FO:LACFC/2000/INF.1

Place and dates

1.    At the kind invitation of the Government of Colombia, the Twenty First session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) will be held in Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia, from 4 to 8 September, 2000, at the Imperial Salon of the Bogota Plaza Hotel, located on 100^th Street N° 18A-30, Tel: (571) 6322200, Fax: (571) 6322237, Electronic mail: [email protected]. The participants should arrive at the El Dorado International Airport, or at the Avianca Air Terminal, where they will be met and taken to the hotel by the organizers of the event. For the reception at the airport the participants must inform the local organizers of the date and time of their arrival in advance, and send the Enrolment Form mentioned in point 3.

2.    The Opening Session will take place at 09:30 hours on Monday, 4 September.

Registration

3.    The registration of the participants will take place on Sunday, 3 September, between 17:00 and 19:00 hours, and on Monday 4, between 08:30 and 09:30 hours, at the Bogota Plaza Hotel. Participants are kindly requested to send the attached Enrolment Form before 22 August 2000.

Lodging

4.    Rooms have been reserved at the Bogota Plaza Hotel (where the event is to be held). The rate for the participants at the meeting in Executive Type Rooms is US$ 60. The rate in Business Type Rooms is US$ 80. Both the Executive and the Business rooms, can be occupied by one or two persons for the same price. Both rates include the following services: buffet breakfast, use of the Business Centre with two (2) hours of Internet daily and gymnasium. The Hotel Insurance is of approximately US$ 1.

Languages and documentation

5.    The working languages for the Commission Meeting will be Spanish and English. There will be simultaneous interpretation services and documents will be provided in these languages. As far as possible, the documents will be distributed to the Member States before the session and participants are requested to bring them along as there will be a limited number of copies available. The documents will also be available at the Web site of the FAO Regional Office: http://rlc.fao.org/organos/coflac/2000

Passport and Visas

6.    The participants to the event must consult at the Colombian Embassy and/or Consulate in their country of origin all about the requirements for entering the country.

Foreign Exchange

7.    The local currency is the Colombian peso. Payments for the hotels, meals and taxis are made in national currency, although payments in US dollars are also accepted. Colombia's touristic facilities accept the Visa, Mastercard, American Express credit cards, among others. The average exchange rate is US$ 1 = $ 2.110 (Colombian pesos).

Airport Tax

8.    The airport tax when leaving the country is US$ 24.

Excursion

9.    A field visit will be made on Thursday, 7 September.

General Information about the country

Official name: Republic of Colombia. Located in the north western part of South America. Island territory is represented by a number of islands, islets, keys, headlands and banks, both in the Pacific Ocean as well as the Caribbean Sea. Most important in the Caribbean Sea is the San Andres Archipelago, Providence and Santa Catalina; Most important in the Pacific Ocean is Malpelo Island.

Geographic location: Due to its geographic location and its nearness to the Panama Canal, Colombia is greatly favoured as far as communications between South America, Central America and North America are concerned, as well as in connection with marketing of the country's products on the world scale. Furthermore, towards the south and east the country has fluvial communications with the countries of the Amazon Watershed along the Orinoco and the Amazon Rivers. In Colombia, the Amazon, one of the world's longest and largest rivers, marks the frontier with Peru along 116 km.

Area: The Colombian territory has an area of 1,141,748 km², it is the fourth largest country in South America and has coasts both on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Borders: On the north with the Caribbean Sea, on the east with Venezuela and Brazil, on the south with Peru and Ecuador, on the west with the Pacific Ocean and the Republic of Panama.

Demography: The projected population for the year 2000 is around 42 million.

Santa Fe de Bogotá: Capital of the Republic of Colombia, and of the Department of Cundinamarca, is located in the Savannah of the same name at the foot of the Guadalupe and Monserrate hills. The average height above sea level is 2,600.

The mean temperature in the city of Santa Fe de Bogota during September is from 14ºC to 18ºC. During the nights the temperature decrease noticeably, and it is therefore recommended to bring adequate clothing for cold weather. Isolated rains occur during the period March-May.

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORESTRY COMMISSION

TWENTY FIRST SESSION

Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia
4 - 8 September, 2000

ENROLMENT FORM

1. Ing. Lombardo Tibaquira C.
Coordinador Ecosistemas Forestales
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente
Calle 37 N° 8-40, piso 2 Tel: (571) 3323434, Ext. 342
Santa Fe de Bogota, DC Fax: (571) 3406206/7
Colombia E.mail: [email protected]

2. Kyran D. Thelen
Senior Forestry Officer
FAO Regional Office for Latin America
and the Caribbean Tel: (562) 3372214
Casilla 10095 Fax: (562) 3372101/2/3
Santiago, Chile E.mail: [email protected]

Name: ___________________________________________
Surname: ___________________________________________
Country: ___________________________________________

Organization: ___________________________________________

Job title: ___________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________

Tel: ___________________________________________

Fax: ___________________________________________
E.mail: ___________________________________________

Accompanied by (wife, children, etc.) _______________________

will participate in the Twenty First Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission.

Please make the following reservations at the Hotel Bogota Plaza from ___________ to ___________.

Executive room: ________
Business room: ________

I expect to arrive at the International El Dorado airport and/or the Avianca Air Terminal on ______ September, 2000, on flight ______________, N° _______, and to depart on ______ September.

Date: _________________________ Signature: __________________________