Forestry Education in Chile
International Poplar Meetings
Mediterranean Pasture and Fodder Development
Technical Assistance Notes
The need, and opportunities, for men trained in forest practices have long been recognized, as early attempts at providing technicians and certain specific recommendations indicate. The Special Forestry Mission of 1943-44, made possible through co-operation between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Chile's CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción), surveyed the forestry situation and presented its findings, known as the Haig Report after the leader of the project, I. T. Haig, who is now at FAO Headquarters, hut officially entitled The Forest Resources of Chile. According to one of many recommendations, there is a fundamental need for a state supported system of forest education to provide professional foresters and trained workers for the industries and government service. It was suggested that this training might well be at both university and vocational levels.
In the mid-forties, six young Chileans, graduates from the Agronomy School, gambled on a forestry education in the States, received master's degrees from the University of Michigan and returned home. They are currently all leaders in their profession. In 1944, a school, privately endowed, was started at Victoria and offered university-level training for forest engineers. Owing to the lack of finance, it was moved to Temuco in 1948, where some time earlier, the Government's Technical University had initiated a two-year program of vocational training in the skills of sew pilling and logging, but finally became inactive in 1951.
Forest research was recognized when, early in 1951, the Ministry of Lands and Colonization allotted 1,250 acres (506 ha.) of fiscal lands within the Llancacura Forest Reserve to the University of Chile for "experimental exploitation and research in silviculture through the School of Agriculture".
The FAO Mission
The FAO Forestry Mission entered the picture in June 1951. E. I. Kotok, formerly Chief of Research of the U.S. Forest Service, came to Chile as Chief of the Technical Assistance groups with projects in forestry, agriculture, fisheries and nutrition. Within six months, three other foresters joined the staff in an effort to help the Chilean Government to outline plans for the management, protection and administration of public forest lands.
In May 1951, a group, of forestry-minded young men started a forestry journal, the Revista Forestal Chilena which appeared monthly. Late the next year, this same group, joined by certain forest landowners and lumber producers, organized an association of forestry and timber interests the Corporación de la Madera, hired a full-time manager, and absorbed the responsibilities of the publication, the name of which was changed to the Chilena Maderera.
By April 1962 the interest in forestry and the evident need for men trained in this field culminated in a request from the Chilean Government for additional FAO aid in establishing a specific project in forest education. A supplemental agreement was made "to develop a program of study in silviculture and utilization of forest produce in co-operation with the School of Agriculture of the University of Chile and to instruct Chilean students who had undergone a basic training in agriculture".
FAO would provide:
1. three forestry professors for the university program, one to arrive in late 1962 in order to assist in the formulation of the curriculum and two others by January1953;2. one director for the research center;
3. equipment for the demonstration sawmill and logging project.
The Government of Chile would provide:
1. through the University of Chile, funds for the subsistence of the three professors and incidental expenses of the educational project;2. through the Ministry of Lands and Colonization, funds for the expenses of the research center, including the construction and maintenance of the facilities.
Recent Developments
With the assurance of technical training being offered locally, a group of agronomy students became interested in a forestry career and two technical courses were incorporated in the third-year unit of agriculture during 1952 under the supervision of Professor Hernán Valenzuela R., one of the Michigan trained foresters. He was later designated by the University of Chile as the chief Professor of Forestry.
The research center was located on the Llancacura Forest Reserve and incorporated the university research lands.
In September, the first FAO forestry professor, Dean Paul M. Dunn (on leave of absence from Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon) arrived to assist Professor Valenzuela in preparing the forestry curriculum. By December, the outline of forestry courses had been prepared, reviewed and approved by the Faculty of Agriculture and the Council of University Deans. As stated earlier, the program is to be associated with agriculture, HO the proposal is a five-year curriculum with two years of basic agriculture and three years of technical forestry subjects, plus two 10-week periods of practical forestry instruction in summer camps preceding the third and the fourth years. The graduates are to receive forest engineer degrees.
In outlining the course requirements, data from the Accrediting Committee of the Society of American Foresters, the experiences of 50 forestry schools throughput the world and the personal views of the several FAO forestry experts were considered checked and fitted into the Chilean pattern.
