R.G. Fontaine
R.G. Fontaine, former Director of FAO's Forest Resources Division, worked for the organization for 27 years, retiring in 1974.
· When I was asked to write an article for Unasylva on 40 years of forestry at FAO, I felt interested and yet hesitant. I was interested because I think I can consider myself the actor who has played the longest part in the period involved; but hesitant because a presentation of this international body 's 40 years of activity - and to a certain extent, its logic - did not appear to me an easy task to undertake. However, I eventually accepted, my mind running back to those who had borne the responsibility of giving life to the Forestry Division at its very beginning, Marcel Leloup and Egon Glesinger, and who had drawn me into the exciting adventure of the international civil service.
I shall not stress the specific and somewhat incidental reasons that brought about the creation of a Forestry Division in FAO. These have been explained in a number of other articles and publications. I would, rather, like to recount, without claiming to be totally unbiased, how those who took part in these last 40 years of international forestry have lived them and understood them. However, for the account to be complete, brief mention is needed of the international activities that preceded the Second World War and the "heritage" FAO received which led the organization to develop certain activities rapidly in order to ensure continuity. It will also be necessary to talk about FAO's role in the organization of World Forestry Congresses. Then I propose to conclude with some reflections on international forestry cooperation.
Foresters have, in a way, been pioneers in the field of international cooperation. As early as 1890, the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) was founded, and later FAO was to help recommence its activities by assuming the responsibility for its secretariat from 1948 to 1955. At I the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris, a report was presented highlighting the insufficiency of world timber supplies for industry. The report can be considered a first modest example of the kind of studies FAO was to carry out on wood production and consumption trends. In 1911, a forestry congress in Madrid adopted a resolution providing for the creation of a Mediterranean forest organization which, under the name of "Silva Mediterranea", came to be formally constituted in the early 1920s and remained active until 1935. It was reborn within FAO under the name of the Subcommittee for the Coordination of Mediterranean Forestry Activities, holding its first session in Rome in 1949. In 1926, the First World Forestry Congress took place in Rome, at the International Institute for Agriculture (IIA), and proposed that forestry activities be developed within the Institute.
In 1936, the Second World Forestry Congress, which took place in Budapest, proposed the creation of an International Silviculture Centre (CIS). The Centre was set up in Berlin in 1939 and published an international forestry journal, Intersilva, a series of forestry studies, Sylvae Orbis, and forest bibliography studies. In 1946, the IIA and the CIS, together with their well-stocked libraries, were formally absorbed by FAO. Finally, in 1928, a non-governmental organization, the International Timber Committee (CIB), was founded in Vienna. Up until the Second World War, it published a number of statistics on international timber trade. Its experience was abundantly utilized by FAO, which recruited the Committee's secretary-general as soon as the Forestry Division was set up.
Three periods of forestry activity can, it seems to me, be distinguished, if it is kept in mind that the beginning and the end of each period are given here not in a strict sense but as a general indication, and that some overlapping may take place.
The first period (1945-59) was that of the return of peace, the re-gathering in many countries of foresters who had been separated by the war, and of great expectations. This period, rich in developments, was marked by the setting up of structures and institutions within FAO and, within them, the definition of important trends in world and regional forest policies, the attempt to achieve a fair distribution of resources according to needs, and the publication of inventories, statistics and studies.
The second period (1960-69) was the period of "decolonization", of FAO membership being extended to many developing countries, and of the expansion of field activities. It was also marked by the need to take stock of what was known in light of the information explosion and of the new awareness of environmental problems and of the limits of natural resources.
The third period (1970-85), which took in the founding of the Forestry Department - until then a Division - and its development, is rather harder to bring into focus since it is still in evolution and because of the lack of the necessary distance to identify its major trends. Besides traditional activities, this period has been characterized by the development of new, mostly inter-agency activities generated by the complexity of the problems involved and the diversity of the sources of finance. It has, however, also been marked by the crises affecting member countries (like oil shocks and rising unemployment), by somewhat arbitrary prophecies regarding the extinction of resources and the increase of pollution (Club of Rome, 1974-75), and by the "ageing" of organizations (Colloque de Lausanne, November 1984) that require reshaping and new structures. I will come back to this in my conclusions.
