Training center on watershed management
International poplar commission
Seminar on forest industries development planning
Asia-Pacific forestry commission
Forest work science
World meeting on pesticides
North American forestry commission
In conjunction with the Government of Lebanon, FAO organized in September 1962 a regional Training Center on Watershed Management as a joint project of the technical assistance programs of the Land and Water Development Division, and Forestry and Forest Products Division, with Talat Eren as FAO co-ordinator.
The 21 participants were drawn from Cyprus, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria and Turkey, and their first ten days were devoted to lectures and discussion periods. A strong team of lecturers had been assembled who spent varying times at the training center. The team included J. D. Blackmore (Head of the Department of Agriculture and Food Economics, University of Massachusetts, U.S.A.), who dealt with education and the planning and political aspects of watershed management. When on the FAO staff Professor Blackmore had been largely responsible for the first regional training center to be organized in India in 1957. L. Saccardy (Inspecteur-général des forêts, France) covered the role of forests, engineering devices, and conservation measures in mountainous areas. D. F. Davidson, from the British Middle East Development Division, dealt with meteorological elements, the hydrological cycle, goat grazing, and water catchment problems.
Professor Bazin, Chief of the Hydrological Department of a French consulting firm, Sokean, covered factors affecting water production, and the utilization of underground water resources.
Members of FAO's Economic Analysis Division and Land and Water Development Division (E. Greenshields, R. A. Peterson, M. Pabot and R. L. France) gave a series of lectures, and lecturers whose services were made available by the Government of Lebanon included Associate Professor Salim Macksoud of the American University, Beirut; F. Sarouphim, Director, Hydrological Department, Ministry of Public Works and Transport; and M. Basbous, Director of Forests and Natural Resources, who was the other co-director of the center.
The last week of the center was devoted to developing case studies in two distinct watersheds, one being in a mountainous region and the other in a desert area. The trainees were divided into three syndicates, each team having to put forward the improvement measures which they would propose. These were subsequently discussed on the spot and the instructors gave their " official versions." Three other competitive examinations were also held and at the close of the center awards and certificates were distributed by the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lebanon.
The eleventh session of the International Poplar Commission was held in Yugoslavia from 28 August to 7 September 1962, with some 100 delegates from 20 countries attending. The business meetings started in Belgrade and closed in Zagreb, interspersed with field trips.
J. Jeremié, chairman of the Yugoslav Poplar Commission, was elected chairman of the session and A. Herbignat (Belgium) and H. Hilf (Federal Republic of Germany) were elected vice-chairmen.
Some 60 working documents and papers were presented and of major interest were the 26 national reports, reports by the subcommittees on registration of poplar and willow names, the Populetum mediterraneum, and the standardization of measurements in poplar experiments. In Zagreb the Commission's working parties held simultaneaus sessions on diseases and on wood utilization: points of special concern were the apparent mitigation of the Dothichiza disease which has been ravaging Europe, and the increasing use of small-sized poplar for pulp, fibreboard and particle board production.
Outside Belgrade delegates had the opportunity of inspecting plantations established on reclaimed swamp land, and the first to be seen, of six-year-old Populus 'robusta' with a mean height of 18 meters and annual increment of 16 cubic meters per hectare set a standard that was met with throughout the remainder of the tour. Plantations at Kupinski-Kut, claimed to be the most extensive in the world, demonstrated planting of agricultural crops of sunflowers, soybeans and maize during the first two or three years following establishment of the poplar crop, as well as the planting of alternate forest species for early thinning. At Novi-Sad the nurseries and experimental plantings of the Poplar Research Institute established in 1958 were seen and highly commended. An integrated industry based on poplar wood at Belisce, with pulp, packaging, sawmill and furniture plants, and the paper factory at Zagreb were also visited.
E. Donaubauer (Austria), E. Gaillard (Switzerland), G. Giordano (Italy), A. Herbignat (Belgium), F. Jaime Fanlo (Spain), J. Jeremié (Yugoslavia), J. Jobling (United Kingdom), H. Mayer Wegelin (Federal Republic of Germany), P. L. Orlandi (Italy), J. Pourtet (France), E. Rohmeder (Germany), and H. van der Meiden (Netherlands) were elected members of the Executive Committee of the International Poplar Commission for the next six years. J. Chardenon (France) was co-opted as an additional member. G. Giordano and J. Pourtet were confirmed by the executive committee as chairman and vice-chairman respectively. By unanimous decision, the committee elected Professor G. Piccarolo as honorary chairman.
Under FAO's technical assistance program a Seminar on Forest Industries Development Planning was held in Zagreb from 24 September to 22 October 1962. Twenty-five participants from the following countries took part: Central African Republic, Ghana, Greece, Iran, Israel, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Tanganyika, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.
