J. WYATT - SMITHJ. WYATT-SMITH is forestry adviser at the Ministry of Overseas Development of the United Kingdom. He previously was FAO project manager and head of the Department of Forestry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, which was established through the medium of a UNDP/FAO project. This paper was presented at an FAO seminar on forestry education and training development in tropical Africa held at Accra, Ghana, in 1969.
THIS paper enumerates certain common features in tropical countries and discusses employment opportunities in forestry, functions and organization of a forest service, educational programmes and types of training at the professional, technical, and lower levels in forestry. It examines the adequacy and practical applications of training received, and suggests three major remedies:
1. in future training programmes, to approach the problems from the actual functional need for the training rather than that of the organizational structure that exists to deal with the problems, the establishment of the various posts and the minimum educational qualifications laid down for entry at any particular point;2. to accept the premise that forestry in developing countries is really an applied technology and that it is not so much a question of the need for new knowledge that is required but the modification of existing techniques to suit local conditions, and the application of existing knowledge;
3. to consider the training of all staff levels as an integrated exercise.
In most countries, and tropical countries in Africa are no exception, forestry in its early stages was mainly concerned with controlling and policing the existing natural forest resource which was being increasingly depleted through the clearing of land. The field of forestry was subsequently broadened to meet several needs:
1. to take active steps to regenerate existing natural resources;2. to create a forest resource where one had not existed for a long period of time;
3. to protect land and water resources;
4. to maintain adequate vegetation in natural surroundings in order to support the health of mankind, realizing that the destruction or disturbance of one facet of an ecosystem often causes unforeseen and deleterious repercussions and that natural vegetation provides a source of gene material of unknown potential.
Foresters are no longer just rural police officers and revenue collectors, but should be recognized as very important cogs in an integrated national and supranational organization geared to serve mankind.
Apart from inherent varying conditions the stage of forestry development reached by countries differs greatly. Champion (1965) has, however, enumerated certain common features in tropical countries which fare worth repeating:
"1. The undeveloped condition of the forests in respect of communications transport facilities and often even mapping.2. The relatively unskilled staff and labour, with low standards of education generally.
3. Difficulties in the legal and physical protection of the forest.
4. Complications due to various forms of ownership and the prevalence of rights of user over the forest.
5. Pressure on the forest land for other uses.
6. Political pressure for quick development.
7. The low level of industrial development and mechanization.
8. Restricted local markets due to low standards of living.
9. The lack of basic knowledge concerning the forest, particularly as to their content and how to regenerate them.
10. The climatic extremes prevailing in respect of (high) temperatures, humidity and aridity."
It can be seen from the above that the opportunities for employment in forestry are, or at least should be, abundant at all levels. Moreover, forestry has a particular attribute in that the opportunities are essentially in the rural areas and more than 90 percent of the population in developing countries are often living in these areas. Forestry can therefore assist in arresting the common trend of populations moving toward the urban centres with all the problems associated with it. These opportunities apply not only to the personnel engaged on all those operations in the forests and plantations, but also to those engaged in the primary forest industries.
And what are these opportunities? For the professional forester there are the increasing number of senior posts in government forest departments, the occasional job in government administrative services on matters such as land planning and land use, and the possibility of employment in plantation agriculture. It must be realized that, at least in the wetter tropics, many traditional agricultural crops are tree crops and a forestry training is often as good if not better than an agricultural one for the managerial posts associated with these plantations. Very few professional foresters have found themselves in forest industries for several reasons: most trainees are on scholarships and bonded to their governments, but also the emphasis given during training does not readily equip them for posts in forest industry, even on the logging side. Industries are more interested in personnel with an engineering, economic, management, or commercial-type background or inclination, whether they have a professional qualification or not.
For nonprofessional candidates or nondegree holders, there is the whole galaxy of posts associated with forest management, harvesting, processing, and marketing. Such posts are both technical and nontechnical, both operational and supervisory in all their gradations, both casual and fulltime, and both on contract and permanent establishment.
There is often a minimum educational qualification for the various grades of post, particularly in government service, but this is merely a guide to ensure, as far as possible, that the employee is able to understand what is required of him and carry out the job in a satisfactory manner. Unfortunately this major fact is too often forgotten today, applicants considering a certain educational qualification almost as a right to a certain type of job rather than as a passport to and eligibility for consideration for one. It may mean that a professional forester with a poor classification in his degree does not get a post, but equally it should not be forgotten that the academic educational qualification is only one of the many attributes looked for by an employer. There are others, such as a deep interest in his subject, personal character, and being physically and temperamentally suited to forest life (Champion, 1965). These are as important, if not more important, in particular in developing countries where the gap between urban and rural development in all aspects is so much greater.
