Trends in forest products prices
FAO launches a new publications series: Non-wood forest products
A review of qualitative analysis
Trends in forest products prices
Forest products prices 1973-1992. 1995. FAO Forestry Paper No. 125. Rome, FAO.
This publication, the tenth issue of the FAO Forestry Paper Forest products prices (the first was published in 1979 and covered the period 1960-1977), contains 429 series of prices. The principal function of these international price series is to provide information that is relevant to medium- and long-term policy formulation in forestry and forest industries, and a readily available source of comparative information for use at the preliminary stages in the formulation of investment projects. The aim in preparing this survey was to obtain series, which were clearly specified in terms of product characteristics and location, and representative of the production and trade in forest products in the countries concerned. In this issue, preference has been given to fully specified market prices over average prices or price indices.
Where available, data are provided for the years 1973 to 1992. Prices are quoted in the national currency and in the US dollar equivalent, and as an index of the dollar price with base year 1980. Volume is given in locally used units and converted to standard units (cubic metres or metric tons), appropriate conversion factors having been applied where necessary.
The series are grouped according to main product (roundwood, sawnwood, paper and paperboard, etc.). The product groups and the country tables are listed in the contents. Information available on specifications and sale locations is shown for each series, together with a reference to the source of the series. The specifications are presented in English and in French or Spanish where these are the language of origin.
For many countries and for important forest products regularly reported data are not available, although, in some cases information has been obtained for some years. This type of incomplete data is shown in supplementary tables converted to US dollars and in standard units only. Details of source and specification are not shown for these cases (stumpage fees and royalties).
Graphical presentation is included at the beginning of each of the 17 product groups to highlight overall development of prices in the group. A summary presentation of price development in the form of aggregate price indices is included as an introduction to the tables.
Climate change, forests and forest management. An overview. W.M. Ciesla. 1995. FAO Forestry Paper No. 126. Rome, FAO.
There is much confusion and uncertainty associated with the climate change issue. During the past decade, many studies have been conducted on ways to improve the capacity to predict future climatic trends and their effects on human society. The results of these studies are often conflicting and unclear.
The issues related to forestry are especially complex. Forests and human uses of forests can contribute to increases in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, i.e. those gases that can contribute to climate change. Forests are also affected by changes in climate. In addition, trees and forests, given their ability to absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon in woody tissue, offer an opportunity to help mitigate future climate change.
The complexity of forests, their relatively long life span and their multifaceted relationship with climate change pose many questions. How would forests be affected by climate change? How can foresters respond to this challenge? Can forest management help mitigate the effects of climate change?
The purpose of this publication is to provide a broad overview of the climate change issue as it relates to forestry and forest management. It attempts to provide some insights into how foresters can respond to the challenges posed by possible future climate change. The material is presented in question and answer form in eight chapters, each chapter focusing on various aspects of the climate change issue including the dynamic nature of climate, the greenhouse effect, predictions of climate change and its effects, the global carbon cycle, forests as carbon sources and sinks, the effects of predicted climate change on forests, strategies for helping forests adapt to climate change and the ways in which forests can mitigate the effects of climate change.
The material contained in the publication is designed for use by field foresters, programme managers and policy advisors at the national, regional and international level.
FAO launches a new publications series: Non-wood forest products
The Forest Products Division of FAO's Forestry Department has published the first three volumes of a new series of publications focusing specifically on non-wood forest products.
Flavours and fragrances of plant origin. 1995. Non-wood forest products No. 1. Rome, FAO.
This volume contains information about sources, uses, manufacturing processes, markets, research needs and the development potential of nine selected flavours and fragrances of plant origin (Cinnamomum oils; sassafras oil; rosewood oil; eucalyptus oil; sandalwood oil; Litsea cubeba oil; turpentine from pine resin; olibanum (frankincense), myrrh and opopanax resins and oils; and cedarwood oils). The purpose of this publication is to disseminate useful information on this important group of products and thereby to promote their development.
Gum naval stores: turpentine and rosin from pine resin. 1995. Non-wood forest products No. 2. Rome, FAO.
This publication provides information on the technical and economic aspects of pine resin production including the tapping of trees and the distillation of the resin. It also reviews recent trends in world production and markets for gum turpentine and gum rosin and is intended for prospective new producers of turpentine and rosin, and for organizations and individuals appraising projects involving their production.
Report of the Expert Consultation on Non-Wood Forest Products. Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 17-27 January 1995. 1995. Non-wood forest products No. 3. Rome, FAO.
This volume contains the report of the proceedings of the International Expert Consultation on Non-Wood Forest Products held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 17 to 27 January 1995, including a summary of discussions, recommendations and background papers. The report is organized under the four thematic areas considered by the expert consultation: socio-economic benefits; processing and marketing; resource management and environment; and institutional considerations. The 18 background papers give a comprehensive overview of the situation and prospects of non-wood forest products.
FAO has also issued the second volume of Non-wood News, an annual information bulletin on non-wood forest products. In addition to the standard sections - news and notes; products and markets; country compass; and energy corner - this issue of the bulletin contains special features on veld products research in Botswana; international statistics on non-wood forest products; and bamboo.
For copies of these publications, contact:
Non-wood Products and Energy Branch,
Forest Products Division,
Forestry Department,
FAO,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome,
Italy.
