Work carried out in 1960-61
Program of work for 1962-63
Forest policy
Comments of the committee
Conference action
Eleventh Session of the FAO Conference
Technical Committee on Forestry and Forest Products
A brief account of the general results of the eleventh session of the Conference of FAO was given in the last issue of Unasylva. In the pages that follow is given a more detailed summary of the work of the TECHNICAL. COMMITTEE 0N FORESTRY AND FOREST PRODUCTS whose task. on behalf of the Conference. is to review critically the current activities of the Organization in these fields and give guidance on future planning.
The Technical Committee on Forestry and Forest Products held seven meetings between 31) October and 9 November 1961. Fifty-five delegates from 44 Member Nations participated1 In addition. observers were present from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
1Countries represented were
AFRICA: Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria. South Africa. Togo and Tunisia.
ASIA-PACIFIC: Australia, Burma, Cambodia, India, Japan, Korea. Laos, Malaya, Philippines and Thailand.
EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (Federal Republic), Greece. Italy. Netherlands, Norway. Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzeland, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.
LATIN AMERICA: Chile and Mexico.
NEAR EAST: Iran. Iraq. Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan and Syria.
NORTH AMERICA: Canada and United States of America.
The Committee unanimously elected the following officers: Chairman, KHALID HAMAD (Sudan); Vice-chairmen, A. LESLIE BEST (Canada), TASDIQUE HUSAIN
A drafting subcommittee was appointed to formulate the committee's report, comprising representatives of Canada, France, Pakistan. Spain and Sudan. with HENRY E. CLEPPER (U. S. A.) as rapporteur.
DR. EGON GLESINGER, the Director of the Forestry and Forest Products Division, gave an introductory statement on the work carried out in 1960-61, and the Deputy-Director, SIR HENRY BERESFORD-PEIRSE described more particularly the regional activities of the Organization.
The 1960-61 biennium was intended to be a period of consolidation after the forward appraisal analysis reviewed by the FAO Conference in 1959. Instead, it had been a time of rapid expansion and increasing workload. The cause had been the unexpectedly quick growth of activities under the United Nations Special Fund for Economic Development.
The 1959 session of the Conference had singled out in formal resolutions certain lines of activity to be given special emphasis:
1. land use and valorization of natural resources:
2. quick-growing species;
3. pulp and paper development.
Its directives had been followed in a variety of ways. In regard to the first may be cited the expansion of activities in Africa and the development of Special Fund preinvestment projects in the Mediterranean area and Latin America. Aspects of the second are the Eucalyptus Conference held in Brazil, the study tour on Latin-American conifers, and several publications. Examples of the third line of activity were the regional pulp and paper conference organized in Tokyo in 1960, the establishment of an advisory committee to guide the work of FAO in this field, and the start of a special study on trends and development prospects in Europe.
The Division was allotted operational responsibility for nine Special Fund projects (13 percent of the total FAO program), had a major interest in two others, and participated in another ten. This represents in personnel 78 forestry experts and consultants. Projects under the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance (EPTA) account for a further 56 field officers, serving in 25 countries;.
IMPACT OF FIELD PROGRAMS ON FAO'S BASIC WORK
The Technical Committee on Forestry and Forest Products commended the Division on the program fulfilled through 1960 and 1961. Items singled out for special mention were the study tour on Latin-American conifers, the second World Eucalyptus, Conference, the Far East Inventory Training Center, the inauguration of the Near East forest rangers' school, the first sessions of the African and North American regional forestry commissions, the study Timber trends and prospects in the Asia-Pacific region, the work related to pulp and paper, and co-operation with ILO and ECE on forest working techniques and training of forest workers.
But delegates were particularly concerned that field programs appeared to be causing a slowing down of certain important phases of the FAO regular program. Throughout 1960 and 1981 the sudden spurt of activities under the Special Fund and other programs found the Organization with no resources earmarked to support the heavy new workload. This affected, to an identifiable degree, regular program activities as approved by the Tenth Session of the FAO Conference.
The committee welcomed the growth in number and variety of technical co-operation programs, which were of great value to the developing countries and because they in turn made important contributions to the regular program. But as a matter of principle, field activities, however useful, should not disrupt the basic regular program.
Delegates were informed that the situation as recently experienced was improving as allocations from the Special Fund became available for overhead expenses. The committee conceded that it was not within its terms of reference to comment on the regulations governing the distribution of expenditures under funds external to the Organization. Nevertheless, it recommended that the Director-General take action to ensure that amounts shall be forthcoming to the Organization from the Special Fund, the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance (EPTA) and other sources external to the regular budget, sufficient to support fully not only the operational phases of field programs but also all planning and follow-up.
In presenting to the committee the proposed program of work in forestry and forest products for 1962 and 1983, Egon Glesinger indicated the factors that had influenced the shaping of this program and the selection of the particular aspects that could be given emphasis at the moment.
A prime factor was the understanding finally achieved of the importance of the problem of accelerating the social and economic growth of the developing countries. The explosive nature of the gap between the developed and underdeveloped countries has become recognized as a dominant international problem and the advanced industrialized countries are now preparing to mobilize capital for development which approaches the order of magnitude that is required. As a result, multilateral aid programs such as those of FAO, and bilateral programs with which FAO will undoubtedly be called on to co-operate, will assume very considerable proportions and entail consequential responsibilities.
