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Forestry and forest products statistics

THE first compilations by an international organization of statistics on forestry and forest products were undertaken by the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome in accordance with a resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the Institute in May 1922. The first results were published in 1924, but the first International Yearbook of Forestry Statistics did not appear until 1933.

The International Timber Committee (CIB) in 1933 commenced publication of a series of monthly statistics covering international trade in forest products.

In 1935 a Committee of Statistical Experts of the League of Nations recommended for universal adoption a "Minimum List of Commodities for International Trade Statistics" which included sections relating to wood and cork and to pulp and paper. This list was revised in 1937 in conformity with a revision of the "Draft Customs Nomenclature" and was published by the League of Nations in 1938.

In 1936 a mixed commission, representative of the International Institute of Agriculture and the International Institute of Statistics, submitted to the 23rd Session of the latter organization a report containing a series of classifications and definitions recommended for general use in the compilation of statistics on forest resources. This was published in the proceedings of the International Institute of Statistics.

A special subcommittee of the Committee of Statistical Experts examined the various aspects of timber statistics and presented a first report in 1936, which included "a complete minimum program of national timber statistics. " This report was circulated to governments for their comments, subsequently revised by the Committee, and published by the League of Nations in 1938 under the title " Timber Statistics. "

Although many governments had recognized the desirability of reaching agreement on uniform methods of compiling and presenting forestry and forest products statistics, the outbreak of war in 1939 forestalled international action which might have led to the formal adoption of the reports referred to in the previous paragraphs. Further developments in this field had to await the cessation of hostilities.

The First Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, held in Canada in the autumn of 1945, decided that international action in the field of forestry and forest products should be one of the principal activities of the new organization. The Conference recommended that consultations preparatory to a world survey of forest resources and forest inventories should be undertaken, and that priority should be given to "the resumption of statistical series [relating to forest products which had been] interrupted by the war, and to the continuance for peacetime purposes of new series instituted during the war. "The Second Session of the Conference, held in Denmark in 1946, recommended that " All countries should be requested to supply to FAO as soon as possible their most recent statistics on forest resources, annual growth, annual drain, and forest products. "

In accordance with the recommendations of the Conference, a draft program and draft questionnaires for international statistics on forestry and forest products were prepared by the Forestry and Forest Products Division of FAO, due consideration being given to recommendations of the prewar committees, to experience gained in connection with the timber statistics program of the International Timber Committee, and to further developments during the war years. This draft program was submitted to two international conferences on forest statistics, convened at Washington and Rome during the early months of 1947. The Conference at Washington was attended by representatives of 15 countries of North and South America, the Far East, and Oceania, and by a representative of the Caribbean Commission. Representatives of 13 countries of Europe and the Mediterranean area and a representative of the Timber Subcommittee of the Emergency Economic Committee for Europe participated in the Rome Conference.

The draft program and draft questionnaires prepared by the Forestry and Forest Products Division were amended in accordance with the recommendations of the two special conferences, and received formal international approval at the Third Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, held at Geneva in 1947.

Up to the present time, little recognition has been given to the connection which exists between the administration and conservation of forests, on the one hand, and the production and distribution of forest products, on the other. The Forestry and Forest Products Division of FAO is committed to the principle that these two branches of human activity should no longer be considered independently of each other. The statistical program of the Division embraces both forestry and forest products in order that supply, as represented by the forests, may be correlated with demand, as represented by consumption of forest products. Certain classifications and definitions, which are common to both aspects of the program, are discussed hereunder.

The basic statistics prepared by FAO are presented in units of the metric system of measurement. In certain cases, tables expressed in metric units may be supplemented by tables showing the same quantities in units commonly used in commerce.

Quantities of wood are expressed in terms of solid cubic volume. Bark is not included in the volumes of standing timber and roundwood products. Volumes reported to FAO in other units of measurement, such as piled or stacked measure (stere, cord, fathom, etc.) are converted to equivalent solid volumes through the use of standardized converting factors. Quantities of wood reported by weight are similarly converted.

It is hoped that statistics relating to wood and to wood products other than pulp, which are now recorded in some countries in terms of weight, will be replaced by records of volume. Weight is an unsatisfactory basis for the measurement of wood because of wide variations in moisture content and because of the differences in specific gravities of woods from different species of trees. Hence, a given weight may represent widely differing quantities of wood volume.

Quantities of wood pulp, paper, and other pulp products are expressed in terms of weight. It is desirable that pulp statistics should be based on a defined moisture content.

Conifers (softwoods) and broadleaved woods (hardwoods) are the two principal classes of woods. Wherever possible, statistics relating to the products of these should be stated separately.