This paper has been written within the context of developing countries in tropical Africa, where forestry interests are largely those of governments, rather than those of private and commercial interests, since land generally is held by governments and communities rather than owned by private individuals.
A government's role is to ensure that forests and included lands are scientifically managed for the production of goods and services, often on a continuous basis, so as to serve their country and people best at present and in the future. This entails sound land planning and land use, and the development and protection of both the productive and service aspects of the natural resources. Furthermore, with few exceptions, governments in Africa do not embark on general commercial operations but leave these to private enterprise. As such the exploitation, processing and marketing of timber has generally been carried out by private and commercial interests, with governments merely keeping an overall interest, collecting adequate forest taxes and ensuring as far as possible that the industry develops in the best national interest. Apart from the existence of inspectorate services, governments are often required however to take the initiative and pave the way for the development or adoption of new techniques, the development of minor forest products, and the creation of establishments for the training of local personnel to enable them to enter the commercial field and successfully establish themselves in the face of acute competition.
In the scientific management of forests and included lands, governments are concerned with several major natural resources and the foremost is land itself. Others are timber and other conventional forest products, water, wildlife, recreation and, in many countries of Africa, pasturage. When considering these resources a government's concern and responsibilities should be national and coordinated, and should transcend the boundaries of any particular area set aside for a specific purpose.
The arm of government carrying out these functions is usually that of a forest department, though with increasing specialization and development many countries have created special departments to cover certain of these aspects, for example, game or wildlife departments. It can be expected that this trend will continue and that the pendulum will swing back again to the role of the forest department being primarily that of timber production. Whatever the position at any given time, competent resource managers are required, people with broad vision and training to equip them to carry out coordinated programmes satisfactorily. Even specialists are more valuable if they do not have too narrow an outlook.
The numerical strength of a forest department, at least on paper, will depend upon the extent of its functions and the ease with which they can be carried out, and also upon the cost and availability of funds, and the priority and required efficiency which government places upon the fulfilment of the designated functions. No single person can work efficiently for more than a certain number of hours each day, though admittedly his achievements can vary tremendously depending upon his personal and acquired capabilities, the organization of the work, and the success of team effort.
Within a department there is a hierarchy of posts, numerically in the form of a pyramid, with the most senior post at the apex, each charged with carrying out different functions. There is usually a minimal educational qualification for each grade, personnel entering the pyramid at different levels. However experience, capabilities and length of service are other factors which are taken into account, and personnel are enabled to progress up the pyramid on their scale of service and even cross from one grade to another. No absolute division is possible from a functional standpoint between the top part of one grade and the lower parts of the next senior grade - there is overlapping of function between the older and experienced members of an immediately junior grade with the young new recruits to the immediately senior grade. There appears to be no solution in developing countries to the difficulties and problems that this causes, though fortunately it should be resolved to a great extent once saturation in the upper posts and a satisfactory age class distribution have been achieved and the educational programme has passed its present rapid evolutionary phase.
The structure of a forest service on the field side is usually considered to fall into three categories - professional, technical or subprofessional, and vocational. In practice in many developing countries it really consists of four categories - professional, technical or subprofessional, subtechnical, and the nontechnical vocational or forest labourer. It must be realized that for the satisfactory completion or carrying out of any task, there must be skilled workmen or labourers, whether they are paid daily or by the month, casual or permanent. Monthly pay and a permanent post should be merely incentives to improve the standard of the skill and not a distinction given to those who attend training programmes.
Designations of professional grades vary from country to country. In ascending order, the ranks usually run from assistant conservator of forests to chief conservator of forests and are normally required to be university graduates. The country is usually divided into a number of territorial charges and the junior forest officer or assistant conservator of forests is responsible for all the forestry practice including the administration and personnel duties of that charge. His duties are:
1. to be aware of the role of forestry as a form of land use in the overall socioeconomic background of his charge, of his own country and to some extent of the world;2. to be able to utilize relevant data and evaluate forestry techniques in planning, administering and executing forest activities;
3. to determine, advise on and formulate forest policy.
Several of these territorial charges are grouped together under more senior officers, who are themselves responsible to the chief conservator of forests at head office, who is in turn responsible to the relevant minister of the government. In addition to these territorial charges, various posts will normally exist covering the research activities and such specialization as engineering, utilization, working plans.
The territorial charges already mentioned are subdivided into smaller areas under the responsibility of a subprofessional or technical officer, who is able to assist the professional forester in carrying out, directing and supervising all the day to day practical technical forestry duties of surveying, enumeration surveys, routine silvicultural and mensurational operations, nursery practice, protection and policing measures, routine revenue collecting procedure, including the writing of reports, maintenance of records, and the running of a small office. He may even be required to supervise simple felling, extraction and sawmilling operations, though in such cases special training will be provided. In short, these people should be trained to acquire a knowledge of techniques and their satisfactory implementation, and in addition be given the necessary background to ensure that the purpose of such techniques is clearly understood so that they may be correctly applied and even modified in small ways where necessary to meet localized circumstances. They must acquire a high degree of practical skill themselves, since theirs is the responsibility for training the forest workers and nontechnical grades.
The technical and subprofessional men undoubtedly form the backbone of any forest service though this is often not sufficiently realized. Again several of these surcharges are often grouped together under a senior subprofessional or technical officer. And, in addition., personnel of these grades may be given special functional forest duties not connected with a territorial charge as such, as the establishment of a plantation scheme. Such personnel are normally required to have a secondary education.
The subtechnical grade, often comprising forest rangers and forest guards, are in many ways forest policemen and skilled foremen who are required to carry out many of the inspection and operational duties in timber working areas and of forest management. They are usually required to be literate, so that they c an both read and write simple reports. They will be assisted by casual and/or permanent forest labourers, who may or may not be literate, and who are unfortunately often completely unskilled. :However, they should be trained to perform skilled or semi-skilled work in the best and most economic manner. This means, among other things, that; they should know how to use not only simple but also fairly complicated hand tools, and how to maintain them all in the a satisfactory state of repair. They should also understand the object of what they are doing and problems concerned with its achievement.
Excluding those in the processing and forest products field, the hierarchy is therefore usually as follows:
1. Professional foresters and other specialist degree holding personnel (normally called forest officers, specialists and research officers).2. Technicians and subprofessional men (normally called foresters, forest assistants, technical officers).
3. Subtechnical and protective men (normally called forest rangers and forest guards, and collectively the field staff).
4. Nontechnical or forest workers (normally called forest labourers or casual labourers).
In addition, there are the senior posts in the relevant ministry, and the educationists who may or may not be professional foresters but who are very closely concerned with forestry affairs and who should be much more aware of the important functional role of forests than they usually are.
The number of posts within each type or category of staff depends, or at least should depend, upon the true necessity for them, but there is a tendency in some countries to try and create an establishment in a Parkinsonian manner rather than look to the real need, and often to pay overmuch attention to the top echelon rather than to the medium and lower grades. This is a natural human reaction but one that should be resisted. Forestry in developing countries is really an applied technology, and it is probable that quicker development progress in the field would be made at this stage by concentrating more on the base of the pyramid and filling higher posts by giving accelerated promotion on exceptional merit. (Though this should not in any way be taken that the author is recommending curtailment of activities at the higher levels, it is merely a case of emphasis.) Furthermore insufficient attention is paid to the reduction or deployment of any personnel to meet downward changed conditions when they occur (King, 1965).
There are no hard and fast guidelines as to the number of professional forest officers required, nor of the number of subordinate staff needed to assist them. FAO has been trying to devise a methodology to determine the optimum number of the various categories a country may require, and in general terms it has been suggested that, in field operations, for every professional forester there should be from 6 to 9 subprofessional or technical men, 45 to 49 subtechnical (called vocational by Richardson) men, and 180 to 480 labourers or workers depending upon the operation and type of forestry (Richardson, l 967).
It is perfectly clear, however, that whatever the number of each category found necessary in each country and for each operation, the efficiency of the operation depends upon having an adequate number of skilled juniors to assist the more senior men. Without both these requisites - number and skill - the costs of any operation are likely to be disproportionately allocated. The satisfactory training of all grades of personnel is therefore essential and must be regarded as an integrated operation.
The professional men are trained at a university, or at some institute of higher education, for three or more years from an advanced secondary school base, and until recently such training was entirely obtained in developed countries. The subprofessional, or technical, or intermediate-level section are trained at local departmental forest schools for two to three years from a normal secondary school base. The subtechnical men are normally given the barest minimum training usually lasting no more than six months, though often considerably less, at departmental schools, from a primary school base. The forest workman is given no training at all other than the briefest initial instruction in the field before any operation starts and what he then acquires in the form of experience while on the job, experienced and well-proved forest workers being reengaged as far as is possible year after year for the same operations. In addition to all these standard educational or training courses, specialized short courses and refresher courses are frequently given to all grades of personnel.
It is generally recognized that there are untold advantages if it proves economically feasible to provide undergraduate professional forestry training in the socioeconomic environment in which the candidate will subsequently practice. On the other hand, it is equally recognized that, at the present juncture, graduate or postgraduate education is probably better undertaken abroad at long-established schools of forestry, research organizations and other institutions, forest services and industries.
