FAO countries discuss paper shortage threat; technology for tropical forests; need for more forest industries in developing countries
Edouard Saouma, new Director-General of FAO
Kenneth Sargent, honoured by FAO for work in Malaysia
Sweden spotlights forestry
Terminology in English and French
Britain's Forestry Commission moves to Edinburgh
For high calibre foresters
Modernization of European sawmilling
How to deal with a threatened shortage of pulp and paper predicted for the 1980s, the need to locate more forest industries in forest-rich developing countries, an acute shortage of fuel wood in many parts of the world, and the basic problem of harmonizing the benefits and competitive interests of forestry and farming came into focus during the eighteenth FAO Conference, which took place in Rome in November 1975.
There was widespread acceptance among the delegates from 136 governments attending the Conference of FAO's prediction of a probable pulp and paper shortage by the late 1970's and the serious consequences this would have for developing countries in particular. These countries import virtually all their pulp and paper with limited foreign exchange. The threatened shortage is seen as stemming principally from insufficient investment in pulp and paper production capacity.
Many developing countries with natural and plantation forests are giving priority to attracting pulp and paper mill investment and FAO was encouraged to move forward in its efforts to identify the most likely new mill sites.
The need to develop new technology for the utilization of mixed tropical hardwoods, the most abundant natural forests in many developing countries, was stressed during the Conference. FAO is confident that these technological problems can be solved and that many of them have already been dealt with successfully at pilot plant level. It was noted that although the developing countries contain 55% of the world's forests they have only 6.2% of the pulp and paper production capacity.
A similar situation exists in regard to adding value to wood through wood products manufacturing in developing countries. In 1960, said Dr. K.F.S. King, FAO Assistant Director-General for Forestry, developing countries possessed only 6.2% of the value added through industrialization of wood, being mainly suppliers of logs to the manufacturing nations. By 1974 their position had actually slipped in this sector to 6.1%. He urged that industrialized countries assist developing countries in building forest industries.
Discussing silviculture, Dr. King told the delegates that it was no coincidence "that the droughts and floods which we have had over the last two or three years have occurred in countries in which the forests have been raped, in which the trees have been razed to the ground and in which the watersheds have been denuded of their forests." Forests, he reminded them, absorb large quantities of water which they release like a sponge during the dry seasons, and in addition are indispensable for proper soil management and as safeguards against erosion.
Delegates from arid and semiarid lands, especially in the sub-Sahara Sahel zone of Africa, painted a grim picture of fuel wood shortages.
In the cities and towns of the Sahel (West and Central Africa), said the delegate of Mali, "it now costs as much to heat your cooking pot as to fill it." He appealed to donor nations to follow the example of France and Canada in funding forestry projects for the vast drought-stricken Sahel region.
Concerning the tendency, in developing countries in particular, to sacrifice forest land for additional farming and grazing land, FAO urged that rational land-use decisions be substituted for the haphazard agricultural land-use practices which often prevail, and result in stable forest areas being turned into poor or degraded crop land.
FAO encouraged tropical forest countries in particular to practice various kinds of agri-silviculture, a combination of forestry and agriculture which enables forests, through a cycling process, to restore and regenerate the soil. Growing crops between plantation rows of fast-growing varieties of trees is one example.
Edouard Saouma, of Lebanon, was elected Director-General of FAO by a near-unanimous vote on 10 November 1975, during the eighteenth FAO Conference. He is FAO's sixth Director-General and the second from a developing country.
Mr. Saouma, 49, received 121 votes out of 125 valid votes cast on the second ballot at the Conference. There were four "no" votes and seven abstentions. Five other candidates withdrew after the first ballot when Mr. Saouma received an overwhelming lead of 62 votes out of 66 needed for election.
The new Director-General began his six-year nonrenewable term of office on 1 January 1976, succeeding Dr. A.H. Boerma, of the Netherlands, who headed FAO from 1 January 1968.
