COMMITTEE ON FOREST DEVELOPMENT IN THE TROPICS

TROPICAL FORESTRY ACTION PLAN

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 1985

FOREWORD

In most countries of the humid and dry tropics, forests are being cleared or degraded at a rapid rate, mainly to satisfy the basic subsistence needs of poor rural communities. Despite this alarming situation, national and international funding for tropical forestry programmes has generally decreased in recent years. The Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics recognized this at its session held in Rome in October 1983. One of the main purposes of this FAO statutory body, composed of 45 member countries, is "to study and report on the international programmes in tropical forestry and on the concerted action which could be undertaken by governments and international organizations to ensure the development and rational utilization of tropical forests and related resources". At this same session the Committee also recognized the need for identifying and describing areas of high priority with the aim of providing the international donor community with a set of clearly defined development programmes, and recommended that FAO establish ad hoc groups to elaborate proposals for action programmes in the priority areas it had identified at regional or global level.

FAO acted on this recommendation and convened an informal expert meeting in March 1985 to review action programme proposals in the following five priority areas: (i) forestry in land use, (ii) forest based industrial development, (iii) fuelwood and energy, (iv) conservation of tropical forest ecosystems and (v) institutions. These proposals, as revised by the expert meeting, were submitted to the Committee at its seventh session held in Rome in June 1985, which endorsed them and recommended that they be presented at the 9th World Forestry Congress and to other important fora and bodies.

The five action programme proposals presented in this document and which constitute the Tropical Forestry Action Plan should be considered as an overall conceptual framework for action in the field of tropical forestry. Governments and agencies concerned should use this frame as a common reference for the formulation of their own tropical forestry programmes and for the harmonization of action between them.

The Committee also recommended that these proposals be complemented by national investment profiles carried out by governments with the assistance of the World Bank and other competent organizations. In collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, the World Bank has worked out investment requirements over a five-year period in 56 tropical countries. These investment profiles are given in Annex 2 and correspond to four specific fields related to the priority areas selected by the Committee (indicated in brackets) which are "rehabilitation of upland watersheds and semi-arid lowlands" (forestry in land use), "forest management for industrial uses" (forest-based industrial development), "fuelwood and agroforestry" (fuelwood and energy) and "conservation of forest ecosystems" (conservation of tropical forest ecosystems).

I am confident that the adoption by all governments and agencies concerned of the Committee's Action Plan as a global conceptual framework will contribute significantly to the harmonization and strengthening of the much-needed cooperation in tropical forestry.

M.A. Flores Rodas, Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

The tropical forests of the Americas, Africa and Asia in 1980 covered about 1,935 million ha of which 1,200 million ha were closed forest and 735 million ha were open tree formations. In addition, fallow forest land amounted to 410 million ha. The potential sustained yield capacity of the closed tropical forests was estimated at 35,000 million m[3] of wood per year, assuming a growth of approximately 4 m[3]/yr/ha. Although this estimate may be on the high side, only a small fraction of this potential annual production is utilized because of inaccessibility, lack of forest management and, in some areas, low intensity of utilization. Thus, while they account for more than half of the world forest resources, tropical forests provide less than half of the world total output of wood and only about one fifth of the total output of wood for industrial purposes. Of the 1 400 million m[3] of food taken annually from tropical forests little more than 200 million m[3] is used for purposes other than fuel.

Fuelwood provides 63 percent of the total energy consumption of developing African countries, 17 percent for the countries of Asia and 16 percent for Latin America. In some countries the figure may be more than 90 percent. Wood is of particular importance as the source of energy for rural communities. Increasing fuelwood demand and, to a lesser extent repeated burning and over-grazing, are aggravating factors in the annual rate of deforestation and degradation. Those in turn are putting the continued supply of wood for rural energy at risk.

About 2 000 million people live in the tropical zone, where the population is increasing at a net annual average rate of 2.6 percent. The increasing population is exerting pressure for the use of forest land for agricultural purposes. The annual rate of deforestation of closed tropical forests has been estimated to be 7.5 million ha during the early 1980s, mostly due to transfer of forest land to agricultural use, through shifting and other forms of cultivation. As regards open tree formations, the rate of annual deforestation has been estimated at 3.8 million ha. Thus, a total of some 11.3 million ha of tropical forests disappear each year.

The rate of plantation establishment in the tropical countries has accelerated over the last decade and is now in the order of 1.1 million ha per year, the total area of plantations having reached some 12 million ha by 1980. This, however, amounts to only one tenth of the annually deforested area.

1.2 DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

The extent and economic potential of the tropical forest resource varies widely from area to area. However, all tropical forests put together occupy approximately 40 percent of the total land area of the tropical zone. This forest resource has the potential to make a major contribution to development by meeting basic needs in energy and other forest products, by contributing to food security, by sustaining industries which provide employment and income, and by maintaining environmental stability. But if this potential to provide goods and services and to contribute to environmental stability on a continuing basis is to be fully realized, uncontrolled exploitation must be replaced by appropriate management of the entire forest production chain, from the establishment through maintenance and harvesting of forest crops to the processing and marketing of forest products.

It is now generally recognized that the main cause of the destruction and degradation of the tropical forests is the poverty of the people who live in and around them and their dependence on the forest lands for their basic needs. Tropical forest management must take the development needs of the immediate populations into serious consideration. The most important link between people and tropical forestry is the substantial transfer of forest land to food production. There is no doubt that forest land will continue to be cleared for crop and livestock production in the future. The FAO study Agriculture: Toward 2000, estimated a demand for an additional 150 million ha of cultivated land between 1980 and 2000, assuming only a modest growth in food output. Most of this land will have to come from areas presently forested.

The total growing stock, or volume stem, of the productive closed and open broadleaved forest areas in the tropical countries is about 160 000 million m[3]. There are an additional 2 000 million m[3] in productive coniferous forests. This is an enormous wood resource with great potentials. However, logging for industrial uses accounts annually for some 170 million m[3] of broadleaved species and about 40 million m[3] of conifers. Another 15 million m[3] are taken from plantations. Thus, there is potential for the expansion of industrial wood production provided the numerous technical and economic impediments to such expansion could be overcome.

As regards wood energy, it is estimated that already 2 000 million people in the world depend on fuelwood and other traditional fuels for their daily energy needs. Of this number, 100 million cannot obtain enough fuelwood for their minimum needs and another 1 000 million are able to meet their minimum needs only by over-exploiting existing resources. As a whole, the developing world has an annual deficit of some 400 million m[3] of fuelwood to supply the minimum needs of those who depend on it. The overall demand for fuelwood is predicted to grow over the medium term and is expected to remain a major forest product also in the tropics.

While fuelwood is expected to be primarily used to meet domestic energy needs, the potential of forest biomass as a source of commercial energy (so-called "dendro-energy") cannot be overlooked. Results of studies being conducted by conventional energy enterprises and experience with pilot projects should be brought into the open so that the needs and possibilities for the future may be addressed more effectively.

The conservation of plant and animal genetic resources in perpetuity and the preservation of samples of ecosystems as reservoirs of species diversity are crucial issues. However, until and unless the people living within or around tropical forests are convinced that in situ conservation and the establishment of protected areas, national parks and of game reserves will result in tangible and material benefits to them, conservation efforts are not likely to be successful. For centuries the rural people in the tropics exploited their natural resources without destroying them because their methods were based on conservation ethics. Undoubtedly they developed their practices at a time when their demands were in balance with the capacity of their lands to provide them and when tribal or local custom for the use of lands had the force of law.

It is, therefore, evident from this brief review of prospects and potentials that possibilities are very promising for: (i) greater agricultural production through conservation and rational use of forest lands; (ii) expanded processing of forest biomass for the generation of employment and income; (iii) increased production and improved distribution of fuelwood for domestic energy needs as well as the utilization of forest biomass for the generation of commercial energy; (iv) conservation of genetic resources for environmental/biological as well as economic considerations; provided the various socio-political, economic and technical impediments are overcome.

