by
Tapio Järvinen
FTP International Ltd.
Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
The demand for environmental training in forestry has increased strongly among our clients. FTP International is in a process of preparing guidelines which are expected to help in areas, where traditional forestry trainers have only limited experience. The guidelines will create a forestry related general background on environmental management and environmental impact assessment.
The knowledge on general environmental matters is important when foresters are discussing with other groups of the society whose knowledge of technical forestry issues are limited but who might be very well informed about general environmental issues. The training should prepare the forester for these discussions and possible conflicts. The basic knowledge of environmental matters will also change the attitudes of the trainee and lead to better practices in forestry. A deeper knowledge of environmental management and environmental impact assessment is only needed by persons who specialise in that expertise area.
General learning objectives:
The trainees:
_ are able to understand the vast number of factors affecting the environment;
_ know the national key environmental issues;
_ can discuss and assess the environmental status of forestry operations;
_ are able to discuss and preliminarily assess the potential environmental impacts of community development or company development plans with concerned groups;
_ are motivated to continue environmental studies.
Operational Guidelines
The guidelines will cover training in environmental management and environmental impact assessment in:
_ forest management planning;
_ forest plantations;
_ forest harvesting;
_ transport and road construction; and
_ sawmilling and woodworking.
GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Guidelines for Environmental Management cover the assessing (reviewing) of current forestry practices and making decisions to the effect whether improvements are needed as well as preparing company specific instructions to improve the environmental performance of the organisation.
Foundation for environmental management in forestry is laid by the principles expressed in forest management plans or natural resources management plans as well as in local environmental guidelines.
GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Environmental Impact Assessment deals with planned activities and expected future impacts.
The training manual is intended to guide the teachers and students in the preliminary environmental impact assessment. These guidelines are not sufficient for a full assessment of extensive forestry projects.
Checklists
The following are two examples of checklists which are part of the guidelines. The checklists give an idea about the different topics discussed in the guidelines. For each target group the checklists must be reconstructed; the examples only show a limited number of factors to be assessed in a real situation.
The first version of the training guidelines are expected to be ready in November 1995. More information from FTP International, PO Box 484, 00101 Helsinki, Finland.