A review of qualitative analysis
Qualitative enquiry for rural development: a review. J. Morris and J. Copestake. 1993. Intermediate Technology Publication, London, ODI.
This is an extremely important book which is much more than a review, as promised in the title, but an engagingly and clearly written analysis of issues. Liberally sprinkled with examples from the authors' many years of direct experience in rural development projects, it is of value to social scientists trying to develop appropriate information for planning, implementation and evaluation tasks in rural development, and it directly addresses a number of the issues pertinent to community forestry.
The first task the authors take on is a clarification of what is quantitative and what is qualitative, which they find is less related to the method of obtaining data and more to the point at which information is codified or otherwise simplified. If data are collected in a qualitative form, such as questions asked in interviews, but put into numerical values by the interviewer, they immediately become more brittle and less rich although easier to manipulate. Data become useless if the premise upon which they were codified changes. There are often reasons to mix qualitative with quantitative measures but the role of the data and the users should be clear before specific methods of information collection are put in place. Policy-makers, managers and other decision-makers (including villagers) may need a range of information. How that information is presented will be instrumental in whether it is used. Identifying all stakeholders and their role in providing and using information is essential in managing information for successful rural development.
Important information which is often left out of enquiries (for example, staff morale and turnover, corruption, community hierarchy and even the very need for the intervention itself) is discussed as is the cost of data collection for the project and local staff. Some of the disillusion with rapid rural appraisal and participatory rural appraisal (RRA/PRA) is reviewed including disappointment of villagers when no follow-up is forthcoming, and of practitioners when they are inadequately trained. The authors point out that qualitative methodologies require as much planning, skill and professionalism as quantitative enquiry.
The book examines various methods of obtaining and using information and considers recent literature on trends both towards and away from qualitative information. There are problems with weakness in methodology and skills, there is lack of awareness of the value of this type of research among decision-makers and there is a bureaucratic bias against qualitative information. At the same time there are better ways of handling this type of data and a growing concern over more timely response to information needs. The authors find it is urgent to establish a better balance between types of data as well as better quality and more focus in selecting data.
Three areas mentioned in the book in which better methodologies need to be developed or implemented have been of special concern to those of us working in community forestry. The application of RRA/PRA methods to communities in conflict suggests the need for integrating counselling, mediation and conflict-resolution into the methodologies used. Process goals, social development and the establishment of sustainable systems (or institutions) at the regional or national level are all difficult to monitor and evaluate and need more appropriate tools, indicators and analysis. Better marketing studies are needed before activities are adopted to assure that community participants are not put at risk.
This is a useful book for people wanting to know more about information collection and analysis for development use. The only drawback of this small (97 page) book for those of us working in community forestry is that the authors do not go far enough. They focus their attention on the more conventional target-oriented formal projects although they do point to the need for more work on process goals and the other issues mentioned above. When information is used as a tool for empowerment and local people are intended to be the decision-makers, the data, their presentation and the methods used for their collection and analysis must be different.
M. Hoskins
Community Forestry Unit
Forestry Policy and Institutions Branch
Forestry Policy and Planning Division
Forestry Department,
FAO,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome,
Italy.
The importance of forest plantations in meeting the world's needs for wood as well as in providing other services is well recognized, but few forestry issues are more contentious than the place of species of the genus Eucalyptus in forestry plantation programmes. The late Dr Y.S. Rao, formerly Regional Forest Officer in FAO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, recognized the need for FAO in its role as a "neutral forum" to bring together those representing the polarized positions on the eucalypts in a meeting to examine the benefits and drawbacks of the genus when grown in plantations and to identify those situations where it should, or should not, be used. Under his direction, a Regional Expert Consultation on Eucalyptus was held in Bangkok from 4 to 8 October 1993.
FAO last examined the environmental effects of the eucalypts in FAO Forestry Paper No. 59, The ecological effects of eucalyptus, in 1985. A secondary objective of the meeting, which was held in Bangkok in October 1993, was therefore to update the information contained in this publication.
The Proceedings of the Regional Expert Consultation on Eucalyptus, 4-8 October 1993 has now been published. It consists of keynote papers, prepared by six specialists, which look at the social, economic and environmental effects of the genus globally and in the region, reports of the working groups set up during the consultation to examine various aspects of the growing of the eucalypts and the conclusions and recommendations reached by the meeting. A further 26 papers are summarized in an annex, giving accounts of eucalypts grown in different countries within Southeast Asia. A second volume will include all voluntary papers presented at the meeting.
A third output of the meeting is three annotated bibliographies, covering literature published in English, French and Spanish on the environmental, social and economic impacts of the eucalypts. Literature in the three languages is reviewed from 1985 (the date of Forestry Paper No. 59, The ecological effects of eucalyptus) to 1994.
The annotated bibliographies of the proceedings of the expert consultation are available from:
J.B. Ball,
Senior Forest Officer (Plantations),
Forest Resources Development Service (FORM),
Forestry Department,
FAO,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome,
Italy.
or from
M. Kashio,
Regional Forest Resources Officer,
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
Maliwan Mansion,
Phra Atit Rd,
10200 Bangkok,
Thailand.
Copies of the voluntary papers summarized in the annex to the proceedings may also be obtained through Mr Kashio.
The bibliographies are also available on FAO's computerized World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) which may be accessed on Internet, through the FAO gopher: Environmental, social and economic impacts of eucalypts -Annotated
