The workshop provides the opportunity of getting together all National correspondents from the Caribbean region to revise, acquire information, knowledge and revise the process of country reports to FRA 20005. The main objective of the workshop was to build and strengthen the capacity of the National Correspondents with respect to compilation of country reports for FRA 2005 and to inform them of FAO’s approach to planning and undertaking national forest assessments (NFA).
The country reports to FRA 2005 will have two major components:
Fifteen globally standardized tables based on data provided by countries and, thematic report, based on 6 themes related to the Criteria and Indicator processes, that complements the global tables by providing more specific and unique information for each country.
The Guidelines for country reporting to FRA 2005, Specification of the sixteen global tables, the Terms and definitions to be used in FRA 2005 and Template for country reporting was distributed to the CC, as soon as they were officially nominated by their countries. These documents were also available during the meeting, together with the a print version of the frequently asked questions to FRA 2005.
The following were the objectives of the workshop and they were all achieved:
- Review of the fifteen reporting tables for FRA 2005;
- Address problems that countries were experiencing with respect to compiling country reports according to the FRA 2005 guidelines for reporting;
- Identify information gaps;
- Draft a time table for the final submission of the country reports; and
- Formulate conclusions and recommendations for future FRA activities
National Forest Assessment component of the FRA programme includes the creation of an information base for national and international reporting obligations, as well as the setting up of a long term resource monitoring system for policy making and planning processes. This approach uses field data from a low-intensity sampling at national level. The field sampling can be supplemented by mapping as proposed under the present application. Through this approach, a range of biophysical and socio-economic variables, with an emphasis on management, use and users of the resources, will be covered. The approach also aims at strengthening the capability of the forestry administration and related institutions and organisations for collecting information on forests and trees resources to enable planning for sustainable forest management.
Land cover classification and definitions pose great challenges to most Caribbean countries and the NFA approach has the potential to align existing national land cover/land use classifications with the global classification thereby harmonising different reporting processes. Guidance was also given to participants on how to develop projects to support the implementation of NFA programmes. Some basic parameters were suggested for:
Type of projects: either national project designed for separate countries or regional projects with national components.
Preconditions: commitment of each country to invest in forest resources monitoring, capacity building and maintenance, and information management, and to work together in a regional approach when requested.
Participants were advised to:
• Consider the use of trust funds using national funding sources
• Cost-sharing arrangements through multilateral cooperation
• Submit draft Technical Cooperation Programme requests to FAO following the TCP guidelines and incorporating cost sharing by the country;