The seminar consisted of two lecture and discussion periods from 24 September to 10 October and 19 to 21 October, and a field trip period from 11 to 18 October. During the field trips visits were paid to one machinery enterprise and nine forest industries enterprises. The Zagreb Trade Fair was also visited.
Responsible for organizing the seminar were R. Benié, Professor of Forest Utilization, Forestry Faculty, University of Zagreb as co-director with R. Eklund of FAO; S. Jaramaz, director of the Technical Assistance Bureau of Croatia; and B. Dereta, engineer at the forestry institute of Croatia.
Thirteen lecturers were provided by the Yugoslav authorities and international staff engaged by FAO were E. A. Keukjian, economic affairs officer, Industrial Development Division, United Nations; Z. Kulczycki, director, Ministry of Forestry and Woodworking Industry, Warsaw, Poland; P. Vakomies, vice-president, Sandwell International Ltd., Zurich. Lecturers from FAO were I. Kissin. S. L. Pringle, H. Reichardt and J. C Westoby.
The Seminar on Forest Industries Development Planning was the first organized by FAO and the experience gained has indicated a number of possibilities for the improved organization of other such meetings in the future.
The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission of FAO held its sixth session in Hong Kong from 12-17 September 1962 with delegations participating from the following member countries: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Thailand, United Kingdom and Viet-Nam.
The following were elected as officers of the session: chairman: P. C. Chambers (Hong Kong); vice-chairmen: F Allsop (New Zealand), Katsumi Sakaguchi (Japan), Vichien Kunjara (Thailand). R. F. Turnbull (Australia) and Krit Samapuddhi (Thailand) were appointed rapporteurs.
After hearing and discussing a report on the action taken by FAO on the various recommendations made by the fifth session, the commission considered the work of its subsidiary bodies, technical assistance activities, and FAO's future program of work. It took note with appreciation of invitations extended, on behalf of their respective governments, by the delegations of New Zealand and Korea to act as host to the next session of the commission in 1964. The delegate for New Zealand suggested that the major theme for this session if it were held in his country should be: The role of fast growing softwood in meeting wood requirements, and the development of industries based on them.
TRENDS IN WOOD SUPPLIES AND REQUIREMENTS
The principal task for the commission was a reappraisal of regional trends in wood supplies and requirements in the light of developments, as reported by member countries, since the FAO/ECAFE study Timber trends and prospects in the Asia-Pacific region had been published. Over the past six years it appeared that regional consumption of industrial wood had risen by 32 percent, from 87 to 115 million cubic meters. With one exception, all subregions had shared in this general trend, but the increase had been most pronounced in eastern Asia. The exception was continental southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaya, Thailand and Viet-Nam). In some of these countries there had been a marked fall in consumption, attributable to unsettled political conditions. The most rapid rate of increase in consumption had occurred in wood-based panels, followed by pulp products and sawnwood; wood used in the round had shown but a modest increase.
Thus regional consumption of industrial wood seemed to have grown even faster than had been expected, and this trend was reflected in the new estimates of 1975 timber requirements presented by many countries. Whereas the original study had envisaged a total regional requirement of industrial wood of 161 million cubic meters by 1975, the revised estimate for needs in 1975 was 185 million cubic meters. Of the additional 71 million cubic meters of industrial timber estimated to be needed by 1975 (as compared with 1960), 30 million would be needed for conversion to sawnwood, 30 million for pulp products, 5 million for panel products, and 6 million for wood used in the round.
The commission noted that measures taken in a number of countries of the region had considerably improved supply prospects so that availabilities foreseen by 1975 would be 173 million cubic meters rather than the 140 million cubic meters originally forecast. The prospective regional deficit was therefore set at 12 million cubic meters, against the earlier figure of 22 million cubic meters.
At first sight, this suggested that countries have already made considerable strides towards meeting the major problem posed by the findings of the original study. The revised estimates, however, could give no grounds for complacency, and the commission believed it necessary to draw the attention of Member Governments to the following considerations, which were in turn conveyed to the full FAO regional conference held subsequently in Malaya:
(a) Even the revised estimates of future timber requirements are geared (so far as most countries are concerned) to relatively modest assumptions concerning economic growth rates. If the assumed economic growth rates should be exceeded (as would be the case, for example, if countries succeeded in achieving the targets set for the United Nations Development Decade), then future timber needs would be correspondingly higher, and present forest production goals would be even more inadequate.(b) The likelihood of timber deficits arising or intensifying in other regions of the world (with consequent export opportunities for some countries of the Asia-Pacific region) had not been taken into account in setting forest production goals.
