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NORTH AMERICAN FOREST COMMISSION |
Item 4 of the Provisional Agenda |
NINETEENTH SESSION |
Villahermosa, Mexico, 16-20 November 1998 |
REVIEW OF FAO REGULAR AND FIELD PROGRAMMES, INCLUDING FOLLOW-UP TO THE REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION |
Secretariat Note |
1. This note is to inform the Commission about FAO forestry activities of interest to the region, funded under the Regular Programme budget and FAO-executed projects funded through UNDP and donor trust funds. Annex A provides references to specific requests and recommendations of the eighteenth session of the Commission.
2. Activities of the Global Forest Resources Assessment have concentrated
on the development of internationally accepted methodologies for FRA 2000,
including common definitions and classifications and the publication of interim
information for 1995 in the 1997 State of the World's Forests report. FAO
collaborates closely with the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) in this
programme, in which the ECE is responsible for the assembly, analysis and
dissemination of data from developed countries, including North America.
3. Collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico (IITF) was intensified within the framework of FRA 2000. The IITF is preparing a report on the state and change of forest resources in the Caribbean.
4. Following a workshop organized in July 1998 within the framework of the North American Forest Commission, agreement was reached for collaboration between national institutions, the US Forest Service and FAO to further the remote sensing component of FRA 2000 in Mexico to meet both global and national needs.
Statistics
5. The current FAO annual publications containing international statistics on the forestry sector covering North America are the FAO Yearbook of Forest Products 1995 and the Pulp and Paper Capacities Survey 1996-2001.
6. FAO activities related to data dissemination are reported through WAICENT/ INTERNET. The Yearbook of forest product database has also been on-line since May 1996 at the following address: http://apps.fao.org/cgi-bin/nph-db.pl/subset=forestry
7. FAO collaborates closely with the Timber Section of the UN-ECE Trade Division, which organised the Inter-secretariat Working Group on Forest Sector Statistics in May 1997 in Geneva. This Group issued a joint questionnaire FAO/ECE/EUROSTAT and member countries have responded favourably. Ideas were shared on ways to include both OECD and ITTO in this exercise. Areas on collection and dissemination of statistics where cooperation and development were strengthened included: data quality control, classification and definitions, classification and statistical problems affecting the market discussions and analysis, data on energy, residues and recycling, statistics on wood energy, wood-based panels capacity survey, conversion factors enquiry. The importance of "national correspondents" was recognized in relation to international forestry statistics exchange. Their active participation during the last two years has confirmed the validity of this approach, based on direct interaction in collecting and reviewing forest products time series.
Valuation
8. To help address the concern expressed by the IPF in 1997 that undervaluation
of forest goods and services is one of the key constraints for sustainable
forest management, the FAO Forestry Department commissioned a paper in 1997
by Vincent & Hartwick to review country experiences and identify a conceptual
framework to better account for forest resources benefits. Three country
case studies (Brazil, Chile and Zimbabwe) were also commissioned, two of
them sponsored by the World Bank Danish Trust Fund on Environmentally and
Socially Sustainable Development.
9. Two expert meetings (June 1997 and February 1998) recommended to use the input from Vincent/Hartwick's report to adopt standards and procedures of the System of National Accounts (SNA) and its proposed extension, the Integrated System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA), as the generally accepted accounting framework by most countries. Based on this, FAO decided to prepare a report on the status and current efforts with regard to economic and environmental accounting for forestry. This was done through the FAO Academic and Research Institutions Partnership Programme (University of Montana) and in close collaboration with UN Statistics Division, Eurostat and the World Bank Environmental Economics and Indicators Unit.
10. The report informs on challenges, opportunities and limitations of incorporating forest resources in SNA/SEEA. It is hoped that it will be reviewed by a large audience composed of concerned policy makers, decisions makers, environmental economists, forest economists, national consultants, non-governmental organisations, representatives of the private sector or the public in general, with a view to improving its contents and helping identify the next most important steps to maintain and increase forestry investment to achieve sustainable forest management for today's people and future generations well-being.
Outlook studies
11. FAO has just completed a major outlook study for the Asia-Pacific region
(the Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study or APFSOS). The study examines
the likely future supply and demand for forest goods and services and policy
and institutional aspects of the forestry sector's development in this region
to the year 2010. The study comprises: about 20 country reports and 20 thematic
working papers on various aspects of the sector; two statistical annexes
giving a complete description of the forest resource, production, consumption
and trade situation in the region; a compilation of individual country briefs;
and a final main report. FAO is grateful for the resources contributed to
this study by the United States of America (through the US Forest Service)
and Canada (through CIDA and the Canadian Forest Service).
