Committee on Forestry - fifteenth session
The fifteenth session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) was held at FAO headquarters in Rome from 12 to 16 March 2001. The session was attended by delegates from 101 of the Committee's member countries - including heads of forest services and other senior government officials - and observers from non-member countries, United Nations agencies, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
COFO is the most important of the FAO Forestry statutory bodies. The biennial sessions of COFO are held to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise FAO on appropriate action and priorities.
Feedback from delegations suggested that an outstanding chairperson (Lael Bethlehem, Chief of the Directorate of Forestry, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa), a harmonious drafting committee, lively debate on agenda items that reflected member countries' interests and the introduction of some informal meetings in advance of plenary sessions combined to produce a session of COFO that was very well received by members.
The Committee reviewed FAO programmes in the forestry sector as well as follow-up to the requests and recommendations of the fourteenth session of the Committee. It noted the high share of the Regular Programme budget allocated to the four priority clusters identified in the FAO Strategic Plan for Forestry: global forest statistics and information; technologies and methodologies for the conservation and sustainable use of trees, wooded lands and forests; institutional strengthening; and support to international processes influencing forests.
The Committee recommended that FAO continue to support national forest programmes and to keep member countries informed about international processes, including the various conventions that relate to forests, to assist countries in their participation in the international forest policy dialogue.
The Committee supported the programme priorities for forestry presented in the Organization's Medium-Term Plan, and highlighted the importance of proposed work in information on forest and tree resources and their uses; national forest programmes and criteria and indicators processes, including institutional capacity building and human resources development; outlook studies; further development of the technical foundation for sustainable forest resources management, forest conservation and development and for improved forest product harvesting and use; facilitation of regional and international cooperation on forests, including implementation of the proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF); efforts to combat desertification; and promotion of social and economic equity and human well-being through participatory forestry. The Committee supported FAO's strategy of strengthening partnerships with others working in forestry and recommended increased collaboration with other sectors, including agriculture.
The Committee emphasized other important areas of work, including support to developing countries and countries with low forest cover; management of wild fauna; combating of illegal activities in the forest sector; forests and watershed management; and development of non-wood forest products. In particular, the Committee took note of the serious threat posed by forest fires, and urged that FAO enhance its efforts to support fire management.
The Committee requested FAO to give its full support to the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and to take a leadership role in the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). It recommended that FAO continue to collaborate with the Secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on issues related to forests.
The Committee supported the recommendations of recent sessions of FAO Regional Forestry Commissions (RFCs) and other forestry-related FAO Statutory Bodies. It recognized the significant potential and capacity of the RFCs to identify emerging and important regional forestry issues and bring such issues to global attention. It urged FAO to continue to strengthen the capacity and roles of the RFCs. The Committee also noted the potential of RFCs in furnishing regional perspectives to UNFF and CPF. It encouraged the RFCs to enhance the involvement of the private sector and NGOs in their work.
A side meeting of the officials of the Bureaux of the Regional Forestry Commissions, held before COFO, was reported to the Committee and contributed to the debate. The Committee requested that similar opportunities for exchanging information and ideas among the RFCs be provided in the future.
The Committee stressed the importance of Mediterranean forest issues, and requested FAO to revitalize the Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions, Silva Mediterranea. The Committee also stressed the importance of wildlife for the economies and food security of African countries and requested continued support for the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission.
Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000). Results of FRA 2000 were presented, both in plenary and in an informal session before the plenary. The meeting acknowledged the difficulties posed by the limited availability of timely and accurate national inventory reports, and by the lack of adequate financial resources to ensure the elaboration of these inventories. While recognizing that the rate of global deforestation may have slowed in the 1990-2000 period, the Committee nonetheless noted with concern the continued high level of deforestation. It urged countries to consider the FRA 2000 findings when carrying out policy development and planning. Further analysis of the causes underlying the positive and negative long-term trends in forest resources are to be included in the main report of FRA 2000, scheduled to be released later in 2001.