Statistics of forest resources representing the situation existing in 1947 have been collected. This program will be repeated in about five years. Statistics of forest products are being collect Ed and published annually, on a world-wide basis. A program of quarterly statistics of forest products for Europe, in which the United States of America and Canada co-operate, has been instituted under an arrangement between the Timber Committee of the Economic Commission for Europe and FAO. Programs for quarterly statistics in other regions may be instituted as need arises.

Statistics of forest resources will be published on the completion of each periodic forest inventory. Annual statistics of forest products will be published in forest products Yearbooks, and quarterly statistics for Europe will be issued as rapidly as the results can be compiled.

Forest Resources.

The program of forest inventory statistics is intended to secure, from time to time, the most up-to-date information relating to the extent and condition of the forests of the world. These periodic reports will also give valuable indications of the status of knowledge of the resources in different countries and, when taken together, will indicate improvements in that knowledge from period to period.

Current inquiries are concerned principally with those areas now bearing forests. Although it is recognized that there are many denuded areas in the world which could and should be reforested for the production of timber or for the protection of soils and other assets, it has not yet been possible to devise definitions of such lands which would be applicable to all conditions and to all countries.

The following list of classifications and definitions has been approved for international use. It is considered that the main headings constitute a basic minimum of information which is essential to an understanding of the forest situation of any country. Some of the more advanced countries already possess inventories prepared in far greater detail, and others will doubtless follow their lead. It is hoped, however, that countries who may be undertaking inventory projects for the first time will accept this internationally approved list as a guide to their essential minimum needs for information.

LAND CLASSIFICATION
Classification	Definition
FORESTED LANDS
	Lands bearing vegetative associations dominated by trees of any size, capable of producing timber or other forest products or of exerting an influence on the climate or on the water regime. Also, lands from which forests have been recently clear cut or burned, but which will be reforested in the near future.
Productive forests	Forested lands physically capable of producing crops of usable wood.
Other forests	Forests incapable of yielding products other than fuel because of adverse site conditions. This category includes forests of slow growth, and of dwarfed or stunted form.
NONFORESTED LANDS
Cultivated lands and natural grasslands	Lands under cultivation, and natural grasslands whether used for grazing or not.
Other lands	Brush lands, moors, deserts, sand dunes, bare rock, swamps and bogs., Also areas occupied by towns, roads, etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF PRODUCTIVE FORESTS
ACCESSIBLE FORESTS	Accessible forests are those which are now within reach of economic exploitation as sources of forest products, including immature forests. This category includes all productive forest lands owned by corporations or individuals, all publicly owned forests covered by working plans, and other public forests not covered by working plans but considered to be accessible for exploitation now.
Coniferous (softwoods)	Forests in which 75 percent or more of the volume of standing timber is of coniferous or needle-leaved species.
Broadleaved (hardwoods)	Forests in which 75 percent or more of the volume is of broadleaved species.
Mixedwoods	All other forests.
INACCESSIBLE FORESTS	Forested lands of productive quality which are not yet economically accessible.
(Subdivisions to be the same as for Accessible Forests)
OWNERSHIP OF PRODUCTIVE FORESTS
PUBLICLY OWNED FORESTS
State forests	Includes productive forested lands owned by national, state, provincial, and cantonal governments, etc., and forests of government- owned corporations.
Forests in which felling is prohibited	National parks and other recreational forests and forests maintained for the protection of watersheds, etc., from which removal of forest products is prohibited.
Forests in which fellings are permitted	National, state, provincial, and cantonal forests in which cutting, either by the state or by private operators, may be permitted.
Communal forests	Forests belonging to town, villages, and communes.
Forests in which felling is prohibited	Parks, protection forests, etc.
Forests in which fellings are permitted	Other communal forests.
Forests reserved for the benefit of native tribes	Forests reserved for the use of native tribes, or managed for their benefit.
FORESTS OWNED BY INSTITUTIONS	Forested lands owned by religious and educational institutions.
PRIVATELY OWNED FORESTS
Owned by industrial corporations	Forested lands owned by industrial partnerships, corporations, co- operative societies, etc.
Forest estates	Forested estates, owned by individuals or single families, excepting forests included within the boundaries of farms.
Farm forests	Forested areas within the boundaries of farms and primarily used to supply wood for farm needs.
GROWING STOCK ON ACCESSIBLE PRODUCTIVE FORESTED LANDS
CONIFERS (SOFTWOODS)	Cubic volume of wood, without bark, contained in all coniferous trees 10 cm. or more in diameter, when measured over bark 1.3 meters above ground level. When possible, volumes of the more important individual species should be estimated and estimates should subdivide volumes contained in trees 10 cm. to 25 cm. in diameter from those of larger trees. Volumes may be based on (a) total volumes including all wood from ground level to the top of the tree, or (b) they may exclude the volumes contained in, stumps of standard height and in the tips of trees above a standard minimum diameter of the boles. The basis used in computing statistics of standing timber should always be stated. It is important that computations of volumes of annual growth, losses from natural causes, and fellings should be computed on the same basis.
BROADLEAVED (HARDWOODS)	Same as above, but volumes may or may not include branchwood.
ANNUAL GROWTH OF FORESTS AND ANNUAL DRAIN
GROWTH AND DRAIN IN ACCESSIBLE PRODUCTIVE FORESTS
Total annual growth (gross increment)	The total volume of wood produced by all trees in the forest (usually computed as an annual average for a 10-year period).
Losses from natural causes:
Annual losses from forest fires	Average volume of roundwood 'rendered unusable annually by fire during the past 10 years.
Average annual losses caused by insects and tree diseases	Average volume of roundwood rendered unusable annually by insect pests and tree diseases during the past 10 years.
Average annual losses caused by climatic factors	Average volume of roundwood destroyed annually by windstorms, ice, etc.
NET AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH	The net volume remaining after subtracting natural losses, as defined above, from total annual growth.
AVERAGE ANNUAL FELLINGS	Average volume of roundwood, exclusive of bark, felled annually in the forests during the past 10 years, whether removed from the forest or not.
BALANCE OF GROWTH AND DRAIN	The difference between annual fellings and net annual growth. If growth exceeds fellings, the balance will be positive; if fellings exceed growth, it will be negative.
GROSS INCREMENT IN INACCESSIBLE FORESTS	Estimated potential productivity of forests which are not yet accessible. (No net increment accrues in inaccessible forests because annual growth is completely offset by losses due to natural causes).