The program of courses by years, which is of course subject to adjustment, is as follows:
First and second years, with agriculture
Mathematics
Chemistry:general
inorganic and
physicalStatistics
Soils
Surveying
Botany
Zoology
Meteorology
Geology
Drawing
Plant Physiology
Physics
Microbiology
Third year (first year forestry)
Conservation
Construction
Accounting
Ecology
Development of recreation
Economics
Legislation
Measurements
Genetics
Silviculture
Forest soils
Fourth year
Wood anatomy
Hydrology
Machinery
Applied silviculture
Reforestation
Forest entomology
Management I
Protection
Forest policy
Protection
Fifth year
Management II
Forest economics
Plant pathology
Chemical utilization
Range and wild-life management
Administration
Forest finance
Forest pathology
Seminar
Thesis
Two major modifications in respect of the instructional procedure of the University of Chile were recommended and approved; namely, the adoption of a five-course, two semester system instead of the practice of having the students enroll in ten full-year courses, and the replacement of the single final examination by a minimum of four tests during each semester.
The seven agronomy students already mentioned enrolled in and completed the 1953 summer camp located at the research center, about 500 miles (800 km.) south of Santiago. The instruction covered work in dendrology, reconnaissance, improvements, protection, silviculture and exploitation.
Forestry Classes Started
Formal instruction covering the third and fourth year units was initiated on 23 March at Quinta Normal, the site of the School of Agriculture, with six fourth-year and four third-year students enrolled. There are about a dozen forestry-minded young men in the first and second agriculture groups.
The two other FAO professors assisted with the camp project, namely, C. W. Scott (U.K.) and A. Consigny (France). The University is providing another Chilean forestry professor in addition tot Professor Valenzuela, as well as the instructors in the associated fields.- There is a wealth of instructional talent available to assist with special lectures and courses: the four other FAO forestry experts - E. I. Kotok, A. H. Stein (U.K.); H. L. Person (U.S.A.), director of the research center L. Hartman (Finland); three men from the Department of Forestry Eduardo Torricelli, chief; Victor Bianchi, Inspector of Parks and Reserves and Juan Fuentes, forest engineer, Enrique Rogers, in charge of the Industrial Development Section of CORFO and Jorge Gilchrist, a consulting forest engineer. Carlos Muñoz, director of research for the Ministry of Agriculture and professor of botany who assisted with dendrology at the camp, and instructors from the University of Law, Economics and Engineering Schools are also available for special classes. Earlier, it was urged- that the School of Forestry should be located down in the timber area, but there are evident advantages in associating it with the University of Chile in Santiago.
As noted, the research and field training programs were located at the center in the Llancacura Forest Reserve about 500 miles south of Santiago. These projects are now established, the FAO director arrived in January, the sawmill equipment is on hand, the mill is well along the road to completion and housing for supervisory and instructor personnel is being built. Projects in management and utilization research, as well as special short-term training courses for government and industry foremen and workers, are being out, lined. The university foresters will take an active part in this training program as well as the research.
Future Plans
Currently, attention is being given to the preparation of a brochure covering the program and courses offered at the school. Special lectures and informational material will be available to high schools in several areas. Plans for the future will also include extension-type classes, work with 4-H clubs and information for agriculturists. The curriculum will be reviewed and modified if necessary at the end of the current term.
These courses will be available to students from other Latin-American states and it is expected that Chilean foresters might find employment in neighboring countries. Taking advantage of the skills of certain FAO experts now in Chile, it has been agreed to include special courses in tropical forestry in the curriculum.
The major problem of this and other professional schools is the employment of its graduates, in this case the men who finish in December 1964. It is expected that the current interest in this whole program on the part of forest industry executives, Government officials and the public, will be maintained at its present high level, which should bring about a satisfactory solution to the employment situation. Staff members and students alike appreciate that standards of achievement must be high, as the performance of the first Chilean-trained foresters will set the pattern for the whole endeavor.
Approximately two hundred delegates from nineteen different countries attended the 5th International Poplar Congress, held in Germany from 29 April to 8 May. In the absence of the President of the International Poplar Commission Prof. Guinier, the congress was opened by the Vice-President, Prof. Houtzagers in the presence of His Excellency, the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Niklas, and of numerous high officials of the federal and regional governments. Participants were invited to receptions given by the Minister himself, the Regierunpräsident Dr. Warsch, the Government of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Mayors of Cologne, Baden-Baden and Karlsruhe, and by poplar-using industries and poplar growers.
Papers were delivered concerning the selection of poplars from the ecological point of view, utilization of poplar timber and especially small dimension stock, the production of pulp from poplar wood, the role of poplar in the forest economy and its silvicultural system, poplar growing in the Netherlands with particular reference to the spacing and to monoclonal or polyclonal plantations, and the use of poplar for windbreaks. These were followed by interesting discussions.
The itinerary of the study tour included Münster, Cologne, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden, Augsburg, Moos and Munich, allowing first hard investigation of the place of poplar in the agricultural economy, the use of poplar for the reforestation of areas exploited for lignite by open-cast mining, and the improvement of forests by the introduction of poplar.
