European forestry commission
Near east forestry commission
ECE timber committee
Land problems in the near east
International chestnut commission
The Forestry Committee of the Eighth Session of the Conference of FAO, as described earlier discussed the regional activities of the Organization. Introducing the subject of regional activities in Europe, Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse (Deputy Director-General, Forestry Commission, United Kingdom), as Chairman of FAO's European Forestry Commission, recalled that, shortly before the 1953 Conference of FAO, a joint meeting of the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and of the European Forestry Commission of FAO was held at Rome. This meeting was asked to draw conclusions from the Secretariat study European Timber Trends and Prospects and put forward recommendations for the consideration of the two parent bodies.
Representatives at the meeting concluded that, singe it was the deliberate policy of all European Governments to make the fullest use of natural resources, timber should be maintained in the important role that it had traditionally played in Europe's economy. Over the short-term, this involved increasing forest output through a variety of measures, many of which were fortunately already being applied in different countries, and increasing imports of sawn softwood. In the long run, it meant extending afforestation and improving forest management in order to provide against the anticipated long-term increases in consumption. Specific recommendations were accordingly addressed to Governments.
Since then, the European Forestry Commission had held its Seventh and Eighth Sessions, in November 1954 and October 19551 respectively. It seemed to the Chairman highly gratifying to be able to say that substantial progress has been made in these two years along the main lines agreed by the joint meeting.
1The Seventh session was fully reported in Unasylva Vol. 9, No. 1. The Eighth session was held at Rome 10 15 October 1955, when the following member countries were represented: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. A U.S.A. oh server was present, and also observers on behalf of ECE, from the U.S.S.R., Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. J. Keller (Switzerland) and W. Plym Forshell (Sweden) were vice Chairmen and the Rapporteur was J. Foxa Torroba (Spain). R. Fontaine (FAO) was the Secretary.
"I think that I should also say a few words on governmental participation in our meetings as a very promising development has occurred on the occasion of the Commission's last two sessions. In addition to representatives from 18 Member Governments of the region, we have had the benefit of the collaboration of observers from the U.S.A., the Soviet Union and six other eastern European countries. I wish to draw your attention to this particular point for it is my personal belief that the larger the participation of foresters in our activities, the wider the exchange of experience will be and the more fruitful the results that our common efforts will be able to bring about."
The examination of the forest policy progress reports submitted by Member Governments in the period under review had revealed that forest services were continuing their efforts to apply forest policies in line with those advocated by the Commission. Important measures had been taken to this end in several countries, such as revised statements of policy, adoption of new laws, adjustment of management to economic conditions, integration and rationalization in the wood-using industries, intensification of research and wide dissemination of the results, measures for guaranteeing workers a certain stability of employment and improving their living and working conditions, quicker vocational training, and development of information and advisory work.
The joint meeting had recommended, in 1953, that national felling statistics and forecasts should be submitted annually by Governments to the FAO Secretariat, that countries should re-examine their allowable annual out and explore the possibility of increasing fellings by the various methods suggested in the timber trends study and that national forest inventories should be brought up to date at suitable intervals. From the data submitted by governments on the occasion of the Commission's Seventh and Eighth Sessions, in spite of their incompleteness and diversity, it was possible to note a rising trend in the output of industrial wood. This first encouraging response was accompanied by another positive proof of the possibility of a future increase in the output of timber from the European region. Recent forest inventories often revealed marked increases in growing stock and growth, that had in some countries already led to an increase in actual felling possibilities. It was premature to draw any valid general conclusion, as some countries still had to limit the out in order to build up the growing stock, but it was nevertheless a step forward towards a more dynamic European forestry.
In the field of afforestation and reforestation the joint meeting had recommended that governments should make every effort to expand as much as possible their programs for afforestation, reforestation and forest improvement, as plans at that time in Europe were still one-third short of the desirable goals suggested in the timber trends study, while there appeared to be still 8 million hectares of idle land not covered by any plan. This matter was given attention by the Commission's working party on afforestation, which had also met twice singe the 1953 FAO Conference. The reports of the working party clearly showed that Reforestation and reforestation work and other forest rehabilitation operations in reporting countries were proceeding at a satisfactory pace: over 850,000 hectares had been afforested or reforested in the last two years; more than 80,000 hectares of new plantations had been established outside the forest, and 80,000 hectares had been improved in the same period. In total, an area of over 1 million hectares. This satisfactory rate of development was to be ascribed to the existence o well-conceived long-term planting programs.