Forest Products Statistics

The program of forest products statistics instituted by FAO replaces and expands statistical series interrupted by the war, in accordance with a recommendation of the First Session of the Conference of FAO referred to above. Since the classification and definitions presented hereunder have been approved by international conferences on forest statistics, it is hoped that countries which may be developing systems of forest products statistics for the first time or which may be revising systems already established, will be able to provide for a collection of information regarding the various categories and products defined hereunder.

PRINCIPAL CLASSES OF STATISTICS

Output of the Forest

Wood and other primary products of vegetable origin harvested or collected from the forest. Minor quantities are obtained from trees growing outside the forest.

Wood. The solid volume of roundwood. Most wood is removed from the felling site in an unmanufactured state for use as fuel or for conversion into lumber, veneer, and other products; but some products including hewn railway sleepers (crossties) and posts are often processed prior to removal.

Forest products other than wood. Other primary forest products of vegetable origin (e.g., cork, tanning bark, bamboo, rattan, gums, and resins).

Production

The output of the designed commodity within a country during a defined period. The total production of primary products is reported even though a portion may immediately be consumed in the production of a more highly manufactured product (e.g., wood pulp, which may immediately be converted into paper as part of a continuous process).

Stocks

The figures in this report comprise stocks of domestic and foreign origin, in the hands of producers or traders at a given date, except that stocks of wood pulp include stocks held by paper manufacturers.

Imports

All products imported for domestic consumption or processing. Figures do not include " in-transit " shipments. They include imports for re-export since these data cannot always be separated from imports for consumption. Export statistics have been adjusted to include re-exports. Unless otherwise noted, goods received from dependent territories and possessions are included in imports of metropolitan countries.

Exports

All products of domestic origin or manufacture shipped out of the country. For reasons indicated above under Imports, re-exports are included. "In-transit" shipments are excluded. Exports from metropolitan countries include products shipped to dependent territories or possessions.

Consumption

The calculation of consumption of a product within a country is based on domestic production, plus imports, less exports, with a suitable adjustment for changes in stock during the period under review.

It is important to distinguish between consumption by industry and consumption by ultimate consumers. For example, a country which is a large exporter of paper may consume in its industrial processes very large volumes of pulpwood and wood pulp. The tonnage so consumed may be many times in excess of the tonnage of pulp products ultimately consumed by the people of that country.

