FAO FORESTRY

FAO Regional Forestry Commissions

FAO's six regional forestry commissions each meet every second year to advise on the formulation of forest policy, to review and coordinate its implementation at the regional level, to exchange information and to make appropriate recommendations to FAO and other organizations and institutions. The sessions for the commissions for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, North America and the Near East, held in early 2000, were reported in Unasylva 203. The remaining two commissions met in autumn 2000.

Latin America and the Caribbean. The Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) held its twenty-first session from 4 to 8 September 2000 in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. The session was attended by delegates from 16 member countries, representatives of United Nations (UN) specialized agencies and observers from five international and intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The commission highlighted the following issues, among others:

the importance of improving the quality and accessibility of forest information as the foundation for the planning, development and formulation of forestry policy;
the growing importance of national forest programmes (nfps) and the potential of the subregional groups established under the commission as mechanisms for supporting nfps;
the opportunity provided by the International Year of Mountains 2002 to raise awareness of the forestry sector in the mountain areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, where forestry is particularly important;
the need to strengthen national technical capacities regarding implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through information and training;
the need for appropriate strategies to foster the development of the forestry institutions of the countries of the region;
the need to promote recognition of integrated natural resource management by communities as a valid strategy for the conservation of forests.

Europe. The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Timber Committee and the European Forestry Commission met in joint session in Rome from 9 to 13 October 2000. The session was attended by representatives of 31 member countries as well as the United States, several United Nations bodies, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs.

The session drew attention to the following matters:

the importance of balancing the environmental, social and economic elements of sustainable forest management;
the need for reliable, current data and information for sustainable forest management, for the development of forest policy, for planning and for monitoring progress in regional processes;
the progress in development of nfps and the importance of cross-sectoral issues to the nfp process.

Other subjects discussed by the commission included forest resources assessment; key issues relating to the Kyoto protocol and forestry; and the International Year of Mountains, including the activities of the Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds. An in-session seminar was held on the international dialogue on forests and support to global and regional processes. In addition, the agenda included discussion of two special topics: the work of the Joint FAO/ECE/International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee on Forest Technology, Management and Training on sustainable forest management practices; and response to the heavy forest damage caused by serious storms in Europe in December 1999.

Full reports of the Commissions may be obtained through the Meetings Officer, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome (e-mail: [email protected]).

International Poplar Commission

The twenty-first session of the International Poplar Commission (IPC) (held every four years), the fortieth session of its Executive Committee (held every two years) and meetings of its five working parties were held in Portland, Oregon, United States, from 24 to 28 September 2000. The sessions were jointly hosted by the United States and Canada.

The twenty-first session was attended by 258 registered participants from 31 countries, 25 of which are IPC members. Finland was admitted as the thirty-seventh member of the commission. Apart from high representation of the two host countries, there were large delegations from Chile and China. This year a financial support programme was introduced for developing country participants, funded by Canada.

The commission noted the increasing interest in the broad range of goods and environmental services provided by poplars and willows (including their growing use for bio-energy and for phytoremediation of polluted sites) and made the following recommendations:

There is a continuing need for the conservation of the genetic resources of natural populations of poplars and willows.
Increased attention should be paid to the safe movement of reproductive materials and issues of plant quarantine.
The potential for fast-growing plantations of poplars and willows to contribute to environmental benefits - including meeting the aims of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity - should be recognized in national policies.
Research priorities for poplars include detailed studies at the regional and global levels of pathogen populations and their range; and the potential application of biotechnology in improvement and breeding programmes aimed at enhancing wood quality.

The meeting emphasized the importance of poplars and, increasingly, willows in the conservation of genetic resources and in the production of biomass, with particular reference to the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol regarding carbon offsets and renewable energy. The role of fast-growing plantations as an alternative to natural forests was stressed as a source of wood supply (especially in temperate regions).

Two meetings on harvesting and marketing of non-wood forest products

Seminar on harvesting held in Turkey. The Seminar on Harvesting of Non-Wood Forest Products was held from 2 to 8 October 2000 in Menemen-Izmir, Turkey, at the invitation of the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and under the auspices of the Joint FAO/ECE/ILO Committee on Forest Technology, Management and Training. Some 85 participants from 31 countries around the world attended. They included forest operations managers; representatives of private and public forest enterprises and processing plants; officials of forest services and administrations; scientists, teachers and trainers; and representatives of NGOs, forestry and forest products associations and cooperatives.