1.3 PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS

The problems of tropical forestry development and conservation may be classified for purposes of analysis into three main groups: (i) the technical and biological problems inherent in the management of a complex heterogeneous forest resource about which knowledge is rudimentary or often lacking; (ii) the technological, economic, managerial and organizational problems of forest industries and trade; and (iii) the social, institutional and political problems that need to be solved in order to maximize the contribution of forestry and of forest industries to development while maintaining the productive capacity of the resource and its contribution to environmental stability.

The structure, composition and silvicultural characteristics and needs of tropical forest species are still not adequately known and understood. The natural regeneration of some of the commercially valuable trees remains still an unresolved mystery of tropical silviculture and the expanded use of the so-called "lesser-used" species a permanently current topic of wood science. In many cases, inefficient harvesting operations add significantly to the degradation of tropical forests. Selective cutting both in species and size is spread over unduly large areas with low output per unit area. overall profitability of such operations is insufficient to generate investment in restoring or increasing the productivity of the resource base.

During the post-war period, forest industries development took the form of highly capitalized, automated, large-scale production suited to the growing market of industrialized nations. It is not surprising, therefore, that the research effort was related to the solution of problems facing large-scale enterprises, such as the exploitation of natural forest and the establishment of industrial plantations, often with exotic species. By contrast, research into fuelwood, charcoal and other forest-based products has been minimal. In addition, as long as extensive areas of natural forest were available for exploitation, little research was directed to silvicultural systems and management regimes. Although research and ensuing developments in this area will not provide the panacea to all the ills of tropical forestry, if correctly structured and rightly directed, research will assist to develop more efficient practices and higher productivity from the forest resource base.

In many tropical countries, forest policies and legislation still date back to the colonial days with emphasis on forest protection and the collection of forest revenue. Professional foresters still perform the role of "protector" of the "gazetted forest reserves" and of collector of fees and revenues. In some cases man is considered to be the main enemy of the forest. Thus, apart from the need for more trained manpower at the various levels (professional, technical and vocational) there is urgent need for modifying attitudes and concepts on what the role of forestry and of forest industries should actually be in a modern society.

A number of critical restructurings are taking place today in the society of tropical countries which the forestry profession needs to understand and recognize, if it is to respond adequately to the future challenge. In fact, the role of the forester will ultimately be defined by the way the profession responds to the challenge presented by the enormous opportunities in tropical forestry to contribute to producing more food, higher incomes and greater employment opportunities through appropriate forest industries, more fuelwood and energy and more effective preservation of environmental stability.

1.4 STRATEGY FOR ACTION

The development and conservation of tropical forest resources and the enhancement of their contribution to human welfare will need resources and imagination but, more important, a strategy for action which will enjoy public and political support. The scope for national and international action in realizing the development potentials of tropical forests is enormous. Given, however, the limitations in resources, it is clear that priority areas need to be established.

Considering the collective needs of tropical countries and in the light of the above review of prospects and problems, five priority areas have been selected, which are:

1) forestry in land use: action in this area is at the interface between forestry and agriculture and aims at conserving the resource base for agriculture (watershed management and desertification control), at integrating forestry into agricultural systems (agrosilvopastoral development), and at a more rational use of the land (assessment of tropical forest lands and land use planning);

2) forest-based industrial development: action in this area aims at promoting appropriate forest industries in an integrated way through intensification of resource management and development, appropriate raw material harvesting, establishment and management of appropriate forest industries, reduction of waste and development of capability in marketing forest industry products;

3) fuelwood and energy: action in this area aims at accelerating corrective actions and restoring fuelwood supplies in the countries most affected by wood energy deficits through global assistance for fuelwood and wood energy development, support to national fuelwood and wood energy programmes, development of wood-based energy systems for rural and industrial development, regional training and demonstration in support to fuelwood actions and intensification of wood energy research and development;

4) conservation of tropical forest ecosystems: action in this area aims at conserving, managing and utilizing tropical plants and wild animal genetic resources through the development of national networks of protected areas, the planning, management and development of individual protected areas, in situ conservation of plant genetic resources and research into the management of tropical forests for sustainable production;

5) institutions: action in this area aims at removing the institutional constraints impeding the conservation and wise utilization of tropical forest resources through the strengthening of public forest administrations and related government agencies, and of institutional support for the private sector and local organizations, the development of professional, technical and vocational training, of forest extension, and of forestry research.

It is fully recognized that other projects and activities outside these five areas also deserve consideration since development priorities must be established at the country level and actions planned and implemented on a country-by-country basis. However, it can be said that the five areas of concentration proposed cover in a comprehensive manner the wide range of tropical forestry issues and prospects worldwide.

Chapters II to VI describe in detail the five action programmes corresponding to these five areas of concentration. Annex 1 gives examples of project profiles corresponding to each of the five programmes while Annex 2 reproduces the work done by the World Bank, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the World Resources Institute on investment needs for selected countries in five areas which are similar to those covered by the action programmes.

Chapter II

FORESTRY IN LAND USE

1. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRIORITY

1.1 Introduction

A review of the status of conservation and development of the tropical forests was undertaken during the FAO/UNEP/Unesco Expert Meeting held in Rome in January 1982. Since then a number of important fora and publications have continued to reflect the concern of the world community about the deterioration of the tropical forest cover and its adverse effect on sustaining balanced land use and the provision of goods and services on which many local communities, as well as society at large, depend. The last five years have seen the production of a number of studies and action programmes regarding environmental conservation strategies, control of desertification, tropical deforestation, population support capacity of lands in the tropics, contribution of forestry to food security and other aspects of this global concern.

In this context, a most important contribution of forestry to food security is ensuring environmental stability and productivity by mitigating the effects of climatic fluctuations, by providing a stable micro-climate for animal and plant production and by conserving the soil and water resources. The forest also makes a direct contribution. It is a source of edible plants, wildlife and freshwater fisheries - wild foods which are often of great if unmeasured importance in the diets of many rural peoples. Furthermore, active forestry development diversifies the rural economy, offering employment complementary to agricultural activities and thus the means to ensure the adequacy of food supplies. The concept of food security includes the energy needed for cooking, for processing and preservation of food. In much of the developing world the forest as a source of fuelwood is fundamental to rural life.

Forestry has always provided support to the traditional farming systems and food security of the rural people. With the advent of modern agriculture and its emphasis on commodities, these linkages have broken down. Further, the green revolution, which is highly input oriented and is a response of the more developed societies to meet their food needs, is unlikely to solve the food problems of dominantly agrarian societies in short supply of agricultural inputs. Consequently, the traditional farming systems which depend on forest linkages for food must be strengthened and used as a second front for food production.

Of equal importance to the problem are the studies and developments which produce improvements and increases in agricultural productivity in its widest sense and reduce the pressure on forest lands.

The present paper takes into consideration the above background, and focuses on the potential for and the constraints to the ready integration of forestry with other land uses, and on the contribution of forestry to food security and the protection of the resource base. The main issues and priorities for action reflect those brought to the attention of FAO by national forest services, both through national and regional fora and through the development of field programmes.

1.2 Overview of the main issues

In the interface between agriculture and forestry, four main areas where conflicts in land use are the most severe have been identified :

- the loss of productive forests resulting from their clearance and transformation into other land uses either by spontaneous settlers practicing shifting cultivation or by planned colonization for agriculture;

- degradation of mountain and hilly catchments as a consequence of unsuitable land use;

- desertification and degradation of semi-arid and sub-humid areas;

- degradation of important tropical forest ecosystems;

1.2.1 Forest clearing for agriculture

Some of the most critical problems of forest lands in the tropics are intimately linked with the need for change and improvements in agriculture and animal husbandry. Forested areas cannot be maintained against the pressure for other land uses when the production of food and fodder on agricultural land is inadequate and as long as the needs of landless rural people have not been satisfactorily stabilized.

