For the past several years, member countries of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) have directed their efforts at achieving sustainable forest management. An important milestone was reached with the development of the Code of Practice for Forest Harvesting in Asia-Pacific. The Code encourages environmentally-sound forest harvesting throughout the region. The public and private sectors have responded positively to the Code, and many countries have developed national codes. However, although the need for change is acknowledged widely, most countries face considerable difficulties in achieving higher standards in forest harvesting. In many countries, logging and supervisory personnel are insufficiently prepared to put the Code into practice.
Providing training to increase the skill levels of forest harvesting operators is not a new idea. Most employees are informally instructed and learn on the job. In addition, many projects have provided training courses for field-level workers over the last decade or longer. However, most efforts have been uncoordinated and conducted in the absence of thorough needs assessments. As a result, the impact of the training has been disappointing. What has been lacking in the past is a cohesive strategy for improving forest harvesting practices through a structured and systematic approach to training and education of industry and forest agency personnel at all levels.
The Regional Training Strategy has been developed by the APFC ad hoc Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management to lay the foundation for a comprehensive effort to build a skilled and trained workforce with the ability to implement the Code. It provides guidance for developing training activities and encourages collaboration among countries, to avoid the hitherto duplication of efforts. FAO is pleased to have contributed to the formulation of this strategy and we hope that it will ultimately result in the application of the necessary harvesting standards for the benefit of the region's forests and its people.
R.B. Singh
Assistant Director-General and
Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations
