THE FAO Council has selected Argentina as the host country for the Seventh World Forestry Congress which is expected to be held in September 1972.
Details of the formal offers to host the congress received from Argentina, Greece and the U.S.S.R. were considered by the Council at its fifty-second session in June 1969. The FAO Conference, the governing body of the Organization, had called for an early decision when it gave the Council the responsibility of determining a host country. Members of the Council felt that the documents with which they had been provided contained sufficient information, forwarded by the prospective host countries themselves, to enable it to come to a decision. It therefore decided to proceed to the selection of a host country for the congress without further delay.
The FAO Council agreed that from the technical point of view all the three countries which were prepared to host the Seventh World Forestry Congress appeared to offer sufficient guarantee that the high standards set by previous congresses would be maintained. It noted, however, that of the six congresses held so far, four - including the most recent one - had been held in Europe, one in North America and one in Asia, but none in Latin America It therefore decided that for the Seventh World Forestry Congress Argentina was the most appropriate choice, while expressing its deep appreciation to the governments of the other countries which had extended invitations.
The FAO Council also expressed its appreciation of the gesture made by the delegate of Turkey who, at the beginning of the discussion, had informed the Council of his Government's willingness to host the Seventh World Forestry Congress should it prove impossible to reach a consensus regarding one of the three countries under consideration.
The Argentine Ambassador to Italy, who attended the meeting as observer on behalf of his Government which is not at this time a member of the Council, stressed that his Government would invite representation from all Member Nations of the United Nations or FAO, without discrimination. He also stated that Argentina intended to offer a number of fellowships, covering travel as well as other expenses, to participants from developing countries of distant regions.
The choice of Argentina as host to the Seventh World Forestry Congress fulfils a long-held wish of foresters in that country. Argentina's desire to act as host for a congress was, in fact, expressed as long ago as 1960 on the occasion of the Fifth World Forestry Congress in Seattle, and reiterated at the sixth congress in Madrid. The FAO Council's decision recognizes the fact that Latin America possesses perhaps the highest forest potential in the world and very favourable conditions for forest growth. It is also recognition of the rapid development in forestry and forest industries shown in many countries in this region during recent years. Awareness of the important role that the forest resources of Latin America can play in the continent's economic development has led to an upsurge of interest in forestry affairs. This has been particularly marked in Argentina which has, in fact, the highest per caput consumption of forest products in Latin America. For such products it has to face an import bill which is one of the highest in the region. The awakened interest in forestry is demonstrated by the recent establishment of two forestry schools of university level, at Cordoba and La Plata; the development of a credit system to encourage private farmers and landowners to engage in forestry undertakings; and the considerable efforts being made to manage Argentina's national parks according to modern concepts and ideas. The foresters of Argentina-and, indeed, of all the Latin American countries-anticipate that the holding of a World Forestry Congress in their region will add much impetus to this trend toward more dynamic forestry.
The Seventh World Forestry Congress will be the first of its kind to assemble in the Southern Hemisphere. Owing to its geographical shape and location, Argentina has a range of climatic and ecological conditions that is almost unique-and that certainly cannot be paralleled in any one country of the Northern Hemisphere. Running from the Tropic of Capricorn to the subarctic lands of the Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the east by the ocean and on the west by the towering chain of the Andes, Argentina contains within its territory examples of almost all possible variations and combinations of topography, climate and soil. The study tours which the Argentine Government will be organizing to complement the business meeting of the congress will be planned to take full advantage of these.
FIGURE 1. - " . . . driven before the oncoming desert . . . "