So far in this discussion little or no account has been taken of the education and training of those working in the felling and extraction of the timber in the forest area nor of those in the primary forest industries. These men most frequently are recruited at whatever educational level and with whatever background considered appropriate and are then trained on the job, either in the forest or in the industry. As regards the technical aspects, many attend evening classes, where available, to obtain officially recognized certificates.
However, it does appear that in many developing countries the forest worker receives the minimal of training necessary and yet he is by far the most important person in so many operations, particularly in view of the extensive nature of forestry, and the minimal supervision that is consequently possible. He is the man who actually plants the seedlings in the creation of plantations, and who carries out many of the silvicultural operations. Courses on the correct use of hand tools and their efficient maintenance are frequently given to subtechnical staff, but how often is the information acquired adequately passed on to the forest worker Rather infrequently in the author's opinion, except in a somewhat informal manner.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
Professional training in the earliest days took the form of apprenticeship to a well-known master of :Forestry. The creation of special forestry schools followed, often located within a forest department. Students usually had a science degree, had already been selected for service in the forest department, and were given a course in which the emphasis was on practical work and in general on present-day needs. In India today forestry training is still provided by the Forestry Department at Dehra Dun to selected candidates with a degree in agriculture or the biological or physical sciences.
It has been realized, however, that modern forestry, with its strong social and economic facets and integrated approach with other land-use disciplines, necessitates a broad background. With future developments in mind, it is therefore important that potential professional forest officers should not be isolated while undergoing training but trained within a university environment. The drawback is that there is a tendency to give courses which are possibly too theoretically orientated and which may, in the eyes of many serving forest officers, be divorced from practical realities. On the other hand, it must be clearly realized that it is not in the long-term interest to train a man at university for a specific post in mind if progress is to be maintained and new ideas are to be generated.
A balance must be aimed at whereby many of the professional practical requirements are provided after the taking of a degree and when a person is much more certain that forestry is really to be his chosen career. And it is interesting to record that at Oxford, England, the centre at which so many tropical foresters have had their training is embarking on such a programme as from 1970. A one-year course, concentrating it is understood on management with a strong economic slant and including a special project and working plan, is being taken in a fourth year, after a 3 - year degree course in plant science. Honours are to be awarded on the basis of the fourth professional year, and students will follow a forestry stream during the final third year of the degree.
A satisfactory balance between the biological and physical science requirements and those of economics, management and the social services is very difficult, in fact probably impossible, to attain. But is it necessary to try? It would appear desirable from a department's point of view to have officers from a fairly wide background, so that a stereotyped forest officer is avoided and continued progress is ensured. It is after all the department which is the operative unit; that has to face the manifold duties entrusted to it, not each individual (Wyatt-Smith, 1968). And in this era of specialization no individual can be trained both sufficiently broadly and in depth to meet al]. the likely demands he will be faced with. He can and must be trained to think, to assess situations, and to decide on -the type of specialized expertise he should call upon for assistance when the situation demands it.
Sisam (1964) has drawn up an excellent suggested basic four-year curriculum for professional education in forestry for developing countries, and the main changes the author would suggest are that it would be an advantage to get students orientated earlier than the third and fourth years toward the principles of land use and the necessity for coordination and. integration of the various natural resource disciplines this would in the opinion of the author hold their interest in the subject of forestry), and considerably earlier than the fourth year in wood technology. Much of the latter could quite conveniently be done in the first or second year of the four-year course. It is also considered that more emphasis than appears to be given, should be placed on wildlife, water, range and recreational management, important aspects of forest officers' duties in many developing countries, and on economics. An important feature of Sisam's basic curriculum is the specializing into one of two streams - forestry and forest products - during the fourth year. This is an aspect which it is hoped the new Department of Forestry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, will be able to introduce in the not too distant future.
Sisam's four - year suggested course appears to be comparable in many respects to the present three-year degree course at Ibadan plus the initial preliminary science year. It probably suffers from the same defects as the Ibadan course in that it is extremely difficult to carry out the necessary professional forestry field work in sufficient depth in two academic years, and it is noted that Sisam himself has suggested that it might be preferable to make forestry a five - year course.
This is particularly the case with the working plan, which is an admirable exercise to test the student and give him experience in the analysis of field problems, and make :him apply the :knowledge acquired from the full range of lectures in a practical and coordinated manner. Unfortunately the relevant formal courses often have to be run concurrently with the acquisition of the field data for the working plan. Yet it seems absolutely essential in developing countries, where extensive forestry is mainly practiced, communications rather poor and close supervision usually impossible, that professional foresters on leaving university and joining their forest department should be able immediately to undertake a simple technical project in the field in a thoroughly competent manner. Unfortunately in a three-year course there are definite doubts, whether a student has sufficient background to do this to the satisfaction of his senior officers.
