There was a time when national forest policies were solemnly announced as if they had eternal validity. The ultimate ideal of both political science and economics then was ensuring stability. It was later realized that socio-economic development implies change and conflict and that forest policy, far from being removed from social and economic development, Is an Integral part of It.
The motor behind the evolution of forest policy is the changing perception of the contribution that forestry and forest industries can make to sustained socio-economic development. With the increasing interdependency among nations, that contribution is interpreted for each country in the light of broad trends in the world situation. These interpretations reflect today a growing appreciation of the role that forestry can play in rural development and In improving the lot of the poor; a rediscovery of forest biomass an important renewable source of energy; a concern about the shrinking of the world's forest cover and the spread of desertification; and an Increasing awareness of the need to manage land resources and preserve genetic endowments in order to produce more Food, goods and services on a sustainable basis for a growing population.
Numerous countries are reappraising their forest policies In the light of these views and more are likely to do so In the future, particularly In the developing world. In turn these reappraisals lead to adjustments In the means of achieving forest policy goals.
With the purpose of bringing new ideas to bear on the subject of institutional support to forest policy implementation, a Consultation sponsored by FAO and the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 2 to 11 February 1983. Twenty-nine participants attended In their individual capacities, drawn from 24 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America and from a very wide spectrum of disciplines. This issue of Unasylva presents a selection of the papers discussed at the Consultation.
The Rome Consultation on Forest Administration for Development was not the first attempt by FAO to come to grips with the institutional, social and, to a lesser extent political aspects of forestry development - as distinct from its physical, biotic and economic aspects. As far back as 1950 FAO published a book entitled Forest policy, law and administration which has relevance even today. Many other FAO studies and field activities on institutional aspects of forestry have followed that pioneering effort Recently, certain important events have further strengthened FAO's long-standing conviction that forestry development calls for steady and concerted institutional measures In 1978 the Jakarta Declaration of the 8th World Forestry Congress underlined the concept of forestry for the people. In line with the Principles and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (1979), the FAO Committee on Forestry (1980) and the FAO Conference (1981) endorsed a Forestry Strategy for Development that reflects a widespread recognition of the need for a new human and social dimension in forestry.
Given the nature of that strategy, the institutional measures for its implementation must be devised with great care and imagination, particularly In the case of developing countries that suffer from weaknesses in their administrative structures, have traditional patterns of land ownership and tenancy and wish to pursue their development objectives with full recognition of their historical and cultural roots.
The Consultation on Forest Administration for Development set to work with three specific objectives: first, ensuring that the people depending directly upon the forest participate fully In conceiving and conducting forestry activities and that they receive an equitable share of the expected benefits; second, facilitating coordination of sectoral activities; and third, encouraging a balanced cooperation between the public administration, the forest enterprises and the rural institutions.
The Consultation confirmed that public forestry administrations would have to work more closely with the community and move out of their isolation. This would call for effective extension mechanisms involving public- and private-sector agencies and the rural communities themselves. To reinforce this approach, forestry education and research would have to be reoriented toward the new problems of social forestry.
The Consultation acknowledged that while individual countries had to analyse and solve their own problems, FAO was particularly well placed to encourage the redirection of the work of educational and operational institutions and to foster exchanges of experience between countries. To these ends It was suggested that FAO should seek ways of Improving cooperation with Its sister agencies In the United Nations system and other international institutions. FAO should also seek to Influence donor and funding agencies to assist institution-building activities required to meet the needs of the rural poor.
The Forestry Department of FAO Is following up on the findings and recommendations of the Consultation. In cooperation with FAO's Human Resources, Institutions and Agrarian Reform Division, the Development Administration Division of the United Nations and several regional bodies of the UN system, It is translating them Into practical activities.