International Poplar Commission
Since one of the main aims of the International Poplar Commission is that of increasing timber resources, in particular through the establishment of plantations outside the forest, and in view of the fact that the majority of its Member Governments are European, it may be appropriate to report briefly here on its activities singe the last session of the FAO Conference in 1953. This Commission's Eighth Session was held in Spain in April 1955 and was attended by representatives of 16 governments. On this occasion Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Syria were unanimously elected members of the Commission; unfortunately the formal application for membership submitted by the Government of Pakistan was received too late to be taken into consideration during the session. Yugoslavia is planning to set up a National Poplar Commission and Canada a Poplar Committee that may subsequently be transformed into a National Commission adhering to the International Commission. All this is a clear indication of the ever-increasing interest all over the world in this very versatile genus.
The Commission has decided to extend its scope to cover wood-producing willows. Other decisions made by the Commission at its last session related to rules of nomenclature and registration of poplar names statistical methods used in carrying out experiments, introduction of poplar wood as a special heading in import and export trade classifications, and surveys of the extent of damage caused by Dothichiza populea to poplar plantations and nurseries and of methods of controlling it. The preponderant influence was underlined of the site on the suitability of poplars for a given use. The poplar study undertaken by the Commission's Standing Committee will be published in French in the near future.
Special problems
Reverting to the discussion at the Conference of FAO, the Chairman had some words to say about the investigation made by the European Forestry Commission into small woodlands and about the activities of its permanent working party on torrent and avalanche control (already reported in Unasylva Vol. VIII, No. 4).
The management of small woodlands was discussed during the last two sessions of the Commission, giving rise to a valuable exchange of experience in this field. Practically all Member Governments were already making determined efforts to solve the difficulties arising from forest fragmentation and the special problems of owners of small woodlots when it comes to practising sound forest management. The Commission, however, thought it advisable to make clear recommendations that these efforts should be sustained to make sure that proper treatment is accorded to small privately-owned woodlands, which are of particular importance in Europe. Consolidation of holdings and co-operative grouping of owners were regarded by the Commission as the most appropriate means of achieving progress.
The European Forestry Commission and the Timber Committee of ECE decided in 1954 to set up a joint committee on logging techniques and training of forest workers, which met in Paris in December 1955. A number of study groups have already met to discuss the following subjects: working methods and performance; mechanization of wood operations; handling and transport of timber in mountainous areas, forest workers' training, health and safety; bibliography and terminology in work science.
Technical assistance
The part played by the European region in the Expanded Technical Assistance Program was also covered in the Chairman's summary of regional forestry activities for the period 1954-55. Four Member Governments had in this period the services of 9 experts, 26 Fellows had completed their Fellowship studies and 5 more were studying or about to take up their studies. Various items of equipment had been provided for demonstration purposes in connection with the assignment of experts. In September 1955, a number of the experts who had earlier served in Yugoslavia, about 30 Yugoslavian foresters or other counterpart personnel, as well as representatives of the FAO Forestry and Agriculture Divisions, took part in a meeting that was held at Dubrovnik, to review the forestry technical assistance activities in Yugoslavia singe 1951 and make recommendations concerning the follow-up work.
Of the 125 technicians employed by FAO as forestry experts on approximately 200 ETAP assignments from 1951 to September 1955, 95, or 75 percent, were recruited from 13 European countries.
An event of considerable importance in FAO's work during 1955 was the holding of the first session of the Near East Forestry Commission at Teheran, 24 to 29 September 1955.
Delegates from 11 countries participated in the session, and observers were present from Pakistan Sudan, Turkey, and from the following agencies: United Nations, League of Arab States, International Poplar Commission, U.S. International Cooperation Administration, World Federation of United Nations Associations and International Union of Forest Research Organizations.
The Commission elected Mahmoud Zahir (Iran) as its Chairman, and Suleiman Higiazi (Libya) and Tesfa Bushen (Ethiopia) as Vice-Chairmen with Malek Basbous (Lebanon) as Rapporteur. J. Moser, FAO Regional Forestry Officer, was the Secretary.