The period 1945 to 1959. The first task was to set up the Division with its two branches (Forests, and Forest Products), which became three in 1951 (Forest Policies, Forest Production, and Forest Economics). Advisory committees including well-known experts from outside FAO were established, notably in the fields of education, research and - jointly with IUFRO - bibliography. Finally, regional forestry offices were set up in Europe (Geneva), Latin America (Rio de Janeiro, then Santiago), the Far East (Bangkok) and the Near East (Cairo).
While the forestry problems and programmes of the Division were discussed globally in a forestry committee that was part of each FAO Conference, regional forestry conferences were also organized. These eventually led to the setting up of forestry commissions, which meet periodically and have established working groups according to the needs of each region. A sub-commission for the coordination of Mediterranean forestry matters, grouping the countries of the Mediterranean basin and working under the three regional forestry commissions (for Europe, the Near East and Africa), was founded. Finally, close relations were established in each region with the UN regional economic commissions to deal with problems relating to wood and wood products marketing. One of the major achievements of these activities during that period was "The principles of forest policy". On the basis of a document prepared by the secretariat and submitted to the regional commissions for discussion and amendments, a final text was drawn up and approved by the 1951 FAO Conference. This declaration indicates the central themes of a forest policy in terms of administration, management, research and education, and it received wide circulation through Unasylva.
As far as regional activities are concerned, it is necessary to recall the importance attached to forestry activities in Europe by the Geneva office, which played a pioneering role for the other offices. First of all, the FAO European Forestry Commission created after the 1947 Mariánské Lázne (Marienbad) conference worked very actively toward the reconstruction of Europe. It established working groups to deal with, for example, forest work and the training of forestry workers (jointly with ILO and the EEC), flood control and landslide prevention, and forestry statistics (again jointly with the EEC). Furthermore, an FAO/ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) Timber Committee was constituted in 1948 which took over the activities of the timber committee of the European Economic Emergency Commission (EECE) of London. It greatly facilitated the exchange of information on available industrial timber resources and their equitable distribution. Finally, in close collaboration with the Timber Committee and the European Forestry Commission, which met in Geneva in October 1952, the secretariats of FAO and the ECE published in 1953 a study entitled Timber consumption, production and trade in Europe-trends and prospects. The study was based upon assumptions concerning the rate of economic development during the next ten years, the ratio between the price of timber and the prices of other competitive materials, and the creation of a dynamic forest policy. Its methodology sewed as a model for other, similar studies carried out in the other regions, with the exception of Africa, where greater attention was paid to household-level consumption.
It was during this period that the Division put special emphasis on forest inventories. As early as 1948, it had published a survey involving 97 countries and covering 62 percent of their land area. With the help of questionnaires sent to national forestry services, world forest inventories were drawn up in 1953, 1958 and 1963. However, differences in the definition of the concepts utilized from one inventory, to another made it difficult to assess with sufficient accuracy the evolution of forestry, resources, so that these five-year investigations, which had served their main purpose, were eventually abandoned.
It was also during this period that the Division published a number of international studies that received wide circulation among Member Nations and universities. Among these were Forest policies, legislation and management; Tropical silviculture (in two volumes); Shifting agriculture in Africa; Hanunóo agriculture in the Philippines; Forest influences; Eucalypts for wood production; and The poplar in forestry and land use.
On the basis of Unesco's major project in arid zones and under the aegis of the Mediterranean forest subcommittee, four FAO/Unesco experts (Gaussen, Einberger, Kassas and de Philippis) drew up a dry-season map and a map of the vegetation of the Mediterranean region, and these were published by Unesco. A joint FAO/Unesco study on the definition of an arid-zone forestry policy was also attempted (by Montjauze, MacGuinnis, Pereira and de Philippis).
