Conserving resources
Wood consumption needs
Long-term implications
"I feel like a guest after the wedding ceremony is over," said Chairman Sir T. Vijayaraghavachariar, in his closing address at the Mysore Conference. The delegates put this sentiment into different words, but all were agreed that this International Forestry and Timber Utilization Conference for Asia and the Pacific was an essential first step: it had laid the foundations for future harmonious work together.
The Conference, sponsored by FAO, was held in Mysore, India, from 28 March to 8 April. Ten countries of the region were officially represented. Five other countries and two international organizations sent observers.
This was the first intergovernmental meeting ever held to consider the especial forestry problems of Asia and the Pacific, and, before adjourning, the delegates agreed that each delegation should bring the Conference report and recommendations to the prompt attention of its government. The delegates also recorded the declaration "that any failure by a government to accord due recognition to the great value of forest resources will have disastrous consequences for the economy of the country."
The governments of all the countries of the region were urged to join in forming a Forestry and Forest Products Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The commission should consist of accredited representatives of all interested countries, and it should meet as and when necessary (1) to co-ordinate matters of common interest to the region; (2) to examine particular problems in the fields of forestry and forest products, both of immediate urgency and long-term significance; and (3) to make recommendations to governments through the Council of FAO.
The Conference also recommended that the Director-General of FAO set up a forestry and forest products working group in the region, to be composed of staff members of the Organization's Division of Forestry and Forest Products. The primary task assigned to this working group should be to press for the adoption by governments of the appropriate recommendations of the Conference.
The Conference emphasized the importance of forestry in raising living standards, noting that "In any program designed to substitute abundance for scarcity, forests and the practice of forestry must play a key role." A resolution urged governments "so to manage their forests as to serve rural and urban populations and thus enlist the support of the masses for the implementation of a sound policy for the protection and development of forests. "
Recommendations of the Conference centered on two general topics: conserving resources for present inhabitants and for posterity, and meeting immediate wood consumption needs.
Three of the vital resources of nature - the forests themselves, soil, and water - are protected by good forestry practices or are wasted by poor usage. In the words of the Conference, "The wasting away of the soil through erosion is one of the most alarming problems in many countries of the region. It is a menace which threatens the welfare of millions of people and which requires urgent nationwide and indeed international effort to combat its dangers."
The Conference stressed the disastrous results of erosion - the decrease in soil productivity; the precipitation of waters into streams and streams into all-too-frequent floods which, depositing and silt, wreck irrigation works, impair the usefulness of reservoirs, and reduce the navigability of rivers; the lowering of the water table and lessening of surface water supplies generally for irrigation purposes.
To help fight the menace of erosion the Conference urged each government of the region to set up a central authority to co-ordinate the planning and execution of land utilization and soil conservation measures. It suggested the enaction of appropriate legislation to provide for powers to control land use and enforce the observance of soil conservation measures and sound forestry practices on all lands, both state and private, where they are needed. It advocated setting up demonstration areas for the dual purpose of educating the public in the advantages of soil conservation and good forest management and of providing practical training for technical staffs.
Where conservation in the headwaters of great rivers is a matter of common concern to several countries, the Conference urged those countries to combine their efforts and to agree upon practical measures for the solution of their common problems.
The fact that fuelwood and building materials are the forest products most urgently needed in the region today was stressed by the Conference. Lack of fuelwood and charcoal in some parts of the region has resulted in enforced use of dried animal dung as fuel, thus robbing the land of critically needed fertilizer. Lack of an adequate and cheap supply of sawn timber, poles, and other building materials is lowering the standard of living of many Asian peoples, impeding postwar reconstruction, and adversely affecting the housing of displaced persons.
With these urgent needs in mind, the Conference agreed that in the "deficit" countries immediate steps must be taken to increase the establishment of village fuelwood reserves of quick-growing species and that small holders must be encouraged to set aside at least a small part of their land for growing fuelwood, poles, and timber. As it was stated by the Conference, "The urgency of this problem must continually be brought to the notice of governments, because failure to find a solution may have serious repercussions on social life and on agriculture."
The Conference suggested that the governments help to increase fuelwood and charcoal supplies by subsidizing transport from areas of surplus production to areas of acute scarcity; by installing modern charcoal kilns to reduce waste to a minimum; by passing and enforcing legislation requiring sound management of privately-owned woodlands, and, where such woodlands are not already being worked for the benefit of the community as a whole, by assuming responsibility for their proper management; and by afforestation schemes, such as planting fast-growing species on all suitable state lands, including, where feasible, strips bordering canals, roads, and railways.
There is also a marked shortage of sawn timber, building materials, and forest products of all other kinds, and, as the Conference pointed out, "Purchasing power is generally low and does not permit of a consumption rate per person which is compatible with a reasonable standard of living. Production is not at present sufficiently great to provide forest products at prices within the means of the vast masses of the population." Reasons for this inadequate production are considered to be: (1) harvesting and utilization of only a few favored species; (2) inadequate attention, in some countries, to efficient silvicultural treatment; (3) incomplete utilization, both in the forest and in the process of conversion, of such species as are being harvested; and (4) lack of modern extraction and milling facilities and lack of adequate communications and transport.
Governments were asked by the Conference to draw up specific lists of their requirements in forestry equipment and logging and milling machinery, and to apprise FAO of their requirements. FAO was asked to review the timber import requirements and export availabilities of the various countries in the region with a view to arriving at a reasonable balance between over-all demand and supplies. It was agreed by the Conference that trade policies of some countries need overhauling, and that trade promotion should be pushed forward by governments with vigor and farsightedness.
The solution of the region's two outstanding problems of immediate urgency - conserving natural resources and supplying domestic needs for fuelwood and building materials - also have long-term implications, the Conference believed. It summed up the measures to be taken in combating these problems: "Bold schemes of protection and reforestation of the headwaters of great rivers are needed - projects to combat soil erosion, programs of afforestation, and measures to effect flood control. Only thus can food production and agriculture be made secure, water supplies be safeguarded, and living conditions be ameliorated.... An international approach is necessary.
"Countries... also need to accept and adopt new concepts of utilization of forest resources, and to secure intensive output of forest products by means of integrated industries. Traditional methods of management certainly have their place, but research and scientific progress offer new horizons to the forester. Forestry and silviculture are not ends in themselves but only means to produce, on a sustained yield basis, the kinds and quantities of forest products needed by the people, by industry, and by trade.
"The Conference urges all countries, even at this time of economic and political stress, to draw up well-considered plans for the conservation, expansion, and development of their forests."
At the final plenary session, Marcel Leloup, Director of the Forestry and Forest Products Division and personal representative of Mr. Norris E. Dodd, Director-General of FAO, concluded, "I would ask you not to forget that you have only agreed to a program of work. You have recognized the difficulties and you have also decided on practical solutions. But it is now that the work starts. It is now through our mutual attack on these problems that the real fruit of this Conference will be borne. It is now your task to carry out what you have decided should be done. FAO will gladly take up its share in the tasks you have set. Working together, I feel sure that our objectives will, in the words of our venerable Chairman, Sir T. V., be 'harmoniously consummated'."