The Chairman later attended the Conference of FAO at Rome in November and, reporting on FAO's activities in the Near East Region, had this to say:
"FAO took on a tremendous task in 1949-50, when the first sustained efforts were made by the Director of the Forestry Division and his staff to focus the attention of Governments in the region on the importance of forestry in the Near East, and to awaken an active forest consciousness.
"Many people must have felt very sceptical at the time, including even those who were already trying to instill the idea that something should and could be done in the Near East for the cause of forestry.
"If we look back over the past few years, I do believe that both we, the representatives of Member Governments, and FAO, can feel satisfied with the progress made. If I say this, it is because I can already see, in past achievements, the seeds of even more substantial progress.
"The first point upon which Member Governments of the region and the representatives of the Forestry Division of FAO were agreed, was the advisability of convening a Near East Forestry Conference to assess the over-all situation and appraise the means for its improvement. As you know, a first regional forestry conference was held at Amman in 1952, thanks to the very generous invitation of the Government of Jordan.
"The Amman Conference was able to define sound foundations for the future activities in the region of both the Forestry Division of FAO and of Member Governments. Forestry activities in the Near East singe then stem almost exclusively from recommendations made at Amman. In other words, I wish to underline the continuity in the forestry work carried out in the region, as I believe continuity to be essential if our efforts are to bring about worthwhile results.
"As the present Chairman of the Near East Forestry Commission, to whose first session my Government had the honor of being host at the end of last September, I was very pleased and encouraged to learn from the progress reports on forest policy submitted by practically all the 14 participating governments; that quite remarkable progress had been made singe the Amman Conference, along the main policy lines suggested on that occasion: protection, rehabilitation and improvement of existing forests, mainly for soil and water conservation of bare land and establishment of row plantations, windbreaks and shelterbelts of rapid-growing species, for the twofold purpose of protecting agricultural crops and supplying raw materials. Initial steps have been taken by some countries to survey their forest resources, to build up or improve their forest administrations, to protect and extend the forests and improve their management and exploitation, and to provide for the necessary forest research work.
"One must admit that this fortunate and promising development has not yet advanced very far, and the Commission, at its first session, agreed on a number of measures to enable progress to be accelerated. In particular, it drew the attention of Member Governments to the inadequacy of existing legislation for the settlement of ownership disputes, and for scouring a satisfactory supervision of privately-owned forests the lack of a clearly defined policy on which to base the segregation of forest land from agricultural land; the inadequate knowledge of the extent of rights of usage; and to the insufficient staffing of forest administrations.
"The progress in forestry made as the results of the initiative of Member Governments has been helped by the technical assistance that some of them have received from FAO and under bilateral programs. Since the 1953 Conference of FAO 15 FAO experts have served in 6 member countries in the following fields: forest policy and development forest products, afforestation, forest grazing, forest research, aerial photography, forest botany and ecology.
"It is also worthy of mention that FAO organized a useful Seminar on Forest Policy at Istanbul in September 1954, which was attended by senior forest officers from eight countries; and that 19 Fellows from Near Eastern countries have completed their studies, are studying, or are about to take up their studies abroad.
"The technical assistance work performed by FAO foresters in the Near East should not, however, be allowed to overshadow other work carried out in the region. The Near East Poplar Conference (Damascus, April 1954), was attended by representatives from seven Near East countries and from five Member Governments of the International Poplar Commission. It enabled the local technicians and some of the outstanding poplar experts in the world to examine jointly the state of poplar cultivation in the region. This exchange of experience made it possible to define the policy that should be adopted to improve and foster this culture, and to specify the technical problems to be specially studied. Four Near East Governments have now become members of the International Poplar Commission and their experts will therefore be able to continue the exchange of ideas, materials or techniques started on the occasion of the (Damascus, Poplar Conference
"I think that you will all agree that the provisional Arab Forestry Terminology, produced by FAO as the result of the extremely courteous and efficient collaboration of several Arab foresters, is to be considered as a milestone in the history of forestry in the Near East. The present version contains approximately one thousand technical terms in English and French with the corresponding translations and definitions in Arabic...
"I do not have the time to list all the activities of FAO in the Near East region, and especially those of the Regional Forestry Officer. I would like to draw attention to some of the technical publications of FAO prepared with special reference to the Near East, such as Handling Forest Tree Seed, Tree Planting Practices for Arid Areas, La carbonisation du bois, and Le chauffage au bois.
