Commodity report

Hardwoods

Hardwoods

The market for hardwoods is characterized by a multiplicity of specialized requirements, the wide range of species utilized commercially, and the diversity of qualities they display. Since the war there has been a growing demand for large-sized, good quality hardwood logs, both for the manufacture of veneers and sawnwood and, to meet this demand, there has been a rapid expansion of the use of tropical timbers. Alongside this, there has been in temperate regions a weakened market for medium and low grades of indigenous sawnwood, but an increased demand for small roundwood of broadleaved species. There has been, therefore, a change in emphasis both in the sources of supply for the world trade in hardwoods and in the pattern of consumption.

Production

Most of the wood of broadleaved species removed from the forests in the world as a whole is still used as fuel (Table 1), and far exceeds in volume the output for industrial purposes. Available figures on removals for fuelwood have fluctuated comparatively little over the past decade, probably because they are mostly straight estimates. It is known that actual removals are generally greatly in excess of current estimates.

The rate of expansion in the production of hardwoods for industrial purposes has fallen since 1955. The trend, however, has not been uniform in all the principal producing countries, nor between all categories of roundwood.

The weakening in production has been most marked in Europe, the United States and Australia. But while the output of sawlogs, veneer logs and logs for sleepers has declined, production of pulpwood and pitwood has continued to expand, as has been the case in all regions.

Sawlogs, veneer logs and logs for sleepers

Output of these categories has slowed down in most of the temperate zones but production in the tropics has steadily expanded, in keeping with the dominance these producing areas have achieved in the world market for hardwood logs.

In Europe, output has leveled off since 1955 at about 22.5 million cubic meters, which represents an increase of 35 percent above the output level in 1948. France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia and Romania appear to be the leading producers, with France accounting for more than one quarter of the total. Approximately 40 percent of European output is beech and 20 percent oak. A feature of recent years has been the rapid increase in the proportion of poplar, particularly in southern Europe.

In the United States - largest producer of hardwood logs-output has not followed the pronounced upward trend shown by softwoods since the war. Output was approximately the same in 1955 as in 1948, and in 1957 had dropped by 8.9 million cubic meters to 30.3 million cubic meters. In Canada, too, production has not risen since the war, and the sharp fall in 1957 brought output to the lowest level of the postwar period.

TABLE 1. - HARDWOOD REMOVALS

^a Excludes China

In Soviet Russia, production more than doubled between 1948 and 1955. However, the average annual increase in output of 1.4 million cubic meters during that period fell to 100,000 in 1955-56, to give a production in 1956 of 19 million cubic meters. Soviet Russia has not returned to the position it held earlier in the century of being a major source of supply of hardwood logs for Europe though exports have increased. Production is related to internal demand and there are no appreciable imports.

In tropical countries, the increase in production since the war has been matched by the wider range of species utilized, largely as the result of needs for utility woods, corewoods and utility plywoods. Advances in the field of wood preservation have been partly responsible for the extended range of timber accepted.

By 1956, output from West African countries and the Congo was approximately 5 million cubic meters as against 1.9 million cubic meters in 1948. A similar rapid expansion of output occurred in countries of Southeast Asia which are regular exporters of logs, but the level from which they started after the war was, of course, low. Output seems now to be leveling off or falling owing to marketing difficulties.

Pulpwood and pitprops

As already mentioned, the output of wood of broadleaved species for pulpwood and pitprops has increased throughout the world. But these two categories are combined in the available statistics and the upward trend has probably to be attributed almost entirely to increasing demand for pulpwood, not generally paralleled in the case of pitprops and apparent mostly in Europe and North America.

In Europe, the proportion of small roundwood in the total output of industrial wood of broadleaved species rose between 1948 and 1956 from 10 percent to 18 percent. Similarly, in the United States, output approximately doubled in the same period; in 1957, it increased by a further 69,000 cubic meters to 15 million cubic meters, more than 25 percent of total output of broadleaved industrial wood. In Canada, small roundwood accounted for an even larger proportion of total broadleaved industrial wood - about 40 percent.

In comparison with the northern temperate zone, production of pulpwood and pitprops elsewhere is on a minor scale. In Australia, however, output has been increasing steadily and in 1956 exceeded 1 million cubic meters. The fastest rate of expansion has occurred in Japan. In the Union of South Africa, it has been pitprops for the coal and gold mines which have accounted for the increase in production of small roundwood. The output of 1.2 million cubic meters of pitprops in 1956 was double that of 1936.

