Afghanistan
· A report to FAO's Near East Forestry Commission recalls that the first forestry organization in Afghanistan was the Forestry Branch of the Department of Agronomy, Ministry of Agriculture, established in July 1957. Now the Ministry of Agriculture is being reorganized and a Division of Forestry and Range Management will shortly be created within the Department of Plant Production.
An appraisal of forestry technical assistance needs, both bilateral and multilateral, will be made soon after the current reorganization is completed. Recommendations contained in the 1957 Report on Forestry Development, prepared by B. Clarke under FAO's Technical Assistance Program, are now under review. It is hoped that action on the major proposals may soon be initiated.
Two courses in general forestry are now offered in Kabul, one at the Vocational Agricultural School and the other to the junior class at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kabul. No other formal forestry training is given at present. It is hoped that in the near future practical forestry training can be given to field staff and that an information and education program can be started to make the general public more forestry-conscious.
Forest area data are incomplete, but a determination of the area supporting trees as shown on aerial photographs should be possible within a year or two. In the meantime, it is estimated that the forest area is about 1,600,000 hectares of a total land area of 73,100,000 hectares.
The only exact afforestation data available are for activities of the Helmand Valley Authority in southern Afghanistan. Under very difficult conditions, an excellent nursery and planting program has been developed in this area during the past five years. There are now seven nurseries with a gross area of 78 hectares scattered along 100 kilometers of the developed portion of the Helmand Valley. Shelterbelts, windbreaks, woodlots for fuel, and amenity plantings account for the bulk of the afforestation program here. During the 1957-58 (winter-spring) planting season, about 415,000 trees were out planted from the nurseries and 575,000 cuttings were established. Species planted included mulberry, ash, cypress, poplar, walnut, redbud, pine, eleagnus, catalpa, sycamore, willow, tamarisk, and acacia. The nurseries now contain over 2 million trees and the total number of trees planted in the three-year period, 1956-58, is estimated at 3,250,000.
Elsewhere in the country, afforestation is dominated by the establishment of poplar plantations. Except in the vicinity of the coal fields, where pitprops are produced, poplars are grown chiefly for poles, posts, fuelwood, and other local uses. The bulk of the plantings are adjacent to irrigation and drainage ditches, or along natural water courses. Amenity plantings are in progress on treeless hills adjacent to Kabul and other large centers. Planting stock for these urban programs is produced at a number of small nurseries operated by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Canada
· Since the second world war, the top executives of the Hunting Survey Group from Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have met every four years to exchange ideas and experience. At the fourth of these conferences held in Toronto in June 1968, two outstanding contributions to aerial survey practice were studied. The first was the Photographic Survey Corporation's "AUSCOR," which, by means of associated electronic and electromechanical systems, automatically draws maps through a plotting machine far more quickly than could the human operator of the orthodox visual and manual instrument. This new system may revolutionize photogrammetric mapping procedures.
A new associate company in the United States, Photronix Inc., of Columbus, Ohio, was responsible for the other major development; by integrating aerial photogrammetry and electronic computation its machines can provide basic data on highway design for the civil engineer more rapidly and economically than was formerly possible. This is a valuable new tool, for not only does it enable the engineer to increase his productivity, but it also makes it possible for him to improve the economy of his design in new road development.
A report was also given on the new ground survey instrument, the tellurometer, which had been used in the Ethiopian road contract. This instrument, now generally accepted throughout the world, is especially interesting as having been developed in South Africa. There were naturally many other new devices which had been introduced concerning camera design, photography and processing, lenses with little, if any, distortion now in use which transmit more light and therefore allow the use of slower film emulsion; a new fast lens shutter which cuts down image movement on the negatives when they are exposed from low altitudes for purposes of large scale plotting; and the latest electronic photo-printer which extracts all details in highlight as well as deep shadow, and enables the interpreter to extract the maximum information from the photograph.
Cyprus
· Investigations leading up to the evolution of an improved forest inventory procedure were completed in 1956. The new procedure is based on the combined use of aerial photography and ground enumerations. It has been standardized and applied in practice during the last two years as follows:
1. The forests are stratified as near as possible into homogeneous types from aerial photographs, and each forest type or stratum is sampled separately.2. The sampling method used is a stratified random system employing relatively large sampling units (3 hectares in area) which are laid out and demarcated on the ground for permanent and complete measurement at successive intervals.
