FAO is the first the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations to be honored with a special postage stamp issue by the United Nations Postal Administration. Some of the prize-winning designs are shown here. The 3 cent design was finally selected for two values, 3 cents and 8 cents, and issued on 11 February. Negotiations are now underway for the United Nations Postal Administration to issue a special stamp honoring forestry.
Meeting at Rome in November and December last, the Seventh Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization reviewed the work of the Organization during the past two years and examined the program and budget for 1954 and 1955 as submitted to the delegates by the retiring Director-General, Norris E. Dodd.
The Conference was pleased to note the close integration that had been achieved between the Regular Program and the Expanded Technical Assistance Program, both of which had grown to the full limits of the financial means at their disposal. The Organization had moved from a phase in which activities were concerned largely with preliminary investigations and initial planning to action programs. The impact of FAO's work was now producing substantial results that were being felt not only in individual countries but in entire regions.
The initial examination of FAO's activities in the field of forestry was undertaken by a panel of delegates whose findings were then passed on to one of the Commissions of the Conference to be considered in plenary meetings. Delegates from 31 member countries attended the discussions of the Forestry Panel. including:
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Burma
Canada
Chile
Denmark
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Lebanon
Libya
Netherlands;
Norway
Pakistan
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America
Yugoslavia
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations and the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau were represented by observers.
The delegates elected as Chairman of the Panel, Victor Bianchi, Inspector General de Parques Nacionales y Reservas Forestales, Chile, who was also responsible for the form in which the findings of the Panel 1 were ultimately accepted by the full Conference and incorporated into its report.
1 The drafting committee included, in addition to the Chairman, R. Jolain (France), Y.S. Ahmad (Pakistan), W. Plym Forshell (Sweden), sir H. Beresford Peirse (U.K.) and V.L. Harper (U.S.A.)
Review of forestry activities and programs
The Conference was of the opinion that the activities of the Organization in the very broad field of forestry showed an admirable pattern of useful and positive actions throughout the world. A measure of the stimulus given to world forestry by the Organization was provided by the results achieved in recent years by member countries acting concertedly on the international plane and by the marked progress apparent also in many individual countries. The degree of international collaboration enlisted by the Organization was commendable.
Forest Policy and Conservation
The Conference expressed general satisfaction with the work accomplished over the past two years by the regional Forestry Commissions established for Europe, Latin America, and Asia and the Pacific. It endorsed in principle the reports of these bodies.
It noted that the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission desired to establish a Sub-Commission on Teak, a proposal supported by the FAO Regional Meeting on Food and Agricultural Programs and Outlook in Asia and the Far East, held at Bangalore, India, in 1953. It requested the Director-General, to proceed, in consultation with the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, with the establishment of such a body.
The Conference stressed again, as at its Sixth Session, the desirability of participation by the Governments of Canada and the United States of America in the activities of the European Forestry Commission.
The Conference attached importance to the studies proposed by the Director-General, in regard to forest land ownership, particularly fragmented ownership of woodlands, as affecting forest policy and management; to forest and grazing-land influences on soil and water conservation; and to forest grazing as a form of land utilization. It noted that these topics were a part of the general work of the Organization in regard to agrarian structures.
The Conference urged the Director-General to support investigations into desert rehabilitation through forestry measures and into the influence of grazing in arid areas, both as a destructive and potential improving force.
The Conference noted with approval that, in accordance with the hope expressed by its Sixth Session, the Director-General, was giving greater emphasis to problems of the use and management of forest range and other watershed lands, and also that the subject of forest grazing would receive due attention in the program of the Fourth World Forestry Congress.
It was informed of the setting up of a Technical Panel on Forest Range Management, and that arrangements were contemplated by the Director-General for convening a technical meeting on forest grazing from this Panel in early 1954 and suggested that, after such an initial meeting, it might be advisable to form regional groups to consider local aspects of problems connected with forest range management and forest grazing.
Research and Technology
The Conference emphasized the need for stimulating research in general as a fundamental basis for sound forest policies.
The Conference also particularly urged continuation and extension of the facilities afforded by the Organization for the international exchange of forest seeds and planting material, noting with satisfaction the issuing in 1953 of a first edition of an international seed directory.
