THE Fifth World Forestry Congress to be held this year in Seattle is an important event, and it is appropriate that a special issue of Unasylva should be brought out to mark the occasion.
The main theme of this session of the World Forestry Congress is " The Multiple Use of Forest and Associated Lands ". As the title implies, the Congress will pay attention not only to the technical problems connected with the utilization of forests and forest products, but also to the broader issues of land and water development as a whole in the context of the world's total resources.
In the past, there was a tendency to regard the aims of conservation and utilization of forests as disparate. However, there can be disparity only between the extreme forms of conservation and utilization - that is, between " hoarding " and " mining ". In recent times, a more rational and dynamic view, in which the dual role of the forester as conservator and producer is recognized, has emerged. The forester is being increasingly called upon to match forest production with the needs of an expanding economy without sacrificing the long-term interest of maintaining the output potential intact. Science and technology are placing in the hands of foresters new means of harmonizing these immediate and long-term interests of society, and are opening up new approaches to a rational policy through increased emphasis on ecological studies. The relationship between forests and other forms of land use should be studied more intensively, thus opening the way for maximum development of the output potential.
FAO has always regarded forestry as a very important part of its activities, because forests are an essential factor, sometimes the very basis, of building up food-growing capacity and industrial development in many parts of the world. FAO has been giving special attention to the problems of forestry and land use in the less developed countries - problems which must be solved if the living standards of the peoples of these regions are to be raised. I am sure this issue of Unasylva will focus the attention of foresters, scientists and development planners on some of the vital problems confronting policy-makers today, and thus contribute to their solution through coordinated national and international action.
B. R. SEN
DIRECTOR-GENERAL
Front rov: T. FRANÇOIS, standing (Chief, Forest Policy Branch); SIR HENRY BERESFORD-PEIRSE (Deputy Director); EGON GLESINGER (Director); L. J. VERNELL (Chief, Program and Operations Office); A. MÉTRO (Chief, Forest Technology Branch); J. WESTOBY (Chief, Forest Economics Branch).
Second row: M. A. HUBERMAN, L. GIMENEZ-QUINTANA, N. DE FELSOEVANYI, J. VINZANT, J. M. YAVORSKY.
Back row: A. SUNDELIN, O. FUGALLI, R. G. FONTAINE, H. REICHARDT.