(c) It is not sufficiently aimed at averting a regional deficit in volume terms. With the present structure of interregional trade in forest products, regional exports consist largely of unprocessed forest products and imports of high value processed goods. Thus even a balance in terms of volume would connote a serious deficit in terms of value. There is, therefore, need for a substantial expansion of forest industries. In spite of recent progress, the region is still lagging in the establishment of wood processing facilities.
(d) Plans for raising forest production are most advanced in those countries which face the prospect of a sharply rising wood deficit. As yet, the plans prepared by many of the wood-surplus countries fail to give sufficient weight to the opportunities for forest industry development and increased intraregional trade revealed by the study. In particular, many countries enjoying favorable ecological conditions have as yet failed to respond to the recommendations of the fifth session of the commission and of the 1960 FAO/ECAFE Conference on Pulp and Paper Development in Asia and the Far East, calling for the creation of conifer plantations capable of meeting the region's growing requirements of long-fibered material for paper making. In some instances, plans have been conceived but their implementation had been held up through lack of trained personnel or insufficient financial provision.
FOREST RESOURCES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT
The commission regretted that not all governments in the region had as yet adopted comprehensive land-use policies and established appropriate machinery to implement them. It emphasized that it was the responsibility of forest services to advise governments on the extent and location of lands which should be permanently devoted to forestry to meet prospective timber needs, and to ensure the protective role of the forest. Advice was more likely to be accepted if it was based on careful study of future timber requirements, and if it took into account the techniques presently available for stepping up forest productivity. Recent technical advances had made possible high economic returns from intensive forestry. Under these circumstances the traditional relegation of forestry to marginal and submarginal lands might often result in less than optimum utilization of resources.
Considerable economies in time and money had been made possible in recent years by modern forest inventory methods, making use of aerial photography and sampling techniques. Valuable assistance in these methods has been rendered to member countries through various multilateral and bilateral aid programs. However, the commission drew attention to the need for forest inventories designed not merely to identify specific areas suitable for early industrial development, but to provide also information in sufficient detail to enable working plans to be drawn up and the areas concerned to be brought under effective management.
One important factor that had contributed to the improvement in supply prospects in the region was the development (actual and planned) of communications which had brought within range of exploitation considerable areas of forest hitherto inaccessible. There were still inevitably, however, many areas in the region richly endowed with forest but undeveloped for lack of infrastructural investment.
Perhaps the most satisfactory feature of the national reports available to the commission was the progress achieved, and the plans established, for forest extension and restoration. In Japan, the country which faces the greatest task in assuring its future timber supplies, targets have been radically revised and the new plan aims at raising the total area under planted forest from 6.7 to 13.3 million hectares by the end of the century, providing for a progressive conversion of natural hardwood (fuelwood) forests to coniferous plantations, with some 750,000 hectares planted to quick-growing species. New Zealand aims to raise the area of its plantations from 400,000 to 800,000 hectares by the end of the century, at the same time improving the quality of production by more intensive practices. In Australia, where plantations (mainly exotic softwoods) presently occupy 220,000 hectares, the aim is to raise this figure to 800,000 by the end of the century. India, with 200,000 hectares planted during the last decade, will give prominence to quick-growing species in the third five-year plan; 600,000 hectares will be planted along the Rajasthan canal. Pakistan, during the remaining period of its current plan, will plant 110,000 hectares, including 300,000 hectares of quick-growing species in irrigated plantations; subsequent plans will concentrate on areas subject to shifting cultivation, arid zones, denuded watersheds, and linear plantations.1 The aggregate target is 1.2 million hectares. In Indonesia reforestation is proceeding at the rate of 500,000 hectares annually, and the new reforestation Administration in the Philippines is understood to have adopted a similar target. Though most other countries of the region report planting plans, these are for the most part relatively modest and in some instances still only on a trial scale.
1 Row plantations along roads, watercourses, etc., and for the delimitation of boundaries between agricultural holdings.
The commission noted that in most countries of the region, all forest resources were publicly owned but in Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand a substantial proportion of the total area was privately owned. The time seemed opportune to give greater encouragement to private forestry where three general cases could be distinguished:
(a) large-scale forestry practiced by industrial companies;
(b) small private woodlots, characteristic of farm forestry as practiced in other regions;
(c) community forests, especially for providing local supplies of fuel and pole timber.
Developments in this and other regions in recent years had shown that many forests owned by forest industry enterprises were managed on exemplary lines, and compared favorably in many instances with state forests. In Europe and North America especially, major forest industry enterprises had contributed greatly to raising the standard of management on small private forests: the heavy capital investments involved in certain forest industry sectors had led these enterprises to adopt measures which would assure their future raw material supplies, for which they often depended on privately-owned forests.
Community forests, especially where local tradition favored co-operative effort, could make a major contribution to solving problems of local supplies in rural areas. With planting stock and technical advice from forest services, and establishment costs reduced by voluntary labor, it was possible to achieve a substantial rise in rural living standards. Indeed, it was doubtful whether the gigantic fuelwood problem in southern Asia, for example, could be solved otherwise.