"At the start I said that one can already see, in these past achievements, the seeds of even more substantial progress. The future is in our hands, in the hands of all of us here and especially in those of our colleagues in the field, who certainly expect us fully to understand their difficult problems and to devise means of overcoming them. They certainly look to us for a word of hope. So what lies ahead of us is a challenge, and I hope it may also be a reward."
The Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe held its thirteenth session in Geneva from 13 to 17 September 1955 under the chairmanship of F. M. du Vignaux (France). J. O. Soederhjelm (Finland) and J. Kaczerginski (Poland) were re-elected as Vice-Chairmen. All the major timber exporting and importing countries of Europe participated, including the Soviet Union, and also Canada and the United States. A feature of the meeting was the increasing number of representatives of timber industry and trade included in the national delegations.
As usual, the Committee reviewed developments during 1955 in the European markets for sawn softwood pitprops and pulpwood, and discussed prospects for 1956. The course of the softwood market in 1954, the Committee noted, showed many parallels with the previous year: continued firmness, and a balanced relation between supply and demand, confirmed the Committee's prognostications of a year earlier, but once again the total volume of trade exceeded expectations. Though purchases had been much higher than expected, strikes and chartering difficulties in some countries indicated that overlying stocks would be greater this year than last. While f.o.b. prices had remained steady singe the end of 1954, rising freights had, in the course of 1955, stepped up the landed prices of goods bought f.o.b. The Committee noted that the advance in prices recorded singe it last met meant that international prices had now gradually moved up to near the levels recorded at the peak of the 1951 boom. Re-selling prices, in the face of consumer resistance, again lagged behind replacement costs, and most importing countries again reported further inroads by competing materials at the expense of sawnwood.
Meeting earlier in the season than is customary, the Committee's appraisal of the prospects for the coming year was fraught with more uncertainty than usual. Though the general outlook for the principal wood-using industries remained good, it was too early to judge the possible effect of new credit restrictions in certain countries. Assuming that industrial activity continues at its present high level and that the rate of building in most European countries is maintained, the Committee believed that the stability which has characterized the European sawn softwood market for the last three years was likely to continue. There were, in fact, indications that the European sawn softwood trade might, in 1956, top the 4 million standard mark for the first time singe the war.
The volume of product ion and trade in pitprops had remained almost unchanged in 1955 and was expected to continue so in 1956. Though coal production is rising, wood economies, the trend away from wood in the mines, and increased domestic supplies (through greater use of hardwoods and more efficient utilization of thinnings) suggested that total European import requirements of pitprops are not likely to show any substantial change.
As for pulpwood, the Committee remarked the steadily rising trend in Europe's requirements and noted with great interest the considerable progress reported in several countries in using increasing quantities of hardwood for pulping. Though requirements were expected to increase further in 1956, the Committee, after reviewing the various supply possibilities, did not consider that the situation for the coming year justified any alarm.
After reviewing the market situation, the Committee turned its attention to a number of technical questions. On contract practices, it heard a report on the progress made at the first session of the Working Party on the Standardization of General Conditions of Sale for Timber from the Working Party's chairman, M. Blétry (France). Experts from 13 countries had attended the first session and had reached initial agreement on a series of standard clauses. Consideration will be given to certain important questions outstanding at the Working Party's next session in February.
The Committee noted with satisfaction the establishment, in agreement with the European Forestry Commission of FAO, of the Joint FAO/ECE Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers; it recorded its appreciation of the work already accomplished by study groups and by experts, and delegates expressed the opinion that high priority should be given to this work.
The Committee heard details of the provisional agenda for the FAO/ECE Joint Working Party of experts on forestry and forest products statistics which is to meet in Geneva in January 1956. Expressing the hope that all participating countries would nominate experts to join in the work of the forthcoming meeting, the Committee asked the Working Party to include in the work of its first session an examination of pulpwood statistics.
A lively discussion took place on the study, to be entitled "Trends in the utilization of wood and its products", which is now being started by the FAO/ECE Secretariat in go-operation with other divisions of ECE. Delegates explained the official and private research which was being carried out on these problems in their own countries. In some oases these enquiries were prompted by the national need to effect wood economies; in others, the principal aim was to promote the use of wood. More rational utilization was an element common to both these approaches. Delegates pledged co-operation in the Secretariat study, which they believed, when completed, would be of considerable value in helping countries to formulate well-considered forestry and timber policies.