If forests are considered (as by many decision-makers) to be a readily available source of land for agricultural expansion, even the entire land area of the developing countries (nearly three times the area under permanent agriculture and pasture) would be insufficient to feed their projected population by the end of the century using current methods of farming. Currently, as much as 11.3 million hectares of forest are cleared every year, 45 per cent of which is attributable to shifting cultivation and long fallow agriculture.

Unfortunately, most of these lands cleared from tropical forests do not remain productive for long, as the nutrients needed to maintain vegetation are held in the biomass and not in the soil. These cleared lands become infertile, leading to not only decreased production but also to environmental degradation.

It has been estimated that by the end of the century no less than 64 countries - 29 of them in Africa - will be unable to feed their populations from their own land resources. Some 2,450 million hectares - almost two-fifths of their land area with 60 per cent of the total population - would be carrying more people than the land can support, with all the consequences that this implies for human survival and the environment. The same studies show, nevertheless, that the problems of 28 of these countries would cease to be critical with adequate conservation practices and intermediate levels of fertilizer inputs, and this would hold true for a further 17 if high levels of input were adopted and sustained.

Thus in many tropical countries a prerequisite for forest conservation and management is a parallel and urgent action to intensify and diversify agricultural production to relieve pressure on forest land. An additional equally urgent need is bring back to production the degraded waste lands - 75 million hectares of degraded but potentially productive lands in Asia alone.

1.2.2 Watershed degradation in mountain areas

Mountain areas in many countries have always provided a favourable and often preferred habitat for human settlement because of a relatively equable climate and easily accessible sources of water, and with stable levels of population the habitat could be sustained without damage. More recent population measures have put pressure on the forests as elsewhere in the tropics, introducing destructive agricultural practices causing progressive degradation of the ecosystem. The consequences are soil erosion and reduced infiltration in the watershed, with such downstream effects as floods, droughts, siltation of reservoirs and waterways and irregularity of water supply for hydropower irrigation, industry and domestic use.

Colonization by land-hungry migrants from over-populated or inequitably distributed lowlands is frequently uncontrolled, but even in planned migrations, inadequate site evaluation prior to agricultural settlement often leads to unsuitable land use and subsequent degradation of steep areas and of forest lands with fragile soils.

An ever-increasing population with undefined or poorly defined ownership rights and land tenure is placing heavy pressure on mountain areas, resulting in forest clearing for doubtful short term gains. The uncertain conditions of upland production and marketing maintain an economic environment of low levels of investment. Farming practices are often maintained at slash and burn levels Roads are constructed without proper design, supervision or protective measures. The availability of relatively cheap land makes it more profitable for the livestock owner to expand by acquiring more land and stock rather than by improving production per unit area or animal. On communal grazing land where the only aspect respected is the ownership of cattle, complete degradation and acute scarcity of fodder may occur even in areas with good rainfall distribution.

1.2.3 Desertification of semi-arid and sub-humid areas

Tropical semi-arid and sub-humid areas have been subjected to increasing desertification. Open savanna woodland is usually cleared for cropping by burning. This is mainly peasant subsistence farming and repeated burnings have led to the destruction of humus and the loss of fertility, stability and water holding capacity in the top soil. A consequence has been the disappearance of useful shade trees and shrubs. During periods of above-average rainfall the system of food production has often encroached on neighbouring animal-based systems because of population increase or for the extension of cash cropping. Such encroachment accelerates desertification, affecting both agricultural land and the invaded pastoral areas. The subsequent pattern of decline in soil fertility in crop and animal yield with a growing scarcity of food, fodder and fuelwood is inevitable.

In the more arid parts of the tropics similar phenomena have been at work, resulting in the deterioration of vast expanses of land through wind erosion. Because of the fluctuating and low precipitation and the steady increase in human population this pattern of declining soil fertility and erosion will continue unless the fundamental problem of evolving a balanced land management husbandry system which will yield food and wood and at the same time conserve the ecosystem is systematically tackled.

1.2.4 Degradation of important tropical forest ecosystems

The shrinking of the tropical forest belt, particularly in areas of extensive rainforests and humid tropical forests, may have long-term national and global effects and is thus a source of legitimate international concern. The management of heterogeneous rain forest ecosystems is extremely complex. In many areas such forests are being logged without an established silvicultural management system that will ensure adequate regeneration. Repeated selective cutting systems are likely to degrade the forest structure, as has been the case in the Dipterocarp Forests of South East Asia. The rainforests of West Africa are disappearing at a rate of some 5 per cent annually. The Ivory Coast which once had 30 million hectares of tropical rainforest is now reduced 4.5 million hectares. As the forest shrinks cropland expands and the accelerating pattern of degradation is in train.

Several other forest systems are characterized by a delicate balance of site factors and are particularly sensitive to human intervention. Gallery and inland wetland forests are dependent on a high water table, whilst mangrove and other estuaries or coastal forests require not only abundant water but periodic salinity. The usefulness of mangrove is well established. In addition to a range of forest products they provide against coastal erosion and high tides and additionally contribute to feeding local people by sustaining fisheries.

Extensive clearing of mangrove has been fairly common in many countries, and the degradation of the ecosystem not only affects the local population but may have detrimental effects on fish catches beyond territory boundaries.

This pattern of degradation of valuable forest system will continue unless fundamental and applied research programmes are established to determine sustainable silvicultural management systems for these areas not presently adequately managed. Such management systems would include provision for local needs and for local participation in forest development.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN TYPES OF SITUATIONS

Five broad ecological and socio-economic situations have been identified in which the main issues and problems indicated above occur :

i) densely populated highlands,

ii) densely populated flood plains, coastal areas and islands,

iii) arid and semi-arid lands,

iv) lowland humid tropical forests with high population pressure, and

v) lowland humid tropical forests with low population pressure.

While situations i) and iii) are the most critical and demand urgent action, ii) usually needs the introduction or expansion of tree planting at the farm and village levels, and iv) and v) call for planning management and preventive action to avoid the risk of uncontrolled forest exploitation and conversion to unsuitable land uses.

The main characteristics of each situation will be examined in the next paragraphs.

2.1 Densely populated highlands

Some of these highland areas are experiencing the effects of recurrent drought, soil depletion, erosion, fuel deficits and widespread famine. The most serious are in the highlands of Ethiopia, but significant shortages of food, fuel and fodder affect other countries of eastern Africa, the Fouta Djallon, in West Africa the high plateaux of the Andes, the Himalayan and the Atlas mountains.

These areas are often characterized by old cultures with long established traditions. Natural forests may be mainly gone with only small scattered stands remaining. Land is often densely settled with small plots subdivided through succeeding generations. Tree planting is mostly done around the home in orchards, or in small woodlots on land not suited for agriculture. Fuelwood and fodder are in acute scarcity.

National concern for upland protection has in most cases resulted only in legislation for forest protection, or declarations of "special interest areas", with little possibility of implementation or of concern for upland communities. Proper management of mountain watersheds aims to ensure a sustained yield of forest and water resources, to guarantee conservation of soil and to encourage proper land husbandry. To these ends it will often be necessary to modify land use practices and to introduce management prescriptions which recognize the over-riding demands of conservation. In most cases the mountain population can be stabilized by introducing permanent crops, terracing for the establishment of forest trees, agro-forestry and other conservation farming practices. Grazing, for example, may be replaced by stall feeding of the livestock. Forestry also offers opportunities for improvement through intensive tree planting for the production of fodder, fuel and other products such as resin, honey and beeswax, while handicrafts and cottage industries based on wood may make a useful contribution to the diversification of income.