3. The sampling intensity varies from 5 percent to 20 percent on an area basis, depending on the area and economic importance of each stratum.
Some 18,000 hectares of Pinus brutia forests have already been enumerated by this method of continuous inventory applied on a sampling basis, and it is proposed to apply this method to all the island's coniferous forests in due course.
Ecuador
· Efforts are being made by the FAO Representative in Ecuador, supported by United States Operations Mission and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, to have the Sorocucho lake area declared as a national park and preserved.
A group of seven small lakes, all of great natural beauty, lie in the mountains at an altitude of 3,200 meters about 30 kilometers from the city of Cuenca. The lakes are bounded by steep, densely wooded hillsides, but the forests are being rapidly destroyed by cutting and burning to permit agriculture.
The problem is mainly a social one. For many years Cuenca produced as a cottage industry fine quality "panama" hats which found a ready market abroad. Today these hats are no longer in demand and the people have to depend on an impoverished soil for the means of existence. This in turn has led to land hunger and extension of cultivation into the forested hillsides.
Finland
· The results of the Third National Forest Survey (leader: Dr. Y. Ilvessalo) are now available as, too, are the results of the Third Survey of Wood Utilization (leader: Dr. NT. Pöntynen). These two surveys, which were carried out by the Forest Research Institute give an excellent basis for the future planning of Finnish forestry.
The final results of the important rural labor force studies (leader: Dr. L. Heikinheimo) have also become available. They include studies on the research methods concerning the rural forest labor, on the size and structure of the forest and floating labor force, on the housing conditions of forest workers, and on the proportion of forest work in the labor input of the rural population.
An official report to FAO shows that, according to the 1951-53 National Forest Survey, the forest area, total growing stock and increment have developed as follows since the Second Survey, carried out in 1936-1938:
TABLE 1. - FOREST AREA, GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT
|
Item |
1938 |
1953 |
|
in million ha |
||
|
Forest area |
21.0 |
21.9 |
|
Growing stock 1 |
1 370.0 |
1 493.0 |
|
Increment 2 |
41.5 |
46.0 |
1 Including bark.
2 Excluding bark.
The ratio of different species of wood to the total volume of the growing stock developed in the following way during this period.
TABLE 2. - VOLUMES OF DIFFERENT SPECIES IN GROWING STOCK
|
Species |
1938 |
1953 |
|
in million m³ 1 |
||
|
Pine |
624 |
663 |
|
Spruce |
441 |
633 |
|
Birch |
57 |
273 |
|
Others |
48 |
4 |
|
TOTAL |
1 370 |
1 493 |
1 Including bark.
The average growing stock on productive forest land is 80.7 cubic meters per hectare including bark and the average increment 2.5 cubic meters per hectare excluding bark.
Land-ownership has greatly changed compared with prewar times, as appears from the following Table:
TABLE 3. - FOREST LAND OWNERSHIP
|
Owner |
1938 |
1953 |
|
percent |
||
|
Private owners |
54.6 |
60.0 |
|
The State |
35.7 |
30.6 |
|
companies |
7.1 |
7.0 |
|
Others |
2.5 |
2. 4 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
100 |
BRAZIL: A note on the Curua logging demonstration center on the Amazon appeared in the last issue of Unasylva (Vol. 12 No. 4). These photographs show (above) a Russian manufactured S 80 tractor and a D-371-T scraper in use at the center, and (below) the ingenious way in which a Russian D-20-B grader was lifted bodily from the hold of the barge in which it arrived at the center, still strapped to the base of its crate, by a Hyster touring winch mounted on a caterpillar D 6 tractor and Hyster logging arch.
Courtesy, I. H. Gray
The change in favor of private owners is due to interior colonization, of which the main beneficiaries are the population displaced from Karelia, which was ceded to the U.S.S.R. in 1944.
