The lead article in this issue of Unasylva, "Tropical rain forest management: a status report", is the third in a series dealing with tropical rain forest management.
In the article, FAO Forestry Officer R. Schmidt looks at the technical aspects of natural tropical forest management in a review of recent FAO studies and of reports from past and present FAO-assisted government projects in tropical forest management. His conclusion is that few of these programmes have been abandoned on technical grounds and that, in fact, in at least 36 tropical countries there are still large areas of natural rain forest where opportunities exist for the application of both technically and economically feasible intensive management.
A key issue is that of the perceived value of the natural forest. If it is valued solely for its existing commercially merchantable wood fibre, the application of natural forest management systems following initial logging cannot always compete with clearing of the land for food crops, for settlement schemes, for cash crop plantations or for new plantations of fast-growing exotic tree species. While each of these uses may be appropriate under certain circumstances, there are also many areas where maintaining the forest under management is the best course to follow, financially and economically, particularly where the land cannot support agriculture and if the full range of forest goods and services is taken into account. This is especially true in the context of rural development, where more and more governments recognize the contribution of natural forests to watershed protection, meeting the forest produce needs of local communities, and providing opportunities for increasing rural incomes through forestry.
Nevertheless, experience has shown that only if the natural forest is managed for increased productivity of all its multiple values, including timber production, will its full worth be realized and maintained in the face of competing land-use pressures. Under these circumstances, the need for sustained silvicultural treatment of natural rain forest areas (excepting parks and special reserves) becomes even more compelling.
Making a case for tropical rain forest management requires solid evidence that it is technically feasible. FAO has worked closely with governments over the years to produce the facts and figures to support the theory: gathering, analysing and publishing statistics; providing technical expertise in support of government programmes, and serving as executing agency for various government projects in forest management. Identifying areas where these management opportunities exist is another task in which FAO assistance has been provided - in such technical areas as remote sensing, forest inventories and land-use planning.
These concerns are now also incorporated in the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, so that as forestry sector strategies are developed, the sustained management of natural forest can be given due consideration within the framework of national objectives and international assistance programmes.
The importance of forest management to economic development is also reflected in the programmes and objectives of the new International Tropical Timber Organization, discussed in an interview with ITTO Executive Director Dr B.C.Y. Freezailah on p. 61.
Research continues to receive our attention. A special section of papers adopted from the 18th IUFRO World Congress, held last September in Ljubljana, forms part of this issue.
A look into the future of forests and the forest industry in Europe is presented in the article on an important new outlook study prepared by FAO and the UN Economic Commission for Europe. Overall, the forecast is positive, even though the potential effects of air pollution on European forest growth still cannot be predicted.