There might well be also a role for small private forests in certain countries of the region. One of the most difficult tasks which forest services had to face in some countries was that of raising management levels on small private forests, but many successes had been recorded in encouraging farmers to establish plantations for industrial use, and farm incomes had thereby been substantially raised. Given the delayed returns in forest production - even with intensive forestry on short rotations - special measures (including cheap planting stock and credit) would, however, be necessary if this form of forest ownership were to be encouraged.
DEVELOPMENT OF WOOD-PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
A substantial expansion of wood-processing industries was under way in the region or projected. While the increase in pulp and paper capacity was not unexpected, the manufacture of plywood, fibreboard and particle board was rising faster than had been anticipated. Sawmill output was also expanding, not so much from the erection of new mills as through the rationalization and modernization of existing mills. There was still a multiplicity of small circular saw installations, often mobile, employing wasteful methods producing low grade output. Several countries reported progress in establishing seasoning kilns and wood preservation plants, thereby enhancing the quality of the products marketed and developing new markets for less durable species.
Many promising opportunities for industrial development based on the forest still went unrecognized, and planning for forest industry development had not made the same progress as had the planning of forest production. Administrative responsibility for the forestry and the forest industry sectors was often divided and unless effective machinery for continuous co-ordination existed. this inevitably retarded progress. In countries where the forestry and forest industries sectors were clearly destined to play a major role in the national economy, considerable advantage could be derived from combining responsibility for these sectors in a single department or ministry.
In connection with the expansion of forest industries, one of the most serious shortcomings was the lack of facilities for the organized training of labor for forestry work and in the wood industries. The introduction of new tools and improved techniques in forestry work is likely to prove ineffective unless steps are taken to build up a corps of instructors capable of imparting the necessary skills to the labor force. The commission urged Member Governments to pay special attention to the basic need for creating a skilled labor force when establishing training programs. This aspect would receive special attention at the commission's next session.
One of the projects of the FAO/ECE Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers is to produce a Multilingual glossary of forest work science. All five volumes (English, French, German, Russian and Swedish) of the first installment of the glossary have now been issued at Geneva. In each volume the 272 terms are listed in alphabetical order, accompanied by their definitions in the language of the volume concerned, together with the translation of the terms themselves in the four other languages.
It was reported to the FAO World Meeting on Pesticides held in Rome in November 1962 that residues of pesticides had been found in almost all wild animals. Though research was by no means yet completed, all available evidence pointed to the possible serious hazards stemming from the extensive use of pesticides, not merely in treated areas but in regions where no pesticide was used.
For instance, the migratory habits of many wild animals could not explain satisfactorily the pesticide residues found in samples collected all over North America. Fish collected in Alaska showed DDT and other chemical residues, although the area where the samples had been caught had not been treated since the second world war, and the nearest geographical points where treatment could have been applied more recently were in British Columbia, 600 miles away, or near Anchorage, 700 miles farther north.
The annual application of large quantities of pesticides produced at least minimal residues almost everywhere. It was obvious that some particles of the chemicals were wafted by the wind during application, or washed away by rains into the streams, rivers and the sea.
Though no proof had yet been given on the amount of residues harmful or lethal to animals, it seemed that invertebrate animals were more susceptible to pesticides than fish, that fish were more susceptible than birds, and birds more susceptible than mammals.
Since wild animals can not be kept away from treated areas, some simple rules should be adopted to prevent wildlife from disappearing. One should make sure that there is a real need for pesticides; select the chemicals that will least endanger wildlife, and avoid chemicals that tend to accumulate in the soil; use no more chemicals than necessary, apply them to areas no larger than necessary and whenever possible only when birds are not nesting or migrating.
As guests of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, two working parties of the North American Forestry Commission comprising representatives from Mexico, Canada and the United States of America held meetings in Washington D.C. during October 1962.
Two days were devoted to the second session of a working party on forest insects and diseases under the chairmanship of M. L. Prebble, Canada, and interim reports of three subcommittees were discussed which analyzed 28 disease situations, 40 insect problems, and plant quarantine legislation. Final reports will be ready for the second session of the North American Forestry Commission to be held in Ottawa in June 1963.
The forest fires working party was meeting for the first time, under the chairmanship of George M. Jemison, United States. Subcommittees were established, one to consider fire control problems, particularly the possibility of international agreements for fighting forest fires on mutual borders; another group on research to consider standardization of statistical fire reporting and dissemination of new technical information; and a third group on forest fire prevention which will consider means of lessening the incidence of man-caused fires and arrange the exchange between the three countries of forest fire prevention equipment.
