Concerning the worms appetite for wood
Books received
Environment
Silviculture
Forest injuries and protection
Forest management
Forest products
World consumption of wood: trends and prognoses, by András Madas. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1974. 130 p. Price 15 forints. (In English)
It is indeed interesting and useful to have a book on the trends, developments and outlook in world wood consumption written by a senior officer responsible for agricultural and forestry planning in an important socialist country. Dr. Madas, the author of this impressive book, in addition to his national responsibilities, is the chairman of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Timber Committee, which is continually following developments in the forest products markets of North America, Europe and the U.S.S.R. His experience makes him eminently qualified to produce such a book.
The book has an opening explanatory chapter dealing with the functions of the forest and with planning in the forestry and timber economy. A concluding chapter treats the possibilities of achieving the role expected of forestry as resolved in the main part of the book, which explores the likely requirements for wood by the turn of the century.
The author has drawn heavily on the world and regional studies of FAO and ECE, as well as on the works of numerous national experts and agencies of major countries of the world, including Japan, the United States and the U.S.S.R. However, the author has himself made a major contribution to the understanding of world and regional trends in wood consumption. As is usually the case with all major studies of this sort which report substantial statistical evidence from numerous sources, there are several instances when events have overtaken the preparation of the book with new material becoming available. Notable examples of this are the availability of several major new national appraisals, as well as several regional studies or world commodity group studies recently prepared or in preparation by FAO and ECE.
In discussing the position of capitalistic countries in planning, Dr. Madas is quite correct in drawing attention to their historic reluctance in committing themselves to "plans." But he is on unfirm ground in crediting the fact that an increasing number of prognoses have been undertaken because of the need for social control of the forests stemming from the new importance being given to protective and recreational functions. The book does seem to overlook the fact that national appraisals of wood demand and supply situations have for long been considered important and even routine in many market economy countries. These analyses have served as a background for both government and private industry "planning" for many years. The book does not, for example, give cognizance to the fact that Canada and the United States have had a series of special studies of this type, beginning in the latter country in 1909, and where they have been required by law since 1928.
Major influences
The core of the book deals with prognoses of the timber consumption in all major regions of the world, first in terms of industrial roundwood as a whole and subsequently as major processed products: sawnwood, wood-based panels and paper and paperboard. The author examines the major factors influencing the consumption of industrial wood, including the level of economic development, the availability of wood, the long-term tendencies of wood prices, the growth of population and technological progress.
The historical consumption data which Dr. Madas has used in his analysis ex tends over the period 1913 to 1968 and, with this long range, trends frequently look considerably different them for shorter periods of 10 or 20 years. Indeed, he has made rather convincing applications of the approaches of the Hungarian economist F. Jánossy to time-based trend calculations, using data of the long-term period for industrial wood, as a whole, and for major processed assortments. He has used the principle of extending the trend of peaks, rather than average levels, and in so doing has pointed out that he avoids using short-term trends which may indicate rapid growth in recovery periods or, conversely, may indicate a low growth or decline during periods of stress. He also makes use, although in a fairly elementary nature, of the relationships between per caput income and per caput consumption. He points out the major differences which exist between importing and exporting countries, reflecting their level of wood availability. He has made use of the index of wood availability as developed by G. Gregory.
The author is rightfully critical of the lack of detailed analyses of price developments and their effects in many of the studies which have been reviewed. However, in common with authors of other studies of this breadth, covering a variety of products, he has been limited in the contribution which he could make in dealing with this aspect. He does point out that there are many factors tending to make wood and its products relatively more costly over time, that various long-term trends confirm this, and that assuming constant relative prices or a continuation of the relatively stable price trends of much of the 1950s and early 1960s is most questionable. However, the analysis does not suggest any effective quantitative measure of price impact (e.g., price elasticity). The effect of price trends is, of course, implicitly accounted for in his projections of long-term trends. His criticism of the 1965 Timber trends in the United States, with respect to the constant price assumption, is invalidated by the more recent 1973 Outlook for timber in the United States which puts considerable emphasis on the developments and effects of prices in its analyses and especially in its alternate projection of demand.