The seminar addressed the following topics:

policies to promote sustainable forest operations and utilization of non-wood forest products (NWFPs);
inventory methods and mapping of NWFPs;
involvement (financial, organizational and administrative) of the private sector and NGOs in the harvesting, processing and marketing of NWFPs in order to enhance the employment and income-generation of local populations;
planning and management of sustainable forest harvesting operations for NWFPs, and establishment of standards for appropriate harvesting systems and techniques for reducing environmental impacts and wastes;
extension, training and education to improve forest harvesting practices, productivity and availability of NWFPs;
organizations and institutions dealing with the collection of statistical data and valuation of NWFPs and with their promotion for export markets.

The 35 papers and five posters presented in plenary generated lively discussions among the participants. The seminar concluded that there is a need for more information, training and networking on the management and valorization of NWFPs.

Workshop on marketing held in the Republic of Moldova. The International Workshop on Sustainable Development of Marketing of Non-Wood Forest Products in Countries in Transition to Market Economies was held in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, from 23 to 27 October 2000. The workshop was hosted by the State Forest Association of the Republic of Moldova under the auspices of the ECE Timber Committee in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of Finland, the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development of the Republic of Moldova, the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) Republic of Moldova, and FAO. The main objectives of the workshop were to increase awareness of the importance of marketing in the NWFP sector; to provide information and understanding of the basic elements of marketing and the business environment; and to initiate and strengthen collaboration between public and private organizations in the sector.

The participants - 54 invited experts from 13 countries - included specialists working in NWFP production, processing and marketing as well as in forest resource management planning and related support. The organizers were particularly satisfied to see many Central Asian countries represented.

This workshop was the fourth in the series of workshops on Marketing of Forest Products for Countries in Transition to Market Economies organized under the auspices of the ECE Timber Committee in close cooperation with the Government of Finland and FAO. This workshop, however, was the first to focus specifically on NWFPs.

The conclusions of the workshop indicated needs for better information about the potential of non-wood forest resources in relation to current use, better availability and access to market and marketing information, and training and networking on the management, processing and marketing of NWFPs.

Two meetings on harvesting and marketing of non-wood forest products

Seminar on harvesting held in Turkey. The Seminar on Harvesting of Non-Wood Forest Products was held from 2 to 8 October 2000 in Menemen-Izmir, Turkey, at the invitation of the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and under the auspices of the Joint FAO/ECE/ILO Committee on Forest Technology, Management and Training. Some 85 participants from 31 countries around the world attended; they included forest operations managers; representatives of private and public forest enterprises and processing plants; officials of forest services and administrations; scientists, teachers and trainers; and representatives of NGOs, forestry and forest products associations and cooperatives.

The seminar addressed the following topics:

policies to promote sustainable forest operations and utilization of non-wood forest products (NWFPs);
inventory methods and mapping of NWFPs;
involvement (financial, organizational and administrative) of the private sector and NGOs in the harvesting, processing and marketing of NWFPs in order to enhance the employment and income-generation of local populations;
planning and management of sustainable forest harvesting operations for NWFPs, and establishment of standards for appropriate harvesting systems and techniques for the reduction of environmental impacts and wastes;
extension, training and education to improve forest harvesting practices, productivity and availability of NWFPs;
organizations and institutions dealing with the collection of statistical data and valuation of NWFPs and with their promotion for export markets.

Workshop on marketing held in the Republic of Moldova. The International Workshop on Sustainable Development of Marketing of Non-Wood Forest Products in Countries in Transition to Market Economies was held in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, from 23 to 27 October 2000. The workshop was hosted by the State Forest Association of the Republic of Moldova under the auspices of the ECE Timber Committee in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of Finland, the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development of the Republic of Moldova, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Republic of Moldova, and FAO. The main objectives of the workshop were to increase awareness of the importance of marketing in the NWFP sector; to provide information and understanding of the basic elements of marketing and the business environment; and to initiate and strengthen collaboration between public and private organizations in the sector.