There is a wide recognition of increasing threats applied on the forest resources by man but also as result of the progressive global climatic changes. There is therefore a huge challenge on how to revert the process of degradation of these resources. Devising adequate development policies and putting these resources under proper management systems will be the ways for sustaining and perpetuating the multiple functions of the forests.
Decision-makers require relevant, comprehensive and reliable information for devising development policies and management measures. This can only be obtained from periodic assessments of the state of the resources.
Considerable efforts have been deployed by the international community through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in developing and implementing forest resources assessment and monitoring systems. FAO has widely contributed over the last decades in building national capacities within countries from the developing world. Few countries have succeeded in maintaining and strengthening these capacities, but others have failed in keeping the investments alive beyond the technical and financial support provided within the project cycles.
