1 The entire proceedings are also available in the electronic form on the Web at: «HTTP://WWW.FAO.ORG/WAICENT/faoinfo/forestry/ACPWP/ACPWPhom.htm»
The 38th Session of the Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products (ACPWP) was held in Rome, from 23 to 25 April 1997. This was the first meeting since the Committee's mandate had been broadened to include all segments of primary forest industries. The main role of the Committee is to serve as a forum for the paper and wood products industry, in matters related to the international forestry debate, and to give advice on the current and future activities of the FAO Forestry Department.
Mr M'hammed Mezzour opened the meeting as the ACPWP Chairman, followed by the keynote address presented by Mr David A. Harcharik, Assistant Director-General of the FAO Forestry Department.
The main topics for discussion and presentations were the socio-economic role of the forest industry and sustainable forest management issues with examples given from developing and developed countries. Additional presentations described the state of the forest products industry in Brazil, Finland, New Zealand and Poland. Finally, FAO staff provided a progress report on the Global Fibre Supply Study, an activity initiated on the recommendation of the ACPWP.
The following recommendations emerged from the different discussions.
FAO should:
· validate data in the Global Fibre Supply Study in regional workshops, particularly in areas where the information is either very poor or controversial;· make efforts to continuously involve the ACPWP in the implementation of the FAO Global and Regional Forestry Sector Outlook Studies;
· continue publishing "Projected Pulp and Paper Mills in the World" and "Recovered Paper Data";
· promote forest inventory projects in countries such as Brazil and the Congo;
· assist developing countries in forest plantation establishment and in improved wood utilization;
· promote sustainable (responsible) forest management practices;
· further investigate the social and economic costs of sustainable forest management;
· provide a forum for discussions on a baseline to protect the environment, such as the issue on sustainable forest management and certification;
· make special efforts for the training of marketing and trade experts in tropical countries.
In addition, it was recommended that the ACPWP should act as a facilitator to the forest industry, to enable the sector to take a more visible part in the international forestry debate.
The FAO Forestry Department highly values the inputs provided by this important forum of forest industry executives and, subject to the availability of funds from its regular programme, activities will be initiated to implement the recommendations.
