INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: LINKING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
Patrick Durst, Senior Forestry Officer,
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
As an introduction to the Information and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management Programme: Linking National and International Efforts in South and Southeast Asia it is useful to note that the programme does not exist in isolation. Rather, it is part of a series of regional initiatives being coordinated by FAO with the backing of the European Commission. Currently, parallel initiatives are being carried out in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Of these, the most advanced programme is in Africa, which commenced activities more than two years ago, and held its first Workshop in Nukuru, Kenya in October 1998.
It is interesting to emphasise, however, that in many ways all of these programmes have their roots in the Asia-Pacific region - and that, in real terms, our South and Southeast Asian programme is well ahead of the field. Because in reality, these programmes have all grown out of the success of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study (APFSOS), which most of you will be familiar with. This study, initiated by the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission in 1996, was the first regionally-focused, holistic forestry outlook study completed for almost twenty years. What the APFSOS study very clearly showed was that there is a significant gap in information and analysis, beyond the country level, but short of the global level. That information, analysis, and problem solutions can often be developed and shared most effectively within a regional context, where countries have many commonalities and a better understanding of one-another's challenges, strengths and weaknesses. Thus, in both Africa and Latin America the programmes to strengthen information systems are running in tandem with the preparation of outlook studies, while in Asia the base study is already completed.
A key recommendation coming from the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission's review of the Outlook study was the need to improve the quality of information used by policymakers to take decisions and to prepare the sector for the changes foreseen by the Study. In pursuit of this, the APFC established a Working Group on Forestry Statistics and Information, and requested that FAO provide support to strengthen forestry data collection and analysis capability. In response to these calls, FAO sought financial support from the European Commission to enable this initiative to be undertaken. The European Union has contributed US$1.03 million in working funds to enable the Programme to be successfully implemented.
The Programme will complement a number of efforts being made in the Asia-Pacific region to promote sustainable forest management, by countries, by other organisations, and by FAO.
Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management have been developed by a number of organisations, forums and processes. For countries in Asia, the ITTO criteria and indicators have probably the highest profile, while other certification processes (FSC) have built on these at an individual forest level. Similarly, several countries have developed, or are in the process of developing, national-level criteria and indicators. In December 1999, representatives of nine Asian countries launched a Regional Initiative for the Development and Implementation of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Management of Dry Forests in Asia. The group agreed on a set of 8 national-level criteria and 49 indicators for the sustainable management of dry forests in Asia.
All of these criteria and indicators require that forests are more intensively monitored, and that data in support of sustainable forest management is provided. A key objective of the EC-FAO Programme is to support efforts to initiate these new data collection efforts.
Similarly, one of the hindrances to sustainable forest management has been destructive logging practices. The most common problem is that the majority of the people working in the forest are not aware of the requirements of good forest harvesting practices. As a follow-up to the recommendations made at the 16th and 17th Sessions of the APFC some countries in the region have formulated, or are formulating, national codes of practice for forest harvesting, using the APFC-FAO Code of Practice for Forest Harvesting in Asia-Pacific, 1999 as a reference. The EC-FAO Programme could assist the development of codes of practice by providing new data of forest harvesting impacts.
A generic term for a wide range of approaches used by countries in planning, programming, and implementing forest activities is national forest programme (nfp). In the Asia-Pacific region, 22 countries are implementing nfps. Eleven countries in South and Southeast Asia have completed a planning phase including Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam. A number of countries are actively implementing, or are in the process of revising and updating, their nfps. For example, a National Forestry Action Programme (NFAP) document for India was completed in early 1999; a list of immediate and important projects is being prepared. The Government of India plans to organise a donor meeting to discuss implementation of its NFAP in the third quarter of 2000. Sri Lanka will launch a Forest Resource Management Project in the latter part of 2000. The Philippines and Indonesia are in the process of revising their nfps after 10 years of implementation. The EC-FAO Partnership Programme provides an excellent opportunity to support the implementation of these nfps, as well as providing an opportunity to review nfp programmes and supporting policies.
It is evident that the EC-FAO Partnership Programme is highly relevant to many of the major forestry initiatives being undertaken in the region. This should be no surprise since the Programme is designed to support Sustainable Forest Management, and given the importance of SFM to the forestry sector. Our task at this workshop is to ensure that we plan activities and develop priorities that will enable the Programme to maximise its contribution to ensuring the achievement of SFM. Given the calibre of the people nominated by the various Forestry agencies to attend this workshop I have no doubts that we will be highly successful.
Thank you