One year's practical experience prior to going to university would probably go a long way toward. providing this and is sometimes stated as an essential prerequisite. This would also enable the young school leaver to decide whether he was cut out to be a forester. Unfortunately it is very difficult to enforce, since it would undoubtedly seriously jeopardize the number of students coming forward to read forestry, and the subject is in general already unpopular among school leavers eligible for university entrance. Most of the senior local-born forest officers in developing countries seem to forget that they had such a background, having served a few years apprenticeship in the technical ranks, but this is no longer the general pattern today.
It is generally agreed that the first degree in forestry should be broadly based and that specialized knowledge should be superimposed at a later date. On the other hand, it is equally accepted that a professional forester should be trained to be continually looking for possible improvement; that is, trained to think. To meet this need it is common to find universities requiring undergraduates to undertake a small project in depth. This is an excellent exercise but unfortunately it is often difficult to prevent students spending too much time on it to the detriment of their other studies.
TECHNICAL OR SUBPROFESSIONAL TRAINING
In many respects technical or subprofessional training is the most important of all since, without competent and well-trained assistants, the professional officer cannot operate efficiently and the field programme carried out by the subtechnical and vocational personnel and forest labourers is going to be equally inefficiently organized and implemented.
The importance and value of this cadre of personnel has long been realized and many developing countries embarked at an early stage on the establishment of excellent forest schools. A two-year course is the standard for the training of the technician after recruitment from secondary school with school-leaving certificate, and a short preentry practical period. This is followed some years later by a more specialized course lasting about one year for proved and experienced personnel.
The chief objective when training forestry technicians has been stated by Goodwin (1965) as follows: "A forestry technician who is able to supervise forest workers in the efficient carrying on of one or more forest operations against a grant of money." He goes further and states: " If he is to attain a satisfactory standard in his supervision, then I would suggest that he requires a mastery over the following elements of each operation:
(a) The manual skills of the job
(b) Technical knowledge (know-how)
(c) Labour management skills
(d) Administrative skills.
Thus we see that the forestry technician requires factual information and a variety of supervising skills. "
Although the forestry conditions and hence technician requirements vary from one country to another, including the effective minimal educational entry qualification, there is an undoubted similarity in the subjects taught at the various schools in tropical Africa. The goal in all countries has been to produce practical technicians and most countries have apparently had considerable success in realizing this. On the other hand, some countries have apparently had difficulty in keeping the practical aspects sufficiently to the fore and may have found themselves inclined to devote a greater proportion of the time available than is either desirable or necessary on of the basic scientific subjects and theoretical aspects of forestry. However, it is particularly hard to generalize on this in view of the varying conditions in different countries.
These trainees will certainly be required to have a sound practical knowledge of land survey, mapping, enumeration and mensuration, simple engineering, fire protection, plantation and forest management, regeneration and tending operations, nursery work, vehicle and tool use and maintenance, important tree species in all stages of their development, forest offence investigation and prosecution procedure, harvesting, licensing and revenue collecting procedure, and the forest laws; they will also be required to be proficient in public relations and in man and office management.
The effectiveness of the training programme is, however, being severely put to the test in several countries for, apart from a drop-out during the course, there is the loss after completing training of many of the better younger candidates to the university and by accelerated promotion from within the ranks of senior technicians to professional posts. This is due to the general lack of professional foresters to fill the available number of posts, and by the award of scholarships to the best young technicians with a second grade school-leaving certificate at the ordinary level to enable them to take a professional qualification. In other words the immediate short - term benefits are being set aside for assumed medium and longer term benefits. Unfortunately the latter cannot be guaranteed if the running of the department is jeopardized even to a slight degree by an unfortunate weakening of the important technician cadre. For it is true to state that in most countries young graduates are not expected to do as much field work as foresters.
Richardson (1967) considered that: "the most urgent need in forest services is to reduce the present gap in status and remuneration between technical level staff and professional personnel," and suggested: "that in relation to the economic strength of developing countries and potential effectiveness of staff, compensation afforded the latter is disproportionately high while that of the former is too low." This approach is realistic, and it would certainly appear opportune in many developing English-speaking countries that they realize the prior need is of a technical and applied nature, accept their senior technical men as junior forest officers, rather in the same general light as the French-speaking countries accept their ingenieurs des travaux, and give priority to increasing the establishment of this cadre of men rather than the number of assistant conservators of forests. :In the context of a developing country in Africa many in this grade of personnel are undoubtedly fulfil ling the same vital function as the district officers in the field in the United Kingdom Forestry Commission. They should be regarded. as such by governments and retained in their present role without the necessity of their being urged to go to university.