Importance was attached to the work proposed by the Director-General in regard to afforestation and reforestation, and the Conference stressed especially the needs of arid zones. Research in silviculture and management, especially in tropical forest types, should be lent full support, and on the utilization side the pulping and other industrial use of tropical and temperate hardwoods and of small-sized timber of any species should be given prominence in research activities in interested member countries. Another line of investigation which deserved support was logging and extraction techniques and the training of forest workers, on which improved forest productivity largely depended.
In stimulating research the Director-General, should encourage the establishment of new research institutions where these were obviously needed. A special effort should be made to co-ordinate the work of existing institutions, particularly in reference to work in the field of wood technology and utilization. The Conference commended the Director-General on the issuing of the study entitled Research in Forestry and Forest Products, which marked a step towards the proper international co-ordination of research.
The Conference concurred in the recommendation of the Third FAO Regional Meeting on Food and Agricultural Programs and Outlook in the Near East, held at Cairo, Egypt, September 1953, that a school for the training of forest rangers and a forest research center be established in Syria, for the benefit of the whole Near East region. It stressed the importance of decentralizing research work in this region to the maximum extent, by establishing experimental sub-stations and carrying out local studies wherever special conditions called for such action.
The Conference was pleased to learn that studies were now in hand on the protection of plantations the handling of seed, and on eucalypts for afforestation. They would be followed by further studies on logging equipment and on the selection of species for afforestation programs. It urged the early publication of these studies. It noted that the catalogues of forestry equipment issued by the Organization were amongst the best-selling publications of FAO.
The Conference expressed the hope that the Director-General, would aim at even closer collaboration with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations.
Forest Economics
Work in this field had now been organized along four major lines of activity - periodic publication of statistics and commodity reports; co-operation with regional Economic Commissions of the United Nations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, including the organization of joint conferences and committees; special studies; and finally, co-operation in general in FAO projects relating to the production, distribution, and consumption of forest products, in order to ensure the proper consideration of economic problems concerning these commodities.
The Conference expressing satisfaction with this approach, reviewed the specific projects which were contemplated under each of these four headings for the ensuing two years. It commended the Director-General on the completion of the study European Timber Trends and Prospects and the progress made with a world pulp survey. As regards the former, the Conference reaffirmed the conclusions reached recently by the European Forestry Commission and the Timber Committee of ECE (Unasylva Vol. VII, No. 4), and urged European governments to review their existing forest policies. It invited the Director-General, to undertake, as time and staff permitted and in co-operation with the Economic Commissions of the UN, similar studies with regard to Latin America, the Far East and Near East, adjusted to local circumstances and available statistical and factual information.
The Conference considered that forest inventories were a subject that should be given special attention, both in the regular program and in technical assistance, because forest policy as well as many other actions and studies depended to a large degree on the availability of reliable information about forest resources and growth.
Technical Assistance
The Conference held the clear view that the technical assistance work in forestry was of outstanding importance
It approved of the general priorities that were used by the Organization in making a selection from the many requests received for assistance in forestry and in the implementation of the 1953 program and preparing the 1954 program. First consideration should be given to technical assistance in such basic matters as inventories, legislation, policy, research, and education. Industrial development projects should be undertaken whenever warranted by local conditions.
It recognized that progress in forest production and utilization was often impeded in many countries through lack of trained personnel. A partial remedy for this situation lay in the fellowship program, which on the whole had given good results. A liberalization of the conditions under which fellowships in forestry subjects were granted appeared desirable, though care was required in the selection of candidates and there should be some assurance that a candidate was subsequently employed in the line of work for which he had received training.
Fourth World Forestry Congress
The Conference recorded its gratitude to the Government of India for having undertaken the responsibility of organizing the Fourth World Forestry Congress in December 1954.
It noted with satisfaction that preparations for this gathering were well in hand and that invitations would shortly be distributed by the Government of India; also that, in accordance with the desire expressed by its Sixth Session, a prominent place would be accorded to tropical forestry in the deliberations. Field trips in India would precede the opening of the Congress, and the Conference was pleased to hear that the Government of Pakistan would, after the Congress, arrange field trips both to East and West Pakistan.
Although this Congress was essentially a non-governmental meeting it would be held under the sponsorship of FAO. The Conference therefore invited Member Governments to give every support to the Government of India in securing full participation by national and non-governmental services, institutes and agencies, and also facilitate the attendance of individuals.
