European Forestry Commission and ECE Timber Committee
Possible raw materials for pulp in Indonesia
Technical panel on wood chemistry
International chestnut commission
Joint meeting
European Forestry Commission
ECE timber committee
Last October among European foresters and timber experts were held in Rome. There was a meeting of the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, for which ECE and FAO provided a joint staff; the sixth session of FAO's European Forestry Commission; and a joint meeting of the two bodies.
Membership of ECE differs somewhat from that of FAO and the joint meeting resulted in representatives from 23 countries being present including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (Federal Republic), Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, land, United Kingdom, United States of America, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Yugoslavia.
The meeting was opened with statements by the Director-General of FAO, Norris E. Dodd, and Gunnar Myrdal, the Executive Secretary of ECE. Thereafter, under the effective chairmanship of M. du Vignaux (France) the delegates gave thorough consideration to the report of the working party of experts which had met in the summer of this year to draw conclusions from the study European Timber Trends and Prospects, and put forward recommendations for the consideration of the two parent bodies.
Representatives at the meeting concluded that, since it was the deliberate policy of all European governments to make the fullest use of natural resources in order to achieve the highest living standards for its peoples, it was desirable to maintain timber in the important role that it had traditionally played in Europe's economy. As a short-term policy, this involved increasing forest output through a variety of measures, many of which were already being applied in different countries, and increasing imports of soft sawn wood from the Soviet Union and other regions. In the long run, it meant extending afforestation and improving forest management in order to provide against the anticipated long-term increases in consumption.
The following recommendations were addressed to governments of European countries, to the Executive Secretary of ECE or to the Director-General of FAO.
National felling estimates and actual cut
National felling estimates and actual cut should be kept under review by the United Nations bodies and governments were requested to submit annual figures.
European countries should re-examine their working plane and national felling estimates and explore the possibility of increasing fellings by the various methods suggested, in the study, taking into account the probability of a modification in the relative needs by industry for wood of various dimensions. Increasing fellings must be envisaged within the framework of effective silviculture.
While recognizing that the end desired might be attained by different means in different countries and even in separate forest areas, attention was drawn to the enormous possibilities offered in this respect by systematic thinnings in forests where for various reasons, intensive silviculture had not as yet been practised.
National forest inventories
Accurate national estimates of annual cut were necessary and it was desirable to collate such estimates for all countries of Europe. This called for bringing national forest inventories up to date at suitable intervals. Satisfaction was expressed with the measures taken in certain countries to overcome the obstacles recognized as being inherent in making nation-wide inventories. The Soviet delegate described the methods used in the U.S.S.R. in which maximum use is made of aerial photography. The date of 1 January 1957 was set as that by which all European countries should have made available the results of national inventories completed since 1947.
Afforestation and reforestation
Present plans in Europe were still 32-35 percent short of the desirable goals suggested in the study while there appeared to be still 8 million hectares of idle land not covered by any plan. In many instances it was leek of adequate financing that impeded the realization of a valuable project on a sufficient scale or slowed down progress. Governments were asked to make every effort to expand to the maximum their programs for afforestation, reforestation and forest improvement.
Intensive silviculture
Possibilities for increasing forest yields lay largely in the application to forests of knowledge already gained from research rather than in the development of new research. Forest services should be expanded and provided with adequate funds for investments in projects promoting timber production and incidentally likely to afford protective influences. Governments were asked to promote the development and improvement of transportation, especially in mountainous regions.
Technical improvements
There were many other ways of increasing forest yields and on a number of these an exchange of ideas had already taken place in various committees or working parties of FAO, ECE, and OEEC (Organization for European Economic Cooperation). Some matters were of interest to the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. Each agency should pursue work in its own proper sphere and avoid overlapping. Particular attention should be devoted to studies aimed at reducing waste in the forest and at ensuring the fuller use of by-products of the wood-using industries. Much could be accomplished in this field in a short space of time.
High priority should also be given to such matters as seed certification and exchange, increased logging efficiency, grading rules, improved quality of sawn wood and other forest products, better wood utilization, and the utilization by industry of types and sizes of wood not hitherto normally used.