DEFINITIONS OF FOREST PRODUCTS

Product	Definition
Bark for tanning	Bark from certain tree species, notably hemlock, chestnut, acacia, mangrove, and oak, for use as a source of extracts for tanning purposes.
Broadleaved species (hardwoods)	All woods derived from trees classified botanically as Angiospermae are included in this category. The species belonging to this group are generally broadleaved (e.g. oak - Quercus, beech - Fagus, maple Acer, lignum vitae - Guiaicum, ebony - Diogpyros). Most of this group are physically hard. However, this category also includes broadleaved species such as balsa - Ochroma and poplar - Populus, which are physically soft and which in some countries are referred to as softwoods. Most tropical woods are broadleaved.
Conifers (softwoods)	All woods derived from trees classified botanically as Gymnospermae (e.g. pine - Pinus, fir - Abies, spruce - Picea, larch - Larix, Parana pine -Araucaria, and ginkgo - Ginkgo) have been included in this category. (Note: The term "softwood," as used in some countries, includes woods which are physically soft, even though some of them may be taken from broadleaved trees. This category, as used by FAO, is restricted to woods taken from the gymnosperm class).
Fiberboard	Boards, sheets, or rolls, used mainly in building, of which the chief raw material is wood. Raw materials may be in the form of wood pulp, waste paper, sawmill waste, screenings, etc. Gypsum board and plaster boards are excluded.
Hardboards (wallboard)	A general term applied to fiberboards (hard and semihard) from 3 to 7 mm. (1/8 to 1/4 inch) in thickness, used primarily in partitions, side walls, and other construction work.
Insulating board	Insulating material in sheets or rolls usually from 8 to 20 mm. (5/16 to 3/4 inch) in thickness with porous structure and good thermal and acoustic insulating properties. The fibers are sized and felted together to contain a large quantity of entrapped or "dead" air.
Fuelwood	Wood destined for burning for purposes of cooking, heating, production of power, etc. Figures may include wood from trunks and branches. Wood for charcoal production is not included.
Lumber	The term lumber, as used by FAO, covers the following categories of sawn wood: planks, boards, deals, battens, and large timbers, both rough and planed; squares; flooring; laths; shingles; and boxboards. It does not include sawn railway sleepers (crossties).
Newsprint	A standard grade of printing paper used in newspapers. It is generally made from mechanical pulp to which 12-20 percent of chemical pulp has been added. The basic weight usually 'varies from 48-57 grams per m2 (30-35 pounds for a ream of 506 sheets 24 x 36 in).
Other vegetable fiber pulp	Includes pulps, other than wood pulp, derived from fibrous materials such as bagasse, cotton flax, bamboo, esparto, and other grasses, used for the manufacture of paper, paperboard, and fiberboard.
Paper other than newsprint	All paper other than newsprint, e.g. other printing papers, wrapping papers, tissue papers, industrial papers, building papers, etc. Paper- board and fiberboard are not included under this heading.
Paperboard	The principal categories of paperboard are: (1) paperboard for folding or set-up boxes, (2) container boards for the manufacture of corrugated and solid fiber boxes, -and (3) all other paperboards. The term is usually used to designate all grades of fibrous material which are 0.3 min. (0.012 inch) or more in thickness, made on a paperboard machine. It also embraces thinner products which in manufacture and use are classed as paperboards rather than as paper. Blotting papers and roofing felts are excluded from this grouping.
Piling	Long straight pieces cut from trunks of trees and usually destined to be driven into the ground under impact. They are chiefly used in construction of harbor works and as supports for bridges and buildings.
Pitprops	All round timber used in mining operations.
Plywood	Sheets of wood material made up from three or more layers of veneer glued or cemented together, the grains of adjoining plies usually being at right angles to one another.
Poles	Straight pieces taken from the trunks of trees and more than three meters in length. Poles are chiefly used to support telephone, telegraph, and electrical transmission lines and for scaffolding. In some areas poles of varying size may be used in the construction of dwellings. Poles may be round, square, octagonal, or of other cross section.
Posts	Round, squared, or split wood, usually less than 3 meters in length, used in an upright position for fencing.
Pulpwood	Roundwood for use in the manufacture of wood pulp, including wood pulp for fiberboard.
Railway sleepers (crossties)	Sleepers are pieces of wood, of rectangular or approximately rectangular cross section, laid transversely on the railway roadbed to support the rails. Sleepers may be sawn or hewn.
Sawlogs, veneer logs, and hewn squared timbers	Data refer to the solid volume (excluding bark) of logs destined for sawing and for the manufacture of veneers. Logs transformed into hewn timber (excepting hewn railway sleepers), and roundwood for manufacture into staves (cooperage) and shingles are also included.
Staves and headings (cooperage)	Split or sawn billets of wood used in the manufacture of casks, pails, etc.
Tanning wood	Wood from which extracts are obtained for. the tanning of leather and other products, expressed in terms of solid volume under bark. Bark for tanning is listed separately.
Veneers	Thin sheets of wood of uniform thickness, rotary cut, sliced or sawn, for use in plywood, laminated construction, furniture, and veneer containers.
Veneer logs	(See " Sawlogs, veneer logs, and hewn squared timber.")
Wood for charcoal and distillation	The solid volume of wood used in the production of charcoal and to obtain products of the destructive distillation of wood (e.g., menthanol, acetic acid). (Roundwood used for gazogenes is included in the category "All other wood.")
Wood pulp	Fibrous material prepared from wood by mechanical or chemical processes for further manufacture into paper, fiberboard, or other cellulose products.
Mechanical wood pulp	Pulp prepared from wood by mechanical disintegration. Mechanical (roundwood) pulp is used for newsprint and the less expensive papers and for some grades of fiberboard.
Sulphite wood pulp	Wood pulp prepared by an acid pulping process. The liquor used in, the sulphite process is an aqueous solution of sulphurous acid in which lime or some other base has been dissolved. It may be bleached or unbleached.
Dissolving sulphite wood pulp	A special grade of bleached sulphite wood pulp of high alpha-cellulose content, suitable for conversion into rayon, cellophane, plastics, lacquers, and for other specialized nonpapermaking uses.
Sulphate wood pulp	Wood pulp prepared by an alkaline process. The chief active constituents of the "white liquor" used in the sulphate process are sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and sodium sulphide. It may be bleached or unbleached. The latter grade is generally used in the production of kraft wrapping papers and of container boards.
Dissolving sulphate wood pulp	A special grade of bleached sulphate wood pulp suitable for the manufacture of many products for which dissolving sulphite wood pulp is used.
Wood pulp-all other	Wood pulps prepared by processes other than those defined above includes soda pulp, semichemical pulp, "exploded wood," etc.
All other wood and other wood products	Individual products accounted for under these headings are rarely of sufficient importance to justify separate treatment in international statistics.