Dr. Madas suggests that total world consumption of wood for the year 2000, or at least within the decade or two thereafter, will reach something in the order of 5000 million cubic metres, of which roughly 1000 million might be fuelwood, about the same at its current consumption level. Thus, he suggests that total wood consumption may be by the end of the century two to two and a half times its 1968 level, with the industrial wood component of this increasing to three to three and a half times its current level.
Year 2000
After adding to these requirements other needs supplied by the forest: other productive functions (e.g., grazing, hunting, water supply), protection, recreation and the supply of oxygen, the book reviews the world's forests, potential trade prospects and the evolving supply pattern. Without actually stating that the world's forests can supply the demands made upon them in 2000, he clearly concludes that the potential for this is more than enough and that the virgin forest will last into the next century as plantations increasingly supply a firm basis for development in the more distant future. In this process he foresees "a uniform world market of wood and wood products in the making."
On reflection, one is struck by a major implication of the book-that the developing demand pattern is nearly inevitable, that future consumption is largely predetermined and that the major alternatives for the planners to consider are from where and how world wood requirements will be supplied. One cannot but question whether, and especially in a planned economy, some reasoned national objectives and targets may not justify the use of policy instruments in shaping the emerging demand pattern.
This book is clearly in the "must read" list for all foresters and planners concerned with the development of this important sector.
S.L. Pringle
FAO Forestry Department, Rome
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Authors and publishers of forestry books who would like their works listed and considered for review should send reviewer's copies to the Editor, unasylva.
Forestry - General
· Bary-Lenger, Anne. La forêt: écologie, gestion, économie, conservation, by Anne Bary-Lenger, René Evrard, Pierre Gathy. Liège Vaillant-Carmanne, 1974. 588 p., illus.
Forest features, tree species, production forestry, nurseries, management and logging operations, wood technology and processing, forestry in modern society.
· Huchon, H. Connaissance de la forêt. 3rd ed. rev. et augm. Paris, Maison rustique, 1973. 156 p., illus.
Tree components and structure, main species, forest output and benefits, cultivation, land and the protection of nature.
· Hutchinson, John. The families of flowering plants arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny. 3rd ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973. 968 p., illus.
Dicotyledones. Monocotyledones.
· Registry of Scientific and Technical Services. Forestry and forest products groups in the Asian and Pacific region. 2nd ed. Canberra, 1973. 173 p.
Forestry and forest products groups arranged by country and type of organization. Broad subject index. Detailed subject index. Research organizations by country.
· Willis, J. A dictionary of the flowering plants and ferns. 8th ed. rev. by H.K. Airy Shaw. Cambridge, University Press, 1913. 1303 p.
· Daubenmire, Rexford F. Plants and environment: a textbook of plant autecology. 3rd ed. New York, Wiley, 1974. 422 p.
Soil, temperature, light, fire, atmosphere, and the biotic factor. The environmental complex, ecological adaptation and evolution.
· International Symposium on Biology of Woody Plants, 1967, Nitra, Czechoslovakia. Bratislava, Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 1973. 720 p., illus.
Systems, morphology, genetics and improvement of woody plants. Physiology and biochemistry of woody plants. Ecology and introduction of woody plants.
· Johansson, Dick. Ecology of vascular epiphytes in west African rain forest. Uppsala Svenska Växtgeografiska Sällskapet, 1974. 129 p., illus. Summary in French.
Dissertation (Doctor of Philosophy) - Uppsala University.
The epiphytic flora. Biology of vascular epiphytes. The occurrences of epiphytes. Environmental influence. Distribution of the phorophytes.
· Stern, Klaus and Laurence Roche. Genetics of forest ecosystems. Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 1974. 330 p.
The ecological niche. Adaptations. Genetic systems. Adaptive strategies. Forest ecosystems. How man affects forest ecosystems.
· Tropical forest ecosystems in Africa and South America: a comparative review. Edited by Betty J. Meggers, Edward S. Ayensu and W. Donald Duckworth. Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1973. 350 p., illus.
The aim of this comparison of the two ecosystems is to identify some of the problems of adaptation facing plants and animals, including man.