2.2 Densely populated flood plains, coastal areas and islands

Whereas the protective role of forestry in the highland areas is well recognized, this is usually not so in the lowlands.

The Indo-Gangetic Plain typifies the situation where valuable farmland, consisting mainly of small land holdings, is exposed to floods and siltation in the rainy season and to drought and wind erosion during the dry season. Dung, much needed to maintain soil fertility, is often used as fuel as a result of the scarcity of fuelwood (15 million tons of food production are estimated lost each year in India alone as a result of this practice). The disappearance of trees and shrubs from the landscape is even more acute in island countries such as Haiti and Comoros. Urbanization of coastal areas plus tourism and recreation contribute to the pressure on the remaining sparse green patches.

Forestry programmes in the densely populated and intensively cultivated flood plains must be mainly directed to the encouragement of household and village woodlots, line plantations and agroforestry practices.

2.3 Arid and semi-arid lands

The areas facing the most critical situation are in the Sahel Region and large tracts of semi-arid lands and savannas in the Eastern and Southern Africa. Recurrent drought, overstocking with domestic animals, over cultivation and fire have significantly reduced the protective and productive functions of the biomass. In China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, North Africa, the Near East, North Eastern Brazil and Mexico vast areas are prone to desertification and the rural population is in consequence exposed to increasing hardships.

The long-term development of the world's dry zones will be dependent on balancing population need with the rational use, conservation and management of their natural resources. This will involve the improvement and stabilization of agricultural and pastoral practices since the over-riding consideration must be security of food supplies for the rural communities. Forestry has a crucial role in this development particularly in ensuring food security, livestock support system and environmental stability.

2.4 Lowland humid tropical forests with high population pressure

The lowland humid tropical forests exhibit considerable variation. Ecologically, the forests vary from the heterogeneous climax tropical rainforests to the biotically influenced and economically valuable moist deciduous forests, bamboo breaks and tropical grasslands, and to edaphic formations such as mangroves. Socio-economically, the lowland humid tropics exhibit a diversity of infrastructure influenced by their historical development and by pressure of population with commensurate demand for forest products such as fuelwood.

Probably there are no other regions in the world where forests were more insistently attacked and destroyed during the last half century than in the lowland humid tropics. During 1976-80 an estimated 56 million ha of tropical forests were destroyed. At the current rate of deforestation, about 12% of the tropical forests will be cut out between 1980-2000. There is virtually no land use planning and less than 5% of the remaining natural tropical forest is under management. The situation is more encouraging in Asia where 25% of tropical forests are managed.

The major causes of deforestation in the lowland humid tropics are: shifting cultivation, illegal encroachment on forests for other forms of agriculture, ranching (in Latin America) government land development schemes and physical infrastructure development. Generally, deforestation is most widespread in the logged-over forests because access to them is easy and less effort is required for clearing and burning residual wood.

In addition to the physical loss of forest areas, degradation also takes place through gradual reduction of biomass, and through changes in floristic composition and/or soil characteristics as a result of misuse and overexploitation.

2.5 Lowland humid tropical forest with low population pressure

Large areas of undisturbed lowland humid tropical forests still exist in South America (Amazon Basin), Central Africa, Indonesia (Kalimantan, Irian Jaya), Burma and Papua New Guinea. In Asia and South America the reasons for their existence today are mainly the lack of access and low pressure on agricultural land, while health hazards (sleeping sickness) have been an important factor in Central Africa. While economic inaccessibility is presently the main impediment to the management of these resources, they also share many of the problems encountered in similar areas elsewhere : insufficient knowledge of the silviculture of the economic species; shortage of trained manpower to draw up and supervise the execution of management plans ; insufficient finances for silvicultural follow-up after logging and, as a factor common to all these problems, the absence of political will to set aside a permanent forest estate and manage it intensively on a long-term sustained basis. The lack of markets and of local industries also constitutes a constraint to the incorporation of these lands in the national economy.

Undoubtedly, the socio-economic pressure on these forests will increase significantly in the future, for example as a result of transmigration schemes such as that already underway in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil which call for timely preventive measures.

To brake or reverse the continuing destruction of the lowland humid tropical forest, there is a pressing need for selected areas to be seen as established and valuable forests in the broad national land use pattern. Further underlining the urgent need to determine and adopt methods of sustainable silvicultural management for those forests that are not under controlled management. The institution of forest management is a value judgment whether for goods or services.

3. MAIN PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

3.1 Lack of public awareness and political will

By its very nature, relating to time and situation, forestry very often has low political priority and tends to be given inadequate resources for an effective contribution to development programmes. Long-term forestry programmes are often of little interest to the farmer whose main concern is the production of food and an immediate cash income. Action is therefore needed at several levels to improve the image and acceptability of forestry activities and to ensure that they have a recognized place in integrated rural development. Efforts to that end are suggested on the following lines:

i) foresters should make a continuing effort to bring home to politicians and members of legislative bodies the importance of forestry activities and the contribution they can make to food security and to rural development, particularly by publicizing successful projects and by showing that they can have short term impact as well as long term benefits;

ii) environmental conservation groups, and other disciplines/ institutions concerned with the role of forests in protection and in securing social and economic benefits, should become allies of the foresters in building public opinion and in organizing pressure groups to improve policy, legislation and action programmes. The national conservation strategies and the national plans to combat desertification, formulated in a number of countries, should be implemented with adequate emphasis on forestry;

iii) efforts should be made to improve public awareness of the essential role of forestry in food security, protecting the resource base, providing food from the forest and from wildlife, supplying fuelwood for cooking and food processing, and creating sources of off-farm income;

iv) organizations concerned with rural development should place appropriate stress on the complementarity of agriculture and forestry. This may call for changes in the training of agricultural extension agents in order to familiarize them with the benefits of forest-based conservation practices, and the ways in which forestry can contribute to food security and to rural development;

3.2 Limited investment and lack of economic incentives

With limited finance and considerable political pressure for funds outside of the forestry sector, government funding of forestry and conservation is often insufficient to satisfy even minimum requirements. This situation and the need to build up a stronger forestry lobby relates to the previous section (3.1). Agricultural credit schemes are inadequate for forestry, and the small farmer generally has no access to soft credit or other incentives which would enable him to contribute to conservation schemes of public interest. Some corrective action may be suggested in this connection:

i) funding for conservation and/or reforestation should be included in projects related to the development of water resources (such as dam construction), flood protection, construction of major roads, rural development and settlement schemes. Some countries have been able to provide funds through levies on hydropower, irrigation and municipal water supplies. In Colombia, for example, 4 % of electricity income is to be applied to the watershed which generates the hydropower - 2% in rural electrification and 2% in watershed protection and restoration;

ii) Revenues collected by governments from forest harvesting, in the form of royalties and other concession fees, should be re-invested in the logged-over forests for management, silvicultural treatment and under-planting. More steeply graduated stumpage charges and a wider utilization of species would be a source of finance for these investments. Cost-benefit analysis, showing not only the profits from commercial operations but quantified environmental and amenity benefits, can help to create support for such programmes.

iii) appropriate incentive schemes are essential if the small farmer is to be involved in afforestation and conservation. Various direct and indirect incentives, in cash or in kind, provided to farmers individually or in groups, have been tested. Revolving funds, managed by the community or by banking institutions, have proved to be one of the most successful.

