The associated secretariat provided by FAO under the agreement with the Government of Argentina gives the following advance information, which at this stage is still provisional, as details remain under consideration by the organizing committee in Argentina.
1. PLACE AND DATE
The Congress will take place at Buenos Aires from 4 to 18 October 1972 in the General San Martin Theatre.
2. PROGRAMME AND TIMETABLE
3. SCOPE OF THE CONGRESS
The programme of the Seventh World Forestry Congress is being planned in such a way as to offer foresters from all over the world and all persons concerned with the forestry sector a threefold opportunity:
-to identify the dominant trends in the forestry sector in the light of the major problems facing society today and hence to participate in orientating future activities in world forestry;-to bring to the attention of a world audience their views and experience about the subject matters included in the programme of the Congress;
-to gather together and make personal contacts as members of an international community with kindred scientific, technical and professional interests.
In order to satisfy the first objective, this Congress, unlike preceding congresses which were planned rather as isolated events, will stress the continuity in the evolution both of thinking about forestry and the changing tasks of the forester. To this end the programme will include two distinct phases: one devoted to analysing the trends in the world situation as they have affected forestry during the last six years, entitled The Global Assessment; and the other devoted to discussing possible action to be undertaken during the next inter-Congress period, entitled The Political Synthesis.
In order to satisfy the second objective, time has been allotted in the central phase of the Congress-entitled The Functional Analysis - to the whole range of professional interests so that all those involved in any way with forestry may find a place in the Congress. For this purpose, seven specialized commissions will be set up, together with an eighth commission dedicated to all those members who are unable to find within the structure of the Congress a suitable place for introducing questions of their special concern.
In order to satisfy the third objective, a special effort will be made to ensure that all the members of the Congress have an opportunity of getting to know each other and of discussing in person matters of mutual interest. A concourse room will be made available in Buenos Aires where each country represented at the Congress may set up an information office through which it will be possible to obtain the addresses of the participants from that country, leave messages, arrange for appointments, give notice of private meetings, etc.
4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Apart from what are called the General Sessions (4 and 18 October), devoted to the opening ceremonies, the election of officers, approval of a final report and the closing ceremonies, the meetings of the Congress will be divided into plenary and commission sessions.
Four plenary sessions during the intial phase of the Congress (5 and 6 October) will develop the theme: "The Impact of the Past Six Years on World Forestry." The basis for the discussions in each of these plenary sessions will be an introductory address given respectively for the first session by the Assistant Director-General, FAO Forestry Department; second session, the president of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations; third session, the presidents of selected, representative, international and non-governmental forestry associations; fourth session, a distinguished personality of international renown. Informative documentation on the central theme of each of the sessions may be supplied but this will not serve as an object of discussion.
The central phase of the Congress (9-14 October) will be devoted to the examination of specific questions by commissions representing the various professional and interest groups characteristic of the forestry sector.
Each commission will spend its morning session on three selected topics, which will be analysed in a number of invited "General Papers." These general papers will be summarized in a "Discussion Guide" prepared by a discussion leader appointed for each commission by the organizing committee.
The afternoon session of each commission will be devoted to discussing two problems of worldwide scope which go beyond and combine the specific interests of all the commissions, namely: (a) the contribution of forestry to the improvement of the human environ meet; and (b) the contribution of forestry to the attack on underdevelopment. The purpose of having each commission discuss these two themes is to provide the Congress in the final phase of its work, through the sectoral analysis made by each commission, with an overall view of world forestry's attitude to these basic problems. The discussions of these two items of common interest will centre around an invited General Paper prepared for each item, to be introduced to the commissions by the respective author.
When the commissions have completed their work, the secretary of each commission, in consultation with the chairman of the commission, the discussion leader and the authors of the invited general papers on the topics of common interest, will prepare a general report on the discussions.