FIELD STAFF TRAINING
In many countries insufficient emphasis appears to have been placed on field staff training. This has resulted in an unnecessary burden being, placed on both the technician and the professional officer. Training is generally restricted to those men. who are really junior technicians or subtechnicians (forest rangers) with primary or at most with very limited secondary education, and who have routine policing, protective, administrative and operational duties in the field. They are usually given a two-year course following six-month practical training in the field, and during the course as much as half the time may be spent on field exercises, practical work and inspection tours. The junior levels (forest guards) often act as supervisors or foremen of gangs of forest workers, but they are rarely adequately trained and are very frequently particularly ineffective in accomplishing these duties.
It would certainly seem desirable that field staff training programmes should be intensified at the lower levels, and as a means of achieving better results that a higher minimal educational level be demanded than has been the case in some countries. With improved educational facilities in developing countries this should undoubtedly be possible. Delegates at the Seminar for Principals of Technical Level Forestry Schools in Africa, held at Abidjan in October 1965 recommended a minimum of two years' successful secondary education (FAO, 1965). If this were attained, then there would be every reason to hope that trained field staff could supply more candidates for promotion to the technical grade. In addition, there is no doubt that reliability and keenness are vital requirements Champion, 1965).
At present, part of the training course is frequently devoted to such basic studies as English and mathematics, and the development of students' general knowledge, subjects which it is considered are essentially the responsibility of the national educational system and not of a forest department. Training should mainly be orientated toward elementary botany, a knowledge of trees, nursery practice, land survey, enumerations, plantation work, tending operations, road maintenance, fire protection, simple engineering and administration, including note taking and report writing, and the correct use, care and maintenance of tools and equipment.
NONTECHNICAL. TRAINING' FOB FOREST WORKERS
Forest workers are often local casual employees though fortunately they are frequently recruited for similar seasonal operations from one year to the next. They are usually selected for their industriousness, local knowledge, reliability and physique. If at all possible, it would undoubtedly be desirable, to obtain a permanent cadre of well-trained men, who received short special courses, repeated at intervals, to maintain them at an efficient level for the manual tasks they undertake. This, however, appears to be an impossibility, except for a very small number, owing to the seasonal nature of much of the work.
SPECIALIST TRAINING
At the most senior staff level, specialization is normally undertaken a few years after graduating and the acquisition of field experience and forestry lore. Through lack of local facilities postgraduate training has of necessity been undertaken overseas in the past, though undoubtedly it would be very much better, on the practical side at least, if this could be carried out locally or at least in a tropical environment. However, there is undoubted value for a person having acquired a local background in his studies to travel abroad, mix with people of other countries in the same profession, and see forest practice in a developed country for himself. Forestry is one of those disciplines which cannot readily be learnt from literature. In the British Commonwealth the one-year forest officers' course at Oxford, England, designed for those with four or five years' practical experience, has served the profession well, as have also the numerous short courses on specialized aspects held periodically at many centres in developed countries. There should be more of them.
In the past it has been common practice to select both future research officers and specialists from among those who have ordinary forestry training but who have also shown a particular flair in a specialized field. This has been strongly criticized by Richardson (1967), who considers that it accounts for the poor quality of much of the research carried out and waste expenditure. He states: "Adequate training for effective research in forestry requires, in general, a minimum of nine years at a university (four years of forestry; two years of specialist training; three years of research training). And only the best forestry graduates are able to absorb the specialist training involved. Few developing countries at the present time can realistically afford to release their best men for advanced training, to support them with the necessary facilities on their return to the forestry agency, or to forego their services in field forestry and administration." As regards specialists it is undoubtedly preferable in most cases to recruit a person who has specialized in the field for his first degree and then decided to apply his knowledge in the medium of forestry, giving him, where necessary, postgraduate training in forestry (Wyatt-Smith, 1968).
At other staff levels, specialized and refresher training is given at short courses both abroad and locally, depending upon the circumstances. Such courses invariably have a strong practical emphasis.
Adequacy of training has already been discussed in a general sense in the preceding section, but it seems desirable to emphasize its adequacy, or perhaps more correctly its inadequacy, and therefore to deal with the matter separately.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
It would appear that, in the past, the two major deficiencies in many curricula have been that inadequate attention has been paid to the human factor in rural development, and to the fact that forestry is a business and that a sound basic practical and realistic knowledge in economics is essential if the business is to justify itself, survive and prosper. The importance of the human factor in developing countries in rural development is particularly vital, far more so than in developed countries. In the field of forestry, the taungya system for the creation of plantations is an example of the importance of paying adequate attention to socio-economic studies. During recent years curricula in most universities have generally been amended to include these.