LIST OF FOREST PRODUCTS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE STATISTICS

The following list has been adopted for the compilation of statistics of international trade in wood and products of wood.

Fuelwood
Pitprops
Poles, Piling, and Posts Sawlogs and Veneer Logs

(a) conifers (softwood)
(b) broadleaved (hardwood)

Sawn and Planed Lumber

(a) conifers (softwood)
(b) broadleaved (hardwood)

Hewn Wood
Sleepers and Sleeper Blocks
Staves and Barrels
Veneers

(a) conifers (softwood)
(b) broadleaved (hardwood)

Plywood

(a) conifers (softwood)
(b) broadleaved (hardwood)

Pulpwood

(a) conifers (softwood)
(b) broadleaved (hardwood)

Wood Pulp

(a) mechanical
(b) sulphite, dissolving
(c) sulphite, all other
(d) sulphate, dissolving
(e) sulphate, all other
(f) all other grades

Newsprint
Paper other than newsprint
Paperboard (except building boards)
Fiberboard
Other wood products

NOTE:: For Converting Factors of Forest Products Measures, see FAO, Yearbook of Forest Products Statistics - 1947.

Meetings

Economic Commission for Europe

The Third Plenary Session of the Economic Commission for Europe convened in Geneva on 26 April. Representatives of 18 members of the United Nations and 9 additional nonmember countries took part in the work of the sessions.

The reports of Committees and Subcommittees of ECE were discussed at the earlier sessions and the report of the Timber Subcommittee was unanimously approved. It was hoped that the Chairman, Mr. Bernard Dufay, Director-General of Waters and Forestry, France, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the FAO Standing Advisory Committee on Forestry, would present the report but, unfortunately, he was delayed in France. In his absence, Mr. D. Roy Cameron, Chief of the European Forestry Office of FAO, in his capacity as Chief of the Joint ECE/FAO Secretariat, introduced the report.

Mr. Cameron called attention to the impact of the currency problem as shown in the difference between essential needs and effective demands of European importing countries. He pointed out that the quantity of timber which importing countries were able to buy, while 1.7 million standards below their real requirements, would nevertheless absorb the estimated available supplies, including both European production and imports. For this reason, the importance of the proposed credits for special equipment to increase timber export availabilities was stressed. Mr. Cameron also referred to the agreements registered by the Subcommittee setting buying limits for the first half of 1948 and to the forward step taken in publication of statistics of timber production, trade, and prices. The Commission agreed unanimously to raise the Timber Subcommittee to the status of a full committee of ECE, recognizing by this action the importance of this commodity in European reconstruction.

The Third Session of ECE witnessed a noteworthy achievement in international conferences, namely, joint agreement reached by Eastern and Western powers on two very controversial subjects. These were relations between ECE and Germany, and the establishment of an ad hoe committee on industry and development.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain the same unanimity on the proposal for the establishment of a committee on agriculture. The Commission, by a majority vote, did, however, set up an ad hoe committee which will examine the means of facilitating an increase in the production of foodstuffs and will submit a report to the next session of the Commission on the best means of ensuring co-operation between ECE and FAO. All member nations made an appeal for unity on this matter. While they differed as to how this was to be secured, there was general agreement that collaboration between all the different political and economic regimes was both desirable and possible.

FAO Council Holds Second Session

The Council of FAO (World Food Council) met in Washington 5 to 17 April to examine the world situation as it is today and as it is likely to be in the years immediately ahead.