In accepting the appointment, Mr. Saouma said:
"As you know, the food crisis, which is already an integral part of the fabric of the seventies, constitutes a tragic threat to the development and even the mere survival of many countries of the third world. This is a historical challenge to the international community and, therefore, to our Organization ...""This Organization must rethink its approach to the problems, in order to measure up to the standards of the new economic and social order to which your nations are dedicated. But it is clear that FAO alone cannot solve all the food and agricultural problems; every state must bring its own contribution. We in FAO, within the limits of the means at our disposal, will ensure that the actions undertaken by this Organization, both in their concept and operation, are designed to meet, as closely as possible, the needs expressed by you."
Mr. Saouma was Director of the Land and Water Development Division of FAO for the past 10 years. During this period he also served as Chairman of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Natural Resources and the Human Environment. From 1962 to 1965 Mr. Saouma was Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Far East at New Delhi.
Previous to his service with FAO Mr. Saouma held a number of senior positions with Lebanese agricultural, academic and research institutions and with the Lebanese government. From 1955 to 1962 he participated in all sessions of the FAO Conference and Council as delegate of Lebanon. In October 1970, while serving at FAO, Mr. Saouma was nominated Minister of Agriculture for Lebanon.
Born in Beirut, on 6 November 1926 Mr. Saouma is married and has three children. He received a degree in agricultural chemistry from St. Joseph's University School of Engineering, Beirut, in 1949, and the degree of Ingénieur Agronome from the National School of Agronomy of Montpellier, France, in 1952.
Mr. Saouma is fluent in Arabic, English, French, Italian and Spanish.
Kenneth Sargent addressing the FAO Conference
Kenneth Sargent, a British forester, received FAO's highest award for field work in agricultural development at the Organization's eighteenth Conference of its member governments in November 1975.
Mr. Sargent, 51, of New Milton, Hampshire, England, was given the B.R. Sen award for leading a project aimed at strengthening the survey, planning and institutional foundation for the development of forest industries in Malaysia. The award included a medal, a scroll describing his achievements and a prize of $2000.
Two FAO specialists received B.R. Sen awards at the Conference. The other was Joaquim Carvalho Santiago, of Portugal, whose project in Brazil was instrumental in helping that country increase its wheat production. The award is named for Dr. B.R. Sen, of India, who was Director-General of FAO from 1956 to 1967.
Mr. Sargent headed the Malaysian project from 1968 to 1975 when he was named coordinator of a pulp and paper industries development programme project which is currently underway at FAO headquarters in Rome.
In describing the forest industries work in Malaysia, the citation praised Mr. Sargent for his "high professional competence and unsparing application, coupled with dynamic and inspiring leadership." It said that he had caused the project to suceed "well beyond the expectations of all concerned and in a manner which is widely recognized to be a model of its kind."
It was noted in particular that the project "pioneered new techniques in the inventory of tropical forests, and in the planning of wood-based development. This in itself is a tribute to Mr. Sargent's high professional competence and that of the team he has been able to lead and develop."
June events in Sweden spotlighted international forestry.
The World Wood Second International Sawmill Seminar, held in Jönköping in June 1975, dealt with new techniques in sawmill production. Sawmill managers from North America, Europe and Scandinavia discussed problems ranging from the changeover in small-log sawing in the United States and Canada to the use of thin kerf band reducers and computer systems in Scandinavia.
The future role of multipurpose logging machines in European forestry was the main theme of a symposium organized by the Swedish Forest Service and sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the International Labour Organisation, and FAO's Joint Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers.
The symposium (10-18 June) included a four day series of technical demonstrations and a visit to a training centre for machine operators, followed by three days of discussion in Stockholm's Folket Hus. Regional and country reviews covering North America, Scandinavia, central, eastern and southern Europe, France, the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R. were presented, and training problems, ergonomic questions and accident prevention were also debated.
Participants at the seminar and the symposium were able to attend the ELMIA 1975 International Forestry Fair, which took place one week before the symposium, and the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations of the Department of Operational Efficiency of the Swedish Royal College of Forestry on 14 and 15 June.
A new English-French handbook of forestry and woodland terms to help woodland owners and foresters on both sides of the English Channel has been issued in the United Kingdom. It has 600 entries divided into logical sections: survey and purchase of woodland estate; trees and forestry systems; technical and economic management of woodlands; timber utilization; rough shooting, fishing and camping; wildlife management; and special interest holiday activities.