According to the Third Survey of Wood Utilization, wood was used as shown in Table 4 in 1951-57:
Iraq
· Forestry in Iraq, a report to FAO states, must provide for:
1. Watershed protection. Forest and alpine pastures occupy nearly 70 percent of the mountain area forming the watersheds in Iraq of the Tigris and its important tributaries, the Big Zab and Lesser Zab rivers, the Sirwan (Diyala) and the Adhaim rivers. In these areas, therefore, the forests and forest pastures exercise an important influence in controlling floods and in the prevention of accelerated erosion with the consequent siltation of the rivers and all the vital irrigation systems depending on them.2. Windbreak plantations. The cultivated plain areas of Iraq are subject to the damaging effects of very hot dry winds in summer, which sometimes cause severe duststorms and, in certain areas where soils are light and sandy, wind-erosion occurs. The importance and value of windbreak planting throughout the cultivated areas as a means of mitigating wind erosion and damage to crops is recognized as one of the main objects of forestry development.
3. Production plantations. Apart from the mountain forests in the northern parts of the country, Iraq boasts of few other natural forest resources and the bulk of its wood requirements has to be imported. Forestry is therefore expected to play an important role in the future through the planting of large areas of short-rotation, irrigated tree crops to supply local needs in commercial and domestic wood.
Iran
· A report to the Near East Forestry Commission describes the natural pastures of Iran which can be divided as follows:
1. The region around the Caspian Sea, where the rainfall is about 400 to 1,700 millimeters, increasing from east to west. It covers an area of 30 million hectares of forest, and 50 million hectares of pasture land comprising:(a) the plain lands that form the winter pastures;(b) sloping lands, most of which are forest lands (most of the spring and autumn pastures are located in these parts);
(c) the high lands that are used as summer pastures.
2. The region around the Persian Gulf. This regions is not so usable owing to lack of water and much heat. The climate is dry and the number of cattle is limited.
3. The plateau of Iran - which covers the main part of the country and extends near the Lurestan, Kurdistan and Azerbaijan mountains and the mountains of the east and is divided into two parts:
(a) the desert region, in which the amount of rainfall is about 13 to 90 millimeters. Hot winds cause the movement of shifting sands. There are some places where pastures can be created by irrigation, but other parts are not so utilizable.(b) the steppe region, which covers an area of about 70 million hectares, 10 million of which are covered with thinly scattered forests: most of the population of this region is composed of nomadic tribes and most of the pastures are both summer and winter grounds.
The grazing period on summer pastures and the high lands - which wholly depends on the weather - does not exceed 4 months; the maximum grazing period on winter pastures and plains and at medium altitudes is 7 months.
For the purpose of protecting the forests, a bill has been prepared and presented to Parliament, After its approval, the Forest Service (Bongah Djangalha) will have more power to control the grazing of livestock in the forests and protect the pastures.
Courtesy, Kullervo Kuusela
Italy
· During the period 1955 to 1957, considerable progress was made with the implementation of the Law relating to the rehabilitation of mountain territories, according to the National FAO Committee. Loans and subsidies were allocated to private owners and agencies for land reclamation work, craftsmanship and tourism. Loans were chiefly granted for land improvement, the creation of industrial processing plants for products of mountain areas, and for the improvement and repair of private buildings which make them attractive living quarters for tourists. Subsidies were only granted for land and agricultural improvement.
A further 23 mountain reclamation areas, covering a total extension of 1,508,174 hectares, were classified; 22 administrative consortia already in existence were officially appointed as mountain reclamation consortia, and in addition 5 voluntary and 8 official mountain reclamation consortia were also set up.
Funds to a total of about 325.5 million fire (U.S.$522,400) were advanced for the preparation of 44 mountain reclamation projects. About 396 million fire (U.S.$633,500) have been allotted for the study and preparation of economic plans and for research in irrigation and drinking water: 300 million fire (U.S.$480,000) have been assigned to 7 specialized agencies and to similar consortia which are responsible for proper management of forestry and pasture lands belonging to communes. Other technical assistance agencies for agriculture, forestry, and livestock and for assistance to the mountain population have also benefited from this allocation of funds.
Contributions were also made to stimulate production and more rapid improvement in the depressed mountain areas. In fact, although it is important to improve housing facilities for the mountain population, in some eases it would appear more economic to invest in more immediately profitable activities with a view to increasing the farmer's income, postponing any improvements which would give him more comfort, provided they are not of dire necessity. For this reason, a larger portion of the funds has been assigned for the purchase of selected livestock, seeds and fertilizers.
Jordan
· The boundaries of forest lands are marked with cairns, wire fences or iron angles. They are all mapped and indexed. 1,157,237 dunums (11,572 hectares) of land are registered as State Forest Domain of which approximately 1,000,000 dunums (10,000 hectares) are in natural forests, afforested areas or reserved for afforestation.