12. FAO is also currently in the process of completing a Global Forest Products Outlook Study (GFPOS 98). It will examine the supply and demand for forest products across all countries of the world to the year 2010, including: technological changes; shifting patterns of supply sources towards more from plantations and trees outside forests; and trends towards greater in-country downstream processing. The study will also incorporate a major re-examination of the fuelwood consumption figures currently compiled by FAO. Several institutions from North America have been involved in this study, including: the US Forest Service; the Canadian Forest Service; and the University of Wisconsin. The main findings of the study will be presented to the next meeting of the Committee on Forestry in 1999.
13. Within the Inter-agency Task Force on Forests (ITTF), composed of several
international organizations for promoting the implementation of the proposals
for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), FAO has the
responsibility to promote action, as lead agency, in five of the Programme
elements, including national forest programmes. FAO has been involved in
the meetings of the Forest Advisors Group and contributed to all its initiatives.
It organized three regional workshops for Asia and the Pacific, Africa and
Latin America and the Caribbean on international cooperation and resource
mobilization for national forest programmes. FAO reported on these workshops
at a side-meeting of IFF-II.
14. The Six-Country Initiative, of which the United Kingdom, Finland and Germany are part, met in Baden-Baden (June-July 1998) to present the summary analysis of the six case studies on implementation of all the IPF proposals for action. FAO participated in this meeting, as well as the preparatory meeting held in Bonn in February 1998. The conclusions of the Baden-Baden intersessional meeting have been reported to IFF-II.
15. FAO was present at the seventh meeting of the European Tropical Forest Advisors (ETFAG, November 1997), composed of forestry advisers in the European Union and a number of experts on tropical forests, to review assistance to countries of the extended Congo Basin. FAO was also present at the meetings organized by the EC in February and in April 1998, in relation to the programme in support to the Congo Basin and SADC countries.
16. At its second session in Geneva (24 August-4 September 1998), the IFF reconfirmed the significance of IPF proposals for action and expressed strong commitment towards their implementation. It further recognized the significant contribution of the Interagency Task Force on Forests as an effective partnership that has mobilized resources to service the Forum. ITFF is currently initiating cooperation to address other critical issues, with due attention to the needs of developing countries with low forest cover. Many critical issues, which remained unresolved, including: the modalities of financial cooperation, transfer of technology and mutually supportive role of trade and environment in the context of sustainable forest management, will be addressed at IFF-III. Other issues to be addressed at IFF-III include the underlying causes of deforestation as well as the question of international arrangements and mechanisms, on which the Governments of Canada and Costa Rica have announced a Government-led initiative.
17. During the biennium, assistance to National Forest Programmes (NFPs)
was provided through the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) in Mexico.
Two projects approved in 1997 are under implementation.
18. The objective of the first one, TCP/MEX/6713 "Definition of strategies and policies for the sustainable development of mountain zones", is to support the Mexican Government to design specific participative planning policies to allow appropriate mountain sustainable development. The expected project results are: 1) a set of basic element to prepare, implement and monitor a National Sustainable Development Plan for the Mexican Mountain zones; 2) an information system for the management of this ecosystem; 3) training of approximately 160 persons in aspects related to participatory planning, extension, conservation of productive activities, operative planning for the sustainable development of this zones; 4) a participatory sustainable development pilot local plan; 5) a study on the flux of resources and services to and from the mountain zones; and 6) the integration of this type of activities within the Latin American and the Caribbean Network on Watershed Management.
19. The second project, TCP/MEX/6714 "Preparatory assistance for the implementation of the Forestry Development National Programme 1995-2000" aims mainly to assist the Mexican Government to prepare a Unilateral Trust Fund with FAO to facilitate the implementation of this programme and prepare a follow-up programme. Within this project FAO has also supported the "Secretaría de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca" (SEMARNAP) in the organization of a Regional Meeting on Forest Fires Prevention and Fighting held in August 1998. Eleven countries from South, Central and North America were represented. The topics related to information systems, economic stragegies, restoration of affected areas, regulations and institutions were discussed. Main recommendations were: a) creation of a Regional Centre for Forest Fire Prevention and b) the establishment of a Regional Fund for the operation of the Centre. It was also recommended to present the complete set of conclusions/recommendations to the FAO Meeting on Public Policies affecting Forest Fires in October 1998.
Community Forestry
20. During the biennium, the Community Forestry Programme focussed mainly
on activities related to the multi-donor trust fund, "Forests, Trees and
People Programme" (FTPP). This primarily includes collaboration with the
International Forest Resources and Institutions Research Program (IFRI) at
Indiana University on incorporation of local socio-economic and institutional
information in forest resources assessment. Activities related to the FTPP
North American and Caribbean Regional Centre (NACARCE) continued to grow.