Statistics
The timber trends study had revealed once again the inadequacy of existing forestry and timber statistics for international use. The meeting invited the joint FAO/ECE staff to prepare, as soon as practicable, a long-term program for the progressive improvement of statistics. It suggested that a working party of experts should review the series of timber prices collected by the secretariat and decide on a range of European price statistics for regular publication.
Trade
The need for increased imports of sawn timber by Europe was reviewed at the meeting, and the Canadian statement was noted, that the estimates contained in the study prospective North American exports were too low and that from 400-500 thousand standards might be made available, should it prove that Europe had need of that amount. Mr. Myrdal announced his intention of convening a further trade consultation in Geneva next spring, and he promised to bear in mind the conclusions of this meeting in the course of his regular contacts with Member Governments.
Further procedure
The members of the joint meeting addressed thanks to the Director General of FAO and to the Executive Secretary of ECE for having provided the necessary opportunities for joint consideration of policy problems of concern to all those who were connected with the conservation of forests and with the production, conversion, and distribution of forest products. They invited the joint staffs of ECE and FAO to keep the European forestry and timber situation under continuous review and to publish from time to time revised statements and appraisals of the European timber situation. In this connection representatives at the joint meeting expressed appreciation of the work done by the staff in the preparation of the timber trends study and in assembling a unique range of timber statistics, and recorded the view that the study was an indispensable work of reference. The Executive Secretary of ECE and the Director-General of FAO were requested to convene joint working parties as necessary in pursuance of the recommendations made in the report and, if and when needed, to call another joint meeting of the European Timber Committee and the European Forestry Commission in consultation with their respective chairmen and vice-chairmen.
The European Forestry Commission, in separate session under the chairmanship of E. Saari (Finland), first reviewed the annual reports on forest policy received from Member Governments. At the conclusion of the discussions, it was decided that the special topic for report in 1954 should be small forest properties their management and improvement. Such small forests make up a substantial proportion of the whole forest domain in Europe.
General items
The Commission had for the first time received special reports on the incidence and control of forest fires. Satisfaction was expressed with the developments reported in different countries both in regard to direct control and preventive measures. It appeared that fire, as a forest problem, was receiving proper attention in Europe.
As regards pests and diseases, concern was expressed over the spread of Endothia parasitica and Hyphantria cunea, However, since the International Chestnut Commission was directly concerned with control of the former and the European Plant Protection Organization was actively engaged in regard to the latter, it was felt that the Commission itself could not profitably recommend any new action.
On the subject of forestry films, the Commission charged the staff with examining how beat the distribution and exchange between countries of forestry films could be fostered. It wee suggested that the organizing committee for the fourth World Forestry Congress should try to arrange a film festival on that occasion.
The report and publications of the Commission's committee on logging techniques and training of forest workers (see Unasylva, Vol. VII, No. 2) was unanimously approved.
Afforestation and reforestation
A special working party met prior to the Commission meeting to review reports on planting programs submitted by European governments. Projects completed outside the forest proper in the countries concerned amounted to 672,000 hectares between 1947 and 1951. Plans envisaged afforestation of nearly 6.5 million hectares over the coming years. One of the real obstacles to making big planting programs effective was that insufficient attention was given to social repercussions. New forests raised many problems affecting in some instances the whole way of rural life and agricultural practices. Progress in one direction could not be made unless there was also provision for progress in other directions - education and amenity facilities, housing, training, and so on. Foresters needed broad vision to make their projects practicable.
The Timber Committee carried out its periodic review of the European timber market for the current and coming year on the basis of facts and figures supplied by all the principal trading countries. It was the first time the Committee had met elsewhere than at ECE headquarters in Geneva. The discussions were in private under the chairmanship of M. du Vignaux (France). J. O. Söderhjelm (Finland) was vice-chairman.