Sawnwood

World production of sawn hardwood by regions and major producers is shown in Table 2.

Output in Europe has stabilized around the 1955 level of 10.6 million cubic meters, a rise of only 12 percent from the 1948 output. The chief rise in output has been in the eastern European countries, partly offset by reductions in Western Germany and the United Kingdom. France, the other major European producer, profited by the lack of exports from those eastern European countries which were prewar exporters to increase its share of the European market for sawn hardwoods. In the United States and Canada, economic recession brought 1957 output well below earlier postwar levels. The average annual increase in the U.S.S.R. over the period 1948-55 was 920,000 cubic meters, but this fell to 150,000 cubic meters in 1956 and 360,000 cubic meters in 1957.

A general trend in recent years has been for timber producing countries that rely on an export trade to cut their logs themselves and export lumber. This is reflected in the extensive construction of new sawmills and the modernization of existing mills in many tropical countries. Production of sawn hardwood in such countries has therefore tended to expand, in contrast to the general situation in the temperate zone. In Africa, the increase in production of sawnwood has not yet matched the growing output of logs for which there is a big export demand. In Asia, sawnwood production has fluctuated owing to a number of variable factors which make it difficult to say whether production is really on the upgrade. There has certainly been an expansion in Japan: production in 1956 of 3.25 million cubic meters was more than double the 1954 output and brought Japan to the position of third largest producer of sawn hardwoods.

TABLE 2. - PRODUCTION OF SAWN HARDWOOD

Region		1948	1954	1955	1956	1957
		in thousands of cubic meters (s)
Europe		8 820	9 820	10 600	10 610	10 640
	Germany, Federal Republic	1 738	1 202	1 413	1 436	1 360
	France	1 800	2 276	2 356	2 480	2 300
	Italy	671	882	966	946	939
	Poland	236	554	616	596	680
	Romania	209	620	667	724	794
	United Kingdom	* 1 550	950	995	850	861
	Yugoslavia	208	428	504	615	536
U.S.S.R. *		4 900	10 350	11 340	11 490	11 850
North America		18 885	17 800	18 680	18 640	14 790
	Canada	1 387	1 102	966	992	872
	United States	17 464	16 695	17 714	17 646	13 917
Latin America		3 950	4 210	4 010	4 060
	Brazil	7 991	889	713	731	657
	Colombia	* 920	880	* 925
Africa		640	1 300	1 290	1 340
	Belgian Congo	137	280	250	321	321
	French Cameroons	33	75	74	77
	French Equatorial Africa	51	69	73	81
	French West Africa	44	74	80	88
	Ghana	91	271	* 280
	Nigeria	24	* 40	* 50	* 50
Asia		4 930	7 680	8 610	9 840
	China	* 130	* 380	* 400
	India	418	583	* 610
	Indonesia	* 484	1 125	1 096	1 178
	Japan	540	1 642	2 202	3 247
	Malaya	* 350	789	940	743
	Philippines	128	765	740	1 078
	Thailand	702	948	950	881	940
Oceania		2 120	2 720	2 790	2 600
	Australia	2 017	2 591	2 637	2 451
WORLD TOTAL		44 210	53 880	57 320	58 580

* Estimated

Trade

World trade in wood of broadleaved species has altered in pattern during the postwar period. North American hardwood exports have very largely disappeared from markets outside the dollar area, notably from their traditional markets in Europe and South America. They have been replaced partly by exports from Japan but to a much greater extent, by tropical timbers from Africa, Asia and to a lesser degree from South and Central America.

In Europe, the trend towards rationalization has led to a greater degree of manufacture in the producing countries, many of which have imposed restrictions on the export of logs. At the same time the need to maintain the supply of logs to the established milling industries in the importing countries of western Europe has resulted in increased demand from tropical sources, especially over the last four years. Between 1953 and 1956 the imports of tropical timber in the round by Germany rose from 550,000 to 1 million cubic meters, imports by France from 173,000 to 378,000 cubic meters, and by Italy from 43,000 to 148,000 cubic meters. During the same period, however, imports of logs of tropical timber into the United Kingdom declined from 496,000 to 287,000 cubic meters, while the imports of tropical sawnwood increased from 330,000 to 418,000 cubic meters.

