This issue of Unasylva focuses on the fortieth anniversary of FAO - -and, in particular, on 40 years of work by FAO's Forestry Department. The last issue (Vol. 37, No. 147) looked ahead to the World Forestry Congress, held in Mexico City from 1 to 12 July 1985 (and this issue carries that theme forward with an interview with the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Hydrologic Resources, Eduardo Pesqueira Olea). The next issue will highlight the International Year of the Forest, 1985, proclaimed by the FAO Council last November. It is clearly an important time for international forestry.
Here, and in the two issues that follow, we will, in addition to publishing articles on important forestry topics, be reprinting selected excerpts from early issues of Unasylva. This issue, for example, includes the major portion of an article from the very first Unasylva: "The disappearance of the tropical forests of Africa,'' by André Marie A. Aubréville, an article that, 38 years later, seems prophetic - especially during a year when FAO is making a major new effort to address the crisis in Africa.
Also included are a history of FAO's 40 years of forestry work by R.G. Fontaine, former Director of FAO's Forest Resources Division; excerpts from articles that trace the beginnings of international technical assistance in forestry, including a view from Brazil; a short statement on overall forestry policy from Marcel Leloup, the first Head of Forestry at FAO; and selections from an early paper prepared by FAO's forestry staff on an important issue for the future of forest policy: quality or quantity?
Looking back into the past can have various purposes: to provide an object lesson for the present and the future; to deepen our understanding and appreciation of our heritage; to show us, often to our great surprise, which things have changed and which things have not changed; or simply to provide entertainment.
It is hoped that this issue, and the two that follow, will do a little of all of these things.