The 1957 statistical report for Jordan lists the following number of livestock:
|
Camels: |
13,500 |
|
Cattle: |
64,000 |
|
Goats: |
541,000 |
|
Sheep: |
453,500 |
Of this number, 150,000 goats and 500 sheep are grazed on forest lands on a rotation basis. The village is allotted a block of forest land each year to graze. These blocks are rotated so that no area is grazed two years in succession. During 1958, as an emergency measure to meet the drought conditions in Jordan, all forest areas were being grazed except reforestation areas and coppice forests. Between 750,000 and 1 million animals were expected to receive some grazing in forest lands during this emergency, states an official report to the Near East Forestry Commission. Grazing rights on forest lands belonging to the State are determined by the State. Some villages have certain rights under the Goat Law: if they request permission to convert certain of their grazing lands into forests and they agree to dispose of their goats in return for which they may receive a government loan to buy white sheep, they are given employment as needed on forest land, and the village will receive one third of the receipts from the sale of products from the forested areas.
No effective grassland improvement program of general application has been made. Water-spreading projects in desert areas have not been universally successful and grass seeding work has been restricted to small experimental plots. Fenced enclosures have been set up to demonstrate the results of no grazing but, so far, no managed grazing has been established within the fenced areas to demonstrate what can be expected from proper management.
A cistern program to provide water may have the effect of better distribution of stock over the desert areas but, in actual practice, probably only increases overgrazing throughout a wide area, because of the habit of the bedouin tribes to follow the water supply; thus additional flocks are brought in to graze from far off areas.
The supplementary feeding of fodder is still in the theoretical stage. Two sheep stations, one at Shumari near Azraq, and the other established during 1958 in South Jordan, experiment with the feeding of sheep as well as the production of grasses and grass seed to improve grazing on forest and range areas.
Kenya
· An official report to FAO states that the introduction of controlled grazing over some 380,000 acres (153,500 hectares) of overstocked and eroded land in the Rift Valley and Southern Provinces has been accompanied by a spectacular recovery in the carrying capacity of the land. In Kitui district especially, the face of the country has been entirely changed in five years and the stock population is now at its optimum level for the district as a whole. Bush encroachment remains a problem which will have to be controlled by firing at intervals. Elsewhere in the Southern Province the reestablishment of grass over wide expanses of eroded land has been achieved by scratch plowing and the exclusion of stock for a suitable period.
Libya
· In the Province of Tripolitania, two important events that have been reported to the Near East Forestry Commission are:
1. The passing of a new Forest Law (No. 12) in October 1956. This new forest law enables the Administration to administer its forest estate in an orderly and competent manner and empowers it to enact legislation designed to safeguard and promote the country's timber and fuel resources, both government and privately owned, to the best advantage.2. The establishment in April 1957 of a Department of Forests under the jurisdiction of the Nazir of Agriculture. This new department is entrusted with the development of a provincial forest estate to meet the province's needs in domestic and industrial timber and forestry products, and to ensure that private forestry gets the encouragement and assistance it needs so that it can be developed on sound forestry and economic principles.
This is the long-term aspect. Of immediate concern is the need to conserve and improve the land by the stabilization of the enormous sand dune areas, to provide protection for agricultural land and to halt and control erosion of the soil by the elements and by man and his animals.
The forestry position in the province at present is perhaps well known. It is a picture of almost complete denudation of indigenous tree growth. The process of denudation has taken place over thousands of years and the loss of soil consequent upon this must have reached astronomical figures over the period. In more recent times this process has been greatly accelerated due primarily to overgrazing, but also to shifting cultivation and unplanned agriculture as a whole.
In the agricultural field, development has taken place on the coastal plain in recent years through the use of irrigation from comparatively shallow wells, and already there is evidence of salinity and a drop in the water table. Unless this process is replaced by a system of dry farming, the situation may, in time, become desperate. Planned land utilization making full use of trees would appear to be the only solution to the problem. Forestry activity must be dovetailed into planned economic development with the emphasis on agriculture (an economic necessity), horticulture, controlled grazing, erosion control and the whole range of planned land utilization.
The new Forest Service is designed to work in the closest possible collaboration with other government departments and with development agencies already in the field. The first year's activities have been closely bound with those of other projects and the co-operation experienced is most encouraging.