In 1956, tropical timbers accounted for 76 percent of the total imports of hardwood logs by European countries, and 39 percent of the total imports of sawn hardwoods. Of temperate species, oak accounted for 6.4 percent of the trade in logs and 17 percent of the trade in sawnwood. The corresponding figures for beech were 8.3 percent and 28 percent. Beech remained the most important single species traded by European countries. The trade in beech and oak is largely intraregional, France being the major exporter of logs, and Yugoslavia, Romania and France the main exporters of sawnwood.

Both imports and exports in Europe reached a peak in 1955 (Table 3, page 186). The general decline in volume of trade in 1956, most marked in the United Kingdom, was partly attributable to the generally reduced tempo of industrial expansion in Europe, notably in the building trade and furniture industry, partly too by tight money policies which curtailed the availability of credit. Very largely, however, trading in 1956 was affected by the shipping confusion caused by the closure of the Suez Canal.

In 1957, despite higher freight rates and the absence of any pronounced increase in the tempo of industrial activity, there was a general strengthening of trade with an increase once again in the volume of imports into Europe of tropical timbers. Stock replacement and a relaxation of credit restrictions in some cases may have contributed to this revival.

There is fairly substantial trade in hardwood logs and lumber between the United States and Canada. Exports to the rest of the world from North America have been conditioned by high prices and sustained internal demand, combined with shortages of dollars in importing countries and high freight rates. In recent months, the reduction in demand in the United States and the removal of restrictions on United Kingdom imports have encouraged United States shippers to renew their efforts to place exports abroad.

As is the case in Europe, the greater part of United States imports are of tropical timbers, sawnwood and roundwood from West Africa, the Philippines and Central and South America. A substantial volume of sawnwood is imported from Japan. The uneven movement of these imports is shown in Table 3. African exports of logs to the United States in 1957, mostly mahogany, dropped by 42 percent from 1956 and lumber fell by 60 percent to 17,000 cubic meters.

The predominant species exported from Africa to all destinations in 1956 were: okoumé, 777,000 cubic meters (French Equatorial Africa); obeche, 485,000 cubic meters (Ghana, Nigeria, French West Africa); mahoganies, 270,000 cubic meters (Ghana, Nigeria, French West Africa, French Cameroons); limba, 215,000 cubic meters (Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa); and sapele, 158,000 cubic meters (Ghana, Nigeria). Other species exported in quantity were makoré, abura, utile, agba, azobé (mainly for sleepers) and ilomba.

Japan's imports of logs in 1956 were approximately three times as large as those of any other country, and were mainly in the form of luan for the expanding plywood and lumber industries; 234,000 cubic meters of logs came from North Borneo. Hong Kong, as a transit port, and Australia have become heavy importers of logs from Sarawak and North Borneo, and Singapore, another transit port, absorbs the bulk of the log exports from Indonesia.

Asian exports to Europe are mostly in the form of sawnwood. In 1956, the most important species were keruing and meranti from Malaya, ramin and meranti from Sarawak, seraya and keruing from North Borneo and teak from Burma and Thailand. Of these, ramin has rapidly become one of the most important of the tropical timbers used in Europe. Japan exports quantities of sawnwood - mainly oak and beech - both to the United Kingdom and the United States; trade was sharply affected in 1957 by the recession in the United States and the reluctance of United Kingdom importers to accept the available timber grades at the prevailing freight rates.

