4 Conclusions and follow-up

This session was opened by Doug Williamson, Chairperson, who extended warm thanks from FAO and WCMC to everybody for attending. He then went on to summarise the conclusions reached at the Workshop, presented below.

1. Being a first meeting of FAO with regional experts, the workshop has been very useful, in particular through the lively interaction and good feed-back. To a large extent, the workshop objectives have been met.

2. This was the first step in a continuing process: it should be noted that the workshop and subsequent production of a Global EZ map for FRA2000 is a first step of a longer- term process. In a continued dialogue with the regional experts and countries, FAO intends to further improve and refine the current map/classification.

3. There was a good overall regional representation, although tropics was weakly represented. This was counterbalanced by the special expertise of certain of the participants based outside of the tropics, e.g., M.F. Bellan, H. Simons and D. Williamson. Each participant participated fully and all were very committed to the task. There was a good mixture of foresters and biogeographers / vegetation scientists represented at the workshop.

4. Recommendations for improving the level 2 zones are noted, principally:

a. Tropical seasonally Dry climates will be subdivided according to the recommendations of the tropical group.

b. Temperate oceanic climates will not be subdivided at this level into those occurring in more northerly regions, generally with mixed needleleaf/broadleaf forests, from those of more southerly regions characterised by broadleaf-dominated forests. This may be represented in level 3.

c. Boreal climates will be divided on a north-south basis into tundra regions and taiga regions, but will not be further subdivided according to their continental or oceanic characters at this level. This may be represented in level 3.

5. Mountains will be included in level 2 as one category for each major level 1 zone.

6. A new table incorporating the recommended changes should be Drafted subsequent to the workshop by Henk Simons and circulated along with the workshop report to all participants (this is appended at the end of this Section of the report).

7. For all regions suitable data are available and have been selected.

8. The system is usable, with some reservations mainly referring to the inclusion of mountain systems and the grouping of the sub-regions influenced by distance from coasts. Nomenclature issues were generally resolved.

9. Not all boundary regions have been looked at, but the ones that have seem not to present any particular problems. This indicates that boundary issues will not generally be a problem.

10. Terminology used will not always be in a form agreeable to experts from particular regions. It is proposed that this will be addressed in the documentation accompanying the map.

11. The overall soundness of the approach is accepted. However, FAO needs to be aware that it has its limits, and that FAO should commit to improve upon this.

12. This map product should not be used at scales greater than the smallest regional map input scale. This will probably be between 10 and 20 Million. Almost all data are readily available in digital form, or easily convertible to this. It will be possible to complete the map within the timeframe because of the map availability.

13. All of the parties at the workshop are willing to make the data required available to FAO. When doing so, it has been requested that they indicate whether their data can be made available to all the other parties at the workshop as well. FAO undertakes to distribute the data to the workshop parties if given permission.

Schedule items:

The workshop report will be compiled by WCMC. The draft of the workshop report will be circulated to the core team (FAO, EDC and LET) by October and subsequently to all participants. Comments will then be incorporated before publication by FAO.

During the latter half of 1999, participants will be contacted by EDC/FAO concerning data for their regions. These will be incorporated into a draft of the EZ map by EDC. A validation meeting will be held in EDC, attended by the core team, in July 2000, and the final map and database will be released in August 2000.

Revised FAO Global Ecological zoning (based on Köppen, adapted by Threwartha)

EZ Level 1		EZ Level 2
Name	Criteria (Equivalent Köppen –Trewartha Climatic Groups)	Name (reflecting zonala vegetation)	Criteria (approximate equivalent Köppen – Trewartha Climatic types, in combination with vegetation physiognomy, and one orographic zone within each Level 1 zone)		Vegetation types, Ecological zones, etc. (to be specified by Region, results of aggregation procedure)
Tropical	All months without frost: in marine areas over 18°C	Evergreen and semi-evergreen rainforest	Wet (Ar)	0 – 3 months Dryb
		Moist semi-deciduous and deciduous forest	Wet (Aw1)	3 – 5 months Dry
		Dry forest, woodlands	Wet (Aw2)	5 – 8 months Dry
		Dry savanna, thornbush	Semi-Arid (BSh)	Evaporation > Precipitation
		Desert	Arid (BWh)	All months Dry
		Mountain	Approximate > 1000m altitude (local variations)
Sub-tropical (or warm-temperate)	Eight months or more over 10°C	Evergreen forest	Humid (Cf)	No Dry season
		Sclerophyllous forest and woodland	Seasonally Dry (Cs)	.....
		Steppe	Semi-Arid (BSh)	Evaporation > Precipitation
		Desert	Arid (BWh)	All months Dry
		Mountain	Approximate > ...
Temperate	Four to eight months over 10°C	Oceanic: broadleaf deciduous and mixed forest	Oceanic (Do)	Coldest month over 0° C Rainfall ?
		Continental: broadleaf deciduous and mixed forest	Continental (Dc)	Coldest month under 0° C Rainfall ?
		Steppe/prairie	Semi-Arid (BSk)	Evaporation > Precipitation
		Desert	Arid (BWk)	All months Dry
		Mountain	Approximate > 800 m altitude
Boreal	Up to 3 months over 10°C	Taiga forest (Coniferous)	E1
		Tundra woodland and sparse forest	E2
		Mountain	Approximate > ...

Notes:

^a Zonal vegetation: resulting from the variation in environmental, i.e. climatic, conditions in a north south direction.