Sawn softwood outlook
While no marked change in the level of total demand for sawn softwood was expected this coming year, the supplies from European countries available for export in 1954 seemed likely to fall somewhat short of the 1953 figure. European availabilities were estimated to reach 2.25 to 2.6 million, with reduced availabilities from Finland and Sweden because of decreased stocks, likely to be partly made up by increased availabilities in other European exporting countries. Total availabilities from European and overseas sources in 1954 were estimated at between 2.8 and 3.3 million standards, leaving an apparent deficit of 200,000 to 300,000 standards, a figure the Committee considered within the margin of error of the estimates.
Past experience suggested that, in the event of European demand reaching the levels forecast, additional European supplies would be forthcoming to diminish the statistical gap, while imports required from other continents would lie within the range estimated as likely to be available in Canada, the United States and Brazil for export to Europe.
Timber prices
The level of prices during 1953 remained almost unchanged. The delegate of the Soviet Union explained that the reductions in some U.S.S.R. timber export prices in August referred to certain remaining stocks intended for delivery in 1953 and should not be regarded as indicative of the general course of prices.
There was some discussion as to whether the existing price level offered the possibility of enduring stability. Several importing countries expressed concern about the steady advances in the replacement of timber by other materials, notably in the construction and packaging fields. The anxieties (and hesitation) expressed by Western European importers were fully understood by exporting countries, but it was pointed out that in several exporting countries production costs had risen more rapidly than had corresponding export prices and there was no reason to expect that the impending log buying season would result in raw material prices that would permit reductions in the prices of finished goods. Technical improvements both in wood production and wood use should in time contribute to resolving this dilemma.
Pitprops and pulpwood
The pitprop supply situation in 1953 had substantially improved over expectations, and for the year 1954 an apparent surplus of 380,000 cubic meters was indicated. Pulpwood import requirements and export availabilities showed a different situation. The figures presented indicated a rather substantial apparent deficit between import requirements and export availabilities for both 1953 and 1954.
The Timber Committee urged "early progress in placing forward contracts (for pitprops and pulpwood) which experience has shown to stimulate production... It should be borne in mind that the main production of roundwood in the exporting countries is limited to a relatively short period and there is little possibility of a rapid response to sudden changes in demand."
A sixth meeting: of the FAO Technical Panel on Wood Chemistry was held at the Swedish Forest Products Laboratory in Stockholm, 27-28 July, with 37 members, special consultants and guests present from 14 countries. The meeting was timed to precede the XIII International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
This time the main theme of the discussions was wood saccharification, which not only offers a potentially important outlet for using wood waste and inferior material but also can produce valuable byproducts such as liquid fuel, plastics and foodstuffs.
The main purpose of the meeting, which was organized and arranged by Professors H. Mark and Erik Hägglund, was to give advice and guidance to FAO on the application of the latest findings of research in this field, and the discussions produced a wide area of agreement on both the potentialities and limitations of wood saccharification and its products.
The following papers were submitted to the meeting as a basis for discussion:
E. Hägglund - The development of wood saccharification by the Rheinau process.
K. Schoenemann - The new Rheinau wood saccharification process.
J. A. Hall - Recent work on wood hydrolysis in the United States.
H. Rockstroh - Technical and economic aspects of the Scholler process.
J. Savard - Saccharification of tropical woods.
O. Centola - Investigations on wood saccharification in Italy.
H. W. Giertz - Saccharification in connection with wood defibrating.
O. Heijkenskjöld - Bakers yeast.
A. J. Wiley, J. M. Holderby, K. W. Fries - Food and feed yeast in the U.S.A.
E. Schmidt - Production and utilization of fodder-yeast in Germany.
S. Norfeldt - Fodder cellulose or wood pulp for feeding farm animals.
J. B. Martin - Research spent sulphite liquor in agricultural uses.
H. Burström. - Sulphite waste liquor as fertilizer in Sweden.
J. A. Hall - Polyhydric alcohols from wood.
The Panel also devoted some time to reviewing progress in wood resin chemistry and chemigroundwood, papers on these topics being submitted by Emil Ott and E.C. Jahn respectively. F. C. Palazzo presented a paper on sawdust for synthetic textiles and plastics.
