Vasconcelos Sobrinho
The debate over technical assistance following the announcement of President Truman's Point Four
Program absorbed technicians, economists and politicians. But it was the experts directly concerned who wrote most of the papers and articles about it: the main themes were what technical assistance should do or should be. Foresters from developing countries were quick to realize the impact such a programme could have. In the field of forestry, Brazil was particularly interested, and the Director of the Brazilian Forest Service, Vasconcelos Sobrinho, wrote an article expressing his country's views. Part of that article, which appeared in Unasylva in October 1950, is published here.
· In order to study all the possibilities in the vast and rich forests of this country, it will be necessary for Brazil to arrange for technical assistance from other countries who have experts in the different forest research branches. Brazil is still in the initial phase of forest industrialization, using the most elementary techniques even in the cutting of the trees. Also Brazil does not have available experts who are sufficiently experienced to draw up plans for the existing overall needs. Therefore it is necessary to obtain such experts from other countries where the forest industries attempt to use all the products of the forest, and the methods employed are based on experience acquired over a long time.
However, although Brazil urgently needs foreign experts to aid in plans for improving its forest industry, nevertheless, it is also in a position to supply technicians with a good knowledge of the ecological condition of the different natural forest regions. Brazil has within its frontiers a great variety of different types of climate and phytological zones and is able to reciprocate by providing specialists who are experts in regional problems and whose services might be of value to countries which have humid tropical regions similar to the Hiléia. There are also available specialists on entirely different problems, such as those concerning arid tropical regions; their experience has been gained from studies and observations made in the vast northern part of Brazil.
In this way. Brazil is in a position to carry out an exchange of technicians on forestry problems with interested countries whose climatic and ecological conditions are the same as those found in Brazil.
In order to realize such a comprehensive programme of technical assistance, FAO can be of great help, principally in helping to secure personnel with overall experience in the various forest industries and industrial techniques in which Brazil at present is inadequately staffed.
