March, 1954
An International Review of Forestry and Forest Products
FAO - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
UNASYLVA is prepared by the Forestry Division and published quarterly in English French and Spanish by the Documents Service at FAO's Headquarters in Rome. FAO does riot hold itself responsible for statements or views expressed by authors of signed articles. UNASYLVA may be obtained from the sales agents listed above on this page. Annual subscription. US $2.50 or 12s. 6d. Single copy 65 cents or 3s. 3d. Rates are payable in local currencies when orders are placed through local sales agents A hill series of back numbers is still available.
Cover Photograph: Italy. - The "white death" in the Val di Rhêmes, Italian Alps, caught in an impressive photograph. FAO comes into the field of avalanche control through its concern with erosion and forestry. Usually trees can do little to control an avalanche after the snow has begun to slide. The snow will first rush between the trees and then, as it gathers speed and weight, it will take the trees with it. But extensive tree plantings where the avalanches start can anchor the snow and so prevent them. Above the treeline the control measures must be engineering works. Many avalanches can be prevented and where prevention is not possible the time they will occur can usually be accurately foretold.
A first international conference to discuss protection from avalanches will be held in Switzerland this summer under the sponsorship of FAO.
Photograph by courtesy of O. Bérard.
AN ESTABLISHED INSTITUTION
"To me FAO is now an established institution within which the shared interests of all member countries can find expression. We must devote concerted effort toward keeping this institution strong, competent, alert and active. It must be prepared to advise, to lead and to act. The difficulties we face must never be permitted to dim our vision of the objectives we aim to achieve. Let us strive jointly to aid the Organization in even more clearly relating its functions to our aspirations, in both the production and distribution aspects of the goals we seek."
With these words Philip V. Cardon of the United States responded to the recent Conference of FAO after he had been unanimously appointed as new Director-General of the Organization.
Describing the growth of FAO over the five-and-a-half years of his stewardship, the retiring Director-General, Norris E. Dodd, likened the position of FAO to that of an airplane: "When an airplane lifts from its runway," he said, "there is a critical period when it must be held in straight, level flight to stabilize itself before it takes up its cruising height and speed. In this sense FAO is now airborne. Adjust the fuel supply - that is, the budget - to the load you walls FAO to lift and carry. Stabilize it when you have determined the best cruising height and speed. Give us all the load the plane can carry, but give us also the support to carry it."
The Conference responded to his appeal by raising the level of the Organization's regular income (aside from technical assistance funds which are allocated by the Technical Assistance Board in New York) to $6 million for each of the next two years. Not a very large sum but at least a token "that among the world's nations confidence has continued, and has grown, in the vitality and usefulness of FAO."
With the recent addition of Iran, Libya and Yemen, membership of FAO now stands at 71 nations - nations that have joined together through FAO to give a large part of mankind a hope for better times ahead. As Mr. Dodd expressed it in his farewell speech: "The ideas behind FAO were sound; they are sound. FAO is the best implement of peace, properly supported, that any government has in its whole arsenal; better than arms or planes or tanks or guns."
This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software and careful manual recorrection. Even if the quality of digitalisation is high, the FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.
The economist intelligence unit, London
Paper's
new raw materials
J. S. Boyce - Professor of Forest Pathology, Yale University,
U.S.A.
Introduction
of exotic trees
L. J. Rogers, FAO Technical Assistance Officer
Reforestation
of Paraná Pine
Franz Heske, Professor at Hamburg and Istanbul Universities
Rehabilitation
of arid areas in Turkey
Commodity report - Fiberboards
Production
Trade
Prices
Consumption
Fishing boat design
Special FAO postage stamp issue
Seventh session of the FAO conference
Protection from avalanches
Working party on coppice cutting
French manufacturers
German manufacturers
English manufacturers
Italian manufacturers
Swiss manufacturers
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Industry and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
Four FAO agricultural studies...
... and other publications in demand
Recent FAO forestry publications