The Conference considered that this Fourth World Forestry Congress should be made the occasion for arousing in member countries greater public interest in forestry, and for bringing to as large a portion as possible of the peoples of all countries a widened consciousness of the value of forest resources and the need in general, for the conservation of all natural resources.
Near East Forestry Commission
The Conference took note of the report of the Near East Forestry Conference held at Amman, Jordan, in December 1952. It expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the Organization's activities in this region were being intensified, in keeping with directives issued by its earlier sessions.
The Conference concurred in the recommendation of the Amman Conference which had been endorsed by the Third FAO Regional Meeting on Food and Agricultural Programs and Outlook in the Near East, that a Near East Forestry Commission should be established within the framework of the Organization. The Conference confirmed the belief expressed in the report of its Fifth Session, Washington, 1949, that the work of such Commissions should be adjusted to the needs of each region. Accordingly, it did not wish to lay down formal terms of reference for the new Commission. It adopted the following resolution:
THE CONFERENCENoting the desire of Member Governments in the Near East, as expressed in the Report of the Near East Forestry Conference held at Amman, Jordan, 1952, that a Near East Forestry Commission should be established, with a secretariat provided by the Organization's Near East Regional Office;
Decides to establish such a Commission with functions similar to those of existing regional Forestry Commission, under Article VI of the Constitution of the Organization;
Requests the Director-General, to arrange, in consultation with Member Governments concerned, a first session of this body.
Joint Sub-Commission Mediterranean Forestry Problems
The Conference discussed the present status of the Sub-Commission on Mediterranean Problems which had been set up by the European Forestry Commission in 1947. This body was responsible for formulating a broad forest policy for countries of the Mediterranean area, especially in regard to soil conservation, reforestation, and the long-term production of timber. In view of the importance that Member Governments had attached to the work of this body the Conference felt that it would now be opportune to extend both the responsibility and membership of this Sub-Commission, so that the impact of its work might be more widespread. The new body should be able to draw upon the experience gained in other parts of the world with similar conditions The Conference accordingly adopted the following resolution:
THE CONFERENCEConsidering the advantages to be gained from a concerted attack upon the forestry problems of countries having a Mediterranean-type climate;
Decides to transform the Sub-Commission on Mediterranean Problems of the European Forestry Commission into a Joint Sub-Commission on Mediterranean Forestry Problems under Article VI of the Constitution of the Organization. Membership of this body would be open to all Member Governments of the Mediterranean basin proper, and active participation by other Member Governments on appropriate technical matters should be invited.
Notes that provision for holding a meeting of such a body in 1954 has been made in the Director-General's Program of Work.
Oxford System of Decimal Classification for Forestry
The Conference was apprised of the fact that the joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography had, after five years of intensive effort, been able in September 1953 to submit a definitive English text of the Oxford System of Decimal Classification for Forestry to the Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations held in Rome. This new system, which had been elaborated originally by the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau at Oxford, England, to supersede the earlier "Flury System" had been inanimously approved by the IUFRO Congress
In connection with this subject, the Conference joined the IUFRO Congress in urging Member Governments to establish national centers for forestry bibliography to co-operate with centers undertaking documentation at the international level. Moreover, each country or language group should establish a permanent committee on forest terminology charged with the task of defining the meaning and use of its forestry terms and of developing its terminology on precise lines.
The following resolution was adopted:
THE CONFERENCENotes with satisfaction the completion by the joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography of a definitive English text of the Oxford System of Decimal Classification for Forestry, shortly to be published;
Notes, also, that translations into official languages both of FAO and IUFRO are in hand;
Commends this system of classification for adoption by forestry libraries, institutes and documentation centers in member countries;
Requests the joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography to review from time to time the Classification as now established and to formulate recommendations for the application and development of the Oxford System, as may appear desirable; also to continue its negotiations to have the new system incorporated into the Universal Decimal Classification.
General Conclusions
The Conference broadly indicated the lines of activity which could profitably receive the greatest emphasis over the next two years, under a blending of both the Regular and Expanded Technical Assistance Programs. It noted that the work which the Director-General proposed to undertake in the field of forestry represented a continuation of activities already started- no new projects were contemplated by the Director-General and the Conference did not itself recommend the initiation of any additional projects
This did not mean that there were not many recognized problems still remaining to be attacked but work on these would have to be deferred for lack of funds. In fact the Conference noted that the early and simultaneous completion of many of the projects listed in the Program of Work and mentioned in the course of discussions was likely to exceed the capacity of the Organization's staff The Director-General, would obviously give particular priority to projects of the greatest practical significance. Any impairment of the present activities of the Organization in the field of forestry was to be deprecated.
