FAO FORESTRY

FAO Strategic Plan for Forestry

The FAO Strategic Plan for Forestry, the outcome of a process of consultation with member countries, institutions and individuals which began in February 1996, has recently been finalized. The Strategic Plan for Forestry will orient the programme of FAO in forestry and related fields. It looks ahead to the medium term (six years) and the long term (15 years).

Forestry has been part of FAO's mandate from its establishment in 1945, and is specifically mentioned in the global goals of the Organization in terms of its contribution to economic and social progress and in relation to the conservation, improvement and sustainable utilization of natural resources.

Forestry also contributes strongly to the mission of FAO to "... help build a food-secure world for present and future generations," and to assist Member Nations to "... reduce food insecurity and rural poverty; ensure an enabling policy and regulatory framework for food and agriculture; fisheries and forestry; secure sustainable increases in the supply and availability of food; conserve and enhance the natural resource base; and generate knowledge on food and agriculture, fisheries and forestry".

The Strategic Plan for Forestry links the FAO forestry programme to the mandate, corporate strategies and objectives of the overall FAO Strategic Framework, which was approved by member countries at the thirtieth session of the Conference of FAO in November 1999. It also provides overall direction on which the more detailed departmental implementation plans - the biennial Programme of Work and Budget - will be based. It is not a static document, but will be developed and adapted continually to meet changing circumstances.

The Strategic Plan for Forestry aims to build on the ability of FAO to address the full spectrum of environmental, economic and social challenges of sustainable forest management and to provide linkages and cross-fertilization with other relevant disciplines.

Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000

Since 1946, FAO has regularly reported on the world's forest resources. This activity is now carried out through the Forest Resources Assessment Programme (FRA). FRA is currently facilitating the execution of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000), which will provide the single most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information and knowledge on the world's forests.

FAO is carrying out the FRA 2000 work in the field and at its headquarters in Rome, with the assistance of donors, partners and member countries. One component, the compilation of country data for industrialized countries, is based in Geneva and is carried out jointly by FAO and the Economic Commission for Europe.

FRA 2000 results will include country-level information based on existing forest inventory data, regional investigations of land-cover change processes derived from remote sensing, and a number of global studies focusing on various aspects of forests. This information should facilitate discussion at all levels and stimulate decision-making on how to manage and protect forests on the global scale. The FRA 2000 reports will be made public and distributed on the World Wide Web during 2000, starting in February.

The first information set will consist of several thousand pages of unique information developed by FAO in close cooperation with its member countries. As the remaining country reports are analysed and screened for accuracy, they will appear on the FAO Web site incrementally, throughout the year. Finally, in August 2000, FAO will present the first FRA 2000 estimates of deforestation at the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) World Forestry Congress in Malaysia.

Viet Nam and Malaysia sign agreement on research collaboration

Leading forestry research institutions from Viet Nam and Malaysia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will lead to closer collaboration in forestry research between the two countries. The Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, on 31 August 1999, joins the Forest Science Institute Vietnam (FSIV) and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in a collaboration which will mainly focus on plantation forestry and natural forest management.

Following the official ceremony, presided over by Prem Nath, Assistant Director-General of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, scientists from the two institutions held an informal meeting to discuss the nature of the collaboration and to identify the first concrete collaborative actions.

FRIM has a vast amount of knowledge and experience in natural and plantation forest management which may be relevant to the Vietnamese situation. With the ambitious plans of the Vietnamese Government to reforest
5 million ha before 2010, FSIV is keen to share FRIM's expertise and technology on plantation forestry and natural regeneration. It was agreed that scientists from FSIV will travel to Malaysia in the near future for training in nursery and seed collection techniques. FSIV will also utilize FRIM's sophisticated capacity for wood property testing, and FRIM will continue to provide technical support to Viet Nam in natural forest management. In addition, a young scientist from FISV will be given the opportunity to obtain a master's degree in a two-year programme at FRIM, with expenses covered by the Malaysian institute.

The collaborative arrangement was developed in the ambit of the Forestry Research Support Programme for Asia and Pacific (FORSPA). Stimulating technical cooperation is one of the major thrusts of FORSPA. Through its close links with national institutions, FORSPA has been actively facilitating collaboration between developing country institutions in the region. FORSPA has successfully developed twinning arrangements between the Forest Research Institute Malaysia and the Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute; Chiang Mai University in Thailand and the Central South Forestry University in China; and the Forestry Research Centre in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Chiang Mai University.