In addition to forest cover and cover change, FRA 2000 examined a wider range of forest-related variables than past assessments, such as biological diversity, forest health and resource use. The committee recognized that assessment of qualitative forest and ecoystem parameters is essential to monitoring of sustainable forest management, and recommended that FAO continue these efforts.
Forest information and knowledge management. The Committee noted that improved information and knowledge are particularly important for sustainable forest management and remain at the core of FAO's mandate. The Organization should continue to provide support, including training and technology transfer, to countries in forest knowledge management - particularly in the context of implementation of their national forest programmes. The Committee recommended that FAO continue to develop partnerships with other organizations and international institutions to facilitate the collection, analysis and dissemination of information. The importance of collecting and using indigenous knowledge was also stressed. The Committee recommended that FAO continue to review, improve and harmonize forestry-related definitions and terms.
Criteria and indicators of sustainable management, certification and trade. The discussion on this subject attracted lively and protracted debate. The Committee recommended that FAO continue its work on criteria and indicators, particularly in areas such as streamlining concepts, terms and definitions; assisting country capacity building; promoting the exchange of information and experience; supporting the establishment of model and demonstration forests; facilitating involvement of countries not currently participating in criteria and indicator processes; and promoting policy-level awareness and political commitment to sustainable forest management. The Committee also recognized FAO's important role in providing a neutral forum for discussion on certification issues. It recognized the need for further clarification on the actual effects of certification on sustainable forest management and trade, as well as its relation to criteria and indicators processes.
Forestry in climate change issues and the Kyoto Protocol. This topic had been included on the agenda of each of the six Regional Forestry Commissions in 2000, where it was welcomed by many countries for explaining the issues and implications for the forest sector. The Committee noted FAO's efforts on climate change and forestry and fully supported FAO's role as a neutral forum providing technical support to the international deliberations on climate change. The Committee encouraged FAO to strengthen the collection and dissemination of information relevant to the dialogue on forestry and climate change and encouraged collaboration with other organizations and bodies working in this area.
International Year of Mountains - 2002 (IYM). The Committee acknowledged the significant opportunity presented by the observance of IYM to raise greater awareness and action on mountain issues. The Committee noted with satisfaction that FAO, as lead agency for IYM, had developed strong collaboration with other UN organizations, NGOs and other partners, and that in many countries, national committees had been established for IYM. The Committee encouraged FAO to continue to support the national initiatives and also stressed the need for strong collaboration with regional and subregional bodies. The Committee urged FAO to collaborate with the organizers of the International Year of Ecotourism, as this would also be observed in 2002.
Other major issues highlighted in presentations included FAO support to the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action (enhanced by an informal meeting on the subject held prior to the formal discussion), and proposals for a new Global Forest Resources Assessment. A great many side and satellite meetings were held during COFO, including a well-received meeting with NGOs, meetings sponsored by individual countries (Brazil, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo) and informational meetings organized by FAO on IYM and the proposed National Forest Programme Facility. The next session of COFO will be held in Rome in March 2003.
National Forest Programme Facility
National forest programmes are important means for addressing forest sector issues in a holistic, comprehensive and multisectoral manner. Through an intensive collaborative effort involving FAO, a large group of partners from the European Union and its member countries, institutions from developing countries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), an innovative partnership has been developed to support the implementation of national forest programmes in developing countries.
The National Forest Programme Facility is being developed to assist countries in tackling the constraints and challenges in the implementation of their national forest programmes. The main modes of operation will be capacity building, strengthening of the information and knowledge base and improvement in processes for information sharing. Particular emphasis will be placed on addressing poverty alleviation and governance issues through empowerment of civil society and enhanced participation of a broad range of stakeholders. Emphasis will also be placed on overcoming the "digital divide" between developed and developing countries in terms of access to knowledge that is vital to successful implementation of national forest programmes.
The intended beneficiaries of the Facility are the key actors involved in national forest programme processes in developing countries - participants from both government and civil society, with special focus on community-based organizations and other local NGOs. The partners of the Facility will include interested multilateral and bilateral agencies supporting national forest programme processes as well as other service providers to national forest programmes, such as international NGOs, research institutions and private-sector organizations.