· Won, Pyong Oh and Yong No Lee. Wildlife and flowering plants. Seoul, Korean Overseas Information Service, 1973. 126 p.. illus.· Franclet, A. Espèces pour la constitution de "filtres" végétaux et de reserves fourragères. [Tunis.] 1973. 8 feuilles. Institut national de recherches forestières. FAO-UNDP. Institut de reboisement de Tunis. Note technique Nº 15.
Suggested selection of species according to uses and regions.
· Gindel, I. A new ecophysiological approach to f vest-water relationships in arid climates. The Hague, Junk B.V., 1973. 142 p., illus.
Environment. Consumption of soil water by trees. Absorption of atmospheric moisture by woody xerophytes. Transpiration. Xerophytism.
· Pesson, P. et al. Ecologie forestière. La forêt: son climat, son sol, ses arbres, sa faune. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1974. 282 p.
Geobiology, ecology, management.
· Centre Technique Forestier Tropical. Contribution à l'étude de la désertification de l'Afrique tropicale sèche. Nogent-sur-Marne, 1973. 80 p., illus.Reprinted from: Bois et forêts des tropiques. Summaries in English and Spanish.
Report of the Anglo-French Forestry Mission to Nigeria and Niger, 1936-37. Desertification of the Chad Sahelian zone. Desertification of Africa south of the Sahara. Is the Sahara advancing southward?
· Conference on Southern Forest Tree Improvement, Baton Rouge, La, Louisiana State University and U.S. Forest Service, 1973. 352 p.
Genetic gains and advanced generation breeding. Seed orchard management, problems and progress. Conservation of forest gene resources. Advances in hardwood tree improvement.
· Enescu, Valeriu. Ameliorarea arborilor. Bucaresti, 1973. Summary in English and French.
Genetical bases of tree improvement. Tree reproduction. Breeding methods.
· el-Hamrouni, A. et M. Sarson. Observations préliminaires sur certains cactus locaux ou introduits en Tunisie. Tunis, Institut national de recherches forestières, 1973. 79 p., plates.
Bio-climatic data, cactus (thorny and thornless).
· Insect/plant relationships. Edited by H.F. van Emden. Oxford, Blackwell, for the Royal Entomological Society, 1973. 215 p., plates.
Plants and insect life cycles. The evolution of the insect/plant relationship. The insect/plant relationship in population dynamics.
· Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD scheme for the control of forest reproductive material moving in international trade. Paris, Directorate for Agriculture and Food, 1974. 24 p.
Categories of reproductive material. Delimiting regions of provenance. List of approved basic material. Approval of basic material. Production of all categories of forest reproductive material. Inspection, sealing and labelling. Method of operation of the scheme.
· Planting Research Committee. [Scientific report of planting research using alpine plants in the Tateyama route area in the Japan Northern Alps National Park (Chubusangaku National Park).] [Toyama], Japan, Tateyama Kurobe Kanko, 1974. I v., illus. colt plates. Text in Japanese.
Landform, geology and climate of Mt. Tateyama. Vegetation of the adjacent areas of Tateyama-Kurobe alpine route. Plantation trials using the alpine plants in the devastated area of Mt. Tateyama. Germination and growth of alpine plants originating from Mt. Tateyama.
· Studies on the shootborer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) Lep. Pyralidae. P. Grijpma, editor Turrialba, 1973. 1 v., illus.
Collection of articles resulting from research on the shootborer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) carried out by members of the Inter-American working group. The articles are published in English or Spanish and abstracts are included.
· Davis, K.P. and A.A. Brown. Forest fire control and use. 2nd ed. New York, Mc Graw-Hill, 1973. 686 p., illus.
Fire in the forests. Control of forest fires. Fire in wildlife management.
· Hough, Stansbury and associates. Design guidelines for forest management. Toronto, Ont., Ministry of Natural Resources, 1973. 1 v., loose-leaf, illus.
Planning for management. Forest management area (roads, landings, cutting, utilities). Special influence area.
· U. S. Forest Service. Public involvement and the Forest Service: experience, effectiveness and suggested direction. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973. 163 p.
Collecting public input: techniques, issues and experience. Forest Service analysis of public input. Recommended concepts for analysing public input. Forest Service evaluation of public input. Improving Forest Service performance on public involvement.