The other principal factor was the contribution that forestry should make so as to keep pace with the progress of world economic and social growth. Can ways and means be devised whereby forest production can be doubled by and large over the next 15 to 20 years and by the end of the century be four to six times its present volume? If not, there is likely to be large-scale substitution for wood and a much reduced role for forestry of in the world picture. "For myself, I think it is both necessary and possible to keep pace with rising world requirements. But it will mean a new type of planning, bigger and stronger forest services, and making governments and financing institutions understand that in most parts of the world, forest manegement and development require in terms of investment facilities far greater priority than they have had in the past or have today."
With this background, the program proposed for the next biennium, can be summarized as follows.
FAO's main task under this heading is to advise Member Governments on the orientation of their national forest policies in the light of economic and social trends and especially the growing requirements for wood, to stimulate the integration by governments of forestry and forest industries expansion into their over-all development plans, and to ensure careful consideration of regional aspects in formulating such national plans. The basis is furnished by the series of appraisals of regional wood resources and requirements described later in this program, and the task is performed through the regional forestry commissions.
A second function is to aid in implementing forest policies where matters of administration, legislation, education, land planning and land use are concerned. Technical assistance will continue to be given through EPTA, and meetings will be arranged for the exchange of views and experience on various phases of the multiple-use management of forest and associated lands.
Land-use planning and development of renewable resources
The last FAO Conference concurred with the high priority which the Director-General proposed to accord to the formulation of policies for sound land use and the development of renewable resources (Resolution 28/59), and in- this context it advocated better co-ordination at the national and international level of agricultural and forestry activities. In 1962-63, in collaboration with other sectors of the Organization, there will be special emphasis on promoting integrated development, particularly in selected countries of Africa, following the approach adopted for the Mediterranean Project. As a phase of this effort, an eighth session of the Mediterranean Forestry Subcommission will be organized in 1962.
Shifting cultivation
As a facet of integrated development, the Division will participate in FAO efforts to devise and introduce more productive methods of combined farming and forestry in the tropics, and to control the practice of shifting cultivation where this is wasteful. Consultants will analyze the material assembled to date on the social and economic aspects of shifting cultivation, and a case-study on this practice in Latin America will be completed, ollowing the earlier studies for Africa and the Far East. Investigation will continue of the effects on the Lower Mekong Development Project of shifting cultivation by hill tribes in the headwater areas.
Collaboration with IUCN and UNESCO
The Division will continue to provide, on behalf of FAO. permanent liaison with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which is essentially concerned with land-use problems. Papers will be prepared for the 1962 IUCN meeting on national parks, and for the next IUCN General Assembly (1963). Collaboration will continue with UNESCO in implementing its program of scientific research in the humid tropics. The last FAO Conference decided to expand FAO's responsibilities by including wildlife management among its regular activities, which will affect a number of segments of FAO. Initially the Organization will actively participate in the IUCN African special project for wildlife conservation and management. and organize a review of national wildlife policies through the regional forestry commissions. As recommended by the African Forestry Commission, a draft convention for the conservation of wildlife through controlled use. will be prepared to be considered by the working party on wildlife management at a meeting in 1963.
Forest influences
The Fifth World Forestry Congress urged FAO to help develop methods of assessing in economic terms the protective benefits and other intangible values that derive from the forest. A start in this direction was made with the publication in 1961 of Forest influences, but with limited funds it is doubtful whether FAO can go further than keep abreast of the results of current research. For the same reason, a publication on basic considerations in watershed management is unlikely to be issued by FAO. However, the substance will serve in preparing an EPTA Near East development center on watershed management to be organized in 1962. It is planned also to organize a study tour in Europe in 1962, as recommended by the last FAO Conference. Both the study tour and development center will be carried out in conjunction with the Land and Water Development Division.
Range management
As a phase of FAO's work on the better use of the world's natural grazing lands through recognized management techniques, it is proposed to organize, with the help of the Plant Production and Protection Division. a study tour (1963) in a country practicing highly developed range management techniques.
ADMINISTRATION AND EDUCATION
High priority will be given to activities aimed at improving national services and education and training institutions. These are essential for providing the facilities and skills for planning and carrying out forest and forest industry expansion. This need has been repeatedly stressed by the FAO regional forestry commissions and was again emphasized by the Fifth World Forestry Congress.
Advice will continue to be furnished, on request both by Regular Program. and EPTA staff on forest legislation and on organizational and administrative structures. The Division will participate in meetings on land tenure organized by the Rural Institution and Services Division in West Africa (1962) and the Near East (1963). Seminars on forest service organization and estimating personnel needs will be arranged on the occasion of the next sessions of the regional forestry commissions for Latin America and Africa. There has been a steady demand to produce a revised edition of the FAO study Forest policy. law and administration but funds are insufficient.
Forestry schools
A number of training institutions and forestry schools with university status have been created or helped through EPTA, e.g., Chile, Liberia and Costa Rica. More are expected to come into being through Special Fund projects now in an advanced stage of preparation e.g., Argentina, Brazil, Iran and Sudan. FAO will continue to furnish teaching staff. advise on curricula. and promote the wider use of available education grants and fellowship schemes. The members of the FAO Advisory Panel on Forestry Education will be called 011 for advice and help in this connection, as also on methods of strengthening mass education to foster public understanding of the value of forestry. The EPTA Latin-American Advisory Group on Research and Education will work towards a co-ordinated program in this region, and a similar group for Africa is planned in connection with the FAO special program for that region.