Published by J.W.A. Newhouse (Hazelholt Farm, Bishops Waltham, Hampshire), the handbook was prepared in collaboration with Dr. Cyril Hart, Senior Verderer of the Forest of Dean, and Elizabeth Stjernsward. (Price £1.35.)
The British Forestry Commission has moved from London's Savile Row to its new headquarters in Edinburgh.
On the western outskirts of Edinburgh, on the main Glasgow road near the zoo and Turnhouse airport, the new building is fully air-conditioned and provides office space on five floors. The address is 231 Corstorphine Rd., Edinburgs EH12 7AT (Telephone: 031-3340303).
Forestry planning and management, including the requirements of developing countries, will be the subject of a training course for forestry officers to be held at the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford University, from the end of June to the beginning of October 1976.
In 12 weeks of lectures and seminars the participants will analyse geographical, geophysical and biological features, historical circumstances, political and institutional systems, social and economic situations, and scientific and technical developments.
Attention will be given to selection of priorities, defining constraints, and formulating policy. Other fields of study deal with the principles and techniques of management and their application in forestry enterprises, economic theory and principles, technical considerations in the planning and management of forestry enterprises, and project planning and appraisal.
Candidates, said the announcement from Oxford, should be of high calibre.
Three main conclusions - on standardization, on the use of cost accounting systems and on the commercial application of electronic data processing emerged from a symposium on the Modernization of the Sawmilling Industry, which was held in Geneva in January 1975.
The symposium, which drew some 70 participants from 16 countries, was organized by the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. FAO, the UNCTAD/GATT International Trade Centre and the Organization of European Sawmilling Industries were also represented.
The further modernization of the sawmilling industry, the symposium agreed, depends to a large extent on progress toward the standardization of wood products and on the use of standards both nationally and internationally.
Cost accounting systems, it was agreed, could help greatly in ensuring the better planning and control of production demanded by the increasing complexity of the sawmilling process and the economic environment in which it operates, and aid decision-making on investments for modernization or rationalization.
The commercial application of electronic data processing to sawmilling is a relatively recent development, but, it was noted, it is rapidly gaining in importance. Participants were particularly interested in the possibilities of extending electronic data processing to smaller mills, possibly through collective use.
Areas seen as having a good potential for technological development included: log in-feed systems, drying systems, sawnwood grading systems, and chipping head-rigs.
Other subjects on which further work was urged included:
- Periodic reappraisals of forest resources for the information needs of the sawmilling industry.- National policies designed to maintain the balance between the dimensions of the sawmilling industry and its raw material base and market potential.
- More attention to energy factors in investment decisions.
- Methods of industrial conversion of small-sized logs.
- Detailed market studies as prerequisites for plant modernization, or integration.
- The problem of wetting of dried timber during transport and storage, and the question of responsibility for the moisture content of sawnwood at the time of delivery.
International forestry meetings 1976
|
When |
Where |
What |
FAO Forestry Department contact |
|
4 Feb. |
Cuba |
Latin American Forestry Commission Committee on National Parks and Wildlife (4th session) |
G.S. Child |
|
2 - 7 Feb. |
Cuba |
Latin American Forestry Commission (12th session) |
J.E.M. Arnold |
|
9 - 13 Feb. |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO study group on mechanization of forest work (7th session) and joint session with study group on methods and organization of forest work |
H. Chauvin |
|
16 Feb. - 12 March |
Kaduna (Nigeria) |
Training course on forest nursery and establishment techniques for African savannas in collaboration with DANIDA |
R. Willan/D. Harcharik |
|
23 - 27 Feb. |
Ottawa |
North American Forestry Commission (8th session) |
J.E.M. Arnold |
|
17 - 19 March |
Bangui (Central African Republic) |