21. Two major workshops were conducted, one at Bogor, Indonesia, hosted by CIFOR (1997), and another in Vancouver, British Columbia, coordinated by the International Association for the Study of Common Property (1998). These workshops provided opportunities for members of IFRI teams to present the results of their research; the outcome of these workshops has been published by and is available from FAO. In addition, several papers have been published, including "Coping with Changes in Population and Forest Resources: institutional mediation in the Middle Hills in Nepal".
22. The FTPP North American and Caribbean Regional Centre (NACARCE), based at the headquarters of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) in Washington, D.C., continued its role as a regional facility and distribution point for the FTPP newsletter and various community forestry publications.
Sustainable Forest Management
23. FAO continued to be closely involved in the deliberations and discussions
related to criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, including
participation in meetings of the "Montreal Process".
24. FAO's Forestry Department continued to support the concept of model forests, in particular through the series of Canada/Japan international workshops on Model Forests and Field Level Application of Sustainable Forest Management, organized in collaboration with FAO and ITTO.
Forest Protection
25. In response to the global concerns about the forest fire situation in
1997-98, FAO participated in a workshop on forest fires in Mexico in August
1998 and, at the time of writing, is organizing a Meeting on Public Policies
Affecting Forest Fires, to be held in Rome from 28 to 30 October 1998.
Recommendations were made at the meeting in Mexico for action to reduce negative
effects through policy measures. Representatives of all three North American
countries attended the meeting and contributed to its success.
26. Through continued collaboration between FAO's Forestry Department and the US Forest Service, two US scientists assisted in training personnel in Bulgaria in the integrated control of Gypsy Moth.
27. The 10th session of the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene
Resources was held in Rome in September 1997. The Panel, chaired by the
Representative from Mexico, made recommendations for action based on
country-derived needs and priorities, and drew up lists of priority species
by region and activity for attention of FAO, the international community
and national governments.
28. In collaboration with a number of institutes and experts in Brazil, Central America (CATIE), Peru, Mexico and USA (Puerto Rico), FAO published the document "Genetic Resources of Swietenia and Cedrela in the Neotropics: Proposals for Coordinated Action" (available in Spanish and English). A side meeting on the establishment of a Mahogany Network in the Neotropics was held during the 20th Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission in September 1998. Proposals made took also into consideration work in this field pursued within the framework of CITES.
29. Development of the "Global Information System on Forest Genetic Resources" (REFORGEN) has continued with substantial assistance from US colleagues. This information will be available on CD ROM and through the Internet, following the completion of the first round of verification and updating of data.
Combating Desertification
30. Efforts in dryland forestry and desertification control have focused
on i) establishing a state-of-the-art stock taking in dryland forest management
in tropical dry areas through the double exercise of preparing a conservation
guide titled "Management of Natural Tropical Dry Forests" and holding an
expert consultation on the role of forestry in combating desertification
in 1997; ii) supporting the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification through participation in the drafting of national action
programmes; iii) supporting documentation in cooperating with research and
academic institutions such as the University of Arizona and the Laval University.
Urban Forestry
31. Efforts have continued in developing this theme; a number of illustrative
case studies in developed and developing countries have been documented and
will contribute guidelines and methodological aids to interested city managers.
A complete set of case studies will be published at the end of 1998.
Watershed Management
32. FAO continued its cooperative initiatives with the Mountain Forum and
other partners (ICIMOD, the CIP, the Mountain Institute). The organization
has been nominated by the United Nations General Assembly as Lead Agency
for the "International Year of the Mountains, 2002".
Conservation
33. In conservation and wildlife management, cooperation continued with the
international conservation organizations. FAO participated and supported
the CITES resolutions COP 9 and 10 in Africa and in South and Latin America
(the Mahogany debate) with IUCN. The Forestry Department assisted in the
organization of the Santa Marta Latin American Congress on national Parks
.
Research
34. Work focused on support to the establishment of regional forestry research
networks as tools to strengthen national capacities and regional co-operation.
The Forestry Research Support Programme for Asia and the Pacific (FORSPA)
received assistance from the USDA Forest Service for the development of research
databases and the organization of an international workshop and publication
on "Emerging Institutional Arrangements for Forestry Research". FORSPA
co-ordinated efforts with CIDA to help start a regional forest information
and documentation programme, Treelink, by the Asia Pacific Association of
Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI).