TABLE 3. - IMPORT AND EXPORT MOVEMENTS IN SAWN HARDWOOD AND HARDWOOD LOGS, 1948-1967

TABLE 4. CONSUMPTION OF SAWN HARDWOOD

Country		1948	1954	1955	1956	1957
	in thousands of cubic meters
Europe	Imports	950	1 400	1 780	1 606	1 743
	Exports	600	1 040	1 180	965	1 088
	Net Trade	+350	+360	+600	+641	+65.5
	Production	8 820	9 820	10 600	10 610	10 640
	Consumption	9 170	10 180	11 200	11 2.51	11 295
Germany, Federal Republic	Imports	..	84	194	168	167
	Exports	100*	102	62	69	69
	Net Trade	-	-18	+132	+109	+98
	Production	1 738	1 202	1 413	1 436	1 350
	Consumption	..	1 194	1 545	1 545	1 448
France	Imports	36	24	24	28	41
	Exports	104	266	419	262	223
	Net Trade	-68	- 42	-395	-234	-182
	Production	1 800	2 276	2 355	2 480	2 300
	Consumption	1 732	2 034	1 960	2 246	2 118
Italy	Imports	62	161	156	166	206
	Exports	8	2.0	52	2.9	3.6
	Net Trade	+54	+159	+104	+163	+202
	Production	671	882	966	946	939
	Consumption	725	1 041	1 070	1 109	1 141
Poland	Imports	12	1.6	4	3	3
	Exports	1.1	10	11	11	8
	Net Trade	+11	-8	-7	-8	-5
	Production	236	654	616	696	680
	Consumption	247	546	609	588	675
Romania	Imports	-	-	-	-	-
	Exports	39	194	176	206	226
	Net Trade	-39	-194	-176	-206	-226
	Production	209	620	667	724	794
	Consumption	170	426	491	518	568
United Kingdom	Imports	551	714	844	702	762
	Exports	2.1	7.2	-6.0	8.4	7.4
	Net Trade	+549	+707	+838	+694	+755
	Production	1 560 *	960	995	850	861
	Consumption	2 099	1 667	1 833	1 544	1 616
Soviet Russia	Imports	21	132	74	14.5	..
	Exports	69	.3.6	10	2.5	..
	Net Trade	-48	+128	+64	+142	..
	Production	4 900 *	10.3.50 *	11 340 *	11 490 *	11 8.50 *
	Consumption	4 852	10 478	11 404	11 632	..
North America	Imports	570	670	870	918	814
	Exports	680	460	630	606	569
	Net Trade	-110	+210	+240	+312	+245
	Production	18 850	17 800	18 680	18 640	14 790
	Consumption	18 740	18 010	18 920	18 952	15 035
Canada	Imports	56	179	238	272	229
	Exports	472	272	353	320	275
	Net Trade	-416	-93	-115	-48	-46
	Production	1 387	1 102	966	992	872
	Consumption	971	1 009	851	944	826
United States	Imports	512	492	628	645	585
	Exports	207	185	276	287	294
	Net Trade	+305	+307	+352	+358	+291
	Production	17 464	16 695	17 714	17 646	13 917
	Consumption	17 769	17 002	18 066	18 004	14 208
Latin America	Imports	120	205	200	209	..
	Exports	220	240	280	269	..
	Net Trade	-100	-36	-80	-60	..
	Production	3 950	4 210	4 010	4 060	..
	Consumption	3 850	4 175	3 930	4 000	..
Argentina	Imports	76	186	162	..	..
	Exports	-	-	-	-	..
	Net Trade	+76	+186	+162	..	..
	Production	470	570	584	..	..
	Consumption	546	756	746	..	..
Brazil	Imports	-	1.0	-	-	-
	Exports	48	22	38	20	68
	Net Trade	-48	-21	-38	-20	-68
	Production	799	889	713	731	657
	Consumption	751	868	675	711	589
Colombia	Imports	-	-	0.7	-	-
	Exports	-	6.7	4.3	111	20
	Net Trade	-	-6.7	-3.6	-11	-20
	Production	920 *	880	926 *	..	..
	Consumption	920 *	873	921	..	..
Africa	Imports	240	470	460	414	..
	Exports	130	300	350	404	..
	Net Trade	+110	+170	+110	+10	..
	Production	640	1 300	1 290	1 340	..
	Consumption	750	1 470	1 400	1 350	..
Union of South Africa	Imports	203	167	208	199	188
	Exports	5	13	14	20	23
	Net Trade	+198	+154	+194	+179	+165
	Production	20	33	35	..	..
	Consumption	218	187	229	..	..
Asia	Imports	200	230	240	170	..
	Exports	410	890	1 090	1 096	..
	Net Trade	-210	-660	-850	-926	..
	Production	4 930	7 680	8 610	9 840	..
	Consumption	4 720	7 020	7 760	8 914	..
India	Imports	142	49	43	26	..
	Exports	-	-	-	-	..
	Net Trade	+142	+49	+43	+26	..
	Production	418	583	610 *	..	..
	Consumption	560	632	653	..	..
Indonesia	Imports	8.1	0.3	2.6	4.0	..
	Exports	-	16	14	15	..
	Net Trade	+8.1	-15.7	-11.4	-11	..
	Production	484 *	1 125	1 096	1 178	..
	Consumption	492	1 109	1 085	1 167	..
Japan	Imports	-	1.7	5.9	6	..
	Exports	17	219	323	281	..
	Net Trade	-17	-217	-317	-275	..
	Production	540	1 642	2 202	3 247	..
	Consumption	523	1 425	1 885	2 972	..
Philippines	Imports	-	-	-	0.1	..
	Exports	54	132	121	136	..
	Net Trade	-54	-132	-121	-136	..
	Production	128	765	740	1 078	..
	Consumption	1 074	633	619	942	..
Oceania	Imports 30	80	130	147	..	..
	Exports	40	40	40	40	..
	Net Trade	-10	+40	+90	+107	..
	Production	2 120	+720	2 790	2 600	..
	Consumption	2 110	2 760	2 880	2 707	..
Australia	Imports	6.8	51	100	105	108
	Exports	42	37	44	39	42
	Net Trade	-35	+14	+56	+66	+66
	Production	2 017	2 591	2 637	2 451	2 328
	Consumption	1 982	2 605	2 693	2 517	2 394
WORLD TOTAL	Imports	2 130	3 190	3 750	3 610	..
	Exports	2 150	2 970	3 580	3 380	..
	Net Trade	-20	+220	+170	+230	..
	Production	44 210	53 880	57 320	58 580	..
	Consumption	+190	54 100	57 490	58 810	..