· Routley, R. and V. Routley. The fight for the forests: the take-over of Australian forests for pines, wood chips, and intensive forestry. Canberra, Australian National University, Research School of Social Sciences, 1973. 290 p., 28 plates.The wood production ideology. The environmental costs of Australian pine planting and of intensive pulpwood production. Alternative forestry.
Marketing - Economics
· Reed (F.L.C.) and Associates Ltd. The British Columbia forest industry: its direct and indirect impact on the economy. Victoria, Queen's Printer, 1973. 89 p.Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources, British Columbia Forest Service.
History and current structure of the British Columbia forest industry. Annual expenditures of the forest industry. Expenditures and activities of the British Columbia Forest Service. Employment impact of the forest industry. Public revenue from the British Columbia forest industry. Foreign trade in British Columbia forest products. Related uses of forest land.
· Jaakko Pöyry and Company. Capacity of cultural papers in Western Europe. Report to FAO through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Bureau of International Development Co-operation. Helsinki, 1973.
Concepts of capacity. Method of study. Comparison of FAO and J.P. and Co. surveys. Evaluation of machine data approach. Summary tables by product. Tables and diagrams by country.
· Bosshard, Hans Heinrich. Holzkunde. Basel, Birkhäuses, 1974. Lehrbücher und Monographien aus dem Gebiete der exakten Wissenschaften. Reihe der Experimentellen Biologie, Bd 18.
V. 1. Microscopic and macroscopic studies of wood; V. 2. Biology, physics and chemistry of wood.
· Cliff, Edward P. Timber: the renewable material; perspective for decision. Prepared for the National Commission on Materials Policy. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973.
Wood as a material. The nation's timber supply and demand situation. Potential for improved utilization of wood. Environmental aspects of timber production and processing. The role of private forest lands. The role of public lands.
· Desch, H. Timber: its structure and properties. 5th ed. London, Macmillan, 1973. 424 p., plates. (Reprint 1974)
The structure of wood. The gross features of wood. The properties of wood. Considerations influencing the utilization of wood.
· Duerr, William Allen. Timber: problems, prospects, policies. Ames, Iowa State University Press, 1973. 260 p.
Chiefly chapters written for the Timber supply Policy Conference, 197O, Harriman, N.Y.
· Hart, Gerald. Timbers of South East Asia. [Rev. ed.] Hughenden Valley, Bucks., England, Timber Research and Development Association, 1973. 91 p.
The timbers are arranged in alphabetical order of standard names, in accordance with the British Standard nomenclature of commercial timbers.
· Regional Poplar Congress, 1973, Wageningen. Trends and prospects of the poplar wood market in the western European region and its consequences on poplar growing and research. Wageningen, National Poplar Commission, 1973.
Trends and prospects in the European market for forest products.
· IUFRO Symposium. Protection of Wood in Storage, Stockholm, 1973. Report. As, Norway, Norwegian Forest Research Institute; Royal College of Forestry.
The 17 papers presented at the symposium deal with the care of raw wood material.
· U S. Forest Service. The outlook for timber in the United States. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973.
Recent trends in forest land and timber resources. Projected trends in timber supplies with 1970 level of management. Opportunities for increasing timber supplies through intensified management and utilization. Availability of world timber resources. Demand for timber products. Timber demand-supply relationships.
· Withycombe, Richard. The outlook for particleboard manufacture in the Northern Rocky Mountain Region. Missoula, Mont., U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1973.· Berry, M.J. and W.J. Howard. Fiji forest inventory. Surbiton, Surrey, Overseas Development Administration, Land Resources Division, 1973.
· International Labour Organisation. Tripartite Technical Meeting on the Timber Industry, 2, 1975, Geneva. Report. Geneva, International Labour Office, 1973. 3 v.
V. 1 (in 2 pts.). General report. V. 2. Conditions of work and life in the timber industry. V. 3. Problems related to the stability of employment in the timber industry.
· U.S. National Parks Centennial Commission. Preserving a heritage. Washington, 1973. 196 p., illus.
The Commission: its organization and membership. Selected events of the Centennial. The Second World Conference on National Parks: a Gathering of Nations. The recommendations of the National Parks Centennial Commission.
Compiled by Lidia Spadafora Lombardi, FAO Library.