Community development
Experts will participate in Special Fund projects relating to colonization, notably the Andean Indian programs; a seminar on colonization problems will be organized in Latin America (1963) with other Divisions. Reports will be prepared for meetings of the European Confederation of Agriculture and the Council of Europe.
Multilingual forest terminology
To enable foresters of many mother tongues to know exactly what they are talking about in exchanging views and experiences, there is urgent need for authoritative definitions of the terms used in the forestry sciences. Such a compilation is being undertaken through the FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography for which FAO provides the secretariat. This work will be accelerated.
FOREST PRODUCTION
The aim is to bring forests, natural or planted, public or private, to a state of high productivity directly related to estimated future needs for forest products, and to secure sound forest management. Simultaneously there must be a reduction in costs which is most readily achieved by improving the efficiency of forest operations and introducing better cutting and extraction methods.
Quick-growing species and forest tree improvement
As recommended by the last FAO Conference (Resolution No. 29/59) increased emphasis will be given to the use of indigenous and introduced quick-growing species. Experimental trials will be initiated by EPTA officers serving in temperate and tropical countries. Following the earlier monographs on eucalyptus, poplars, and radiata pine, a monograph on acacias will be completed and published. The information on Mexican pines assembled as a result of the 1960 study tour, and on eucalypts as a result of the 1961 World Eucalyptus Conference, will be edited and issued. The International Poplar Commission will hold its eleventh session in 1962 (Yugoslavia). The Fifth World Forestry Congress recommended a worldwide Technical Consultation to promote the production of improved planting stocks for afforestation and regeneration programs. Such a meeting will be organized in 1963.
Improved seed
Under the impetus of the FAO World Seed Campaign, agreement between countries will be sought to facilitate the international exchange of breeding material and seed certification. Arrangements will be completed for the collection and distribution of certified seed of eucalyptus from Australia and other countries, and of pines from Mexico as initiated during the 1960 study tour. Meeting of the International Seed Testing Association will be attended.
Planting programs
An expanded version of the development paper Tree planting practices for arid areas will be completed and published. Governments will be encouraged under the Freedom from Hunger Campaign to give priority to shelterbelt plantations; to village forests to meet local needs, especially for fuelwood; and to the simultaneous introduction of simple improved wood-burning stoves and appliances. The last two are particularly important to eliminate the wasteful practices of burning cowdung as fuel. Following the series of bulletins on fuelwood plantations prepared for the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, a report on irrigated plantations will be prepared for the Near East Forestry Commission. A report on soil improvement practices and on stimulating tree growth with fertilizers will also be compiled.
Forest research and improved silviculture
Greater progress in the establishment of research institutes and formulation of programs is expected from Special Fund projects now in course of preparation. The Latin-American Advisory Group on Research and Training (EPTA) will continue to serve governments of that region, subject to the availability of EPTA funds.
Meetings will be held of two of the research committees (Asia-Pacific and Latin America) formed in conjunction with the regional forestry commissions. FAO will continue to be represented on the permanent committee of IUFRO which under special agreement acts as scientific advisor to FAO, and collaboration will give emphasis to the fields recommended by the Fifth World Forestry Congress (forest typology, uniform procedures for recording experimental data, and factors responsible for pest outbreaks).
The series of annual silviculture study tours for forest officers from member countries of the European Forestry Commission will be continued: it is proposed to organize similar silviculture tours in connection with the sessions of other regional forestry commissions. A seminar and study tour on forest fire control similar to that held in the United States of America in 1951 will be organized in 1962, provided a suitable host country can be found, and a study tour on the silviculture and management of tropical rain forest will be organized in southeast Asia in 1963, subject to the availability of EPTA funds.
For Africa, emphasis will be on savanna woodlands and a meeting of the regional working party on this subject will be held in 1962. This region is also interested in the activities of the Teak Subcommission and will participate in its work; no session of this body is, however, scheduled for the biennium. A monograph on bamboos, their management and use, will be completed and published.
Harvesting and extraction of forest products
Modernization of logging and extraction operations call mean for forestry the revolutionary advances that new tools and machines have given to agricultural production. Work in this field of activity will be expanded, with emphasis on the tropical regions, as recommended by the last FAO Conference and the Fifth World Forestry Congress.
The activities. concentrated in its study groups, of the FAO/ECE Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have, for eight years, been increasing in importance and value: a fifth session will be held in 1963. A similar body has been set up for the Asia-Pacific region and it is proposed to hold a session in 1963. It is planned also to organize With ILO group fellowship tours or v vocational training courses (two per year) in Africa and Latin America.
With ILO a manual will be prepared on logging practices recommended for different forest types and working conditions, and on the prevention of accidents. A report Will also be prepared and issued on improved hand took and equipment for felling, bucking, limbing, debarking and chipping, and on the latest techniques for their use.
FOREST INDUSTRIES AND UTILIZATION
The aim under this heading, closely tied with forest polity anti economics, is planned expansion of industries in accordance With trends in the prospective requirements of the various regions and the availability of indigenous forest resources, and with due regard to costs and benefits; modernization of techniques and equipment. reduction of waste. The setting up of integrated forest industries will be promoted, where these will lead to maximum efficiency. Most of the activities planned can be expected to bring quick improvement in production and the technical utilization of forest products. especially in the developing areas, benefiting not only domestic markets but earning foreign exchange from exports.
Pulp and paper
In accordance with the recommendations of the last FAO Conference, greater attention in future will be given to development of the pulp and paper industry.
