Improving forest products statistics in the Portuguese-speaking countries
FAO in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and support of the Portuguese Society of Forest Science (SPCF) conducted a Workshop on Forest products statistics from 9 to 11 October 2017 in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
The workshop brought together 20 experts from national statistics offices and forestry administrations from seven Portuguese-speaking countries. Representatives from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe attended the event. In addition, about 10 representatives from forest owners and industry associations (AIMMP, APCOR, CELPA and Centro Pinus) provided insights on the importance of statistics from user perspective.
On the first day of the workshop, field trip to Europac Kraft Viana paper mill was organised. The integrated mill produces packaging paper by using mainly wood of maritime pine and recovered paper. Participants learned about the whole manufacturing process from raw materials (pulpwood and recovered paper) through intermediate products (unbleached sulphate wood pulp and recovered fibre pulp) to final product (unbleached kraftliner paper).
During the second and third days of the workshop, participants shared their experiences on data collection, validation and dissemination. FAO and ITTO presented their work on global international reporting on forest products statistics through the Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire. The workshop was successful in improving communication, better understanding and cooperation between national forest products statistics providers and international organizations. On the last day, after finishing the event, FAO and ITTO representatives briefly presented workshop results in 8th Portuguese National Congress.
Links:
ITTO news release