Finally, in order to be complete, this account should mention the many ties the Division was to establish with other international organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, to ensure coherence in the activities carried out by each body. Among these should be mentioned Unesco and its major project on arid zones; ILO and its activities connected with professional training; the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and its contributions in the field of national parks and species threatened with extinction; IUFRO and its forestry research activities; the Council of Europe and its commission on agriculture, which carried out a special study on Mediterranean forests; the European Confederation of Agriculture and its commission on private and farm forests; and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation and its interest in pesticides. Finally, in 1958, the Treaty of Rome was signed, and shortly afterwards a forestry office was set up within the European Economic Community.
Technical assistance was chiefly granted outside of bilateral aid through the Expanded Technical Assistance Programme (ETAP), which started operating at the end of the 1950s and which consisted of sending out experts either on forest policy and legislation or on very specific subjects.
FAO has made regular, systematic, in-depth analyses of past and prospective trends in world supply and demand for wood products.
The period 1960 to 1969 At the onset of the 1960s, the FAO Conference approved a reorganization of FAO's structure, creating large Departments for Administration and Budget, Development, and General Affairs and Information, while the technical divisions (Plant Production, Animal Production, Nutrition, Land and Water, Fisheries, and Forestry) were regrouped in a Technical Department. Moreover, a decision taken by the FAO Council entrusted the Forestry Division with the organization and secretariat of World Forestry Congresses, in liaison with the host country: this is how the Sixth World Forestry Congress, held in Madrid in 1966, was organized. A study was presented at this Congress designed to make available the findings of a series of major national and regional appraisals of wood resources and requirements. The complete study was published in a special double issue of Unasylva (Vol. 20, Nos 80-81, 1966). Since then, FAO has made regular, systematic, in-depth analyses of past and prospective trends in world supply and demand for wood products.
During this second period, most of the regional and international activities developed during the first period continued, with wildlife and national parks coming under the broad heading "conservation". A fourth branch set up to deal with forest exploitation took over activities relating to harvesting techniques, professional training, and forest road transport, and added shipping and forest ergonomics, primarily in the tropics. Several activities were initiated in Africa, and a regional office was opened in Accra and the African Forestry Commission was constituted. The latter studied the region's specific forestry problems, especially laws relating to forest ownership and the different degrees of forest protection. It established a working group on wildlife and national parks, areas that had been hitherto neglected. The working group was particularly active in the fields of animal population inventory and dynamics, wildlife management and game farming, the role of animal proteins in human nutrition, and education and research. In response to the problems generated by the exploitation of humid and dry tropical areas, a Committee on Forestry Development in the Tropics was established in 1965. It studied matters specifically relating to the management of natural forests (the Catinot-Dawkins Protocol), forestation techniques in different areas, and species selection. Finally, under the aegis of the Advisory Committee on Forestry Education, activities in this field concentrated on determining the needs for skilled labour and setting up teaching structures in order to meet them.
This period was also highlighted by two important international conferences at which the FAO secretariat presented some background documents. The first was the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Developing Countries (Geneva, 1963), marking the first Development Decade. The number of delegates and documents presented was impressive. Forestry and resources conservation were discussed in two special commissions.
The second event was the Unesco Conference on Man and the Biosphere, the purpose of which was to turn the International Biology Programme into an intergovernmental programme under the aegis of Unesco and other international organizations. FAO took an active part in the organization and the secretariat of the conference as well as in discussions during the meetings. This conference helped Unesco to develop a programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), whose activities within FAO will be discussed later.
Nevertheless, what in my opinion really characterized this period was the development of field activities, the need for which had been strongly felt at the end of the previous period. The development of these activities, financed by ETAP and UNDP, but for which FAO was the executing agency, was such as to justify a reorganization of the responsible services at the end of the decade. Special services were set up in each Division to manage the projects, while branches merely retained the technical supervision of the projects and related experts. These field activities, the merits of which are unquestionable, as much for the countries assisted as for the Division itself, toward which information and ideas flowed, greatly influenced the traditional activities and the public service tasks of the organization.
