FRA Working Paper 67

FORESTRY REPORTING REQUESTS BY FAO

Paper drafted by: Federica Urbani
Revision by: Peter Holmgren, Tiina Vähänen

The Forest Resources Assessment Programme

Forests are crucial for the well being of humanity. They provide foundations for life on earth through ecological functions, by regulating the climate and water resources and by serving as habitats for plants and animals. Forests also furnish a wide range of essential goods such as wood, food, fodder and medicines, in addition to opportunities for recreation, spiritual renewal and other services.

Today, forests are under pressure from increasing demands of land-based products and services, which frequently leads to the conversion or degradation of forests into unsustainable forms of land use. When forests are lost or severely degraded, their capacity to function as regulators of the environment is also lost, increasing flood and erosion hazards, reducing soil fertility and contributing to the loss of plant and animal life. As a result, the sustainable provision of goods and services from forests is jeopardized.

FAO, at the request of the member nations and the world community, regularly monitors the world's forests through the Forest Resources Assessment Programme. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000), reviewed the forest situation by the end of the millennium. FRA 2000 included country-level information based on existing forest inventory data, regional investigations of land-cover change processes and a number of global studies focusing on the interaction between people and forests. The FRA 2000 Main report is published in print and is available on the World Wide Web.

The Forest Resources Assessment Programme is organized under the Forest Resources Division (FOR) at FAO headquarters in Rome. Contact persons are:

Peter Holmgren [email protected]

Mohamed Saket [email protected]

or use the e-mail address: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER

The Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Working Paper Series is designed to reflect the activities and progress of the FRA Programme of FAO. Working Papers are not authoritative information sources - they do not reflect the official position of FAO and should not be used for official purposes. Please refer to the FAO forestry website (www.fao.org/forestry) for access to official information.

The FRA Working Paper Series provides an important forum for the rapid release of preliminary findings needed for validation and to facilitate the final development of official quality-controlled publications. Should users find any errors in the documents or have comments for improving their quality they should contact [email protected].

Abbreviations

ACPWP Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products
Bio-DeC Biotechnologies in developing countries
C&I Criteria and indicators
CEPI Confederation of European Paper Industry
COFO Committee on Forestry
CSO Civil Society Organization
ECE Economic Commission for Europe
EUROSTAT Statistical Office of the European Communities
FORC Forest Conservation, Research and Education Service
FPMIS Field Project Management Information System
FRA Forest Resourcess Assessment
GFMC Global Fire Monitoring Center
GI General Affair and Information Department
IFFN International Forest Fire News
ILO International Labour Organization
IPC International Poplar Commission
ISDR International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization
IUFRO International Union of Forest Research Organizations
JFSQ Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire
NFP National forest programme
NGO Non Governmental Organizations
NWFP Non Wood Forest Product
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
PAIA Priority Area for Inter-disciplinary Action
REFORGEN Information System on Forest Genetic Resources
SFM Sustainable forest management
ToR Terms of References
UNEP United Nation Environment Programme
WEIS Wood Energy Information System
WETT Wood Energy Today for Tomorrow