhere in the Region and, after consulting the Cuban energy authorities, he recommended that the FAO's Regional Office analyze the possibility of continuing to sponsor the Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on Dendroenergy. (paragraph 39)	The countries in the Region, confirming their decisions taken at previous meetings, showed no interest in renewing the activities of the Dendroenergy Network. Even so, FAO organized in Buenos Aires, in December 2000, a workshop on wood energy. On that occasion, 19 countries took part.
The Commission asked FAO to analyze the need to organize the Third Latin American Congress of Watersheds within the framework of the International Year of Mountains. (paragraph 40)	The FAO Regional Office is endorsing the organization of the III Latin American Congress of Watershed Management that will take place in Peru in April 2003.
TECHNICAL AFFAIRS (Topic 7)
a) Prevention and control of forest fires The Commission affirmed that the origin of forest fires was due in the majority of cases to human causes and started almost always in agricultural areas bordering on to forests. In this sense, the Commission recommended to governments that they involve the Ministries of Agriculture in the topic of forest fires when such Ministries are not responsible for Forest Services. (paragraph 58)	During the 27th Regional Conference of FAO held in Havana, Cuba, in April 2002, the Executive Committee of the LACFC made a presentation to the Ministers of Agriculture in the Region, calling their attention to the problem and stressing the need for coordination between forestry policies and those of other sectors, specially the agricultural sector.
b) International Year of Mountains -2002 The Commission highlighted that it is in mountain areas where the environmental benefits from forests are most clearly felt, and so it recommended to FAO and to the countries to intensify efforts addressed at valuing such benefits. (paragraph 71).	FAO, acting as a coordinating body for the IYM, has done its utmost to value the environmental benefits stemming from forests in mountain areas, either supported by the countries in the Region in their National IYM Committees or organizing technical events and publications in aid of the IYM.
c) The forestry sector and the Kyoto Protocol The Commission felt very satisfied with the information on FAO's activities within the framework of the CMCC and the Kyoto Protocol, and it recommended that it continue to provide support for countries in the technical and scientific discussions on the implications of the inclusion of forests within the Clean Development Mechanism, through the strengthening of technical capacities, training and disseminating the definitions related to forests. (paragraph 77)	FAO began a project in Central America in 2001 that supports the countries in the Region when it comes to formulating a sub-regional strategy for forests as carbon sinks. Several technical meetings on the topic were organized in Central America and South America.
INFORMATION PROJECTS FOR THE FORESTRY SECTOR AND A STUDY OF PERSPECTIVES FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (Topic 8)
The Commission agreed to place a high priority on the strengthening of local institutions linked to the recompilation, processing and analysis of forestry information with the project on "Information and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in Latin America". It also recommended including the private and the public sector and stressed the need to support the project referred to in the Sub-regional Groups of the LACFC. (paragraph 84). The Commission recommended including in the study of the respective thematic areas, such as environmental services for forests, the link between what is ethnic and what is forestry, non-timber forestry products, international trade trends and the participation of the forestry sector in nation's economies, to mention only a few of the topics the Region is interested in. It was also recommended that the activities around the information projects and perspectives be properly harmonized so that the information projects are able to supply data for analyzing the project over perspectives, including in them the concepts and operationalization of studies into production chains. (paragraph 86)	The private entrepreneurial sector, represented by the CEDEFOR (Southern Cone), the Andean Chamber and the Central American Chamber, were invited to take part in a workshop on forestry products that was held in Guatemala in 2001. On the other hand, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have taken part in six regional workshops organized by the Project. Project GCP/RLA/133/EC, which began its activities in April 2000, ended the first work phase, referred to forestry information. In each country, thematic studies were organized on the current state of the components of the forestry sector, traditional forest products, non-timber forestry products, socio-economic information and trees outside the forest. Its whole content matter can be perused on the Project's Web Page that is found on the Regional Office's Web Site : www.rlc.fao/org/proyecto/rla133. This information will serve as the basis for the second stage of the Project, concerning trends and perspectives, that will bring the forestry sector up to the year 2020 into perspective and which began in May 2002.
SATELLITE MEETING ON THE INFORMATION PROJECT FOR LATIN AMERICA (Topic 9)
The Commission recommended including the topic on production chains and the valuation of forestry resources in its entirety. Likewise, the importance of considering installed technological capacity, either hard or soft, was stressed, the execution using human resources and the participation of the indigenous and country population. (paragraph 99)	Project GCP/RLA/133/EC Project has dealt with these elements in its initial Phase, relating to forestry information. They will, however, occupy a more relevant space in the study on Trends and Perspectives of the Forestry Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, developed during the second Phase of the Project. In addition, the Forestry Group of the FAO's Regional Office organized in February 2001, in Curitiba, Brazil, a technical workshop on production chains and the value of forestry resources that attracted the participation of specialists from 12 countries in the Region.
REGIONAL AFFAIRS IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMISSION FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON FORESTRY  (Topic 10)
Due to the important role played by forests when implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change, the Committee asked FAO to assist in strengthening countries' technical capabilities through information and training on that Convention and its instruments. (paragraph 106)	FAO established an inter-departmental working group on climate change at it Headquarters that will assist countries to strengthen their technical capabilities with updated information on the convention on climatic change and its instruments. It also approved and executed a sub-regional project for Central America on the subject.
Because public forestry institutions are places, primarily, for the coordination and execution of sustainable forestry development in each of the countries, and that both national as well as international initiatives can never be efficiently developed without strengthened public forestry institutions, the Committee on Forestry is recommended looking for the right strategies in order to support the development of forestry institutions in the countries in the Region. (paragraph 108)	The Committee on Forestry, during its 13th period of sessions in March 2001, took note of the recommendations from the regions of the Regional Forestry Committees and asked FAO to endorse its application. In this specific case, through national forestry programmes and the mechanisms that have been developed, such as Support Service for the NFP, to assist in the setting up of these programmes.
Faced with the looming uncertainties with which the countries in the Region are having to tackle native forest management, the different positions around it, the need for the communities to participate and the need to irradiate benefits locally, as well as reaching sustainable development, the members of the Committee asked FAO to reinforce its acknowledgement of the integrated management of natural resources by the communities as well as a valid strategy for the conservation of forests. (paragraph 109)	A study has been undertaken on sustainable forestry management under the criteria of economic, environmental and social sustainability, at three corporate levels, one of them being in the field of country communities. Likewise, an additional study will have to be developed on the application of criteria and indicators and forestry certification in tropical forest areas in the Region. Moreover, FAO is doing a lot of promotion on the integrated management of natural resources per rural communities through 15 projects in its rural programme whose efforts represent 80 % of the resources
The Commission asked FAO for its support at the meetings of the Sub-Regional Groups between the sessions of the LACFC. (paragraph 113)	FAO endorsed the organization of two meetings of the Executive Committee of the LACFC (June 2001 in Santiago and April 2002 in Havana), as well as the meetings of the Central American and Mexican Groups (in September 2001 in Tegucigalpa), the Caribbean Group (February 2002 in Kingston) and the South American and Caribbean Group (April 2002 in Florianopolis).

1 Resources corresponding to the total sum of budgets for projects in operation during 2002.