Field activities during the decade from 1960 to 1969 were characterized by a gradual shift away from one-way advisory assignments to operational (or small group) and project activities. Interrelationships were established with ETAP, which was gradually phased out, and with other development programmes: UNDP, created in 1959; bilateral aid agencies and trust fund programmes; the FAO/IBRD (precursor of the World Bank) cooperative programme (1964); the FAO industry cooperative programme (1965); the Freedom from Hunger Campaign (since 1960); and the UN FAO World Food Programme (since 1963). In the forestry domain, this period saw the formulation and implementation of important projects creating or expanding educational and training facilities at all levels, including schools, faculties, and training and demonstration centres. Other important features of this expansionary period were the creation of administrative structures, including parks and wildlife management, and the development of forest resources and industries (including pulp and paper); resources surveys; national forest inventories and utilization and marketing studies; and pre-investment surveys.
There is a group of projects relating to Mediterranean development that deserves to be mentioned and whose history would like to recount very briefly. In 1954, the Economic Commission for Europe drew public attention to the danger of an excessive gap in levels of income and living standards between southern Europe and the rest of the continent. Later, the sub-commission on Mediterranean forestry, meeting in Nice in 1956, adopted a resolution inviting the Director-General of FAO and the executive secretary of the EEC to organize "a background study for the definition of a stronger and more coherent forestry policy, as the most important factor in the economic and social development of the Mediterranean basin". A definitive study was published by FAO in 1959. The report, after analysing the physical, economic and social situation of the region, placed particular emphasis on how to hasten growth, alter certain institutions to give greater flexibility to the economic and social system, utilize external financial support, and target international technical assistance.
The creation of the United Nations Special Fund just before the publication of the report permitted the planning and execution, during the 1960s, of many integrated rural development projects in Algeria, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. In areas large enough to be representative of the country and to have an impact on its development, yet small enough for investments to be compatible with the country's means, these projects involved a series of actions well balanced in both temporal and spatial terms. Other priorities, and perhaps changes in personnel, did not allow for a timely and comprehensive assessment of the projects. This is indeed regrettable, for the large quantity of information and the number of experts involved would be difficult to reassemble today.
The period 1970 to 1985. The third period extends from the creation of the Forestry Department (together with the Fisheries Department) to the holding of the Ninth World Forestry Congress, in Mexico. I have already attempted to define its general characteristics. It must be stressed that at the beginning of the decade, the specialized committees of FAO's Conference were discontinued and committees meeting outside the Conference and reporting directly to the Council were set up. The Committee on Forestry, which had met every two years in Rome since 1972, thus became the body within which the programme and budget of the Department for each biennium were discussed.
This period was marked by many events and conferences that took place outside FAO, in 1972, a UN conference was held in Stockholm on Man and the Environment, at which the Forestry Department played a key role by presenting two documents, one on forests and the environment and the other on wildlife and national parks. These were prepared in cooperation with the agencies concerned. After the conference, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with which the Forestry Department would later cooperate on many projects, was founded. In 1973-74, an exceptional drought generated a food crisis in the African Sahel, and an FAO mission headed by a forester was sent to the region at the end of 1974. An inter-state committee with headquarters in Ouagadougou was set up and forestry activities were developed. In 1978, the Eighth World Forestry Congress, held in Jakarta, prepared the Jakarta Declaration. This was discussed and adopted in 1979 by the FAO Conference, which considered it a turning-point in the history of forestry and in the evolution of the role of forestry, in economic and social development in general and the welfare of rural populations in particular.
In 1979, the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) was held in Rome. Forestry problems were emphasized, and a declaration of principles and a plan of action were approved. The result was a much stronger emphasis within the Forestry Department upon the social role of forestry and the central role that forestry can play in the process of development.