Changes in production capacity will be analyzed. together with trends in demand. Regional trends will be reviewed by a Second World Consultation with a view to promoting a continuous equilibrium between pulp and paper supply and requirements. Gradual expansion of production capacity in the developing regions will be encouraged through further regional conferences on the lines of those already organized for Latin America (1954) and Asia and the Far East (1960); preparations will therefore be started for a conference for Africa and the Near East to be organized with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
The Latin-American Pulp and Paper Advisory Group - joint with the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) and the Bureau of Technical Assistance Operations (BTAO) - will continue to advise governments of the region on request. A review consultation on pulp and paper development in Latin America will be held in collaboration with ECLA in 1963. It its important for countries to have up to date information on new raw materials for paper and board, and the latest techniques for using them. FAO will collect and disseminate such information and Will issue a revised edition of Raw materials for more paper.
In developing its program the Organization will receive guidance from the Pulp and Paper Advisory Committee set up on the directions of the last FAO Conference; this committee is expected to meet annually.
Plywood and panel products
A world consultation on plywood and panel products will be convened in 1962, as recommended by the last FAO Conference, to examine prospects as regards raw material requirements, manufacturing processes, applications and uses, and markets. A report will be published.
Lumber
To promote the rational utilization of small-size anti secondary timber species, a regional training center for the Far East on sawmilling will be organized in 1963. The United Nations has a program on low-cost housing for tropical regions (through the United Nations Inter-Agency Committee on Housing and Related Community Facilities, the housing committees of ECAFE, ECLA, and the United Nations regional housing centers), and since the rational use of wood is such an important element in improving and developing housing, FAO will take a prominent part in this program. Emphasis will he on the utilization of secondary wood species, bamboo and other locally available organic building materials.
Wood technology and utilization
A Fifth FAO Conference on Wood Technology will be convened in 1963 to review developments since the last Conference (1958). As recommended by the Fifth World Forestry Congress, a meeting may be arranged at the same time of directors and other research leaders of forest products research laboratories and organizations, to review research progress and coordinate programs.
A working party on wood preservation (FAO Panel on Mechanical Wood Technology) will be established and a meeting arranged in conjunction with a session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. Secretariat facilities will be provided for the recently established International Wood Research Society during its initial stages of formation. Members of the FAO Panel on Wood Chemistry will keep FAO abreast of developments in the utilization of cellulose, hemi-cellulose, lignin and extractives, and information will be disseminated.
The FAO Asia-Pacific export grading rules will be reviewed and similar rules drawn up for Latin America where lack of grading rules is a major obstacle to the efficient working and expansion of the timber trade, both local and export. Timber quarantine regulations as relating to international trade will be correlated, with the aim of arriving at acceptable standard agreements.
Forestry and forest industries equipment
Activities under this heading serve the whole divisional program. FAO is a clearing house for information and data on machines and equipment for forestry and wood using industries, and methods of using them. The selection of equipment for EPTA and Special Fund projects involves an increasing workload. In liaison with the International Standardization Organization (ISO), FAO will encourage the development, adaptation and standardization of machines and equipment for forest operations, and the formulation of testing criteria.
The illustrated leaflets Equipment Notes will continue to be issued periodically (average 24 notes per year), and there is a regular equipment section in Unasylva. New catalogues of chain saws, tractors, and wood preservation equipment, will be prepared and issued. Members of the FAO Panel on Equipment will continue to be called on for specialized advice, especially in connection with Special Fund projects; reports on the manufacture of boxes and crates and on improved handling of raw materials will be prepared and issued.
FOREST ECONOMICS
No decision on forest and land-use policies is valid and no action justifiable unless account has been taken of the economic aspect. That economic considerations are important, and frequently decisive, throughout the whole forestry and forest products field was recognized by the last FAO Conference and is the justification for the activities under this heading.
A routine function will continue to be the maintenance of a service of economic and statistical intelligence. The need for this service has been enhanced by the Division's growing operational responsibilities. A second continuing and important activity will be to promote improvements in the collection, recording and analysis of national statistics relating to forests and forest products, and to foster international comparability.
Forest and forest products statistics
National planning requires reliable statistics. Help will be given in improving national statistics on forest resources and on forest products. During the biennium a guide to the collection of end-use statistics will be prepared; conversion factors used in FAO's work will be revised and published; information will be collected and analyzed on the various systems used for measuring roundwood, and on methods of assessing forest fire damage. Minimum regional statistical programs will be introduced through the regional forestry commissions. The series of yearbooks of forest products, started in 1947, will be continued, under the mandate given by the FAO Conference which also requires the Organization to collect every five years the latest available data on national forest resources. The next survey is due in 1963, and the results will be published as the fourth in the series of volumes on world forest resources.
Forest surveys and development
Activities include the planning and directing of forest resource inventories, and assisting countries to assess forest industry development possibilities, to conduct pre-investment surveys and feasibility studies; and advising them on the planning of forest and forest industry development and the integration of these plans with national economic development plans.
Forest inventories. Records are maintained of survey techniques, equipment and costs. A guide will be prepared on requirements for aerial photographs for forest interpretation in the tropics, on sampling designs and interpretation keys, based on material assembled for the Far East regional training center (EPTA) held in 1900. This parallels a similar project in Statistics Division related to agricultural statistics. A regional training center for Latin America will be prepared to take place in 1904.