The provincial (government) forest estate in Tripolitania is scattered in the form of reserves over the length and breadth of the coastal plain and it is often difficult to define where a reserve begins or ends. Boundary disputes are frequent and bitter. Despite its claim to these areas, in law, it is doubtful if the department has in fact any legal title to much of this land. A forest inventory is urgently needed and toward this end, steps are already being taken. Funds to undertake this gigantic task have been made available in the United States Operations Mission forestry development program and the Director of State Property has promised his assistance on the settlement side.
Until an up-to-date inventory has been carried out, development and working plans cannot be made.
Mexico
· A newspaper report describes how the Mexican legislature has called experts to address it in public conclave so that the country's pressing technical problems can be assessed.
The first subject to be thus discussed was the exploitation and conservation of forests. The first spokesman to be called contrasted Mexico's neglect of resources with Sweden's planning. He said that Mexico needed about £6 million (U.S.$ 16.8 million) to pay forest guards and to study and develop the industry. He deprecated any proposal for nationalization for which he considers the State is unprepared.
One tenth of Mexico's population is made up of unintegrated Indians living in forest-covered mountains, which they cannot exploit because they have neither roads, capital, nor adequate technology. "If we do not give the indigenous Indian means to avail himself of the forests, he will destroy them." This would not be because the Indians were ignorant of the problem, but from the sheer necessity of survival. "They fell the woods, burn the trees, uproot the stumps, and then sow. A few kilos of maize are obtained in exchange for acres of valuable trees."
To the outspoken criticisms of the experts the Senate will presumably add the more detailed studies made since 1951 by a mission of FAO forestry experts. Volume Two of the mission's findings has recently been published by the Departamento de Investigaciones Industriales of the Bank of Mexico.
Norway
· At the invitation of the Government of Norway, the Joint FAO/ECE Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers will hold its third session in Oslo from 1 to 6 June 1959. This Committee, set up in 1964 as a suborgan of the European Forestry Commission and ECE Timber Committee, is concerned with the rationalization of timber extraction and the raising of the productivity of forest work through the improvement of working techniques, tools and machinery.
At this session the Committee, following its usual practice, will review the activities of its sub-organs and draw up its program of work for the next one to two years. This program now covers working techniques, the testing and applications of machinery, mountain logging, vocational training, accident prevention and terminology. The work is carried out by means of specialized working parties and study groups which are responsible for the detailed planning of projects to be entrusted to expert rapporteurs from one or several countries. For example, an important task has been the standardization of tests for forest machinery, as the result of which provisional protocols for the testing of tractors and winches have been drawn up. Similar work is being undertaken on the testing of power saws, barking machines and chipping machines. Other projects include technical, technological and economic studies of tractors, power saws, barking machines, cableways and forest roads.
Work on vocational training and prevention of accidents is carried out in collaboration with the International Labour Office (ILO). International co-operation at the medium and lower levels of forest personnel is assured through the ILO Fellowship Scheme and the joint FAO/ECE/ILO sponsorship of international training courses.
The Oslo session of the Committee will, among other things, discuss ways to concentrate its efforts so as to achieve optimum results with the resources available. This may result in changes in the type of meetings organized and the number and functions of the participants.
The session will be followed by a study tour organized by the Norwegian forest authorities, during which participants will be able to study the most up-to-date aspects of forest exploitation in that country and to visit research institutes and other establishments concerned with the techniques of wood extraction and utilization.
Somaliland (British)
· The first forest officers were appointed to the Somaliland Protectorate in 1962. Before then a few forestry and arboricultural activities had been started by agricultural and veterinary officers. These activities included the establishment of 6 hectares of plantation of Conocarpus lancifolius (dames) in a difficult environment at Berbera, the establishment of two small tree nurseries, considerable amenity planting, and some useful preliminary work on Boswellia carteri (mohur) and B. frereana (maidi), the frankincenses. Three ordinances covering various aspects of forestry were in operation though not completely enforced: 34 square kilometers of forest had been reserved, but boundaries had not been demarcated.