The Forestry Department continued its international civil service activities and field operations. These activities are very accurately described in the Committee on Forestry (COFO) reports of this period. Before describing in detail some of the major activities, however, I would like to draw attention to certain decisions made by COFO itself. First, during its fifth session (Rome, 1980), the Committee underlined the need for a forest strategy for development that would integrate the protective, productive and social functions of forests according to countries' specific conditions, in order to meet their present and future needs. Then, at its latest session (May 1984), the Committee discussed forestry problems beyond the year 2000 in temperate regions, the humid tropics, and arid and Mediterranean areas, as well as at the global level.
At its third session, in 1976, COFO, on the basis of proposals made by the secretariat, identified six areas on which attention should be concentrated: forestry development in the tropics; conservation; the development of forest industries; the promotion of tropical timber trade; forest institutions; and forest-policy planning, analysis and statistics. It is within this context that I have selected certain activities that, in my opinion, are of major importance.
After the preparation of the first forest inventory, described above, some regional and world syntheses - a few under the aegis of FAO were carried out. Nevertheless, as early as 1970-72, concern began to arise over the destruction of tropical forests, and questionable information began to circulate about them. In 1974, FAO and UNEP had set up a continuous Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS), initiated in a pilot project in three West African countries; but these countries would not be in a position right away to guarantee continuous monitoring of their forest cover. In 1978, FAO made a reassessment of the forestry resources of the majority of developing countries (including practically all tropical countries). The main issues of this study were published under the title Forest and plantation areas in the tropics - present situation and forecasts. Then, at the end of 1978, a project document was signed by FAO and UNEP for the reassessment of the situation and evolution of tropical forestry resources. The work was completed three years later.
This work is now being pursued by means of lateral and multispectral high-definition remote-sensing photographs that will allow, in the near future, a jump from inventory to forest management. Forest management will assume a new dimension, no longer requiring previous land occupation and mapping.
FORTY YEARS AT FAO through a historical perspective
From the very beginning of the period, FAO - within the context of Unesco's programme on Man and the Biosphere - took part in the preparation of the Study on the state of information on tropical forest ecosystems, published in English in 1978. The Committee on Forestry Development in the Tropics, meanwhile, pursued its work actively. At its sixth session (Rome, 1982), the Committee on Forestry approved and supported the FAO/UNEP study on forestry resources and recommended that (1) the results of the study be constantly updated and improved; (2) FAO, as the main organization responsible for forests in the UN system, continue to coordinate its undertakings on tropical forests with those of UNEP, Unesco and other organizations; and (3) the Director-General consider the advantages of giving the Committee on Forestry Development in the Tropics additional means, the Committee being the best-qualified body to ensure such coordination and to report the results to the FAO Conference.
Activities in genetic resources and reforestation at FAO have since their inception been concerned with the procurement of tree seed, and forestation techniques. FAO published a study and organized the first World Symposium on Manmade Forests and Their Industrial Importance (Canberra, 1967). But it was only in 1968, with the creation of the FAO panel of experts on forest gene resources, that the programme assumed a special importance. The group was to help "plan and coordinate FAO's efforts to explore, utilize and conserve the gene resources of forest trees", and at its third session, held in Rome in 1974, it approved a global programme for the improved use of forest resources, proposed by the FAO secretariat. The aim of the genetic resources programme has been to strengthen national institutes in the developing countries, and to help make countries self sufficient in high-quality seed for forest plantation and tree-planting programmes.
Extensive inquiries into the productivity and cost of the exploitation and transport of wood products were carried out in many developing countries in order to provide data for the improvement of exploitation methods. These studies are also of great assistance in logging-appraisal projects and feasibility studies.
On the transfer of technology from developed to developing countries, many training courses, seminars and symposia were organized, covering logging, transport, forest roads, ergonomics, and the health and safety of forest workers, all taking into consideration the socioeconomic and environmental aspects.
