(Item 10 of the Agenda)
88. The Commission had before it Document No. APCAS/98/11 “Forestry Statistics and Information in Asia and Pacific Region”. It was informed that this paper reviewed the current state of statistics and information of FAO about forestry for the Asia-Pacific region and described improvements undertaken during the past two years. Opportunities and options for improvement of statistics and information systems as recommended by the Seventeenth Session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission were introduced.
89. The Commission was informed that most of the information about forestry in the Asia-Pacific region currently compiled by FAO fell broadly into two areas: (i) forest product information, including information and statistics on the production (including capacity), consumption, trade and utilisation of forest products; and (ii) forest resource information, including information and statistics on the area, stocking, growth, condition and type of forest resources in countries.
90. The Commission noted that this information was usually collected by means of questionnaires sent to all countries and, therefore, depended heavily on the cooperation and capacity of countries to supply timely and accurate information.
91. It was pointed out that forest product trade was one area where information compiled by FAO was currently quite good. In contrast to trade, production statistics currently compiled by FAO were not as complete or reliable. Roundwood production data were even less reliable. The Commission was informed that statistics on production and trade of non-wood forest products (NWFP) were also fairly weak; information on production capacity was only partially complete, but covered most major producing countries.
92. The Commission observed that FAO collected information on forest resources through the decennial Forest Resource Assessments (FRAs). The only forest resource information which was compiled annually was on forest area and forest fires.
93. The Commission was pleased to note that as a first step towards improving forestry statistics and information, FAO held a series of consultation meetings on the subject, including regional seminars and a global review of forestry statistics.
94. It was reported that FAO was continuously improving the quality of data in the Forest Products Yearbook by validating and cross-checking them with other sources. FAO, the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Statistical Agency of the European Union (EUROSTAT) met in September 1998 to design a joint forest products production and trade questionnaire. Joint administration of this questionnaire was planned for 1999 depending on the concurrence of each organization’s governing body. The FAO Forestry Department had also been working extensively on the harmonisation and standardisation of information about fuelwood and other NWFPs.
95. In the area of forest resources, the Commission was pleased to note that FAO was, in consultation with member governments, continuously reviewing and improving the techniques used to compile data for FRAs through several working groups. One of the major ways in which data collection could be improved was through capacity building in countries, which had been implemented through several projects. A major improvement in the dissemination of statistics had been the development and updating of forestry statistics databases on the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) available on the FAO Internet site.
96. The Commission was informed that statistics on the following areas needed improvement: roundwood production; area of trees outside the forest; data on services of the forest, including emerging ones like ecotourism and age-old ones like watershed functions; non-wood forest products and fuelwood production.
97. The Commission concurred with the following recommendations of the Seventeenth Session of Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC):
(i) APFC noted positively the ongoing efforts by FAO and ITTO to develop a joint forestry statistics questionnaire for use by FAO, ECE, EUROSTAT, and ITTO. It requested FAO and ITTO to monitor these efforts closely, and develop a similar joint questionnaire for Asia and the Pacific.98. The Commission noted that one issue which needed to be resolved was the treatment of trees planted on agricultural holdings. It observed that products from such trees represented a large proportion of farm income in some countries. USA reported that these products were considered as agricultural production. It was pointed out that areas under forest of agricultural holdings were to be enumerated in agricultural censuses.(ii) FAO should establish a network of statistics correspondents, or focal points, throughout the region. To accelerate communications, APFC recommended that questionnaires and other related correspondence be sent directly to the designated national correspondents.
(iii) FAO should establish an ad hoc Working Group on Forestry Statistics and Information; and ITTO and FAO should work in partnership to support the activities of the Working Group.
99. The Commission reiterated its recommendation made at the Sixteenth Session, that FAO should provide more precise definitions and guidelines on which aspects of emerging agro-forestry activities should properly belong to the agricultural sector and which ones should remain within the confines of forestry.
100. The Commission heard a presentation of forestry statistics activities which were reported in the New Zealand country statement. The forestry situation in the country was reviewed.
101. The Commission noted that New Zealand monitored its planted production forests through its National Exotic Forest Description Programme (NEFDP), which was run as a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the forest industry. It was informed that two data sets were maintained: area by age; and yield.
102. It was mentioned that forest area data were collected annually with large forest owners providing data electronically. Data were collected from other forest owners with more than 40 hectares as an annual postal census. Information from owners with between 1 and 40 hectares was collected periodically through sample surveys.
103. The Commission was informed that forest areas were validated against New Zealand’s Land Cover Database, and that the NEFDP provided quantitative information on the extent, composition and future development of New Zealand’s planted production forests. This information were used principally: (i) to derive new government policy, and to determine the effects of current policy; (ii) to provide strategic planning information for agencies involved in providing infrastructure to the forest industry, in areas such as energy, roads, rail, port and shipping; (iii) to meet the needs of the international community, particularly with regard to monitoring and reporting on environmental concerns; (iv) to improve conditions for the operation of a free market for the forest industry, by providing information that would not be released by companies competing with one another.
104. The Commission noted with satisfaction that New Zealand also monitored new forest planting, harvesting, wood processing, domestic consumption and trade in forestry products.