The period 1962-1966 was used to examine the country in detail and to prepare an outline program of work to be done, to obtain sanction for adequate senior and field staff, to start training the field staff, to initiate urgently needed protective measures (e.g., control of charcoal manufacture and propaganda designed to bring about grazing control), to carry out forest reservation as the staff situation permitted, and generally to make the people conscious of the meaning of forestry and range management. In 1957, the full requirement of senior staff was appointed, and considerable advance had been made with the recruitment and training of field staff.
There has not yet been formal approval of any forest policy statement. The statement given in outline below is as reported to the Near East Forestry Commission.
Clause 1. The creation of permanent forest resources by the reservation by the Government or by local councils of suitably situated areas of forest or of land to be afforested of an extent sufficient to supply as many benefits as possible for the welfare of the people; indirect benefits in the form of preservation and improvement of water supplies, and maintenance of climatic conditions favorable to the livestock industry and the growth of agricultural crops, and the reduction to a minimum of soil erosion, and direct benefits in the form of a sustained adequate supply of forest produce, including grazing and browse, to meet local requirements and the demands of the export trade.
Clause 2. The broad definition and the public recognition of lands outside the permanent forest estate which are required as permanent rangeland for the livestock industry, whether as grazing or browse, and the creation of facilities for the supervision of these rangelands by local councils or any other agency with or without direct government assistance.
Clause 3. The management of the permanent forest resources and rangeland by methods that will achieve maximum productivity and value on the basis of a sustained yield.
Clause 4. The conduct of research into all branches of scientific forestry and range management, with special early emphasis on ecology, silviculture, and grazing and browse problems.
Clause 5. The development of local and district council forestry and range management; and the education of local councils and people to a better understanding of the necessity for, and the value of, forestry and range management.
Clause 6. The training of Somali to higher posts in forestry and range management, and the provision of adequate training facilities for the field staff.
Clause 7. Co-operation with all other interests in the conservation of soil, water, and vegetation, and in the development of plans for optimum land use.
Sudan
· The Forest Department is running 11 sawmills and 22 hand sawing camps. The production of sawn timber during the last three years is reported to have been as follows:
|
|
Cubic feet |
Cubic meters |
|
1955-56 |
406,000 |
11,500 |
|
1956-57 |
638,000 |
18,000 |
|
1957-581 |
790,000 |
22,400 |
1 Estimated.
The main species utilized are Acacia arabica, Isoberlina doka, Khaya senegalensis, Khaya grandifoliola, Podocarpus melinjainus, Afzelia africana, and Danielia oliveri. The progressive increase in the volume of sawn timber is due to improvements in the sawmills, reduction of waste and improved extraction equipment. Three caterpillar D. 6 tractors and 11 wheeled diesel tractors have been added to the extraction equipment of the Department. Six old extraction lorries have been replaced by new ones.
Five portable saw benches received in 1955 were not found suitable for production of Sudan Railways sleepers but are used successfully for the sawing of smaller sleepers of 4 x 8 x 48 inches (10 x 20 x 122 centimeters) and for other small sizes. Another six portable push benches since obtained have been found to be satisfactory for converting waste wood. A lot of the sawmill machinery which had been recommended in the FAO Technical Assistance Report No. 554 has been received and is in the course of erection, according to an official report to the Near East Forestry Commission. The department is operating a set of three seasoning kilns at Katire in Equatoria. Each has a capacity of 500 cubic feet (14.15 cubic meters). Another one is being built in Khartoum.
The Forest Department supplies the three towns, Khartoum, Wad Medani and Gezira with poles for native buildings. The species used for this purpose are Acacia arabica, creosoted Acacia seyal and Anogeisus schemperi. The last is supplied to Khartoum only. The department has been trying to supply the Post and Telegraph Department with some of its requirements of poles. Poles of Anogeisus schemperi and Isoberlinia doka have been supplied for trial.
Wood and charcoal are the main sources of fuel in the country. The supply of the three towns Khartoum, Wad Medani and the Gezira is arranged for by the Forest Department, and steps are being taken to arrange also for the supply of Port Sudan. Charcoal production for the three towns is carried out by licensed charcoal burners by special permits from the Forest Department. The quantities produced have been: 1965/56, 22,307 tons; and 1956/57, 25,162 tons.
Charcoal ovens supplied by FAO have been found to be very satisfactory and another 40 similar ones have been made locally for distribution to outstations.
The department also supplies other government departments with their requirements of fuelwood. The amount of firewood produced by the department annually is about 100,000 cubic meters.