Members of the Panel are nominated by governments; they serve, however, not as governmental spokesmen but as technicians and are free to put forward their personal points of view. Guests at meetings attend, of course, only in their individual capacities as specialist advisers.
The following were present at Stockholm (members of the Technical Panel on Wood Chemistry are marked with an asterisk): Austria, A. von Wacek *; Belgium, E. Castagne *; Canada, G. B. Purves *; Finland, O.V.A. Ant-Wuorinen *, B. R. Nybergh *; France, J. Savard *, Germany, K. Freudenberg *, F. Reiff, H. Rockstroh, E. Schmidt, K. Schoenemann; Israel, M. Lewin *; Italy, G. Centola *, F .C. Palazzo *; Netherlands, J. A. Duiker, Norway, Ö. Bryde *, Sweden H. Burström, H. W. Giertz, G. Heijkenskjöld, E. Hägglund *, S. Norfeldt, E. Adler, O. Brauns, K. B. Steenberg, Switzerland, F. Conradin, A. F. Frey-Wyssling *; United Kingdom, R. H. Farmer *, L. C. S. Hebbs, G. F. Underhay; United States, E. C. Jahn *, H. F. Lewis *, H. Mark *, E. Ott *, W. F. Holzer, J. Pew, E. P. Wiley, L. F. McBurney; FAO, E. Moerath.
Representatives from France, Italy, Portugal. Spain and the United States attended the second session of the International Chestnut Commission and participated in a study tour in Spain and Portugal from 18 to 30 June 1953.
Organized by the Directorate-General of Forests and the Directorate of State Forests, Madrid, and the Directorate-General of Forest Services, Lisbon, the study tour began with a visit to the areas of coppice chestnut around Gerona, in Catalonia, which supply wood for the manufacture of barrel staves. The itinerary next covered the fruit-producing chestnut areas in Biscaya, Santander, Asturias and Galicia. In Galicia, it was seen that direct control methods were having some success in protecting the stands against the ink disease caused by Phytophthora cambivora, in other regions, however the loss of entire areas from this disease had led to the substitution of chestnut by other species such as Pinus insignia in Biscaya and Eucalyptus globulus in the Santander region. In Portugal, visits were made to the magnificent fruit-bearing chestnut groves in the provinces of Tras-os-Montes and Beiras, where the trees are generally grown in association with agricultural crops.
The participants were able to see instances of successful treatment against ink disease by copper salts (Urquijo method) in both Spain and Portugal, and they visited laboratories where work on the selection of resistant forms is being carried out, for instance the phytopathology station at Corunna and the Biological Mission at Pontevedra, where interesting studies on the vegetative reproduction of chestnut are being made.
The business meetings of the Commission were held at Santander 'and on the Island of La Toja, Spain, and at Bussaco, Portugal. The closing meeting at Bussaco was attended by Mr. M. Victoria Pires, the Portuguese Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture.
A. Oudin, Inspector-General of Forests, Director of the School of Waters and Forests (Ecole des Eaux et Forêts), Nancy, who is chairman of the Commission, conducted the proceedings, assisted by the vice-chairman, A. Biraghi, Professor of Forest Pathology at the University of Florence. R. G. Fontaine represented the Director of FAO's Forestry Division.
The Commission was able to note that, although the threat of the ink disease and chestnut blight in Europe was still serious, there were some encouraging signs. Some strains of Castanea sativa showing a definite degree of resistance to the blight have been discovered, and hybrids resistant to ink disease are being raised successfully in several countries. Work along these lines will be continued.
The Commission also discussed problems arising from the drift of populations away from areas where the chestnut groves can no longer provide a means of livelihood. Rehabilitation plans were recommended for such areas involving in particular concentration of the growing of fruit-producing chestnuts on selected areas where careful cultivation and high-grade production could be assured, and the reallocation of other surplus land now under chestnut to more profitable uses, which might be either agriculture or forestry, according to the local economies.
