FORESTRY
I. SITUATION AND PROBLEMS
The paper begins with an appraisal of the world's forest resources from the environmental point of view. The various types of forest vegetation in the various ecological zones of the world are described.
It is pointed out that because of increasing populations and rising standards of living, the demand for those goods and services which the forests provide is rapidly growing. As a consequence, the forests in many countries have been unscientifically exploited and substantially reduced. Moreover, in some areas, for reasons not directly connected with production, forest vegetation has been destroyed by combustion products such as sulphur dioxide.
This unplanned destruction of the forests is regrettable because “forests are the greatest achievement of ecological evolution. They are the largest, most complex, and most self-perpetuating of all ecosystems. It is in forests that natural regulatory processes excel, producing the most stable of all ecosystems. It is in forestry that man has the best opportunity to work with nature.”1 The principles of ecological succession, their application to the dynamics of forest ecosystems, and the concept of a culminating stage allowing for maximum protection from perturbation are discussed. Attention is also drawn to those features of the environment which make forests particularly vulnerable to man's action. The role of the forest in conserving and enhancing environmental quality at both the global and local levels is therefore thoroughly examined at this stage.
However, although the environmental role of the forests is of great importance, forests have other functions. In particular, forests may be used as a basis for industrial development. Indeed, because of the special characteristics of wood as a raw material, the wide range of end products which are derived from wood, the high linkage effects which are engendered in the various types of wood processing, and the importance of wood and wood products in international trade, forests and forest industries have come to be regarded as being of special importance in the attack on economic underdevelopment.
Environmental problems may arise through the exploitation of forests and the industrial use of its products. For example, soils may be compacted, erosion may occur, and water regimes may be upset. In addition, noxious fumes from forest industrial installations may pollute the atmosphere, and water supplies may become relatively impure through the release of effluent from industrial plants.
Many of the things which need to be done to prevent or to eliminate these adverse effects on the environment are known: the adoption of special forest management practices in certain types of forest areas, plant siting, plant design, waste disposal, waste utilization, process modification, etc. However, the improvement or maintenance of environmental quality almost inevitably increases the costs of forest exploitation and of the industrial processes. This may be of serious consequence to the developing countries, for increased costs may well weaken their competitive position with regard to the industrialized countries. On the other hand, overcoming the pollution problem in the developed countries may involve a radical re-structuring of their institutions.
In addition to the utilization of forests for the production of wood and wood products, the forests are used in many developing countries for grazing and shifting cultivation. In such cases they are often regarded as obstacles to development. One way of reconciling these conflicting demands of the farmer and the forest conservationist is through the preparation and implementation of proper land-use plans. Guidelines for such plans are presented. An attempt is also made to quantify the present situation and trends with regard to the demand for timber, grazing, recreation, and other environmental values.
1 Fred E. Smith - Ecological Demand and Environmental Response. Journal of Forestry, 1970, pp 752–5.
II. POLICY GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO GOVERNMENTS
The second section of the paper begins with a brief discussion of the management of forests in relation to the environment. It is possible to expand the classical methods of forest management to meet different objectives, or a multiplicity of objectives. The flexibility of forests, their dynamic nature, and the often compatibility of management objectives suggest that multiple use management and the associated modifications of silvicultural practice are feasible. The several ways of applying multiple use management, and the relevance of particular systems to particular types and structures of forests are discussed.
Attention is then drawn to the possibilities of establishing man-made forests either to replace forests which have been exploited or to afforest bare ground or land formerly under some other type of land-use. The special ecological characteristics of these types of forests and the contribution they are capable of making in enhancing the human environment are presented to governments.
A plea is then made to governments to define or up-date their national forest policies and plans so as to take into account the growing concern about the environment and the demands for social services which are increasingly being made on the forests. Governments are also urged to make the institutional changes necessary to implement these policies. In particular, comprehensive legislation should be enacted, their forest administrative machinery re-structured, and their personnel trained and educated in such a way that they become better qualified to deal with the socio-ecological issues of present-day natural resources management.