In tropical-timber trade and marketing, FAO has had three objectives: to advance the efficient use and improved marketing of tropical forest products; to foster the diversification of tropical-timber trade in accordance with the wise utilization of forest resources; and to improve forest management practices to assure future wood supplies.
Regular Programme activities have included studies and meetings on (1) the properties and uses of tropical timbers in the light of national and international action for promoting lesser-known species; (2) product development and the choice and effective application of promotional measures to advance the wider use of products from the tropical moist forests; and (3) concepts and guidelines for the utilization and marketing of tropical timber in a situation of fluctuating supply and demand. FAO has closely collaborated with UNCTAD in implementing its integrated programme for commodities in the field of tropical timber. After a series of preparatory meetings for which FAO provided substantial technical background documentation and guidance, the negotiations culminated in the adoption of an International Tropical Timber Agreement, now in the process of being ratified by interested producing and consuming countries.
While the Forestry Department's activities in the field of wood and energy had hitherto been limited to fairly restricted technical assistance and training activities, in the late 1970s they took a new leap forward. In particular, the Department was entrusted with the preparation of the specific sections dealing with fuel and charcoal wood for the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Nairobi in 1981. The availability of fuel and charcoal wood in developing countries was analysed and a strategy was formulated for their improvement. Emphasis was placed not only on technical knowledge but also, particularly, on participatory approaches likely to involve people as active partners as well as beneficiaries. At the same time, a programme of action for forestry and rural energy was launched with a view to mobilizing financial resources and greater assistance capacity for the countries most affected by the fuelwood crisis.
In the area of forestry education and training, field activities led to the organization of a world consultation on forestry education and training, held in Stockholm in 1971. In the early 1970s, emphasis shifted gradually to increasing the effectiveness of forestry schools through staff training and improvement of the content, organization and handling of training programmes. These activities culminated in the creation in the Philippines in 1979 of a Centre on Forestry Education Development for the Asia and South West Pacific Region. FAO has also played a major role in the establishment of nearly every forestry school that now exists in South America. A survey is now being carried out in Africa to assess the need for forestry teachers and ways to meet it. Finally, a contribution was made toward improving relations between forestry schools through the publication in 1974 of a world list of forestry schools, revised in 1977 and 1981.
Activities in forest institutions are closely related to problems affecting forest policies and legislation and to organization factors in forestry development. In 1977, a study was published on forest utilization contracts in state-owned forests. After the publication of a comparative study on forest management problems in six African countries (1976) came two other studies: Public forest administrations in Latin America (1975) and Comparison of public forest administrations in Asia and the Pacific (1980). Following a survey of public forest administrations in French-speaking African countries, an FAO/Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) consultation on forest administration for development was held in Rome, in 1983.
As far as field operations are concerned, the period from 1970 to the present is characterized by an integrated country approach. The large-scale projects still generally concern three main categories: surveys, feasibility studies and institution-building projects. For FAO to continue to play an effective role in promoting and creating capital involvement possibilities, especially in the field of forest industries, it is necessary to promote new institutions, to strengthen and improve those already in existence, and to improve the quality of techniques and planning methods. Many studies have been carried out, resulting in the creation of integrated forest industries. Education and training at all levels have been probably the biggest beneficiaries of field operations, and many prominent examples could be mentioned.
One aim has been to help make countries self-sufficient in high-quality seed for forest plantation and tree-planting programmes.
After this account of 40 years of international forestry activities and an attempt to highlight the crucial events, it will undoubtedly be expected that I come up with an assessment of the activities described. I am afraid I feel quite incapable of doing so. In the first place, despite the time that has elapsed, I have been far too involved personally in these activities to be truly unbiased. For instance, I consider it a failure not to have been able to put across some of my ideas on "marginal areas' or on closer ties with representatives of the basic sciences that could have led to new techniques. On the other hand. I feel fairly well-satisfied with the activities developed in the fields of conservation and environment.