The Facility will operate under the guidance of a Technical Steering Committee established by its founding partners. An Advisory Group, including representatives of different beneficiary countries as well as from a broad range of partner institutions, NGOs and the private sector, will provide technical and political advice to the Facility. The Facility will have a small staff at FAO headquarters in Rome to take care of core functions, and a number of regionally located facilitators. While FAO technical staff at headquarters and regional offices will provide technical support to the Facility's operations, the bulk of the Facility's work will be conducted by outside specialists (with emphasis on regional and local experts) and through collaborative arrangements with partners.
FAO and ITTO co-sponsor meeting on fire
Despite increased allocation of resources, the number, scale and impact of forest fires have increased in many countries in recent years. The FAO/International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) International Expert Meeting on Forest Fire Management, held at FAO headquarters from 7 to 9 March 2001, noted that unmanaged and unplanned forest and vegetation fires have negative impacts on human health and livelihoods, availability of forest products and services, biological diversity and climate.
The meeting was held to examine action related to international collaboration, capacity building and human resource development, and to review mechanisms to support cooperation in forest fire management and control at bilateral, regional and international levels. Other goals were to examine the establishment of intercountry agreements among two or more countries aimed at sharing resources, personnel and equipment. It was attended by experts from 16 countries as well as by resource persons from the two co-sponsoring agencies.
The Expert Meeting recognized that sustainable forest and land management policies and practices form the basis for successful forest fire management. If sustainable forest management practices are not implemented, forest fire management action, including emergency responses, will ultimately fail. It was noted that sustainable forest and wildland fire management needs to include the participation of all stakeholder groups, notably local communities.
The Expert Meeting recommended that FAO collaborate in the development of data collection standards that address national and international fire management reporting requirements and needs; review ongoing activities in forest fire management and control to clarify linkages among agencies and organizations in order to facilitate collaboration and help identify gaps; support efforts of national, regional and international institutes to make available and exchange information on all aspects of forest fire management and control through the identification of national focal points and through supporting the preparation of comprehensive national forest fire country profiles; facilitate the exchange of experiences, information, and expertise through promotion of institutional collaboration; and support activities that bring local people, professionals and policy-makers together and help build awareness and capacity.
Widespread fire emergencies in recent years in most regions of the world have underscored the need to establish international agreements, to enhance national capacities and to develop effective emergency response procedures at the national level so that countries can confront these emergencies effectively using their own resources and outside assistance. The Expert Meeting underlined the need to facilitate and support the development of bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries to prepare for, and respond to, emergency fire situations, based on experiences to date.
The Expert Meeting noted that the recently established United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) would include assessment, monitoring and reporting on progress towards sustainable forest management as a major component in its programme of work. It acknowledged the role of FAO in helping to streamline action in this regard, including reporting on forest fires. It recognized the potential role of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) in enhancing interagency collaboration in this field.
Follow-up actions are currently being undertaken to implement the meeting's recommendations.
The report on the Expert Meeting is available from the Forest Resources Development Service, FAO Forestry Department, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]).
Cautious optimism on reduced impact logging
Everyone, or nearly everyone, agrees on the need for better management and protection of the world's forests, especially the biologically rich tropical rain forests, which are disappearing at a particularly rapid rate. Few people can agree, however, on exactly what strategy to pursue to protect remaining forests from destruction and on how to implement better forest management.
Reduced impact logging (RIL) is one way to come closer to achieving the common goal of better forest management. However, introducing RIL into commercial timber operations has proved to be difficult and complex; constraints include lack of awareness of the concepts and components of RIL, a shortage of well-trained forest workers and managers, and uncertainty regarding the costs and benefits of RIL.
To address these issues, FAO's Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) and nine other organizations1 convened the International Conference on the Application of Reduced Impact Logging to Advance Sustainable Forest Management: Constraints, Challenges and Opportunities. The conference, held in Kuching, Malaysia from 26 February to 3 March 2001, was attended by more than 260 participants from 36 countries. Notably, about half of the people who participated were actively involved in the logging business.