* Estimated.

In contrast to the world trade in softwoods, the market for hardwoods has been characterized by the expansion of the trade in logs at a rate exceeding that in sawnwood. Shipments of logs constitute now roughly two thirds of total world trade in wood of broadleaved species; in 1948 they formed only one half. This is a measure of the concentrated requirements of established milling capacity in Europe, North America and Japan. The growth of milling and manufacturing industries in the tropical producing countries, in conjunction with high freight rates, may presage a greater expansion of the trade in processed wood.

Consumption

Consumption of sawn hardwoods has tended to level off since 1955 (see Table 4). Hardwood lumber being consumed largely in housing construction and in the furniture industry, the reduction in building programs in Europe and North America has been partly responsible for the weaker demand. At the same time, reduced economic activity led to a fall in demand for furniture which was accentuated in certain countries - for example, the United Kingdom - by credit restrictions aimed at curtailing the purchase of the range of consumer goods which includes furniture. The upswing in housing construction in the United States in the first half of 1958 has already been reflected in an improved demand for oak and maple flooring. Similarly the easing of the tight money policy in the United Kingdom may be expected to lead to improved demand from the building and furniture trades.

On the longer term basis; the continued use of sawnwood in buildings and furniture is threatened by competition from substitute materials on an increasing scale. Some of these replace wood altogether; others - for example plywood, fibreboard and particle board - substitute wood-derived products for solid timber. The cumulative effect is to shift the emphasis of hardwoods output from sawlogs to veneer logs and, to a much lesser extent, to the grades utilized in the manufacture of the various modified-wood products.

Plywood is at present the most important of the substitute wood products. In the postwar period, European plywood production expanded rapidly - from 875,000 cubic meters in 1948 to 2.5 million cubic meters in 1956 (see Unasylva Volume 12, Number 2). Roughly 90 percent of this output was manufactured from broadleaved species. Hardwoods also form the main raw material for plywood in the tropics and in Japan, where the rate of expansion has been even faster than in Europe.

Consumption of small roundwood has increased due to the growing use for pulp. The current total consumption of pulpwood of broadleaved species in Europe is estimated at 5.8 million cubic meters. In the United States, consumption was 6 million cubic meters in 1956, an increase of 429,000 cubic meters over 1955, and representing 17 percent of total pulpwood consumption. In the Lakes States region, consumption of hardwoods for pulp already equals that of coniferous species, and encouraging progress with the chemi-groundwood process of pulping seems to promise more intensive utilization of broadleaved species in the future.

Additional demand for small roundwood is created in the manufacture of the modified-wood products, although the total is not great. Production of fibre boards and particle boards is concentrated mainly in North America and Europe. The proportion of hardwoods used varies with the process, and the manufacture of particle board is largely based on the use of wood residues The rate of expansion of output of the board-manufacturing industries is exceptionally high, and the future consumption of broadleaved species in these processes will probably be appreciable even if it accounts for a no greater proportion of the total than at present. It is clear that the demand for small roundwood will be a major factor in the future level of utilization of the wood of broadleaved species.

Prices

The diversity of specifications in the hardwood trade, and the absence of any generally applied standards of grading, complicate comparisons between prices.