But my main objection to making such an assessment is that the period involved - according to certain philosophers, sociologists and historians is a "hinge" period, corresponding to the beginning of an era. It is a period that some have called post-industrial, characterized by an explosion of scientific and technical knowledge, the development of communications and information and an important change in values, not to mention population growth, the extinction of certain resources and the increase in pollution. It is therefore difficult to tell what has been done well and what has been done badly, when the criteria for making judgements have changed.
What I would like to do before concluding is mention a few of the questions that various FAO officers have asked in the course of the activities I have described. This may help anyone who does wish to make an assessment.
· During the last few decades, FAO has had to divide itself between international civil service chiefly the organization and development of inter-state relations (the Regular Programme) and the management of field projects. Has not the latter developed to the detriment of the former?
I sincerely believe so, without however considering, as some do, that involvement in such activities is a pretext for avoiding more serious problems. Let me simply state that operational or field activities have represented an exceptional source of experience and information, as well as a refuge from international tensions, but that they may have turned the organization away from more important duties. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that field activities have expanded largely because of the decisions taken by FAO's Member Governments, and that they have enjoyed some notable successes in forestry and other fields.
· There are many forestry activities in which international cooperation could be useful, and choices must be made that are consistent with the restricted means available. In such cases, has account always been taken of international priorities in situations where cooperation is necessary and useful?
Many activities are so involved with local conditions that international cooperation either accomplishes little for their benefit or has a limited impact. This seems sometimes to have been forgotten.
· Organizations are now dividing their activities between headquarters and the regions or even countries themselves. From a realistic point of view, this tendency is quite understandable. However, the question is whether excessive multiplication of regional and international activities may not be harmful to the universal character of the organization and cause it to lose sight of the emphasis to be given to the world economy.· When projects are the responsibility of more than one organization, cooperation and coordination mechanisms are necessary. To avoid the overloading of procedures and the overcomplicating of operations, should there not be more strictness about the precise responsibilities of each organization?
· Finally, the institutions created within FAO (divisions, branches, and so on), as well as those set up in accordance with Article VI or XIV of the Constitution, have an internal logic and a life of their own which are sometimes difficult to control. Their adjustment to the needs of the system as a whole poses problems in that it requires complicated mechanisms or periodic changes that are difficult to regulate if there is a desire to avoid a proliferation of activities that are inconsistent with the aims of the organization.
If I have endeavoured to avoid assessments and limit myself to a few reflections on some problems that may have arisen, this does not exclude my appreciation for many of the activities undertaken that were suited to the needs of the period involved be they inventories, statistics, or studies on production and consumption trends. On the whole, they appear to have been positive. A distinguished delegate of France told me, in the 1960s, that the EEC countries would never have been able to conceive a Common Agricultural Policy had they not benefited from the work of FAO. The latest recommendations of UNCTAD's Tropical Timber Council concerning the setting up of regional tropical timber bureaux restate the proposals made by FAO to UNDP at the beginning of the 1970s. Many other examples could be cited. But I think particularly of the potential these activities have to address the last recommendation of COFO 84, "that every possible measure be taken in every country to accelerate the process of heightening political awareness of the critical importance for the future of mankind of adequate attention being given to the world's forests in the period to the year 2000 and beyond".
All past activities and experiences will need to be assessed without complacency, not only in and of themselves but also to serve as a starting-point for new activities. They need to take into account new requirements and even anticipate the future, consciously or unconsciously, as do certain societies described by the late biologist René Dubos in Célébration de la vie. These new activities, whatever the merits of national politicians and administrators, can be successful only if they can rely upon a competent and motivated international civil service that will, above all, need to overcome a certain disarray that I rightly or wrongly perceive today in the international organizations with which I am in contact. Its members will require the knowledge, the experience and the humility necessary to avoid falling prey to passing fashions or the quest for personal glory. Or - to borrow a conclusion from Albert Camus, the French philosopher who died in 1960, in the conclusion of his book The rebel - they will have to choose "the frugal and audacious thought, lucid action, and the generosity of the man who understands".