The recent disasters in Austria, Italy, and Switzerland make topical the interest of FAO in the prevention and control of avalanches. Protection against avalanches is traditionally committed to foresters in the mountainous countries of Europe and also in other parts of the world notably in Japan, since it is closely bound up with the correct utilization of high mountain watersheds and, in general, with afforestation.
FAO's European Forestry Commission set up a working group on torrent and avalanche control in 1951.
In the summer of 1952 the group toured the French Alps to see at first hand and discuss the engineering projects and afforestation schemes which had been carried out over the past hundred years by French foresters for checking the damage caused in vital parts of this region by mountain torrents, erosion and avalanches.
Protection against avalanches is one of the more urgent problems in which the group is closely interested. Member countries have nominated experts who are exchanging ideas and information on this problem. An expert is preparing a report which will summarize the experience of European countries, and the FAO secretariat is compiling a bibliography.
The group will hold a second study tour in Switzerland in the summer of 1954 to study on the spot problems of snow and avalanches. Outstanding progress has been made in Switzerland in recent decades and the group will be able to discuss the latest techniques evolved by Swiss foresters for preventing the start of avalanches for their control and for defence against the damage which they can inflict. The study of the physical characteristics of snow forms an important part of these techniques and is carried on in Switzerland by specialized research stations which will be visited by the working group.
Extraction from simple coppice or coppice with standards is of considerable importance for many European countries For coppice exploitation, however, techniques and methods of work are of necessity very different from those employed in normal felling operations in regular forest stands, and certain specialized tools and types of equipment suitable to the conditions of working in coppice cutting have therefore been evolved.
Whereas forest management authorities, research institutions and manufacturers have devoted much attention to the question of rationalization of working techniques and the testing and perfecting of tools to increase the efficiency of logging work in high forests, this has been done to a much less degree with regard to coppice cutting.
At the second meeting of the Pilot Committee on Logging Techniques of the European Forestry Commission, held at Helsinki in February 1953, several delegates insisted on the importance of these questions, and so a Working Party on Coppice Cutting under the chair manship of G. Giordano, Italy, was set up.
This Working Party organized a meeting from 19 to 21 October 1953 in the Conservation of Niort (Deux Sèvres), France, which was attended by 7 delegates from Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland.
It was decided to carry out the practical work in a simple coppice of chestnut (Castanea sativa), this type of coppice being of interest to many European countries The Conservation of Niort collaborated by providing facilities and workers to carry out the various operations in the Forêt domaniale de l'Hermitain.
The delegates were enabled to study the various phases of the felling operations with a view to the planning of a systematic investigation on working methods and techniques in coppice cutting including time studies. French and Italian axes and billhooks were studied in this connection and French mechanized equipment suitable for coppice cutting including chain and circular saws for felling and bucking, barking machines etc., was demonstrated.
The meeting aroused much interest among local forest authorities and foresters, many of whom followed the practical work.
The Working Party will present a report to the third meeting of the Pilot Committee on Logging Techniques, in May 1954, containing detailed recommendations for a study on timber extraction from different types of coppice The aim of such a study will be to make a comparative study of tools, working methods and performance with a view to increasing efficiency, lowering costs of production and improving the conditions of forestry workers
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FORTHCOMING MEETINGS · It is anticipated that FAO's regional Forestry Commissions will meet as follows: the seventh session of the European Forestry Commission at Geneva in the autumn, at which time the ECE; Timber Committee will also be having its twelfth meeting. The third session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission will be held in Japan in May 1955, while the fifth session of the Latin American Forestry Commission and the first session of the Near East Forestry Commission will also take place in 1955. The Mediterranean Subcommission is expected to meet next in Greece in June 1954. · The third FAO Conference on Mechanical Wood Technology takes place at Paris in May this year; the Fourth World Forestry Congress, as already announced, opens in India next December, while the eighth session of the full Conference of FAO, the governing body of the Organization, is set for Rome in November 1955. The twelfth congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations is scheduled for 1956 in the United Kingdom. |