3.3 Inadequate institutional framework and ineffective procedures for ensuring the integration of forestry in land husbandry and proper land use

In most countries, land suitability studies are seldom carried out before forest lands are cleared for agriculture. Regional development and transmigration schemes rarely have a land use plan in which the role of forest lands has been adequately assessed. Even if land zoning has been completed, often there are no legal mechanisms for enforcement as the various development programmes are implemented. In many countries, the forestry institutions are not automatically entitled to participate on an equal basis with other agencies in the formulation of regional and integrated rural development plans. The role of the forestry institutions can be very limited, if not defensive and confined to the management of gazetted forests. A community forestry approach is desirable, not merely to provide goods and services to the local populations but to introduce forests and trees into the agricultural landscape. Some necessary steps to reverse the trend of deforestation and misuse of land are:

i) establishment of a legal and administrative framework for land use planning which makes forestry institutions an integral part of the formulation process for area development projects and which enforces suitable land use through making the provision of government services and credit dependent on the submission and formal approval of individual farm plans;

ii) a more cooperative attitude and more initiative by the forestry institutions themselves to ensure their active participation in land use planning exercises and area development projects, at the national, regional and local levels;

iii) renewed efforts to promote an understanding, both by foresters and non-foresters, of the place of forestry in integrated farming systems and particularly the value of agro-forestry, silvo-pastoral management and multipurpose trees in predominantly agricultural areas;

iv) just and prompt solutions of the problem of insecurity of land tenure of people living in or encroaching on forest lands. Such communities should be relocated, or integrated into forestry activities, or provided with a stable existence in appropriate agro-silvo pastoral land use systems, but in all cases beneficially so that the advantages of active forest management will be both immediate and apparent;

v) forestry activities should be a part of the integrated rural development programmes. In order to make forestry and conservation packages more acceptable, complementarity and interlinkages should be sought among the various activities which the Government proposes to the local communities and individual farmers.

3.4 Technical constraints related to research, demonstration, extension

Where population pressure on forest requires changes in the forestry management system, it is essential to determine what changes are possible and to what extent these will benefit the local population. Prior to introducing any forestry or agro/forestry system into rural development, sound technical basis for such a proposed system have to exist or be determined. Where the basis are lacking or deficient an applied research programme is necessary.

Such a programme may be short-term, but to involve local communities in any new development without is a recipe for disaster. The effects of lack of success in any agro-forestry or similar system involving communities, is likely to prove both severe and lasting, further underlining the need for adequate research. With an established forestry system, the provision of demonstrations is a key element in the transfer of knowledge, in the motivation of farmers and in the training of staff and other participants.

Despite the importance of the tropical humid forests, knowledge of their ecology and resource management is extremely limited. The need for fundamental and applied research to determine sustainable silvicultural systems and pilot demonstrations for selected natural forests has been long recognized. Due to the complexity of the problem the research and trial programme is probably beyond the capacity of a single country or institution, and there would be benefit in a collaborative or network approach.

Strengthening of the means to determine, improve and transfer technology would call for the following action:

i) establishment of appropriate research and demonstration units, particularly for fast growing fuelwood species, fodder shrubs and trees, multipurpose species (especially those bearing edible fruits), silvopastoral management and other agroforestry systems, water harvesting, sand dune fixation, wildlife farming and development of forestry based cottage industries and handicrafts;

ii) facilitate the exchange of technical information through networks or similar cooperative arrangement to make better use of existing technology;

iii) training of forestry extension agents in a broader range of techniques and approaches appropriate to integrated rural development, strengthening of the services employing such agents, and assisting village leaders and enterprising individuals to act as guides and models in local forestry activities;

iv) increased emphasis on practical training for forestry students by involving them in work in demonstration areas and in the implementation of other reforestation and conservation programmes. Curricula and practical training must give adequate coverage to topics concerned with rural development, rural institutions, sociology and extension;

v) emphasis on manpower planning to ensure that sufficiently trained staff are available in time.

4. ACTION PROGRAMME ON FORESTRY IN LAND USE

4.1. Conceptual framework goals and strategy for action

The following principles will constitute the conceptual framework within which the action programme is conceived:

- integration of forestry in the agricultural sector and in multisectorial programmes,

- broad based rural development with emphasis on diversification of rural economic activities,

- vital role of forests in providing improved conditions for agricultural and animal production through such factors as shelterbelts, regulation of streamflow and erosion control,

- direct economic benefits for the local communities from forests and forest products and from the generation of employment, and

- contribution of forestry to conservation and prevention of desertification processes.

The above principles are in line with those elaborated by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) and the Djakarta Declaration emanated from the 8th World Forestry Congress.

In accordance with these principles the main objective of the Action Programme will be to ensure in a harmonious way the complementarity of forestry and agriculture and in particular:

i) to enhance the place of forestry and woody vegetation within sound land husbandry to ensure that the whole system will contribute effectively to the production of goods and services and to the wider aim of food security;

ii) to enhance the benefits to the community of appropriate use of the forest resources by involving the community in their expansion, diversification, management, conservation and rehabilitation;

iii) to create awareness among politicians and the public of the contribution of forestry to sustained use of the resource base; to minimizing damage and degradation caused by desertification, floods, droughts, torrents, cyclones and high tides; to food security and rural development;

iv) to ensure that forestry is made a vital part of national plans regarding food security, conservation and prevention of desertification.

The strategy to promote the principles and objectives of the Action Programme will consist essentially of a more effective presence of forestry institutions and foresters at all stages of the decision making process, by participating in sectorial and multisectorial fora, by more actively using the mass media, by becoming part of, or organizing, pressure groups or lobbies influencing policy making and legislation, and by presenting forestry programmes in a way which will be attractive and understandable to politicians, planners and administrators. At the international level there is need to foster umbrella programmes and regional projects contributing to the Action Programme objectives. The promotion of TCDC arrangements, particularly the establishment of regional and sub-regional networks and working groups, could also catalyze the exchange of expertise and experience.

4.2 Structure of the Action Programme

The Action Programme will deal with the interface between forestry and agriculture and will have four components, of which the first three include immediate remedial action and the fourth one is made up mainly of long term preventive measures:

- agro-silvo-pastoral development, and forestry support to agriculture, related to four of the five situations described in section 2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4);

- integrated watershed management and protection of the resource base, related to the situations described in sections 2.1 and 2.3;

- arid and semi-arid zone forestry and desertification control as described in section 2.1 and 2.3;

- assessment of tropical forest lands and land use planning as a preliminary to research and management in connection with situations described in sections 2.4 and 2.5.

4.2.1 Agro-silvo-pastoral development (and forestry support to agriculture)

i) In mountain areas with medium to high population pressure: the need for fodder and fuelwood and the density of population make it imperative that any small piece of land( e.g. patches of steep or stony land, strips along roads, areas in and around gullies) which is not cultivated should be planted with trees. Plantations and natural forests can be managed for multiple use such as fuelwood, timber, resin, beekeeping, cutting of grass and protection of water resources. A continuous dialogue between the forest service and the local communities is needed in order to make full but rational use of the forest resources, inside and outside the forest reserves.

ii) On densely populated flood plains, coastal areas and islands: although most of the land is under cultivation, there is a pressing need for forest products and wide scope for introducing trees into the farming systems. Trees can be planted around homes, along field boundaries and canals and on streambanks. Fast growing species may be grown in intensively managed woodlots for fuel, fodder and wood for local industry. Trees may be planted for a variety of uses such as fruits, fodder, gums, shade, windbreak, honey.

iii) In arid and semi-arid lands: in these areas the presence of a large number of deep rooted trees is needed to produce fodder for browsers together with fuel and organic matter, and to act as a fodder source in general during drought periods. The sustained productivity of the semi-arid environment is related to the presence of trees in the landscape. The fuel production potential can be realized only if such factors as stocking rates, rotational grazing, closing of degraded areas and enrichment planting, are carried out with the understanding and participation of the local communities and their leaders. In many areas population and livestock densities have reached levels where tree plantations become a necessity. Plantations may include irrigated woodlots, fodder crops, shelterbelts and windbreaks or nut and fruit producing trees. Multipurpose trees and shrubs should be fostered. As agriculture becomes more intensive, more forestry products are needed including stakes, fence posts, boxwood, wood for drying and curing.

iv) In lowland humid tropical forests with high population pressure: in these areas agroforestry has long been practised and new experience is being gained. Examples are many and include: shade for coffee and cacao, live fences, alley cropping, tree fallow using fast- growing species, silvopastoral management and agro-silvo-pastoral systems. Wherever the resource is in danger of depletion, slash and burn agriculture should be replaced by continuous cropping and farming systems, supported by soil conservation, leading to a more rational distribution of land use, according to the suitability of the land.