^b A Dry month is defined as the month in which the total of precipitation P expressed in millimetres is equal to or less than twice the mean Temperature in degrees Centigrade

Appendix 1: Participants List
Prof. Dr Y Barkoudah Ministry of the Environment P O Box 3773 Tolyani Damascus SYRIA T + 963 11 331 0381 F + 963 11-331439 [email protected]		Dr Marie-France Bellan ICIV-LET (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Terrestre) 13 avenue du Colonel-Roche BP 4403-31405 Toulouse FRANCE T +33 5 61 55 85 45 F +33 5 61 55 85 44 [email protected]
Dr Udo Bohn Bundesamt für Naturschutz Konstantinstrasse 110 53179 Bonn GERMANY T +49 228 8491 222 F +49 228 8491 200 [email protected]		Dr Neil Burgess Africa Eco-Regions Specialist WWF US 1250 Twenty-Fourth St., NW Washington D.C. USA F +44 1223 33 66 76 [email protected]
Dr Andrey N Filipchuk Deputy Director All Russian Scientific Research and Information Centre for Forest Resources Novocheremushkinskaya str 69 117 877 Moscow RUSSIA T + 7 095 332 5342 F + 7 095 332 5338 [email protected]		Dr. Harry Hirvonen Science Advisor, Forest Health Canadian Forest Service Natural Resources Canada 580 Booth Street, 12th Floor Ottawa CANADA T +1 613 947 9015 F +1 613 947 9035 [email protected]
Ms Xiangping Li Nanjing Forestry University Department of Forest Resources Nanjing 210037 CHINA T +86 (025) 540 9839 F +86 (025) 541 2500 [email protected]		Dr. Xiaojun Li Senior Landscape Ecologist The Nature Conservancy 4245 North Fairfax drive Suite 100 Arlington VA 22203-1606 USA T + 1 703 247 3745 F + 1 703 841 2722 [email protected]
Dr. John Morrison WWF US 1250 Twenty-Fourth St., NW Washington DC USA T +1 202 778 9537 F +1 202 293 9211 +1 202 293 9211 [email protected]		Dr. Alex Korotkov Economic Affairs Officer UN/ECE Timber Section Office 458 Palais des Nations 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND T + 41 22 917 28 79 F + 41 22 917 00 41 [email protected]
Dr. Galina Ogureeva Vice-Professor Biogeography Dept. Geography Faculty, Moscow State University Vorogjevy Gory 119899 Moscow RUSSIA T + 7 095 932 23 27 F + 7 095 932 88 36 [email protected]		Dr. Ole Ostermann EEA-ETC/NC IARE Agropolis 2 F-34397 Montpellier Cedex 5 FRANCE T +33 4 67 63 65 00 F +33 4 67 63 03 66 [email protected]
Dr. Dominique Richard Deputy Leader European Topic Centre for Nature Conservation Paris FRANCE T +33 (0) 140 79 38 70 F +33 (0) 1 40 79 38 67 [email protected]		Dr. Anatoly Shvidenko IIASA Schlobstrasse 1 A-2361 Laxenburg A-2361 AUSTRIA T +43 2236 807 497 F + 43 2236 713 13 [email protected]
Dr. Henk Simons Forestry Officer FAO Forestry Resources Assessment Programme Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome ITALY T +39 065 705 52919 F +39 065 705 5825 [email protected]		Dr. Karn Deo Singh Center for International Development Harvard University 79 J F Kennedy St Cambridge MA02138 T + 1 617 496 0737 F +1 617 496 8793 karndeo_singh/FS/[email protected]
Brad Smith Assoc. Nat. Pgrm.Mgr. for Inventory USDA Forest Service Yates Building 1NW 201 14th Street SW Washington, DC 20024 USA T +202-205-0841 F +202-205-1551 Email wbsmith/[email protected]		Dr. Philip Tickle Manager, Bureau of Resource Sciences National Forest Inventory P O Box E11 Kingston ACT 2604 AUSTRALIA T +61 02 6272 4299 F +61 02 6272 3882 [email protected]
Dr. Joseph Tosi Ecologist and Land Use Geographer Tropical Science Center Apartado 8-3870 San Jose COSTA RICA T +506 253 3308 F +506 253 4963 [email protected]		Dr. Doug Williamson Forest Resources Assessment Programme FAO Vaile delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome ITALY T +39 065 7052332 F +39 065 705 5825 [email protected]
Dr. Jinhua Zhang Programme Officer UNEP P O Box 30552 Nairobi KENYA T +254 2 623832 F +254 2 623943 [email protected]		Professor Du Zheng Institute of Geography Chinese Academy of Sciences Bulding 917 Datun Road P. R. CHINA T +86 10 64889819 F +86 10 64889769 [email protected] or [email protected]
Dr. Zhil-Liang Zhu Principal Scientist US Geological Survey EROS Data Center Sioux Falls South Dakota SD 57198-0001 USA T +1 605 594 6131 F +1 605 594 6529 [email protected]		Dr. Susan Iremonger World Conservation Monitoring Centre 219 Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 0DL UNITED KINGDOM T +44 1223 277314 F +44 1223 277136 [email protected]
Dr. Mark Collins Chief Executive World Conservation Monitoring Centre 219 Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 0DL UNITED KINGDOM T +44 1223 277314 F +44 1223 277136 [email protected]		Dr. Igor Lysenko World Conservation Monitoring Centre 219 Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 0DL UNITED KINGDOM T +44 1223 277314 F +44 1223 277136 [email protected]