Programing forest and forest industries development. As a part of FAO's work related to economic appraisal, it is proposed to compile a manual on the preparation of forest industry development projects, as an aid to developing countries. The implications for forest and forest industry development of existing or proposed common market arrangements, will be kept under review. Special attention will be paid to the role which forest industries can play in promoting balanced economic growth.
Forestry trends and analysis
As required by the FAO Conference, the Division is engaged in conducting a cycle of regional studies of timber resources and requirements, in collaboration with the UN regional economic commissions. The Asia Pacific study was published in 1961 The Latin-American and African studies are due to be completed and issued in 1969/63, followed by a re-appraisal for Europe. The whole series is planned to he finished in early 1964 Using also national studies already completed or underway for areas not covered by the FAO surveys. a world picture will be built up of resources and future wood needs up to 1975 and beyond, and the resultant implications for forest policies. This analysis of world prospects will be presented to the Sixth World Forestry Congress in 1965.
Methodology for resource appraisals and requirements studies. Aid will be given to developing countries in estimating net tonal wood requirements. These countries often lack the basic data upon which such estimates are usually predicated, are unaware of the methodology involved, and lack men able to make broad appraisals of the economic factors that will influence decisions on future forestry programs.
Forest products markets
The Division will continue to prepare topical and balanced reviews of the principal forest products markets, for the CCP and other meetings. Further improvement will be sought in collecting intelligence from the developing regions. An annual contribution to The state of food and agriculture will be made to give a complete picture of trends for forest products commodities.
REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
Work carried out in the regions is integrated with that done at Headquarters. The regional forestry commissions provide the machinery through which programs are established and implemented. These commissions now group all the member countries of FAO: they are essentially policy bodies and their working parties, committees and subcommissions deal with technical matters.
Africa
A second session of the African Forestry Commission (AFC) will he held in East Africa in 1962 or 1963 with concurrently a silviculture study tour. This session will be able to review the regional study of wood resources and requirements being undertaken with ECA. The study is intended to serve as a basis for a reappraisal of forest policies and for forest industries development planning.
As requested by the commission, a preliminary report will be prepared on the problems of establishing plantations in savanna areas, and also a draft convention for the conservation of wildlife through controlled use, in consultation with the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa south of the Sahara (CCTA), IUCN of and UNESCO; A directory Will he compiled of fodder and fruit trees capable of being grown in semi-arid and arid areas. As already noted, preparations will be started for a regional conference on pulp and paper development.
At its first session the Commission emphasized the need for adequate education and training facilities within the region. A start has already been made under EPTA by the creation of a forestry school in the University of Liberia: several Special Fund projects with similar aims are in preparation and it is planned to set up a regional advisory group on education, subject to the availability of EPTA funds. Two vocational training courses on logging and planting techniques will be organized with ILO.
Asia find Pacific
The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) will hold its sixth session in 1962 when consideration will be given to new country programs for forestry development, drawn up in the light of future wood requirements as revealed by the regional timber trends study undertaken with ECAFE in 1960. This study has in the meantime been reviewed by the Regional FAO Conference and ECAFE which both stressed the need for a reorientation of national forest policies.
During the course of the commission's session ad hoc meetings will be held of its committees on silvicultural and forest management research and on forest products research. A meeting of the working party on wood preservation of the FAO Panel on Mechanical Wood Technology will also be arranged. There will be no meeting of the working party on watershed management but it is proposed that the committee on forest working techniques and training of forest workers (in collaboration with ILO) shall meet in 1963.
It will not be possible to arrange a session of the Teak Subcommission during the biennium: work will proceed by correspondence. A study tour on the silviculture and management of tropical rain forest will be organized in 1963, subject to the availability of EPTA funds, together with a meeting of the APFC research committee, and a regional training center on sawmilling.
Europe
The European Forestry Commission (EFC) will hold its twelfth session in 1963. The series of annual silviculture study tours for forest officers Will be continued. The working party on torrent control and avalanches will hold a business meeting in Rome in 1962, and a study tour on watershed management for specialists from other regions will be organized also in 1962, as recommended by the last FAO Conference. The FAO/ECE Committee on forest working techniques and training of forest workers (in collaboration With ILO) will hold its fifth session in 1963.
Reports will be prepared on the economics of improved management of small private woodlands and on forestry in relation to the economy of mountain populations for meetings of the European Confederation of Agriculture and the Council of Europe.
FAO staff will continue to service the ECE/FAO Timber Division at Geneva and the ECE Timber Committee which meets annually. With ECE, a reapraisal of the European timber trends and prospects is under way. The quarterly Timber bulletin for Europe and country market reports will be continued: the second issue each year includes a special section on prices. The series of sector studies on end-use consumption as affecting markets in Europe will be completed in 1962 with studies on packaging and wood used in mining: earlier studies were on housing (1957) and sleepers (1960).
Mediterranean
The Division has operational responsibility for Special Fund projects for integrated development in Turkey and Morocco, arising from FAO's Mediterranean project, and participates in other projects in Tunisia and Greece. The Mediterranean Forestry Subcommission (SCM) will hold its eighth session in 1962, and the joint working party on techniques of forest extension and restoration, which replaces earlier subsidiary bodies of the EFC and SCM and which will serve also the Near East Forestry Commission (NEFC) and African Forestry Commission (AFC), will meet m 1963.
It is not intended to hold any further sessions of the International Chestnut Commission.