4.2.2 Integrated watershed management

For the reasons elaborated in sections 1.2.2 and 2.1 the following fields of action can be recognized [1]:

i) Policy, regulations, financing and awareness

- Because silting of reservoirs significantly reduces their economic life span, it is essential to stabilize the watersheds. Financial institutions and water resources planners should be prepared to allot funds to this in view of the considerable investment at stake.

- With high rates of population growth and need for development, national economies require optimal development and use of hydropower.

- Downstream beneficiaries should contribute to the development of catchments and the well-being of upland populations.

- Politicians and decision-makers should be induced, through the mass media, pressure groups and timely information, to take appropriate measures to protect the mountain watersheds.

ii) Institutions, planning and organization

- The watershed offers an appropriate unit for planning land and water development. This approach should permeate rural development programmes establishing an explicit linkage between the land and water resources as well as between upstream and downstream populations and interests. There is a need for operational guidelines in the countries for the systematic development of programmes, avoiding conflicting sets of objectives and administrative formats.

iii) Implementation measures and techniques

- Whenever inefficient production systems exceed the environmental threshold, it will be necessary to increase the land's carrying capacity by means of conservation measures, improved technologies and intensive application of inputs. This will often include a diversification of the upland economy, releasing the pressure on the land by including new sources of off-farm income.

- The involvement of the local community is crucial for the success of watershed management programmes. It is necessary to test various types of incentives to determine their effectiveness.

- Situations of instability of land tenure and complex user rights constitute serious constraints to stabilization of rural populations. Appropriate solutions for these problems are a prerequisite if watershed management programmes are to develop effectively.

iv) Research, demonstration and training

- More dynamic linkages should be established between appropriate research, demonstration, extension and education.

- More research is needed on the relationships between watershed management practices and effects, as well as improved ways to identify social values and to quantify and measure benefits, including non-market and off-site benefits.

- A critical element in several countries is the lack of suitably trained manpower. Reinforcement of relevant training at all levels, both formal and informal, is an urgent task.

4.2.3 Arid zone forestry and desertification control

The solution to the problems of low production, environment degradation and poverty lies in appropriate land use geared to sustained production and conservation. The key to these problems is the application of integrated agro-silvo-pastoral land management systems. The objectives of this component of the action plan are to promote technological capabilities to achieve:

- improvement of agricultural production by a combination of dry farming practices as well as protective measures, such as shelterbelts, wind breaks, watershed protection and management and water resource development;

- improvement of animal production through the inclusion of drought resistant fodder trees and shrubs in afforestation and range management schemes;

- appropriate location of watering points and management of water resources;

- alleviating the energy deficit by improving the productivity of the existing woody resources, creating plantations and wood lots and improving the conversion and utilization of wood based fuels;

- providing alternative sources of employment and diversification of income of rural people through better forest management within the multipurpose concept.

4.2.4 Assessment of tropical forest lands and land use planning

It has to be accepted that tropical forest lands will - to some extent - continue to be cleared for various other non-forestry land uses including agriculture. The suggested course of action therefore will involve simultaneously increasing the productivity of present agricultural and grazing land while minimizing conversion of forest land and ensuring that unsuitable land is not transferred to non-forest uses. This calls for assessment of forest lands, delineation of various land uses including land for multiple use, and developing plans for better management of the forests so delineated. Some of the actions to be initiated will be:

- development and implementation of land use policies,

- establishment and definition of the criteria for various land uses and development of land use plans indicating the forest areas for retention and management and those for release and alternative use,

- development through research and demonstration of forest management systems, including those for multiple use of mangrove ecosystems, and

- training persons for land use planning, development and implementation.

4.3 Action needed at global, regional and national levels

4.3.1 At global level

The main activities at this level are to promote world-wide cooperation in policies and techniques for the management of forest lands and to enhance the support of forestry to agriculture.

This can be achieved by strengthening of existing mechanisms for the sharing and transfer of technology and raising the awareness of the general public and policy-makers to the benefits derived from well-managed tropical forests and the role of woody vegetation in farming systems. Ready access to information and expertise must be inherent in such a programme. The priority topics are:

- to raise public awareness of the complementarity of forestry and agriculture in order to gain political and financial commitment for programmes in integrated land use designed to relieve pressure on tropical forests. This effort should also stimulate support for increased investment in agricultural development programmes that can provide agriculture opportunities, while reducing further encroachment on the marginal forest lands;

- dissemination of information on agroforestry techniques, land evaluation and classification of forest lands, planning and execution of watershed management programmes including multiple-use implications, conservation of woody vegetation in arid lands, and conservation and utilization of wildlife as an element of multiple-use management.

4.3.2 At regional and sub-regional levels

Regional projects or other arrangements to support action at the regional level would be most effective if coupled with the establishment of TCDC networks to promote exchanges of technical information and expertise between countries with common problems (the establishment of self-reliant exchange mechanisms). Priorities are the following :

i) Agro-silvo-pastoral development: except in Asia and the Pacific, where in 1984 IUFRO assisted in developing a multipurpose tree species network, and in Latin America (where FAO established in 1984 and continues to support an agro-forestry programme) networks in agro-forestry have scarcely been developed. Technical, logistical and financial support is needed for their formation. Regional and national projects should be launched, with a secondary aim to catalyze national projects;

ii) integrated watershed management: the value of networks in this field is well recognized and substantial support is available in specific areas. For example, assistance has been provided by USAID to the sub-region of Central America and ASEAN, particularly in training. Networks have been established in continental Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean, with assistance from the FAO Regional Office. SIDA is providing support for a cooperative network in the SADCC (Southern Africa Development Coordinating Conference) countries. FAO will be assisting, through a UNDP financed project, in the establishment of a network for Asia and the Pacific. There are nevertheless many gaps. Regional projects are needed, especially in Africa and in the La Plata river basin, while the problems of the Near East also demand special support;

iii) arid zone forestry and desertification control: networks are especially needed for the Near East, the Sahel, SADCC countries, Eastern Africa, Asia and Latin America. A regional project for 9 countries in the Near East and North Africa is being prepared.

iv) Assessment of tropical forest lands : except for Asia, where there is some experience in the management of mangroves, there has been little exchange of expertise and experience. Networks need to be established in all regions.

4.3.3 At national level

Pilot and demonstration projects are needed in all the four fields mentioned under 4.3.2. These projects should combine applied research, demonstration, training and extension and should serve as the basis for developing large scale schemes attracting national and external investment. Typical project profiles, as examples of action which can be developed at the national level, are included in the Annex 1. Table 1 on the next page summarizes by sub-region the priorities for action.

5. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDS

This section provides estimates of the financial requirements to cover the essential elements of the Forestry in Land Use Action Programme during a 10 year period. The breakdown of proposed technical assistance activities, totalling US $ 770 million, is made at three levels, global, regional, national, for the four programme components described in the previous section. Some indication is provided as to national funding and international financial assistance, including World Food Programme support.

