At Marianske Lazne 28 April - 10 May 1947
THE Second Annual Conference of FAO, held at Copenhagen in September 1946, recommended that an international conference should examine the urgent problem of lumber supplies in Europe. Lumber was essential for the reconstruction of countries devastated by the war, and there were clear indications that the timber shortage might produce a major social, economic, and political crisis.
Accordingly, in January of this year the Director-General of FAO joined with the Government of Czechoslovakia in inviting to an International Timber Conference all countries of Europe and the Near East and certain interested nations of North and South America, together with appropriate international organizations. The Czechoslovak Government offered a suitable location for the Conference at Marianske Lazne and formed a committee to make all preliminary arrangements.
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations urged governments to participate in the Conference. As a result 135 delegates from 27 nations and 5 international organizations assembled at Marianske Lazne, 28 April.
All countries of Europe were represented, with the exception of the U. S. S. R, and it was possible to gauge the importance attached to the Conference by the quality and strength of the delegations sent by the various countries.
The Division of Forestry and Forest Products of FAO had assembled for the Conference a quantity of material and statistics and had drawn on much of the valuable work of the Timber Sub-Committee of the Emergency Economic Committee for Europe. The agenda confronting the Conference appeared formidable, covering short-term problems, long-term problems, and further procedure. For working purposes, the Conference formed itself into three committees, each of which dealt with one of the topics on the agenda.
The Conference did not attempt to seek solutions for all the problems of forestry and forest products of Europe. Instead it confined its attention to more limited objectives and, even in respect to these regarded its recommendations only as starting point.
The results achieved, however, were convincing and may be summarized as follows:
1. The Conference established for the first time a clear-cut picture of the size and nature of the timber deficit in Europe.2. It brought about far-reaching agreements on a series of measures whereby it should be possible to bridge the gap between requirements and supplies in 1948 and 1949.
3. It definitely established the basic concept that in Europe problems of forestry and lumber cannot be dealt with nationally but must be considered in broad perspective, in the same way as FAO looks at them.
4. It demonstrated to the countries of Europe that FAO is ready to pass from generalities to specific tasks, and it brought forth a new reaction - that Europe wants and expects FAO to take an active part not only in forestry programs but also in plans for the distribution of lumber and forest products.
The next issue of UNASYLVA will be devoted to consideration of the Conference in detail, and further discussion is therefore reserved until that time.
The Conference closed on 10 May 1947 and the production of its final report reflected the exertions put forward by the Conference in the time at its disposal. It may be said that the results achieved were worth while, and not a little of the credit for the success is due to the unstinted efforts of the Czechoslovak Government and its representatives.