In rural areas fuelwood is collected and brought into the towns and big villages by the collectors in head loads or on donkeys or camels. The amount of wood taken in this way and that used for charcoal at 13 million cubic meters.
Courtesy, M. Ganzin
Thailand
· In 1956, a forestry school was established in the province of Phrae, to take 60 students each year for basic training in forestry. Courses last two years, and the purpose is to train junior staffs.
A number of Fellowships have been awarded under the Colombo Plan for study and training in England. In 1957, a senior officer of the Royal Forest Department attended the Tropical Forestry Training Center at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, for 3 months.
Through FAO technical assistance and with the completion of the new laboratory at Bangkhen, it has been possible to install one pilot drying kiln, one pilot preservation plant, one small plywood plant, a set of woodworking machines, and two timber strength-testing apparatus. The laboratory is ready to begin some fundamental research work in the field of wood technology.
United Kingdom
· A brochure published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland, describes how the acceleration of afforestation since the end of the 1939-46 war has had a corresponding effect on the size of the permanent labor force, which has increased steadily from its 1946 level of some 260 to its present level of more than 1,500 men.
One of the important factors affecting forestry employment is the availability of suitable housing. As inevitably the forests are situated in the more remote and isolated parts of the country, it has been necessary for the Ministry of Agriculture (Forestry Division) to initiate quite a large-scale housing program of its own. The houses are built sometimes singly or in pairs, sometimes in quite large groups which will in time develop into new forest villages; all are designed to fulfill modern standards of amenity and convenience. About 200 houses have already been built by the Ministry and, in addition, approximately 100 "old" houses, i.e., houses acquired with land and repaired or reconstructed, are occupied by the Ministry's employees. As the forest area grows, many more houses will undoubtedly become necessary.
Training workers up to the rank of foreman in the various branches of forestry is done locally under the supervision of the Ministry's trained foresters and forest officers. The latter are generally trained at universities in Great Britain, while potential foresters are catered for at the schools of the United Kingdom Forestry Commission, since the number requiring training at any one time is not sufficient to justify the establishment of special training schools or a university faculty in Northern Ireland. In the Ministry's service there is a considerable number of young men whose ability has earned them free training as foresters, with allowances while training roughly equivalent to normal pay, who can now look forward to a rewarding career in the forest service.
The same reasons that have made it impracticable to give higher training in forestry in Northern Ireland have resulted also in the restriction of forest research to problems of local rather than fundamental significance. Fundamental research demands the large-scale resources which are associated with the Forestry Commission and universities of Great Britain, the fruits of whose investigations are generally both relevant and available to Northern Ireland. The Ministry, for its part, co-operates wherever possible in carrying out complementary experiments.
One problem requiring more extensive research than was being given to it by the Forestry Commission, was that of tree-planting on peat areas. Accordingly, in cooperation with the Ministry's Research Division and Queen's University, Belfast, a series of experiments have been laid down. It is hoped that information derived from these experiments will eventually prove a valuable guide to improvement of peat-land afforestation technique. The importance of the experiments may be judged from an estimate that every 100 feet (30 meters) above the normal planting altitude of around 1,200 feet (365 meters) which can be planted, represents rather more than 6,000 acres (2,000 hectares) of new area gained.
· Perhaps the most significant single event in forestry in recent years was the completion late in 1967 of the nation-wide Timber Resource Review, begun in 1952. This most comprehensive appraisal of the timber situation in the United States yet undertaken is the latest in a series of such appraisals. It was planned and executed in the field with the widespread collaboration of a great number of states, forest industries, and individuals. It provides a stock-taking of the current timber situation and a look into the future with respect to prospective timber supplies and needs. The Review points out that much progress has been made in forestry in the United States in recent years, particularly on large industrial holdings and public lands. No timber famine is in the offing, but some shortages may be expected in preferred species and grades, especially after 1975. It is estimated that, by the year 2,000, the much larger population will require nearly twice the present production of wood to meet its needs. Substantial expansion and intensification of forestry will be required to assure such a level of production.
The Review found that the key to the future timber supply lies in a large measure with the 4.5 million owners of small timber tracts who collectively own over one half of the country's timber lands and who have been the least progressive in forestry. Consequently, renewed and increased efforts are called for in developing ways and means of encouraging wider application of good forestry practices on the small holdings.