5.1 Global/Inter-Regional Level

5.1.1 Agro-silvo-pastoral development

i) Promotion of agro-forestry systems and dissemination of information on species and techniques:

Cost : US$ 400 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, ICRAF, US Academy of Sciences, IDRC, CTFT, CATIE

ii) Provision of seeds for trials and demonstration:

Cost : US$ 1 000 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, IUFRO, national institutions

iii) State of the art study on management and production systems for woody vegetation in arid and semi-arid lands, including traditional strategies and practices for combating desertification

Cost : US$ 100 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, US Academy of Sciences, ICRAF

iv) Audio-visual aids for promotion of awareness, training and extension Cost : US$ 200 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, ICRAF, World Neighbours

v) International workshops for agricultural research institutions on agro-forestry systems

Cost : US$ 300 000 (3 sessions)

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, ICRAF, CGIAR

5.1.2 Integrated watershed Management

i) Data information system and dissemination of planning guides, field handbooks and training materials

Cost : US$ 1 500 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g.FAO, GTZ, AID, JICA,UNEP, Unesco

ii) State of the art study, seminar and information system on research in tropical watersheds (including modelling, wherever necessary).

Cost : US$ 200 000

Cooperation institutions : e.g. FAO, AID, IUFRO, IASH, CTFT, ORSTOM

iii) Collection and dissemination of diversified production, conservation systems for mountain areas

Cost : US$ 100 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, ICIMOD, SATA, GTZ

iv) Audio-visual aids for promotion of awareness, training and extension

Cost : US$ 500 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, Unesco, UNEP

v) Grassroot people's participation in upland conservation : workshops with NGO's, politicians and decision-makers

Cost : US$ 400 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, NGO's

vi) Regional training centers (permanent training) and training courses in watershed management

Cost : US$ 4 000 000

Cooperating institutions : Unesco, FAO, UNEP, AID, GTZ, FINNIDA, ICIMOD

vii) Case studies in watershed management projects

Cost US$ 200 000

Cooperating institutions ; FAO, USAID, GTZ, ICIMOD, East West Center

5.1.3 Arid zone forestry and desertification control

i) Operational guidelines for silvo-pastoral improvement

Cost : US$ 100 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, Unesco, UNEP, ACSAD, ILCA, UNSSO

ii) Handbooks and training materials for field technicians on techniques to combat desertification

Cost : US$ 200 000

Cooperating institutions : eg. FAO, UNEP, CILSS, Club du Sahel, USAID

iii) Promotion of multipurpose trees and shrubs : information dissemination and provision of seeds, trials and demonstration network

Cost : US$ 1 200 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, IBPGR, UNEP, IDRC, ICRAF, Kew Gardens

iv) Audio-visual aids for promotion of awareness, training and extension

Cost : US$ 200 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, Unesco, CILSS, UNSSO

v) Regional training centers (permanent training) and training courses on desertification monitoring and assessment, sand dune fixation, wind-breaks and shelterbelts, silvo-pasture management, agri-silviculture, etc.

Cost : US$ 4 000 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, Unesco, USAID, DSE, DANIDA

5.1.4 Assessment of tropical forest lands

i) Information including audio-visual aids to promote political and public awareness and guidelines for land use planners, including operational guidelines for clearing of forest land

Cost : US$ 300 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, GTZ, USAID

ii) Preparation and dissemination of selected case studies showing impacts of deforestation on rural development in humid tropical ecosystems

Cost : US$ 200 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, Unesco

5.2 Regional/Sub-regional level

5.2.1 Agro-silvo-pastoral development

i) Regional projects and networks to catalyze research and action and assist in development of projects at national level :

Cost :

Latin America and Caribbean : US$ 2 000 000

Asia and Pacific : US$ 2 500 000

Africa : US$ 3 000 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, ICRAF, IUFRO, USAID, GTZ,SIDA, Regional institutions

ii) Workshops, training courses, seminars

Cost : US$ 1 900 000 (19 sessions)

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, ICRAF, USAID, DSE, FINNIDA, SIDA, IDRC, Regional institutions

5.2.2 Integrated Watershed management

i) Regional projects and networks to catalyze research and action and assist in development of projects at national level

Cost :

South America : US$ 1 200 000

Central America : US$ 1 000 000

Caribbean US$ 600 000

SADCC - Eastern Africa US$ 2 000 000

ASEAN US$ 2 000 000

Asia and Pacific US$ 2 000 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, USAID, SIDA, Regional institutions

ii) Workshops, training courses, seminars

Cost : US$ 4 500 000 (30 sessions)

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, USAID, GTZ, FINNIDA,SIDA

Regional institutions

5.2.3 Arid zone forestry and desertification control

i) Regional projects and networks to catalyze research and action and assist in development of projects at national level

Cost :

Sahel : US$ 2 600 000

Eastern Africa - SADCC US$ 2 700 000

Latin America and Caribbean US$ 800 000

Asia : US$ 800 000

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, Usesco, AID, DANIDA

ii) Workshops, training courses, seminars

Cost: US$ 1 800 000 (12 sessions)

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNEP, Unesco, AID, DANIDA, CILSS, IDRC, Regional institutions

iii) Assistance to governments in developing national plans to combat desertification

Cost : US$ 1 500 000 (30 countries)

Cooperating institutions : e.g. FAO, UNSSO, UNEP, CILSS, Regional institutions

5.2.4 Assessment of tropical forest lands and land use planning

Regional projects on land use planning and assessment of forest lands to assist national institutions in land evaluation, in considering alternative uses of forest lands and in minimizing economic and environmental effects of such alternatives.

Cost:

Latin America : US$ 5 000 000

Africa : US$ 5 000 000

Asia and Pacific : US$ 5 000 000

5.3 National level

Four standard types of technical assistance which need to be adjusted to the magnitude of the problems in each country, are proposed in Annex 1, sections 1.1 to 1.4. Generalized cost estimates are used to determine the assistance required during a period of 10 years. Two levels of assistance are envisaged for various developing countries of the world, as indicated in Table 3 based on the extent of problems and the national capabilities.

It should be noted that agro-forestry systems are part of all the four approaches to the problem, although they are particularly important in projects related to the agro-silvo-pastoral development Action Programme component.

5.4 Summary of technical assistance requirements

The table 4 summarizes by programme component, level and region, the technical assistance required over a period of 10 years

5.5 National Programmes

A number of countries are developing large scale programmes in these forestry/agro-forestry fields with little or no external assistance. Although the budgetary allocations are not available and it is not possible to estimate accurately the national inputs which can contribute to the four components of the Action Programme, some particular national endeavours should be noted.

In the fields of agro-silvo-pastoral development and of assessment of forest lands resources there are no notable examples. But in the field of watershed management there are a number of countries which are undertaking large scale programmes : Indonesia (allocation US$ 150 million annually), India, Thailand, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. In arid zone forestry and desertification control, the efforts of China and the North African countries should be noted.

5.6 Potential for investment

The information available on current investment assistance is limited to World Bank projects. However, the Inter-American Development Bank supports a number of watershed management and agro-forestry related activities in Honduras, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Paraguay. IFAD is preparing an agro-silvo-pastoral development project for Africa South of the Sahara.

The World Bank's involvement is particularly significant in watershed protection and in the forestry components of rural development projects. The World Bank's lending during the period 1968-83 in forestry, excluding pulp and paper but including energy and industrial plantations, totalled US$ 1.1 billion for 52 projects in 48 countries. World Bank estimates a total investment requirement for a 5-year period (1987-1991) of 1,021 million US$ for the rehabilitation of upland watersheds and management of semi-arid lowlands in 10 priority countries of the tropics: India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Philippines in Asia; Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe in Africa and Colombia in Latin America (see Annex 2).