Forestry Education
35 The database on Forestry Education and Training Institutions was updated and enlarged to 800 institutions from 117 countries. It was published as "Directory of Forestry Education and Training Institutions, 1996" on the Internet Website, and as printed publication.
Extension
36 Efforts have continued to disseminate the extension tool that was developed
in 1997. The "Trouble Shooter's Guide to Forestry Extension" was translated
into Spanish, French and Arabic. In addition, a training companion for the
Guide has been developed. The planned activity on assessing the potential
role and impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on extension
has been initiated, including a survey of present use of ICTs and an assessment
framework. In terms of accommodating multiple interests in forestry an
international workshop on Pluralism and Sustainable Forestry and Rural
Development was held in December 1997 with active participation of North
America. The proceedings will be published in 1998. A joint global activity
on this issue (with CIFOR) was started.
Wood industries
37. The Global Fibre Supply Study (GFSS) was issued as a draft report at
the end of April 1998 and will be available as a final report at the end
of 1998 under the title "Global Fibre Supply Model". The main outcome of
the GFSM is the provision to member countries of an information tool for
their forest policy development, in particular policy related to forest area
available for wood supply, concession systems, annual allowable cuts and
investment analysis for the forest products industry. Its implementation
included a series of meetings with government and industry representatives,
including in particular discussions with the United States and Canadian Forest
Services, as well as workshops in Asia, Latin America and Africa, to validate
data. The following related working papers were prepared:
- The FAO global fibre supply study - Assumptions, methods, models and definitions
- Factors affecting productivity of tropical forest plantations: Acacia, eucalypt, teak, pine
- Implications of sustainable forest management for global fibre supply
- Recovered and non-wood fibre: effects of alternative fibres on global fibre supply
- Modelling future availability of non-coniferous veneer logs and sawlogs in tropical forests
- Literature synthesis on logging impacts in moist tropical forests.
38. In relation to the protection of the environment, Forestry Paper 129
"Environmental impact assessment and environmental auditing in the pulp
and paper industry" was published in 1996.
39. The thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions of the broadened Advisory
Committee on Paper and Wood Products were held in Rome in April 1997 and
April 1998. The newly-elected Chairperson is the current President of the
Canadian Pulp and Paper Association. Attendance at both meetings included
forest industry private sector representatives from Canada, Mexico and the
United States.
Non-wood Forest Products
40. The main outputs under the promotion and development of non-wood forest products programme were: (i) the implementation of the non-wood forest products information system (including the directory on agencies dealing with NWFP); (ii) information gathering and dissemination; and (iii) support to member countries (networking, training/meetings, technical assistance). The detailed classification and database for NWFPs is under way and it is planned to complete the Directory by the end of 1998.
41. Three issues were published in the series of monographs on non-wood forest products:
- No. 9 - Domestication and commercialization
of non-timber forest products in agroforestry systems;
- No. 10 - Non-wood forest products: Tropical
palms; and
- No. 11 - Medicinal plants for forest
conservation and health care.
Two issues of Non-Wood News were also published (No. 3 in 1996, No. 4 in 1997 and No. 5 in 1998) and "Guidelines for the sustainable management of NWFP" is under preparation.
Dendroenergy
42. The main activities under the Fuelwood, Charcoal and Wood Energy
programme focused on the development of improved wood energy data and
information system and the first issue of the recently established "Forest
Energy Forum" newsletter was distributed.
43. Two publications were prepared to disseminate the data collected and
collated within the regional Wood Energy Today for Tomorrow (WETT) initiative.
The preparation of a publication on Unified Wood Energy Terminology,
Definitions and Conversion Factors (UWET) was also completed as a draft
and discussed with many partners.
44. A case study on Combined Energy Generation Using Fuelwood and Bagasse in Nicaraguan Sugar Mills was prepared and presented in different FAO and international meetings including the meeting of National Coordinators of the Latin America Cooperative Network on Dendroenergy held in Cuba from 4 to 7 November 1997.
45. The FAO/ECE/ILO Seminar on Environmentally Sound Forest Roads and Wood Transport (Sinaia, Romania, June 1996), jointly organized with IUFRO, was attended by more than 100 high-level participants from 22 European countries, in addition to Canada, Japan and USA.
46. FAO participated in the Forest Engineering Group Seminar on Forest Harvesting on Difficult Ground, held in Penrith, United Kingdom (August 1997). An FAO position paper was presented on Recent Developments in Wood Harvesting in Difficult Terrain from a World Perspective Point of View. FAO was represented at the ILO Meeting of Experts on Safety and Health in Forest Work (Geneva, September 1997), which examined and adopted a Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Forest Work.