The objectives of the conference were to review current knowledge and experiences in implementing RIL; identify knowledge gaps and constraints to implementing it; and formulate recommendations to advance its effective application.
The conference included seven sessions focusing on key technologies, training, economics, safety and occupational health, practical experiences, policy instruments and research. Post-conference tours to observe log skidding ("kuda-kuda") in swamp forests and helicopter operations in the hill forests of Sarawak complemented the formal conference sessions.
Conference participants recognized the important impacts that timber harvesting can have on the environment and the potential to minimize negative impacts through the application of RIL practices. They acknowledged that many issues surrounding RIL are location-specific, particularly economic and financial aspects, as reflected in the contradictory results and conclusions of several recent studies.
There was broad agreement on the need for more training at all levels - not only on narrowly focused aspects such as directional felling and improved skidding, but also in general areas such as supervision and management.
The conference emphasized that RIL is an essential component of sustainable forest management, and called upon governments, industry, research institutions and international organizations to cooperate in furthering the adoption and application of RIL. The recommendations of the meeting are available on the APFC Web site: www.apfcweb.org.
The Kuching conference was only the latest in a series of activities undertaken by APFC - in collaboration with other national, regional and international organizations - to enhance awareness and understanding of the opportunities for improved forest harvesting. A major milestone was realized in 1998, when APFC adopted a regional code of practice for forest harvesting. Other activities followed, including a RIL study tour, the development of a training strategy and training materials, a training workshop, and the formulation and dissemination of a strategy for implementing the regional code.
APFC has 29 member countries, which collectively hold sovereignty over 96 percent of the region's forests. APFC is one of six regional forestry commissions supported by FAO.
Proceedings of the conference are expected to be available later in 2001. For more information, contact: Patrick B. Durst, Senior Forestry Adviser, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200 Thailand. Fax: (66-2) 280-0445; e-mail: [email protected]
Improving forest harvesting practices in Central and West Africa
Representatives of the Interafrican Forest Industries Association (IFIA), the Association for the Development of Information on Environment in the Congo Basin Region (ADIE), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF), CIRAD-Forêt and FAO staff from both headquarters and the Regional Office for Africa gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome on 23 April 2001 for an information and coordination meeting on Development of Improved Forest Harvesting Practices in Central and West African Countries.
The objectives of the meeting were to share information about, and coordinate the activities of, the respective organizations, to seek synergies and define complementary action, and to seek possibilities for collaboration.
It was agreed that the following activities are required:
While the participating organizations are active in most areas connected with forest harvesting, each has particular comparative advantages which can contribute towards reaching the common goal: the improvement of forest harvesting practices in Central and West Africa to contribute to better management of all forests in the region. The participants agreed that all the agencies present would jointly strive to reach this goal. To this end, the close collaboration of governmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector would be required.
The participants agreed to share information, work complementarily and strive for transparency in their collaboration. FAO would function as an information and networking hub and, to this end, would create an e-mail listserver for harvesting issues, with special emphasis on Central and West Africa. The scope of the network should be widened with the inclusion of other agencies and organizations involved in forest harvesting in Central and West Africa.
The discussions revealed that projects on codes of harvesting practices currently being implemented by ADIE and FAO might overlap in certain areas. The two organizations agreed to work to harmonize their activities and to draft a joint Code of Harvesting Practices for Central and West Africa. FAO would take the lead in the development of the code, whereas ADIE would take the lead in training issues. The two organizations would formalize their cooperation in an agreement that would be shared with the rest of the participants.
It was agreed that the case studies for testing the draft code should take into consideration not only the different legal frameworks relevant to forest harvesting in the selected countries, but also different ecosystems and forest conditions. All parties involved would review the draft code and share their inputs.
1 The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Sarawak Timber Association, the Sarawak Forest Department, CIRAD-Forêt, the Tropical Forest Foundation and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry.
