INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: LINKING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
Soren Dalsgaard, Associate Professional Officer,
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Introduction
Forest resources and land-use change are at the center of all discussion on sustainable forest management. Without comprehensive information on the status, dynamics and responses of the forest ecosystem, it is impossible to evaluate management strategies, or to clearly identify and quantify changes in forest resources, including forest areas, and the composition and quality of forests. This is true not only at the local, operational level, but across broader expanses as well, since consequences of forest practices often extend beyond national boundaries and thus become global concerns.
Forestry information requirements are multi-dimensional and include parameters relevant to productive, environmental and socio-economic benefits from and in the forest. The challenge is to improve the management of forests by providing decision makers and stakeholders with the best possible, most relevant and cost-effective information for their purpose at the local, national and international levels.
The forest resource assessment
The heart of FAO efforts on collection of data on forest resources and land-use change affecting forests is the Forest Resources Assessment Programme. Its next report, the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000), will review the state of the world's forests at the end of the millennium. The objective of FRA 2000 is to provide a source of information and knowledge on the world's forest resources. FRA 2000 is expected to stimulate discussion at all levels as well as decision-making on the management and protection of forests on a global scale.
FRA 2000 is divided into three main areas:
Assessment based on existing information: Based on existing forest inventory data, information on the extent and condition of forests is being compiled for the entire world. This compilation and analysis is carried out in close cooperation and consultation with concerned countries.
Remote Sensing Survey: In cooperation with regional institutions, FAO is applying satellite remote sensing to study changes in forest cover. By interpreting a multi-date global sample of about 10,000 satellite images, it will be possible to draw conclusions as to the type and degree of changes in the world's forest cover over the last two decades. These change studies will constitute the primary source of information on the rate of deforestation, forest fragmentation and land degradation. The studies will also provide an insight into the causes of forest loss.
Special studies: Various aspects of the interaction between people and forests are being studied and new global maps on forest cover ecological zones and deforestation risks are being produced. Special studies on plantation forests, non-wood forest products, woodfuel, fellings and removals and other topics of particular interest will complement the quantitative surveys of forest cover and change processes, focusing on forestry issues that require immediate attention by the international community.
Linkages and commonalities between Forest Resources Assessment Programme and the EC-FAO Partnership Programme
The central commonality between the FRA Programme and the EC-FAO Partnership Programme is data. As the demands on forests and forest management increase, so too will the demands for data to support strategy development. Thus, the FRA Programme has evolved through the past 20 years, from discrete publications in 1980 and 1990, to an ongoing information programme in 2000. The next stage of FRA will be the undertaking of a World Forest Survey, which will utilise many of the components of the EC-FAO Partnership Programme. Thus, by endeavouring to improve data collection processes now, the Asian region will be one step ahead in meeting new data demands.
Example of a pilot study
One component of FRA 2000 is a survey of forest cover changes using satellite remote sensing. The survey is based on a pan-tropical sample of 117 Landsat TM images from three points in time during the period 1980-2000. The images are interpreted as to observable changes in the forest cover, and will provide objective estimates on a regional level. 30 of the sample units are located in Asia and 5 of these are located in Thailand.
I, along with several colleagues, undertook fieldwork to validate the Remote Sensing Survey (RSS) interpretations in a sample unit covering the mid-north of Thailand and part of Lao PDR. The fieldwork was carried out at 3 sites that had been pre-selected by FRA2000 HQ as sites where a vegetation change had been registered by the RSS. The fieldwork was executed in collaboration with the Royal Forest Department of Thailand (RFD) and the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC). The key objectives of the fieldwork were:
to verify the satellite image interpretation on the ground;
to document the state and management of the forest, and other land, at each site, and to identify local socio-economic conditions affecting land management;
investigate the causes of recent changes and outlook for the future;
to provide an in-depth case study section to the report from the remote sensing survey.
The fieldwork also included developing and testing methodologies for future systematic field sampling.
Our major findings from the field survey were:
The interpretations of the RSS forest cover classes were not correct in all cases. It could, however, be confirmed that a change in the forest cover of all sites had occurred during the last 10 years.
All three sites were under significant human influence. The sites were similar in that agriculture played a large role in the observed vegetation changes. At two sites the dominant agricultural practice was still shifting cultivation, while the other site hosted more permanent agricultural practices and had a more stable land use pattern.
Important factors affecting the management of the land were identified as: Tenure/user rights, level of official control and interference, access to agricultural inputs (physical and economic), ethnic/cultural aspects as well as topography and availability of forest products from other sources.
Pilot study options examining land-use change
The pilot study described above gives an excellent example of the type of forest land-use change pilot studies that are envisaged being carried out under the Partnership programme. A key aspect is that the study should enable the development of a methodology that can be used at the broader national or regional level. Already in the workshop there has been discussion on a range of potential pilot studies examining forest land-use change including subjects such as:
review of management regimes in tropical forests;
rapid appraisal techniques on forest degradation in tropical forests;
monitoring forest and woodland regeneration in South and Southeast Asia;
monitoring tropical forest ecosystem health and vitality; and
assessing forests for diminished biological components indicative of ecosystem degradation; and
systems for categorising forest land by its primary function (production/ protection forest).
In recalling these topics to mind, I will close this brief presentation and we will look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas on pilot studies addressing land-use change.
Thank you