Latin America
The Latin-American Forestry Commission (LAFC) will hold its eighth session in 1962, and a meeting of its committee on forest research will also be arranged. The working party on long-term forestry development will not meet until it can review the regional study on wood resources and requirements, being undertaken in collaboration with ECLA: this is expected to be completed in 1963. With ECLA intergovernmental consultations will be arranged on problems of the production, procurement and standardization of sleepers (crossties) in the southern zone of Latin America. Agreement on standard timber export grading rules will be sought. The regional pulp and paper advisory group will continue to advise governments on their development programs. A review consultation on regional pulp and paper prospects will be held in 1963.
With other Divisions, a seminar on colonization problems will be organized in 1963. A training center on forest inventory techniques will be prepared for 1964 (subject to the availability of EPTA funds). Vocational training courses on logging, one per year, will be organized with ILO.
A case-study on shifting cultivation practices will be undertaken during the biennium, as a phase of FAO's work on introducing more productive methods of farming and forestry in the tropics.
The EPTA regional advisory group on research and education will work toward a co-ordinated program in this region. Four Special Fund projects (Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Chile) in this field are expected to become operational in 1962. A permanent agreement having come into force for the operation of the Latin-American Forest Research and Training Institute, Mérida, Venezuela, participation of FAO in future will be of an advisory nature, and a representative will serve on the governing body.
Near East
A session of the Near East Forestry Commission (NEFC) will be organized in 1962. Concurrently an ad hoc meeting will be held of the regional committee on forest research. The working party on forest range management will not meet but it is hoped that representatives from the region will participate in the study tour on range management techniques, scheduled to be organized in 1963.
The Near East forest rangers' school at Lattakia, in Syria, came into operation in 1960, and FAO will continue to provide an acting director and a representative to serve on the governing body.
An EPTA development center on watershed management will be organized in 1962. Preparations will be made for a pulp and paper conference for the Near East and Africa. Data on wood resources and requirements will be collected for inclusion in the world survey due to be completed in 1964. Divisional work on quick-growing species will be of direct concern to the region.
North America
The North-American Forestry Commission is expected to hold a second session in 1963.
Countries of the region are closely concerned with all the world-wide projects referred to in earlier sections and furnish a large proportion (some 25 percent to date) of EPTA and Special Fund staff serving in other regions.
The committee agreed that the proposed regular program of work for 1962 and 1963 reflected trends in world forestry; the needs of member countries; and the directives of the FAO Conference, regional conferences, regional forestry commissions and other bodies. It was well balanced.
Of the main lines of activity to receive special emphasis, the committee gave education and training first importance, and high priority to forest inventories; land use (including shifting cultivation, watershed management and grazing in forests and other open land); development of forest industries (pulp and paper, sawmilling, plywood manufacture and other industries); logging; quick-growing tree species; and silviculture (including research on savanna forestry).
The committee strongly emphasized that. should unforeseen circumstances that impose adjustments in the regular program activities, the over-all balance of the program, as now approved, should not be impaired.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
It was agreed that education and training were the basic means of helping to narrow the gap between the developed and developing countries. The committee was glad to note the number of Special Fund projects being developed by countries to improve education and training facilities.
In principle. there should be ranger schools and facilities for training subordinate staff and providing vocational training in every country where the forest resources represent a valuable. potential. At present, however, there is still a strong ease for regional facilities the Near East forest rangers school therefore should continue to be supported by FAO, and indeed be strengthened through EPTA, and means should be found to establish a center for the French-speaking countries of Africa.
Higher university training should be available to member nations who have extensive forest resources or at regional centers for groups of neighboring countries where separate university-type facilities are not warranted, for instance in west and east Africa. Postgraduate and specialized training may generally best be obtained in long-established centers abroad. The FAO Advisory Panel on Forestry Education had confirmed this approach, which clearly revealed the widespread need for teachers in the developing countries. Fellowships for training abroad were the immediate solution for the shortage of teachers.
The provision of facilities and programs must be related to the results of manpower requirement surveys and to actual development needs and plans. Personnel requirements for forestry and for forest industries must be taken into account in general FAO programs aimed at promoting properly planned and phased education and training facilities. In this connection, the Conference subsequently noted with approval the work of the Latin-America advisory group on education and research and recommended that a similar group be established through EPTA for Africa, and for the Far East region. The Conference also emphasized that education in forestry economics and in development plannings should be greatly expanded in existing and new centers every where.
The delegates heard With interest that extension courses were to be introduced at the forestry school in Madrid to train Spanish students for work in tropical or subtropical Spanish-speaking countries, and for students from countries of Latin America.
As regards public education, a proposal was made that FAO should explore ways of disseminating among countries ideas on posters and publicity material for forestry.
The committee was apprised of negotiations underway to accelerate the preparation of a multilingual forestry terminology, and for the publication in the meantime of a multilingual glossary of forestry terms, and hoped that they would prove successful.
FOREST INVENTORIES
Many delegates believed that the striking progress made in recent years in increasing the precision and lowering the cost of forest inventories would be of great value to developing countries intent on mobilizing their forest resources, and they welcomed the successful efforts of FAO to place these new techniques at the disposal of member countries. They hoped that it would be possible with the aid of EPTA funds to organize regional training centers on forest inventory methods for Latin America and Africa.
The committee welcomed the news that the Division's capacity- to support additional effort in field projects was strengthened by the appointment of an inventory specialist through the United Nations Special Fund allocation overheads.