An innovation at the 13th session of the Timber Committee was the arrangement, at the request of certain delegations, of a number of small meetings among countries directly interested to discuss special import/export problems. It was reported that satisfactory progress had been made in these meetings, and that the conversations would be pursued by the countries concerned through regular channels. The Committee expressed its satisfaction with the initiative taken by the Secretariat in arranging for such direct conversations in view of the practical contribution which such contacts could make in developing a freer flow of trade among the nations of Europe.
The FAO Conference has paid a good deal of attention to the subject of the reform of agrarian structures. Regional meetings have at various times urged the Director-General to organize seminars on the social aspects of land problems, and in compliance a training center for the Near East was arranged, under the Expanded Technical Assistance Program, and held at Salahuddin, in Northern Iraq, from 2 to 20 October 1955.
The Center was attended by some 40 high-ranking participants from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Turkey. The League of Arab States, the Near East Foundation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America sent observers, and the International Labour Office and the International Bank were represented. Attendance at general discussions was further increased by 28 trainees from six countries of the region who were at the same time taking part in a training course organized with the assistance of FAO, by the International Co-operation Administration of the United States of America (ICA).
The Forestry Division had been asked to participate in the running of the Center. It is generally conceded that tree cover is of particular significance in the Near East. Industrial and economic development are dependent upon raising the incomes of agricultural people, who constitute some 90 percent of the region's population. As incomes rise, and with them education and standards of living, wood is likely to become more greatly in demand, whether for paper and books, for better homes, for more small agricultural implements, for fuel in winter or for cooking. Industrial expansion will need to absorb additional amounts of wood as is explained in an article earlier in this issue.
Shortage of wood may, therefore, be a primary factor hampering economic development and, taking first things first, it is the medium and low-grade timber requirements for use on farms and which cannot be imported but must be produced locally, that needs first consideration.
Limiting factors to the desired rise in agricultural incomes and consequently the economic development of the region, are insufficient intensity of farm production; lack of diversity of crops which exposes the small farmer to climatic and market risks attending a one-sided economy; low value crops and the lack of small amounts of capital for individual farm improvements, redundant rural populations and partial or seasonal employment only.
At the training center in Iraq it was emphasized that the direct benefits of tree-growing on farm areas could contribute greatly in improving each of these situations. Tree-crops have often proved more profitable than agricultural crops in many countries of the region and they are certainly a better form of land-usage on marginal lands, or on areas where irrigation must be restricted. They help balance a one-sided farm economy and act as a "savings-bank" and a source of capital when crop failure or the need for farm improvement galls for emergency funds. Finally, a general tree-planting policy can provide the raw materials for local industries and thus afford some avenue of employment to redundant rural populations and part-time work to the farmer and his draft animals during the slack agricultural season.
Other obstacles to agricultural improvement are poor yields owing to climatic limitations and uncertain water supplies. Here again, stress was laid on the role of tree cover and its indirect protective effect on improving low incidence and uncertain distribution of moisture, especially on near-desert areas and on dry alluvial plains where the desiccating effect of wind needs to be reduced. Forest or other vegetative cover on watersheds can help ensure regular water supplies upon which countries in the Near East depend for their agriculture.
Tree-planting outside the forest and on agricultural lands was explained as being not only directly and indirectly beneficial in increasing farmers' incomes, but was, indeed, the only solution to providing immediate supplies of medium-grade timber. Increased production from indigenous forests is, in view of their depleted state, only a long-term policy.
The last and most important obstacle to development in agriculture was shown to be the forms of tenure obtaining, and the remedial measures recommended would influence tree-planting. All measures aiming at land reform had to be complemented by credit and go-operative programs. Land settlement projects were playing a most important role in the region and should be regarded as demonstrations of the best kind of reform measures. Security of tenancy was a vital need but the problems set by the power of landlords, middlemen and money-lenders, by illiteracy, lack of technical knowledge and suspicion of the government had all to be solved before improvements in this direction could be made. Expropriation was generally approved by the country representatives attending the center where absentee landlordism and oppressive tenancy conditions were concerned, and a solution to the impasse of improving tenancy conditions was thought to lie in the State acting as intermediary between landlord and tenant, by taking a long-term lease from the former at a frozen rent and sub-leasing to tenants at low rents, with reasonable security of occupancy supplemented by credit, education and technical aid.