Two documentary films were shown, one on the cultivation of poplar in Syria and the other on the mechanization of poplar logging operations in Italy. The excellent administrative and technical preparation of this congress enabled all taking part to see for themselves the different aspects of poplar cultivation in Germany where great importance is attached to it by public authorities and where large-scale planting programs are being considered.
In the course of the Congress, the 7th Session of the International Poplar Commission was held at Cologne and Baden-Baden, on 1 and 4 May respectively. About 90 delegates were present from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, U. K., and Yugoslavia. The International Union of Forest Research Organisations was represented.
In the course of its meetings, the Commission approved of an outline for an annual report to be submitted by the various national commissions. The necessity of obtaining comparable results in experiments was emphasized, and it was decided to submit for the consideration of the national commissions the papers prepared by Mr. Schreiner and by the National Commission of the Netherlands on this subject. After comments have been received, its conclusions will later be examined by a committee of specialists from the Permanent Committee, in collaboration with the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. The results of the study will be communicated to the Commission at its next session in 1955.
Owing to the growing importance of poplar wood in national economies and international trade, the Comission expressed the wish that member governments should introduce poplar wood as a special item in their customs nomenclature, and recommended that this question be placed on the agenda of the national commissions. A select committee was entrusted with the study of the best means of
(i) adapting the poplar nomenclature already adopted by the International Commission to the International Code of nomenclature for cultivated plants approved by the 6th International Horticultural Congress held in London in September 1952;(ii) of establishing the registration of poplar names.
The Commission welcomed and accepted the invitation made by the head of the Spanish delegation to hold the next meeting in Spain in 1955, which would enable the Commission to study Mediterranean poplars in their natural habitat. It was proposed that a regional meeting be held in the Near East next year. The chief of the French delegation hoped that the 1957 Session could be held in France, to mark the 10th anniversary since the Commission's inception in that country.
The second meeting of the FAO Working Party on Mediterranean Pasture and Fodder Development was held at Algiers, Algeria, from 28 April to 2 May 1953, and was attended by delegates from twelve countries: Algeria, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom (Cyprus); the United States sent several observers, and more than 60 technicians attended. The Forestry Division of FAO was represented by W. R. Chapline.
The session, which was marked by the active participation of the delegates who showed great interest in all the problems under discussion, should give stimulus to the research and other phases of work so urgently needed.
Major conclusions of interest to foresters included recommendations that there should be:
1. increased study of means of improving natural pastures or ranges, especially through protection from grazing and range reseeding, and particularly in arid and semiarid zones;2. standardization of methods for the determination of range condition or forage productivity and carrying capacity;
3. assembly by FAO of existing maps of the Mediterranean countries, representing the principal ecological factors such as precipitation, soils, floristic zones, etc.;
4. increased acreage of fodder crops and pastures in arabic rotations, including those on irrigated lands;
5. establishment of reserves of hay, silage, etc., including fodder trees for better animal nutrition throughout the year, to meet shortages in drought years, and to assist in reducing the pressure on natural grazing lands;
6. adoption of a uniform method of testing, selection and multiplication of pasture and forage species.
The test plots of the Experiment Station at Maison Carrée were examined and an air and bus trip was made to Laghouat on the edge of the Sahara, to the rural improvement center at Tadjmout - where alfalfa and other forage is being produced and stored for emergencies - and to the sheep breeding, irrigation and arid land experiment station at Tadmit.
Owing to financial limitations in the last few months, Technical Assistance activities have had to be restricted to missions already in the field and to new projects of such urgency or economic value as to justify a special effort. It is anticipated that several missions will have to be terminated earlier than originally expected. There has been a revision of Technical Assistance policy and a new basis has been established for future programs. The cessation of activities in some countries is not of course, of a permanent nature and in the meantime there will be discussions with governments, on the basis of the preliminary findings of experts, of new programs and projects which will be implemented as soon as the financial situation permits.
The mission that has been working under D. T. Griffiths (U.K.) in Mexico for over two years is about to submit its conclusions, having already made a number of very valuable technical reports. One member, P. Poyry (Finland), an expert in forest industries, will forthwith be used in a United Nations Central American Integration Program in co-operation with E. Schreuder (Netherlands) of the Honduras Mission, who will deal with purely forestry problems, while E. Hiilia (Finland) will examine pulp and paper production prospects.
E. H. Swain (Australia) is concluding the first part of his mission to Ethiopia after the Government has issued a number of proclamations which will serve as a basis for the country's forest policy and for the organization of its forest service.
E. Uhart (France) and W. Varossieau (Netherlands) have completed their mission in Iran, while V. Carocci Buzi (Italy), expert on grazing problems, will continue his mission in that country until the beginning of 1964. It is probable that some activities will be resumed when the equipment recommended for purchase by these experts has been delivered.