LAND USE
The committee gave great importance to the proper integration of forestry into land-use patterns. It noted the improved collaboration between agricultural and forestry interests that was evident in Europe, and considered that this trend should be encouraged.
Proposals for establishing a working party on forest range management, especially to be concerned with socio-economic and legal aspects, and for work on the influence of goat grazing, shelterbelts and forests in arid zones, were referred to the Mediterranean Forestry Subcommission. Forest range management and the permanent settlement of nomadic tribes were vital matters for the Near East region and the Mediterranean basin.
Some delegates also drew to the attention of the Division the importance which they attached to forestry phases of the Lower Mekong development project. These involved especially shifting cultivation and its control. The importance of the subject of shifting cultivation in many countries of Africa was stressed. Shifting cultivation is a way of life and as such cannot be dealt with from a purely technical standpoint. It requires an integrated approach with full recognition of the economic, institutional and social aspects.
The problems in shifting cultivation differ greatly according to ecological circumstances and to population density. In the savanna areas one of the main aims should be to promote a settled mixed farming associating agriculture and livestock production. The introduction of a fodder crop in the rotation could be an excellent means to reach this aim where ecological conditions were favorable. In the forest areas, major attention should be given to ensuring a proper regrowth of the forest cover, if immediate elimination of shifting cultivation is not feasible.
The committee called attention to the importance of the watershed management work of the Division. The economic aspects of watershed management were mentioned, and the desirability of publishing the manual on watershed management principles, already prepared in collaboration with the Land and Water Development Division. The observation was made that commercial publishers might be interested.
The committee and subsequently the Conference strongly urged a strengthening of co-operation with IUCN, especially in regard to programs of wildlife conservation and management, and to national parks.
Taking note of the work and policy of IUCN in Africa which led to the CCTA-IUCN Conference in 1961 at Arusha, Tanganyika, the Conference recommended the establishment of a small team of experts to visit countries in Africa in order to assess the potentialities and give advice on wildlife development and conservation programs. Financial assistance would be provided in 1962 by the Technical Assistance Board through the executive chairman's contingency fund.
Although the Conference was in agreement that present attention should be focused mainly on Africa, in future biennia the Director-General was requested to expand the work to other regions in collaboration with IUCN.
The Conference endorsed the action of the ad hoc working party of the African Forestry Commission concerning the periodic review of wildlife policy and the preparation of a draft African convention for the conservation of wildlife through its controlled use.
Attention was drawn to the need for including the special problems of possible harmful effects on wildlife in FAO studies on pesticides and their application.
The Conference also noted the increasing importance of the role of both cultivated and uncultivated rural landscapes in meeting the recreational needs that arise from the greater leisure and mobility of urban people. Landscape planning could be a means toward improving the living environments of rural communities, meeting the needs for recreation without hampering agricultural development.
FOREST INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT
Strong support was expressed for the Division's activities, which were carried out in accordance with the directives of the last FAO Conference, designed to encourage a sound expansion of pulp industries in line with the ability of local resources to produce continuously adequate wood supplies and with trends in paper demand and requirements, with emphasis on the developing regions. This sector of forest industries is constantly growing in importance and the time is ripe for intensified attention at the international level. The committee especially welcomed the successful establishment of the Advisory Committee on Pulp and Paper to advise the Organization on its work, and the undertaking of a special study on pulp and paper prospects in Europe, to be financed by the industry.
Mechanical industries still take the bulk of the present output of industrial wood. Moreover, such industries because of the relatively low investment involved and the proportionately greater effect on employment, are often more suited to the possibilities of developing countries than pulp and paper mills.
The committee approved the holding of a world consultation on plywood and panel products, and hoped that out of it would come a publication analogous to that resulting from the meeting on fibreboard and wood particle board held in 1957.
An invitation from Poland for FAO, together with ECE, to organize a study tour on the utilization of small-sized wood, was welcomed. Markets and uses ought to be found for many millions of cubic meters of such wood annually, if intensive forest management is to be encouraged. It was suggested that FAO should strengthen the effort devoted to rural industries and the training of craftsmen and artisans. The committee therefore recommended that the Special Fund and the Freedom from Hunger Campaign should consider any application for help in this important field of work with utmost sympathy.
LOGGING
Logging is a sphere where new ideas and developments in methods, tools and equipment can most readily be spread from one country and region to another. The committee endorsed the extension of improved techniques into developing regions, and welcomed the collaboration of ILO in this endeavor. Two particular aspects were mentioned as being in need of attention: the logging of watershed (catchment) areas so as to avoid erosion and adverse effects on water supplies, and the economic removal of small-sized timber from plantations so as to permit early returns.
The committee noted the success of the training courses on forest working techniques organized jointly by FAO, ILO and ECE in different European countries. Such courses can lead quickly to an appreciable rise in productivity. It therefore endorsed the proposal in the 1962-63 program that FAO/ILO courses should be arranged through EPTA in each developing region. The courses should not concentrate solely on exploitation techniques as there are many other types of forest operation, e.g., planting methods, which can be usefully covered.
QUICK-GROWING TREE SPECIES
The use of quick-growing species appears to be one of the most promising practices for increasing supplies of wood. Some delegates considered natural tropical hardwood forests to be a diminishing asset except as regards their protective role, because of the difficulties and cost of securing regeneration of commercially valuable. Plantations - but not necessarily of exotics might be preferable, provided planting programs are linked directly to plans for economic development and prospective markets, or to local needs.