Sir John Boyd Orr reminded the Council that there are 150 million more people to be fed and housed today than before the war. " Today there are no new continents to discover. Therefore the additional food must be found from already known resources, and owing to soil erosion some of these resources are diminishing."

The Council recommended specific urgent steps to be undertaken by member governments and FAO to improve the situation.

As regards European timber problems, the Council noted with satisfaction the tangible results achieved by the ECE/FAO Timber Committee, and requested the Director-General to keep the Council informed about increases in European timber supplies and about progress made in helping European nations to secure the equipment and facilities needed for increased timber production.

The Council expressed particular satisfaction about the efficient co-operation established between FAO and ECE in handling European timber problems, and believed that similar arrangements should be sought, wherever suitable, with regional bodies of the United Nations.

Annual Conference of FAO

The Fourth Annual Conference of FAO will meet in Washington, D. C., U.S.A., the temporary headquarters of the Organization, on 15 November 1948.

Standing Advisory Committee on Forestry and Forest Products

The Standing Advisory Committee on Forestry and Forest Products met in Washington, D. C., U.S.A., from 31 May to 5 June, under the chairmanship of Mr. L. F. Watts, Chief of the U. S. Forest Service. A report of the meeting will appear in the next issue of UNASYLVA.

European Forestry and Forest Products Commission

The European Forestry and Forest Products Commission, composed of delegates appointed by member governments will hold its first session at Geneva, Switzerland, from 6 to 10 July 1948. The proceedings will be reported in a later number of UNASYLVA.

FAO's Mechanical Wood Technology Committee

The Third Meeting of the FAO Committee on Mechanical Wood Technology was held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, from 8 to 12 June 1948. Mr. Jean Campredon, Director of the National Wood Institute in France, was Chairman of the meeting which was attended by experts in timber mechanics from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

The chief item on the agenda was a discussion on the methods for testing small clear specimens of wood, with a view to reaching agreement on an international standard procedure for testing.

Other items for consideration included: methods for testing fiber-boards; measures for economy in the production, conversion and use of wood; technological grading of lumber; standardization of lumber dimensions; and forestry combines-establishment and integration of wood products industries on a sustained-yield basis.

A report of the meeting will be published in the next issue Of UNASYLVA.

FAO's Wood Chemistry Committee

The Second Meeting of the FAO Committee on Wood Chemistry was held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, from 18 to 20 May 1948, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Herman Mark of the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, U.S.A. Experts from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland attended the meeting. The main items for consideration included: a report by the chairman on the latest developments in wood chemistry in North America; reports by Committee members on national situations in the field of wood chemical research and industries; the role of the wood chemical industry in forestry combines; and suggestions for FAO's activities in wood chemistry.

A more detailed report of the meeting will be published in the coming issue of UNASYLVA.

FAO Publications

Yearbook of Forest Products Statistics 1947

The first volume in FAO's series of Yearbooks of Forest Products Statistics has now been published, as an English/French bilingual publication, with a supplement in Spanish.

It contains figures relating to 1945 and 1946 obtained from 75 countries and territories in reply to the FAO questionnaires distributed last year to both member and nonmember governments. Compilation of the Yearbook was made possible only through the active co-operation of ministries, statistical bureaus, and other official agencies of the various reporting countries.

It is recognized that this first Yearbook has serious defects, of such a nature that the advisability of publication in its present form was at one time questioned. Despite these defects, it was decided to publish this volume as a first effort, assuming the information to be of considerable interest to governments and to official and commercial circles. It is most unfortunate that, owing to slow receipt of returns, publication was delayed. Some important returns did not arrive in time to be included even at the late date of publication.

Coverage is incomplete, not only of countries relatively unimportant as producers or consumers of forest products but also of countries of major significance, notably the U.S.S.R. and Germany, which reported their statistics in international publications before World War II.

Further, the range of data supplied by reporting countries for the various statistical items has been irregular. In arriving at regional and world totals, it was therefore necessary to make estimates.

Through the experience gained in the preparation of this volume and the continued co-operation of contributing governments, it is certain that an improved Yearbook for 1948 will result. Certain categories of information not readily available have been eliminated from the second set of questionnaires distributed to governments, thus simplifying the completion of the returns. The extension of FAO's regional activities should also contribute to a greater coverage in area and scope. It is also hoped that more governments will be willing to supply figures in time for the publication of the next Yearbook before the end of 1948.

The Yearbook should be used in conjunction with the information on world forest resources which will be published in the next, number of UNASYLVA. it is supplemented by the quarterly statistical series for selected countries, issued in co-operation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Over a period of years, FAO's statistical program for forest products will disclose significant trends. A clearer picture should then emerge of the balance between both local and world supply and demand, indicating the extent to. which exploitation of national forest resources should be restricted or expanded.