E. Moser (France) is continuing his work in Libya and has submitted a draft forest law; in Iraq, the poplar expert, E. Allegri (Italy), has finished his assignment, while L. Pryor (Australia), a eucalypt specialist, continues his activities. M. van Bottenburg (Netherlands) is still at work in Syria.
J. W. Gonggryp (Netherlands) will shortly submit his report on inventory problems in Thailand and his conclusions will be implemented with the assistance of FAO, starting in January 1964.
In Latin America, efforts have been concentrated on Brazil and Chile but are also to be intensively pursued in Paraguay. Under the direction of E. I. Kotok (U.S.A.), a new forestry school has-been established in Chile by P. Dunn (U.S.A.), C. W. Scott (U.K.) and A. Consigny (France) while in the south L. Person (U.S.A.), H. Stein (U.K.) and L. Hartman (Finland), having received part of the equipment, are organizing a National Training Center for management, logging and industry.
In Brazil, R. Gachot (France), as team leader of the large mission for the development of the Amazon, has returned to his post and is to prepare a forest policy for that region and organize a training center for sawmill technicians. K.P. McGrath (Australia) will join him before the end of the year to direct inventory operations, for which he will have to recruit several other specialists, and to organize a logging training center. In the south, L. Rodger (Australia) is advising the Government on silviculture problems of the Araucaria. E. Saari (Finland) has completed his mission to Paraguay and submitted a general report, the conclusions of which will be given effect by J. French (U.S.A.) who is to continue to act as team leader there to a group of experts on tropical silviculture, wood processing industries and marketing.
In Haiti, V. Burns (U.K.) has been instrumental in Betting the Government to adopt proposals for the basis of a sound protection and reforestation policy, and is now engaged on specific development work in the Artibonite valley and in logging in the pine forests.
In Honduras, E. Schreuder (Nether. lands) will continue his forest policy mission and also implement the recommendations of W. Sandermann (Germany) on resin production.
In the Far East, C. Letourneux (France) is organizing a demonstration mechanical reforestation center in Ceylon, and J. McVeigh (U.K.) is advising the Government on the utilization of modern machine tools. In Burma, K. Miedler (Austria) and an assistant are developing seasoning, and preservation methods and new wood-processing techniques that will contribute to a solution of the housing problem. In Indonesia, L. Cermak (France), an expert on mechanical logging, assumed a new post on 1 July.
In co-operation whith the Government of the Philippines, H. G. Keith (Canada) has successfully organized a large logging training center; at the moment he is advising on forest policy and will in particular assist the FAO-United Nations Technical Assistance Administration pulp and paper mission. A. Hviid (Denmark), S. Bugge and B. Haaheim (Norway), the three forestry officers in this mission, have submitted their reports.
In India, H. Huber (Switzerland) has finished his work on logging and timber transport. H. Seitz (Germany) is assisting the Dehra Dun Institute staff on wood mechanics and wood structure problems. The conclusions of the J. Von Monroy (Austria) mission to East Pakistan are now being implemented in co-operation with the United States Technical Co-operation Administration.
FAO continues to be active in Austria, particularly in the field of research, through M. Näslund (Sweden) and G. Hunt (U.S.A.), and in Yugoslavia, where H. Leibundgut (Switzerland) started on a new mission at the beginning of the year and whither J. de Vaissière (France) has gone to advise the Government on the co-ordination of the forest policies of the Republics of the Union.
The years 1952 and 1953 saw the development of many other activities, particularly studies on the prospects for expanding and decentralizing paper and pulp production. The following specialists have been engaged in field work:
H. Baars (Netherlands): Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Brazil;
H. Forrest (U.S.A.), W. Barbour (U.S.A.): Ecuador, Peru, Colombia.
H. Mueller-Clemm (Germany): Mexico;
R. Runkel (Germany): Paraguay;
J. Messines (France), R. Maronne (Germany): Turkey, Iraq;
A. Sundelin (Sweden), R. von Dueckelmann (Austria): Greece, Portugal;
A. Sundelin (Sweden): Pakistan, India;
R. Maronne (Germany): Laos, Cambodia. Indonesia, Thailand;
J. von Monroy (Austria): Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia;
Fellowships
Some 32 fellowships have already been granted in 1963 to technicians from Austria, Brazil, Ethiopia, Haiti India, Iran, Thailand and Yugoslavia but, here too, activities have had to be curtailed. Particularly valuable results have been obtained from courses in the Netherlands (Delft School for aerial surveying), in Cyprus Australia and Puerto Rico, as well as at North American and European forestry schools.