Governments are also advised to establish environmental planning authorities at national and/or provincial, state or local level. The main functions of these authorities would be to assess environmental values and to evaluate specific development projects by making “impact surveys” in advance of project implementation. These surveys would identify all the environmental components that may possibly be affected by the project; determine the effect of proposed developments on each component; and recommend the appropriate measures to guarantee that environmental changes caused by the project are held within reasonable limits.
It is also recommended that urban planning commissions seek the advice of environmental foresters in establishing tree gardens and plantations to improve the appearance of the urban landscape and reduce noise pollution.
III. ACTION PROPOSALS TO GOVERNMENTS AND UN AGENCIES
The final section of the paper is devoted to proposals for action at the international level. The first two of these proposals are new, the others are an expansion and refurbishing of on-going activities.
Because of the beneficial influence of forests on the total environment, a World Forest Appraisal programme is proposed. Through the programme, the world's forest cover would be continuously monitored. This would provide an indicator of global environmental stability. In particular, the quantity and quality of forest areas will be assessed and classified into relevant ecological groups, and changes in the forest biomass which it is considered may have a significant effect on the environment will be recorded.
Data will be collected by remote-sensing techniques, through national reports, and by scanning existing inventories. The information would then be collated, analysed and computerized. An effective model would be constructed, from which caution and danger areas would be identified, and an alarm system organized for warning governments. Where, for example, the world's thermic balance is altered by the destruction of forest areas, the programme would be in a position to recognize this phenomenon and to advise on extensive afforestation or reforestation schemes.
The programme would also coordinate information on forest destruction through fire, and research on the service and technology of forest fire prevention and control. An important feature of the programme's activities would be the detection and location of forest fires.
Another programme which is proposed is designed to promote institutional innovation in the field of environmental forestry. Such a programme would include (a) comparative studies on the influence of land tenure systems on the protective and recreational role of forests, (b) the development and codification of an international text related to forest protection, (c) research on the development of public administration for environmental forestry, and (d) the revision of current education and training programmes to accommodate new techniques for forest resource management.
The third proposal for action at the international level concerns the coordination of international research on the influence of forests on the environment. The object of this exercise would be to launch an International Research Programme which would deepen and expand our knowledge of forest ecological influences. The Programme would also define and standardize the criteria and methodology for the evaluation of forest influences in economic terms.
The final proposal is to promote, through an existing international organization, international exchange of information on forest industries pollution control. Technical and economic data on the level of pollution caused by forest industries and on the control measures needed to secure adequate protection from such pollution would be collected by this organization and made available as appropriate.
The forest has been a feature of man's environment from time immemorial - taken for granted, sometimes preserved, more often cleared. It has provided many of his basic needs, shelter and water, food from wild animals, protection for his crops.
In modern society the products from the raw material of the forest have become more and more sophisticated. Still the forest, until quite recent times, has been regarded as limitless, because renewable. It is only in the last 25 years in fact that the rate of disappearance of the world's forests has been recognized as an imminent danger to the whole environment.
As far as the forestry profession is concerned, this recognition of the multiple functions of forests, of the influence of forests on the quality of the environment at both the local and global levels, was first given widespread publicity at Seattle in 1960 at the Fifth World Forestry Congress. It was given further emphasis at the Sixth Congress in Madrid in 1966. Over the last decade or so it has been the subject of much study and research. As a result, our knowledge of the inter-relationships of the forests with other factors of the environment is tending to become more precise.
In this paper the distribution of the world's forests is described, the nature of the forests ecosystem examined, and the influence of forests on environmental quality evaluated. The ecological problems which might arise in clearing forests for agriculture, in exploiting the forests for wood, and the industrial processing of wood products are identified, and suggestions are made for their resolution.
Finally certain policy guidelines with regard to the management of the forest estate and the control and regulation of forest industries are suggested to governments, and recommendations are made to the International Agencies. These recommendations include the establishment of a forest monitoring system to act as an indicator of global environmental instability, the coordination of research on the influence of forests on the human environment, the formulation of a programme designed to promote institutional innovation in the field of environmental forestry, and international exchange of information on forest industries pollution control.