It has long been realized that it is essential to pay considerable attention to practical work in the training of professional foresters, and a minimum period of practical work is usually specified as a requisite before a degree will be awarded. However, the requirements for a manager of a natural resource are many, and the training given is therefore usually extremely broad, concentrating in the first two years at most universities on the basic subjects, in particular on the biological sciences. However, it has become increasingly evident that it is impossible to cover adequately the essential forestry aspects in one year, especially the working plan, and it is generally accepted today that: "to reach the professional level, at least four years are required after graduating from secondary school, the first two devoted mainly to the basic subjects and the latter two to forestry proper" (Champion, 1965). As mentioned earlier, the working plan is a most important exercise in which the students are faced with a practical problem and required to put to good use the knowledge gained from the courses attended and produce individually realistic solutions. It is practically impossible to make it a satisfactory exercise when courses of lectures have not been completed, which is the case in a degree course of three academic years.
TECHNICAL OR SUBPROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Most developing countries in Africa have fully realized the importance of technical training and have established forestry schools for this purpose. Williamson (1964), who visited 14 African countries, reported that the training at this level was of a reasonably high standard in practically all countries. He reported also that in physical facilities, training methods, educational level of students and selection procedure "there was much to praise and little to criticize."
If there is to be any criticism, it would appear that there should be more emphasis on the importance of public relations, personnel management and job analysis, and less emphasis on forest policy, utilization, engineering and forest industries.
FIELD STAFF TRAINING
The importance of field staff training has not been so universally stressed, and men are not always as effective as they could be. It has already been pointed out that this could largely be remedied where necessary by raising the minimal educational qualification.
NONTECHNICAL TRAINING FOR FOREST WORKERS
It is considered that the training received by forest workers is quite inadequate in many countries, and that unfortunately this is often caused by the inadequacy of the teaching qualities, organizational ability and knowledge of those who are giving the instruction. Many more short courses and far closer effective supervision should be provided.
SPECIALIST TRAINING
Specialist training is fairly freely available through multilateral and bilateral aid, and it is considered that the specialist training received is usually adequate. What does often appear to be at fault is whether some of the specialist training received is necessary, whether the right person is always being given the extra training, and whether the individual is able to cope with the training provided. It must be remembered that forestry in developing countries is essentially an applied technology and, as Richardson (1967) has suggested, in many of these countries the modification of practices and techniques, already developed and based on research already done elsewhere, is probably of greater urgency than the initiation of new work, and similarly that development merits a higher priority than research.
This subject comprises two facets: the satisfactory subsequent use both of the number of men trained in a particular field and of the type of' training received. Although an undoubted shortage of trained and skilled staff at all levels exists if the declared role of forestry in most countries is to be carried out efficiently, full use is not always made of the staff available. Owing to the overall shortage of trained manpower, men trained in one field are often able to find employment in a post which they consider more congenial in another allied field., and it undoubtedly speaks well of forestry training that so many foresters with professional or technical qualifications are tackling successfully as good if not better paid and responsible jobs in other fields. On the other hand, although at the Nigerian Government's request the Department of Forestry was set up at the University of' Ibadan in. 1963 to produce 14 graduates for local forest services a, year and was still only building up to this figure in 1969, some of the few who have graduated are already finding extreme difficulty in obtaining forestry appointments, and these have not only been the academically poorer students. Establishments for new posts are not increasing at the rate envisaged.
Several of the more successfully trained technical men have subsequently moved on to obtain EL forestry degree and, though this is a definite gain to professional forestry, it is at the expense of the technical cadre, and therefore to the possible overall detriment of forestry unless adequate replacements are available.
Mention has already been made of the inadequate use made of much of the specialized training, students receive. Champion (1965) quotes the case of a man who returned to his country to lecture in engineering after studying forest genetics for two years. In one African country, although short of professional foresters, a graduate forester is known to be teaching ecology at a veterinary school. There are many reasons for these apparent absurdities, bull it is nearly always due to status, promotion and :remuneration taking priority over the functional objective of training, and a tendency to select candidates for overseas training as a reward for long and faithful service rather than of equipping a younger man for future work (Champion, 1965).
As regards individual courses, it is probably true that most professional forest officers could do without land surveying and much of forest engineering, and certainly this is the case if they are provided with adequate well-trained technicians. It is the frequent lack of the latter that causes this unnecessary duplication. Moreover, the number of occasions when a professional forest officer requires detailed engineering knowledge is very limited these days many forest services have their own specialists in this field or, if necessary, can turn to the public works department for assistance. Taxonomic botany can also be reduced to a minimum. Although the existing natural resource is still being exploited in all countries where it exists, it is with few exceptions being regenerated naturally. Increased productivity per unit area and the industrial demand for a uniform raw material have brought about a striking switch to artificial regeneration and plantations. It is certainly desirable that a forest officer knows his local economic species, but this can be more conveniently done on the job. The superficial taxonomic knowledge gained at university is not going to stand officers in very good stead in the field, and the time would be much better spent on other studies.