In the 1947 Yearbook there are 60 bilingual tables covering output of the forest, production, trade, consumption and requirements of roundwood commodities, lumber, plywood, sleepers (railroad ties), wood pulp by grades, paper, and fiberboards. There are also balance tables for all the major commodities, trade summaries by volume and value, and estimates of per caput consumption of wood and wood products.

The tables are preceded by a textual summary in both English and French which gives the salient conclusions drawn from the information obtained, which is estimated to represent a 48 percent coverage of the whole world. Some of these conclusions are summarized here.

World production of wood in 1946 is estimated at 1,410 million m³ ®, weighing approximately 1,000 million metric tons. Before conversion into semifinished or finished products, this wood had a value of about 7,100 million U. S. dollars. After conversion into primary forest products, such as lumber, plywood, sleepers (crossties), poles fuelwood, wood pulp, etc., the value was about 14,000 million dollars.

The relative importance of forest output in world economy is shown in the tabulation below:

Product	Production-1946	Estimated Value
	(Million metric tons)	(Million U. S. dollars)
Wood	1,000	14,000
Coal	1,100,	3,7851
Crude steel (ingots and castings)	981	3,7151
All grain	500	30,000
Milk	180	10,000
All fibers	7	5,500

¹ All areas except the U.S.S.R.

The 1946 estimated world wood output was 6 percent less than the estimated prewar figure of about 1,500 million m³ ® in 1937. The lowered output of certain countries, as the result of World War II, was partially offset by greater production in other areas.

World output in 1946 was 5 percent higher than the 1945 figure of 1,340 million m³ ®. This indicates the degree of postwar recovery due to the reorganization and refitting of forest extraction and wood conversion industries to meet consumer demands. Recovery has been seriously hampered by the difficulties of obtaining materials and also by exchange difficulties.

World exports of wood and wood products in 1946, measured in terms of roundwood, were approximately 42 percent lower than those recorded for 1937. The greatest decrease occurred in lumber exports, while there was an increase in paper and paperboard exports. The volume of reported 1946 exports in roundwood equivalent was 20 percent higher than the corresponding figure for 1945. Lumber exports increased 4 percent while pulp and pulp products went up 24 percent. It is found that, for reporting countries, 1946 wood exports of 66 million m³ ® amounted to almost 11 percent of total production.

The value of all reported 1946 exports increased 46 percent over 1945 values. Since lumber, wood pulp, and pulp products account for 79 percent of the export values, it is safe to assume that a large portion of the increased value of 1946 exports is due to price rises, which reflect not only increased raw material and operating costs but also the general inflationary trends in most countries.

The major portion of world exports originates in very few countries. For instance, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States of America accounted for approximately 80 percent of the value of all reported 1946 lumber exports. These same countries, with Newfoundland added, also accounted for about 87 percent of pitprop exports and for practically all reported 1946 world exports of pulpwood, wood pulp, and newsprint.

The average 1946 consumption¹ of wood and wood pulp products for all countries reporting to FAO was 690 kilograms per caput. Taking into account countries which did not submit official returns and which on the whole have a low rate of consumption, estimated world wood consumption may be set at 430 kilograms per caput.

¹ Consumption equals production plus imports minus exports. Here it is calculated in terms of roundwood equivalent of lumber, wood pulp, and other wood-base products.

Available data warrant the assumption that at the present time an annual wood consumption rate of 1 cubic meter or about 700 kilograms per caput constitutes the minimum level of assuring a satisfactory standard of living in industrialized countries. To meet such a standard it would theoretically be necessary to raise overall world forest output 60 percent higher than 1946 levels.

Reported consumption is greater than 1,400 kilograms per caput in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and the United States of America, and less than 70 kilograms per caput in such countries as Egypt, Lebanon, Indochina, and Madagascar.

The 1947 Yearbook, from which these conclusions were drawn, was prepared by Mr. J. P. Kagan and the Statistical Unit of the Forest Products Branch, with the advice and co-operation of the other members of the Division.

Soil Conservation - An Inter national Study

This study was prepared by a group of authors from the Agriculture and the Forestry and Forest Products Divisions of FAO, the United States Department of Agriculture, and Johns Hopkins University. It is thus an attempt to view the great world-wide problem of soil conservation in a broad rather than narrow way.

Indeed, the Introduction sets the frame: "The attention to forest lands and soils in this report is based on the stern fact that a nation cannot conserve its cropland soils and ignore its mountains and forests... farming... has a vital stake in conservation of mountain forests and soils.... Good and permanent agriculture depends on good and permanent forestry.... The great historical lesson of soil and water conservation is very simple: the lands of any nation or region are an indivisible unity... the care of land is a prerequisite to survival. Methods and techniques vary from farm to forest to range. But care must be given to each."