The delegates gave warning of some of the dangers inherent in the widespread creation of plantations. Research institutes, for instance, had a great responsibility to conduct timely research on species and wood quality to be sure that what is grown is utilizable for the purposes required.
The committee welcomed an invitation from Sweden to hold the proposed world consultation on forest tree improvement in that country in the autumn of 1963. Seed provenance, seed orchards, exchange of planting material, and management techniques should receive full attention at this meeting. It also welcomed invitations from Yugoslavia to be hosts for the next session of the International Poplar Commission, from Spain for the joint working party on afforestation and reforestation, and from France for the working party on chestnut of the European Forestry Commission, the Conference having decided to abolish the International Chestnut Commission.
The Committee heard with interest of the research projects directly related to FAO's work which member institutes of IUFRO in the Mediterranean area proposed to conduct. It noted with gratitude the offer of the agriculture and forestry experimental center of the Ente Nazionale per la Cellulosa e per la Carta at Rome to provide the necessary secretariat facilities, and of Tunisia to lend the facilities of its forest research institute.
FOREST PROTECTION
As proposed in the 1962-63 program the committee expressed the hope that it would prove possible to organize a study tour on forest fire prevention and control techniques similar to that conducted in the U.S.A. in 1951. It referred the matter to the North-American Forestry Commission and its working party on forest fire control. The committee welcomed as most useful a proposal emanating from the Nineteenth IUFRO congress that FAO should organize an international symposium on the control of tree diseases. Such a project should be included in the 1964-65 program but there would be great advantage in bringing it forward to 1963 if this could be done without displacing any other approved project.
WOOD TECHNOLOGY
The committee endorsed the holding of a fifth FAO Conference on Wood Technology in 1963. Reservations were expressed as to the advisability of assembling at the same time the directors and leaders of forest products research laboratories and institutes, as proposed in the program of work. IUFRO should be consulted in this regard in view of its recent decision to expand its section on forest products.
DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
The committee expressed disappointment that in 1960-61 it had not been found possible to devote adequate attention to problems of planning the medium and long-term development of forestry and forest industries, especially in regard to questions of organization and methodology. But it was noted that the Division had been active on the FAO Mediterranean Project and the subsequent follow-up, on the special African survey submitted to the Conference of FAO, and would be working on the new Alliance-for-Progress program in Latin America.
In connection with the latter, a recommendation was made for the EPTA appointment of a regional adviser on the forestry aspects of colonization and agrarian reform programs, which is expected to develop through all countries of Latin America. It was also recommended that the existing Latin-American advisory group on pulp and paper development, which is a joint EPTA project of FAO and ECLA, should be expanded to cover the whole sphere of both forestry and forest industry development.
The committee heard with great interest of the seminar conducted in 1961 in the Federal Republic of Germany by the Institute for Developing Countries for senior officials from Africa and Asia, and of the similar seminar planned for 1962 for officials from Latin-American countries. It also welcomed a seminar on planning for forest industry development proposed to be organized by Yugoslavia. FAO co-operation in such seminars furthered its objectives and supplemented its resources.
The committee noted with satisfaction the progress being made in collaboration with the regional economic commissions of the United Nations on the cycle of studies of timber resources and requirements. These should be completed before 1965, so that the Sixth World Forestry Congress would have the opportunity of conducting the first global review of the present and potential role of the forest resource in contributing to human welfare.
The Technical Committee On Forestry and Products embodied its findings and conclusions in a report of which the main features weir subsequently considered and endorsed by the plenary session of the FAO Conference. By a unanimous vote (86 in favor, none against, one abstention) its plenary also approved budget appropriations for 1962-63 which Will fully cover the program of work in forestry and forest products as approved by the committee. These a mount to US. $ 1,606,100 for the too years, an increase of $ 212,910 over the 1960-61 budget and comparing With an actual expenditure of $ 1,444,186 for 1968-59.
In terms of staff the increase Will permit only a modest expansion; the establishment of two new professional posts with supporting services and the creation of a fourth technical branch to deal with forest industries and utilization. The committee hoped this would increase the Division's efficiency.
A number of proposals were made for projects to be included in a program of work for 1964-65. For instance, several delegates proposed that, given the examples of the man-made forests of New Zealand, Chile, East and South Africa, and other areas, and the problems of international interest which they posed, a Southern Hemisphere conference on quick-growing tree species should be included by FAO in a future work program. This might in effect be an elaboration of the series of world eucalyptus conferences arranged by the Organization.
The committee also supported a proposal that there be accelerated action to develop international grading rules for round and sawn timber.
In summing up, the conference recommended that the program of work for 1964-65 should maintain the same balance as in the 1962-63 program with no major shift in emphasis. Priority should be given to education and training, quick-growing tree species, resource surveys and appraisal, watershed (catchment area) management, development planning for forestry and forest industries, pulp and paper development, and utilization of presently unmarketable hardwoods in tropical regions.
Finally, the Conference placed on record its great appreciation of the manner in which the Fifth World Forestry Congress had been organized at Seattle in 1960 and requested the Director-General to convey such appreciation to the Government of the United States of America. The Conference recommended that early in 1962 the Director-General should approach all members of FAO and of the United Nations inviting formal offers from countries prepared to organize and issue invitations to the Sixth World Forestry Congress. The replies received are to be considered by the FAO Council at its 1962 Session which should decide which offer to accept.