This useful discussion center was commemorated, at the closing ceremony, by the planting of a tree which, as stated on the scroll prepared for the signature of all participants, symbolized by its roots and branches "the many-sided endeavors which must ceaselessly develop and work together in the establishment of a comprehensive land use policy as an essential and stable factor in national welfare."
The third session of the International Chestnut Commission for which FAO provides the secretariat, was held at Rome from 19 to 25 September 1955.
In the course of this session participants were afforded the opportunity of visiting the privately-owned chestnut coppices forests on the Collie Albania near Rome, whose management was explained and discuss Ed. The owners find these forests so profitable financially, that chestnut coppice is preferred to vineyards and other agricultural crops even in the valleys. There was a study tour to Genoa and Cuneo during which members visited the chestnut forests at Busalla, a very famous name in the history of the spread of chestnut blight in Italy. It was here, in fact, that in the summer of 1938 this parasite was recorded for the first time in the country. As a result of the disease, the chestnut high forest that at the time covered the whole area was converted into coppice. Fortunately, though, the shoots sprouting from the old stumps have reacted so vigorously to the disease, healing up new infections, that the blight's menace to chestnut coppice may now, to all practical purposes, be disregarded.
The delegates then visited the chestnut groves in the Cuneo region and discussed cultivation techniques. Before the appearance of chestnut blight, over 50,000 hectares were covered with these groves, constituting one of the major sources of income for the entire region. The annual production of chestnuts was in fact of the order of 50,000 tons, and 60,000 to 70,000 tons of wood for tannin were utilized each year. Both the area and production have decreased in the past few years, mainly because of the blight's severe attacks. The problem is now being tackled by the conversion of the diseased groves into coppice and interplanting of other species where appropriate.
The session was opened by the Commission's Chairman, Mr. A. Oudin (France), Director of the National Forestry School at Nancy, assisted by Mr. A. Biraghi (Italy), Vice-Chairman, in the presence of Mr. M. Leloup, Director of the Forestry Division (FAO) and of Mr. A. Camaiti (Italy), Director-General of Forests and Mountain Economy. Representatives from nine countries were present: France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the United States and Yugoslavia; the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and the European Confederation for Agriculture (CEA) were also represented.
The Commission recognized that chestnut growing, once the basis of the rural economy in certain areas, is now undergoing a severe crisis, especially in Mediterranean countries. This is mainly due to a marked drift of people away from the countryside, which in turn brings about both a decreased consumption of the nuts and inadequate tending of trees, and ultimately a reduction of the chestnut-bearing area and spread of disease. Member Governments were invited to draw up new management plans for the lands under chestnut within a general program of land utilization, keeping in mind the following points:
(a) chestnut groves should be confined to those areas where conditions are such as to allow production of first-grade nuts;(b) a portion of the former groves should be converted into coppice to provide local agriculture and industry with the wood products they most need;
(c) the remaining groves should be replaced by other forms of land use, such as agricultural crops, grazing, or plantations of rapid-growing timber trees.
The progress made in the drawing up of a chestnut distribution map covering the Mediterranean region was noted by the Commission, which issued directives to countries concerned, with a view to completing this work. Member Governments were asked to speed up the compilation of ecological forms, particularly those for sites near the perimeters of the chestnut vegetation area.
As for ink disease and chestnut blight, which are still spreading in certain countries, the Commission considered that experience now shows that the control of these two diseases may be feasible and practicable. Control efforts should not only be continued, but also intensified, so that a start can be made with the full-scale re-planting of resistant chestnut types, according to the local economic and social needs. FAO was asked to help IUFRO financially in carrying out further experiments on blight control, using planting material from the United States.
In the field of wood utilization, the Commission recognized that, even if other materials were now being preferred to chestnut wood for certain uses, new outlets were, never theless, continually being found, such as chestnut flooring which is of growing popularity in France and Greece. There are also good prospects of a wider use, of chestnut in the field of wood chemistry, and this will be re-considered in more detail at the Commission's next session.
A report on the Latin-American Forestry Commission will appear in Unasylva, Vol. 10, No. 2.