47. A position paper on "Forest Harvesting and Transport, Old Problems, New Solutions", highlighting the importance of initiatives to develop incentive systems and policies that promote the introduction and adoption of reduced impact forest harvesting practices was presented at the XI World Forestry Congress.
48. An Expert Meeting on Environmentally Sound Forest Operations for Countries in Transition to Market Economies, sponsored by the Austrian Government, was held in Austria in September 1998. The objectives of the meeting were to exchange experience and information and to introduce experts to appropriate forest operations in small, medium and large forest enterprises, as practised in Austria.
49. Preparatory work was carried out for the Expert Review Meeting on the "Manual for the Planning, Design and Construction of Forest Roads in Steep Terrain" was held in Lampertheim, Germany from 8 to 15 November 1998. The Manual will be published in the first half of 1999.
50. A case study was carried out on Environmentally Sound Forest Road Construction in Mountainous Terrain, Applying Advanced Operating Methods and Tools in semi-natural forests in the Province of Salzburg, Austria. It was published in September 1998, under the FAO Forest Harvesting Case Study Series.
51. The Forest Products Marketing programme drew attention to the
importance of marketing in the forestry sector through presentation of papers
at the XI World Forestry Congress, International IUFRO Workshop on Forest
Products Marketing (Tofino, Canada), International ICRAF Conference on
Domestication and Commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products in Agroforestry
Systems (Nairobi, Kenya) and the International ICUC Conference on Domestication,
Production and Utilization of New Crops (Southampton, UK). A document on
"Marketing in Forestry and Agroforestry by Rural People" was also
published.
52. "Guidelines for Strengthening and Establishment of Log Auction Systems" were prepared to assist in the improvement of log marketing practices especially in countries in transition to market economies. A Workshop on the Development of Marketing of Sawnwood Products in Countries in Transition to Market Economies was also organized in Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation, under the auspices of the ECE Timber Committee, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland. A "Study on Plantation Timber Prices in Latin America and Southern United States" was prepared.
53. Trade issues were analysed and trade information provided in order to
assist countries in their trade and policy development. Two reports were
published on the likely impact of the GATT Uruguay Round (Trade Barriers
Affecting Non-Wood Forest Products, and Impact of the Uruguay Round
on International Trade in Forest Products). Various inputs, including
the preparation of papers, were provided to a number of meetings, expert
working groups and international conferences. These included an ECE Timber
Committee expert working group on Forest Products Certification in Europe
and North America, and a number of meetings connected with certification,
some of which were related to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Forests. Papers prepared on trade issues included "The Uruguay Round Results
- an Overview"; "Value-added Products and Trade Restrictions";
"Prospects and Challenges in the Supply and Demand of Timber in the Global
Market"; and "Global Overview of Equitable Trading Practices".
RECOMMENDATION
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ACTION TAKEN OR PROPOSED
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| FAO forestry
activities of interest to the region 2. The Commission, while commending the report on FAO activities of relevance to the region, pointed out that many of these activities were not broadly known in the region. It recommended that information on FAO activities be widely disseminated in the region (para. 33). |
Through the FAO Forestry Internet site, information on FAO activities were disseminated in particular with a series of Information Notes on selected programmes and activities in SFM. |
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| Follow-up to
the recommendations of the seventeenth session of the Commission
3. The Commission approved the proposed amendments to its rules of procedure,
recommending that the text be made gender neutral and that the first
sentence of new paragraph 5 under Rule II be amended to read as follows:
"The Bureau of Alternates will generally convene at least once a year" (para.
37).
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The Director General of FAO approved on 7 July 1997 the amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission. |
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| Strengthening
the role of regional forestry commissions
5. The Commission recommended: · that FAO assist in developing a global forest strategy to help regional forestry commissions plan their work in a harmonized and coordinated context, thereby contributing to the achievement of common objectives (para. 83); |
A draft Strategic Plan for
Forestry was prepared, widely circulated to member countries of FAO, to other
members of the UN family, to NGOs and to interested individuals, and placed
on the FAO Forestry Internet site.
Concerning the assignment of a Regional Forestry Officer to assist NAFC, the Assistant Director General of the FAO Forestry Department recommended in early 1997 to postpone it, given the difficult financial situation of the Organization and to continue FAO's support to the Commission through a Forestry Officer in FAO Rome. Discussions will continue over this NAFC session. In keeping with FAO goals to strengthen regional forestry commissions, FAO Forestry Department provided funding for involvement of a colleague from Mexico in the North American Biology workshop; co-sponsorship a meeting on Mahogany held in Puerto Rico; and contributions to INIFAP, Mexico, for genetic resources activities, and for work on mahogany genetic resources. |
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