Table 5 shows average comparative prices on the French and United Kingdom markets for sawn oak, beech and mahogany and mahogany logs, with 1949 as a base. The steady rise in the prices of sawnwood contrasts with the comparatively low over-all increase In the price of logs, after a steep initial rise in the early 1950's, although the use of average figures obscures the fact that high grade roundwood, for veneers and high quality sawnwood, has exhibited a sharp increase in price. Higher sawnwood prices reflect rising production costs, and it is also possible that better grading, by improving the actual quality of the grades, has contributed.

TABLE 5. - COMPARATIVE PRICES OF HARDWOOD CATEGORIES (1949 = 100)

Year	U.K. Imports (c.i.f.)				French Imports
	Sawnwood			Logs, mahogani	Logs, mahogani (imports c.i.f.)	Sawn oak (f.o.b.)
	Beach	Oak	Mahogani
1949	100	100	100	100	100	100
1951	144	137	129	156	-	-
1953	139	137	113	135	135	205
1955	146	173	124	125	120	222
1957	145	173	143	109	120	238

An important factor affecting hardwood prices has been the development of freight rates. Appreciable increases were registered in 1956 by nearly all the shipping "conferences". Trade between Europe and the Asia-Pacific area was most affected, following a 16 percent rise in freight rates in September 1956 and a further 15 percent rise added following the closure of the Suez Canal. Though the surcharge on Far East freight rates was reduced to 5 percent in May 1957, freight rates in general continued to rise. The upward trend was broken early in 1958 by reductions by the West African Lines Conference. The spate of cuts which followed had the aspect of a freight war, and the ensuing uncertainty has dampened the market. When stability is renewed at lower levels, trade between Europe and the tropical producers may be expected to pick up, and North American shippers may re-enter European market.

Summary

The position of tropical species in world markets is now well established. Their size and quality make them suitable for many of the uses to which hardwoods are put, and advances in technology will continue to increase the range of tropical timbers which can be made available and used.

A consequence has been a weakened demand for the medium and low-grade hardwoods which form a large part of the output from broadleaved forests in Europe. The maintenance in the forest of a broadleaved component is claimed to be essential over much of Europe for silvicultural and edaphic reasons, to maintain the condition of the soil and the stands. It is, therefore, a matter of considerable concern that markets be found for the full range of sizes and grades of broadleaved species to ensure that what is silviculturally necessary is also economically productive.

In the past ten years, in the temperate zone, a shift in the pattern of hardwoods consumption has occurred from sawlogs to veneer logs and pulpwood. In the manufacture of pulp, plywood and the modified wood products which are increasingly gaining ground as substitutes for solid wood, an extensive and expanding outlet is appearing for hardwoods, in particular the small and low-grade roundwood of which there is at present a chronic surplus in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in North America. Within the limits imposed by the economics of harvesting, processing and transport, it is in these categories that the major increases in the future use of hardwoods is likely to occur.

International union for the conservation of nature

During the last 10 years that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has existed, there has been a noticeable and favorable change in the attitudes of governments and other agencies to what should be done to save and develop natural resources. The last assembly of IUCN held at Athens from 11 to 19 September and attended by delegates from 46 countries, illustrated the present much wider approach and brought international expert opinion to bear towards the wiser use of the land and waters of the world.

The special themes for discussion were the conservation of soil and water, and education in conservation, both subjects of fundamental concern to FAO. In regard to the first of these, discussion centered mostly on the influence of different kinds of vegetation in holding the soil in place and on water control. Attention was also given to the effect of large-scale dams on preventing the migrations of fish; they also, however, provided opportunities to create large sources of protein food in parts of the world where this is most needed.

There does exist, of course, a difference of viewpoint between those who wish to base the future use of land on history and to avoid the loss of that beauty associated with traditional patterns of land use, and those who would break entirely with the past to meet the changing needs of an industrial age. The basic need is to maintain and improve the productive capacity of soil and water. "If it pays to conserve soil, soil is conserved. If it pays to exhaust the soil, soil is exhausted." This is the fact of present day conditions.

Education in conservation is above all required in underdeveloped areas where an uncontrolled growth of population may cause irreversible damage to natural resources through overexploitation. Education must be aimed, first, at the indigenous populations who must by some means be brought to have a feeling of personal responsibility for their land; secondly, at the industrialist who is tempted to take advantage of the present to the detriment of the future; and, thirdly, at the administrators whose functions include maintaining a proper balance between preservation and exploitation.

The International Union has in the past been substantially helped by UNESCO. Governments and private agencies are giving it increasing support. But its continued financing on an expanded basis and also its exact relationship with FAO remain to be decided.