African Forestry Commission working party on wildlife management (5th session) |
G.S. Child |
|
22 - 27 March |
Bangui (Central African Republic) |
African Forestry Commission (4th session) |
J.E.M. Arnold |
|
Second quarter |
Rome |
First expert consultation on accessibility of forest resources |
H. Chauvin/J.P. Lanly |
|
26 April - 1 May |
Dakar |
CILSS/UNSO/FAO Seminar on the role of forestry in a rehabilitation programme for the Sahel |
A. Polycarpou |
|
10 - 28 May |
Quito |
Training course on forestry education development for Latin America in collaboration with SIDA |
H. Hilmi |
|
11 - 13 May |
Rome |
FAO Advisory Committee of Experts on Pulp and Paper (17th session) |
L. Lintu |
|
14 - 19 June |
Hyvinkää (Finland) |
Joint FAO/ECE/lLO Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers and symposium on the harvesting of a larger part of the forest biomass - to be preceded by a study tour from 9-12 June |
H. Chauvin |
|
20 June - 2 July |
Oslo |
XVIth IUFRO World Congress (FAO session on forestry research in developing countries to take place during the Congress) |
J. Prats-Llaurado |
|
5 - 6 July |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO ad hoc meeting of experts on stress grading of coniferous sawn timber |
T. Peck* |
|
7 - 8 July |
Geneva |
BCE/FAO ad hoc meeting of experts on the standardization of fingerjointing in structural coniferous sawn timber |
T. Peck* |
|
Nov. - Dec. |
Rome |
Committee on Forestry (3rd session) |
L. Quintana |
WHAT THE ACRONYMS MEAN
CILSS = Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahelian Zone (Comité permanent inter-états de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel)
UNSO = United Nations Sahel Office
DANIDA = Danish International Development Agency
SIDA = Swedish International Development Agency
IUFRO = International Union of Forestry Research Organizations
UNEP = United Nations Environment Programme
EFC = European Forestry Commission
ECE = Economic Commission for Europe
lLO = International Labour Organisation
* Joint ECP/FAO Timber Division, Palais des Nations, 1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland.** Undetermined.
International forestry meetings 1977
|
When |
Where |
What |
FAO Forestry Department contact |
|
8 - 27 August |
Lima |
Seminar on employment in forestry for Latin American countries in collaboration with SIDA |
G. E. Segerström |
|
16 Aug. - 4 Sept. |
Manila |
Workshop on forestry development planning for countries of southeast Asia in collaboration with SIDA |
J.E.M Arnold |
|
27 Sept. |
Romania |
ECE/FAO symposium on extending the use of wood residues |
T. Peck* |
|
18 - 22 Oct. |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO Timber Committee (34th session) |
E. Kalkkinen* |
|
9 - 12 Nov. |
Tokyo or Kuala Lumpur |
FAO Advisory Committee on Forestry Education (8th session) |
H. Hilmi |
|
November |
Rome |
Committee on Forest Development in the tropics (4th session) |
O. Fugalli |
|
Nov./Dec. |
Debra Dun |
Workshop on Forestry development planning for countries of the Near East and South Asia in collaboration with SIDA |
A.H. Contreras |
|
Fourth quarter |
Rome |
Second expert consultation on accessibility of forest resources |
H. Chauvin/J.P. Lanly |
|
Fourth quarter |
Yaoundé (Cameroon) |
Training course on forest inventory for French-speaking foresters |
J.P. Lanly |
|
** |
** |
Executive Committee of the European Forestry Commission |
E. Kalkkinen* |
|
3 - 7 Jan. |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO study group on vocational training and prevention of accidents in forest work (11th session) |
H. Chauvin* |
|
Feb. - March |
Malaysia or Indonesia |
Regional consultation on the impact of mechanized harvesting on the silviculture and management of tropical forests in Asia and the Far East |
Tran van Nao |
|
21 - 26 March |
Canberra |
Third world consultation on forest tree breeding |
R. Willan |
|
March |
Canberra |
Panel of experts on forest gene resources (4th session) |
R. Willan |
|
First quarter |
Latin America |
Technical consultation on planning tropical timber development in South America |
T. Erfurth |
|
October |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO Timber Committee (35th session) |
E. Kalkkinen* |
|
** |
** |
ECE/FAO seminar on the behaviour of wood products in fire |
H.J.R. Widmer |
|
** |
** |
ECE/FAO symposium on the effects of pollution on vegetation |
E. Kalkkinen* |
|
** |
Geneva |
ECE/FAO study group on methods and organization of forest work (9th session) |
H. Chauvin* |
* Joint ECE/FAO Timber Division, Palais des Nations, 1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland.
** Undetermined.
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