Secretary General, VII WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS
Servicio forestal
Pueyrredon 2446
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Associate Secretary General, VII WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS
Forestry Department
FAO - Rome, Italy
The final phase of the Congress (16-17 October) will be devoted to a synthesis of the results of its discussions up to that time and an evaluation of the needs and possibilities for action in the immediate future. For this purpose the discussions of the four plenary sessions included in this final phase will be conducted by a discussion panel on which will serve representative heads of national forest services and leading political personalities connected with the forestry sector. This panel will be known as the Policy Group and will be chaired by an independent figure of international standing. The discussions of the panel will be conducted before the whole Congress and at the end of each session time will be allotted for questions directed to the policy group by members of the Congress.
This final phase of the Congress, which will develop the theme: "A Plan of Action for the Next Six Years," will comprise four plenary sessions. The first plenary session will be devoted to a discussion of a basic FAO study Forest Policy, Law and Administration, the final version of which, due to be published in 1973, will incorporate the suggestions made by the Congress.
The second plenary session will be devoted to an evaluation of the feasibility, from a general policy point of view, of the recommendations made by each commission-that is to say, of the economic and social possibilities, difficulties and implications of these recommendations. For this purpose the chairman of each commission will give a brief summary of the points in his report which he considers call for special attention by the policy group in particular and by the Congress as a whole.
The third plenary session will in the main be devoted to defining the form to be taken by future World Forestry Congresses, in view of the growing complexity of forestry problems and of the multiple aspects (technical, political and social) they involve. The discussions will be based on a secretariat document which will analyse and evaluate the various possible alternatives.
Finally, in the fourth plenary session, the policy group will, on the basis of the preceding discussions, select a certain number of statements to be proposed as the "World Forestry Congress Declaration of 1972."
These statements will be submitted for the consideration of the Congress at the general session on the morning of the last day (18 October), to be rejected or approved by acclamation. In case of doubt, the president will make a final decision. Prior to this, the Congress will have examined the reports of the commissions and the report of discussions of the policy group.
A special feature will be the dedication of a plenary session to a study of the special contribution of the Latin American region to the Congress.
One day also will be devoted to commemorative ceremonies: presentations to the most senior foresters, symbolic planting of a commemorative grove, etc.
5. DOCUMENTATION
The documents accepted by the Congress will be of two kinds: General Papers and Special Papers.
General Papers will be the documents prepared at the specific invitation of the Congress secretariat. They will be submitted to the Congress in full in the three working languages of the Congress: English, French and Spanish, and can be the subject of separate discussions.
Special Papers will comprise the documents voluntarily submitted by their authors and directly or indirectly related to items in the programme. These documents will be made available to the members of the Congress in one of the working languages only, with a brief abstract issued in the other two languages. The Special Papers will not be discussed separately although the discussion leaders of the commissions may, if they so wish, refer to them in the Discussion Guides of their respective commissions.
6. STUDY TOURS AND EXCURSIONS
Before and after the Congress, the organizing committee will organize study tours of 2 to 7 days each to various parts of the country of interest for forestry. These tours may be combined with others to be organized in neighbouring countries (Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay), and will provide an opportunity to visit tropical and subtropical forest areas and the region of the Andes, as well as forest plantations of particular significance.
All tours will be optional and at the expense of the participants.
Detailed information will be issued by the organizing committee.
7. SUBSIDIARY EVENTS
The organizing committee has decided to arrange in Buenos Aires, at the same time as the Congress, an International Forestry Exhibition, a Forestry Film Festival, and an Exhibition of Wood Arts and Crafts. Visits will also be organized during the Congress, during weekends and on other free days, to industrial sites in the neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.
The organizing committee will be distributing information on all the events now being planned, together with instructions on participation.
8. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE ON THE CONGRESS
Requests for information on the Congress and correspondence in general should be addressed to:
The Secretary-General
Seventh World Forestry Congress
Pucyrredón 2246 - Servicio Forestal
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Requests for information concerning exclusively the programme of the Congress and the technical documentation can also be addressed to:
Associate Secretary-General
Seventh World Forestry Congress
Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, Italy