On the other hand, if the professional officer is not going to concentrate on surveying, certain aspects of engineering and forest botany, then steps should be taken to ensure as far as is possible that these aspects are adequately covered in subprofessional and technician training.
The major remedy would be to approach training problems from the functional need for training rather than from that of the organizational structure that exists to deal with them, the establishment of the various posts, and the minimum educational qualifications laid down for entry at any particular point. The premise that the current forestry organization in any country is based on its functional requirements is unfortunately not necessarily valid.
Secondly, it should be accepted that forestry in developing countries is really an applied technology and that it is not so much a question of the need for new knowledge that is required but the modification of existing techniques to suit local conditions and the application of existing knowledge.
Thirdly, more consideration should be given to the fact that the training of all staff levels is an integrated exercise.
If sufficient attention is paid to the above three factors then there is little doubt in the author's mind that much more effort will be put by the authorities into training those concerned with the practical and technical aspects of the discipline - forest worker, field staff and technician - than the professional forest officer, the research worker and the specialist. The present approach in so many countries has the tendency of being top heavy. Richardson (1967) has suggested the labour supervision requirements in field operations and he also gives the actual 1965 staffing data for Kenya and Uganda. These data very clearly indicate where the main deficiencies in trained personnel lie, even though more professional men are undoubtedly necessary.
|
Type of forestry |
Professional |
Technical |
Vocational |
Labour |
|
Revenue producing management |
1 |
7 |
49 |
392 |
|
Resource Creation |
1 |
8 |
48 |
240 |
|
Revenue producing (Kenya)¹ |
22 (1) |
197 (8) |
499 (22.5) |
? |
|
Revenue producing (Uganda)¹ |
9 (1) |
37 (4.1) |
86 (9.5) |
? |
¹ Figures in parentheses are actual rather than estimated data.
With sufficient fully trained technical, vocational and skilled labour being produced, the training of professional foresters could be modified so that less land survey, engineering and forest botany is given This would provide the necessary extra time to give more emphasis to socioeconomic matters and all management aspects, including modern business management aids, in addition to the biological and physical science background given during the early stages.
Once it has been accepted that forestry in developing countries is largely an applied technology and that the major need today is more practical implementation in the field of what is largely existing knowledge, there is some hope that government will give more credit to those personnel engaged on these activities, namely the present subprofessional or senior technician, and produce schemes of service and salary scales to encourage personnel to undertake this nationally important technological work. In the context of the developing countries where good technicians are at a premium, every inducement should be given to attract the best personnel to this essential field, rather than encouraging them to go on to university-level training.
If this were coupled with the intensive practical training of both the vocational personnel and forest labourers, there is little doubt that forestry development could make very considerable progress and many of the present training problems concerned with the curriculum at all levels would be resolved. At present, with insufficient attention being paid to an integrated programme and to an analysis of the problems, attempts to resolve the latter are being made by broadening the curriculum of both the technician and the professional forester to the extent that considerable duplication of subject context arises. This can and should be avoided.
CHAMPION, H.G. 1965 Tropical forestry education. Proc. Duke University Tropical forestry Symposium. School of Forestry, Duke University, North Carolina. Bull 18, 78-97.
FAO 1965 General report. Proc. Seminar for Principals of Technical Level Forestry Schools in Africa, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 1965.
GOODWIN, J.F. 1965 Curricula and syllabuses at technical level forestry schools with particular reference to the needs of developing countries. Proc. Seminar for Principals of Technical Level Forestry Schools in Africa, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 1965.
KING, K.F.S. 1965 Some aspects of administrative organization. Obeche, Journ. of Tree Club, University of Ibadan, 11-16.
RICHARDSON, S.D. 1967 Manpower and training requirements in forestry development planning. FAO, FO: IWP/67/1, 18th Jan. 1967.
SISAM, J.W.B. 1964 Basic curriculum for forestry and forest products colleges/faculties/departments in developing countries. Proc. FAO Advisory Committee on Forestry Education, First Session, Venezuela, February 1964.
WILLIAMSON, J.Q. 1964 Education and training in Africa. Unasylva, Vol. 18(75), 22-24.
WILSON, F.B. 1968 Education and training for agricultural development. Proc. Sixth Cambridge Conference on Development Problems - The rural base for national development, 22-38.
WYATT SMITH, J. 1968 Education in forestry with particular reference to professional training in developing countries. Paper presented to Ninth Commonwealth Forestry Conference, India, January 1968.