The report describes the physical and economic factors which, unless fully understood, lead to creation of severe soil conservation problems, both on crop and forest land. It then turns to a discussion of both the physical and economic losses which result from improper care of soils. Foresters will be particularly interested in the analysis of the ancient and widespread destructive practices which they encounter so commonly in many lands. These include shifting cultivation on forest lands, range burning, lack of fire control, overgrazing, exploitative cutting, and violating land-use capability.

In devoting over two-thirds of its pages to conservation methods, particularly of croplands, the report makes no attempt to provide the details of working methods directly usable by the practitioner. Such material, suitable for a handbook or working manual, is cited in the carefully prepared chapter bibliographies. The aim is rather to describe conservation methods and practices in general terms and to indicate how and why they affect conservation of the soil.

This treatment applies to discussions of forest and range land conservation. Various aspects of this are described, such as woodlots, windbreaks, and shelterbelts; good cutting practices; good layout, engineering, and logging methods; and sound forest production planning. Here, and throughout the report, emphasis is given to methods and practices for conserving soil and water, as learned from the world's experience.

Of particular importance are the discussions of land-capability classes, especially of lands suited and not suited for cultivation. If this part of the book alone were put into practice, a vast and continuing wastage of the soils of the earth would be halted and the growing lack of balance between soil productivity of food, fiber, and forests on the one hand, and man's needs on the other, might be bettered. Not that the book deals in exhortation - it does not; but it reports consequences and remedies.

Several other points are worthy of note. The book documents clearly one great reason that forestry properly belongs in FAO - because forestry deals, Often competitively, with range and crop lands, with land and its use.

It is well that different groups of technical officers in FAO - agriculturists and foresters - can work together to produce such an integrated work on a subject of such vast importance. However important the separate segments of forest, range, and agriculture are, each in its own right, it is the whole rather than its separate parts, that needs to be understood.

Finally, the total effect of the report is that problems of soil conservation can be solved. Solutions have been reached in various lands, and there is thus no necessity to adopt a hopeless and fatalistic view of the inevitability that destruction of soils must continue as it has in the past.

ECE/FAO Statistical Bulletin

The European Working Group, in cooperation with ECE, has published in Geneva the first of its bilingual statistical bulletins, entitled "Timber Statistics for the Years 1946-1947."

Future issues will be on a quarterly basis and will contain tables covering quarterly output, stocks, sales, and purchases, exports by destination, and imports by origin of sawn softwood, sawn hardwood, pitprops, plywood, and fiberboards (building boards), together with summary tables of exports and imports of all wood commodities. Information for sawn softwoods is given in standards. Elsewhere the metric system is used.

A textual commentary on current trends, as revealed by the statistics, will be included in future issues, together with price reports for sawn softwood and for the more important commodities.

The bulletin now published contains statistics for 1946 and provisional figures for 1947, covering most countries of Europe and, in addition, Canada and the United States of America.

The 1947 European softwood lumber position for those countries which re ported statistics in the Geneva bulletin is as follows (expressed in thousand standards): production - 6,650.0; imports - 1,959.5; exports - 1,179.3; and calculated consumption - 7,430.2.

European production of softwood lumber for 1947 for the reporting countries is listed below:

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION OF SOFTWOOD LUMBER, 1947

Country	Production
	(1,000 standards)
Austria	224
Belgium	30
Bulgaria	70
Czechoslovakia	594
Denmark	51
Finland	710
France	6971
Germany:
British Zone	262
French Zone	270
U. S. Zone	600
U.S.S.R. Zone	...
Greece	11
Hungary	5
Ireland	10
Italy	214
Luxembourg	6
Netherlands	1
Norway	2752
Poland	385
Portugal	225
Rumania	214
Sweden	1,200
Switzerland	257
Turkey	46
United Kingdom	68
Yugoslavia	225
TOTAL PRODUCTION	6,650.0

... Not available.
¹166,000 standards of this production are sawnwood equivalent of sawlogs cut in Germany.
²1 July-30 June.

Reported European imports from the following countries or regions in 1947 are:

Region	Imports
	(1,000 standards)
European countries	1,094.31
U.S.S.R.	35.6
Middle East and N. Africa	*
North America	792.7
Other countries	36.9
TOTAL IMPORTS	1,959.5

*Negligible quantity.
¹ Data for Turkey included under European countries.

Reported European exports to the following countries or regions in 1947 are:

Region	Exports
	(1,000 standards)
European countries	888.7
U.S.S.R.	96.7
Middle East and N. Africa	70.7
North America	-
Other countries	123.2
TOTAL EXPORTS	1,179.3

- None.