To make a broad estimate of the potential for investment covering the four components of the interface between forestry and agriculture it would be necessary to undertake a global survey to elucidate such problems and needs as:

- rural development projects requiring forestry inputs;

- water resources development schemes requiring watershed management components;

- reservoirs endangered by silting, as well as waterway harbours and other installations affected by sedimentation;

- quantitative dimensions of upland watershed degradation ;

- flood plains and human settlements exposed to floods and instability of river channels; infrastructure and cropland affected by sand dune encroachment;

- irrigation and land reclamation projects needing forestry support;

- colonization schemes which may incorporate forestry and agro-forestry components;

- silvo-pastoral improvement required in rangelands and savannas;

- areas where slash and burn agriculture is encroaching on forest lands and where there is a need to stabilize populations.

Until these and other requirements of areas affected by degradation and land use conflicts are quantified, it would be hazardous to venture figures on potential investment. The various global and regional Action Programme proposals should therefore be designed to provide the data needed for investment analysis.

5.7 World Food Programme assistance

Due the heavy involvement of the World Food Programme in watershed management, land rehabilitation, village forestry, sand dune stabilization and shelterbelts, its contribution to the Action Programme should be noted separately. The WFP has at present 85 forestry projects or forestry project components in 52 countries, with an annual average investment of US$ 111 million. The breakdown by regions and a tentative projection of increase in the next ten years is provided in the table, assuming an annual average 50% increase in assistance.

In addition to WFP assistance, the potential contribution of a number of national and international food for work schemes should be noted.

[Chapter II Notes:]

1 / These fields of action were elaborated in detail during the "Informal Expert Meeting on Strategies, Approaches and Systems for Integrated Watershed Management" co-sponsored by FAO, the East West Center (Hawai) and the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

CHAPTER III

FOREST-BASED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

1. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRIORITY

1.1 Introduction

Eleven million hectares[1] of tropical forests are lost annually and forest industries have often been marked as the main culprit. However, the fact is that all of this forest land is lost to shifting cultivation, permanent agriculture and built-up areas. Furthermore, the annual removals from the world forests amount to almost three billion cubic metres per year, less than half of which is felled in the tropics. Eighty-five percent of the felling in the tropics relates to fuelwood collection and only 15 percent to industrial wood. This figure includes fellings in industrial plantations as well as commercial logging operations for export of roundwood to industries in other countries. There is a fundamental difference in the approach to logging in the form of mining for export and logging for a local industry. The latter normally causes less environmental damage.

A forest without industry is essentially of no financial value to a government although its social and environmental/ecological value may be considerable. Introduction of forest-based industrial activity makes an active contribution to development and provides social benefits, one of which is an income both to the government and to the local population. This income generated by the forest industry is an incentive to protect the forest and to improve and maintain the financial and economic returns obtainable from it. This also ensures appropriate forest management, providing raw material to the industry on a sustained yield basis, with due consideration given to environmental issues. In fact, it is a must for a forest industry enterprise to maintain its raw material base and thus to reduce the environmental impact of its establishment to a minimum. The establishment of forest industries can also contribute to resource conservation and development through the establishment of plantations on marginal or deforested lands.

In the discussions on forest industries, it is often assumed that the only important products are based on wood in the form of roundwood, sawnwood, wood-based panels, wood pulp and paper and there is a tendency to disregard other forest industry products as insignificant. The wood products no doubt constitute the most important forest produce in a world-wide sense, but others may be of extreme importance nationally.

Important non-wood products obtainable from forests are naval stores products, gum arabic, tannin, cork, honey, mushrooms, fruit juices, furs and hides, to mention the most obvious ones. In forest-based industrial development these products need to be taken into account as well, since their economic importance and contribution to development on a local level may be extremely important. In fact, the prime concern in this context should not be the establishment of forest industries per se, but their contribution to local and/or national development.

Whatever the product obtainable from the forest-based industry, the purpose of the establishment of the industry itself is to produce economic growth as part of the overall development strategy of the country. Forest industries add value to the raw materials and provide a higher income to rural people and the country in general.

The key issues to be addressed as justifications for establishment of forest industries are accordingly rural and national development and these will be elaborated in the subsequent sections.

1.2 Forest Industries and Rural Development

The rural population living in and in close proximity to a forest area traditionally derives certain benefits from the forest. These benefits are often based on ancient traditions which may vary considerably from one country to another, but essentially they have their roots in a subsistence based hunter/gatherer/farmer activity, at times with additional income derived from temporary employment of family members, mainly male, for short periods in adjacent communities. The socio-economic interaction between the people and the forest around them is in a state of equilibrium and aims at maintaining it.

Within such a system there is very little scope for development unless the setting is changed through either intensification of some of the traditional activities or introduction of new ones. In both cases, the previously existing equilibrium is upset. Intensification of traditional activities may result in ecological changes unless accompanied by appropriate resource management. Introduction of new types of activities, for instance, through the establishment of a forest industry, without due consideration being given to the traditional uses of the forest, may be counter-productive. Thus, the expected development may not materialize, impairing rather than improving the lot of the rural population concerned, and the industry may become unviable due to resistance from the people. Organization of the rural population for development-productive activities is one of the major challenges to the establishment of forest-based industries.

However, if the industrial enterprise is established in an appropriate manner, there are several ways in which it will contribute to rural development. First of all, since it is located near or in the forest, it contributes to reducing the migration of rural people to urban centres, seeking employment which may not be there. Secondly, maintaining the population in the rural area while introducing new activities tends to retain the family income contribution by all members so that, for instance, food is produced through gardening, animal husbandry or small scale farming activities carried out by those family members not employed through the introduction of the industrial enterprise. Thus, the new employment possibilities available to the male members of the family do not reduce the income earned or contribution made by the other family members, in contrast to what usually happens when the family moves to urban areas.

Most of the employment offered by forest industries relates to the supply of raw material to the enterprise, although no doubt, some employment will be provided in the industry itself. In order to employ rural people in the industrial activity, training will be required and the combined effect of employment and training will further enhance the income which can be obtained from the establishment of the industry. It will also provide possibilities for the rural youth in jobs which they prefer to those considered by them to be menial, unattractive tasks.

In addition to the employment offered by the forest industry, the economic activities generated by the industry through its mere presence may be considerable. Services required by both the industrial enterprise itself and the people it has employed attract the establishment of shops, workshops and other facilities which, in turn, provide more employment, more training and more income. also, a forest-based industry has a long-term presence in an area, which tends to provide stability to rural economic life. commercial logging for export of roundwood, on the other hand, usually does not provide this stability and, in addition, its environmental and ecological effect may be much greater.

But it is not employment and training alone which may provide a significant contribution to rural development through establishment of forest-based industries. Rural institutions, such as cooperatives, play an important part at various levels of sophistication of the industry. Depending on their level of development and strength, they may be able to manage and operate, as employers, fairly complex industrial enterprises. A high level of sophistication cannot, of course, be reached quickly, but there is great long-term potential for development in these organizations. In developing countries, the financial possibilities of rural organizations for involvement in forest-based industries may at present be rather limited and restricted in the first instance to mainly organizing the supply of raw materials to comparatively small industries, with a subsequent stage of getting involved in the ownership of the industry itself and in marketing the products. Thus, in addition to employment and training, the rural population can benefit from profits of the industrial activity, provided the necessary rural institutional framework is developed concurrently with the industry itself.

From the above, it can be concluded that the establishment of forest industries provides centres for rural development which can have considerable impact, improving the quality of life of the rural population and preventing migration to urban centres where the poverty of the immigrant population in general is far worse than the poverty they tried to get away from.

1.3 Forest Industries and National Development

However, the impact of the establishment of forest-based industries is not restricted to rural communities alone. Its impact is no doubt of national importance as well. Establishment of sawmills, for example, provides the base for the establishment of secondary wood processing units for production of furniture and housing, contributing to additional employment facilities in both rural and urban areas.

Establishment of forest industries also provides a potential for foreign exchange earnings or, if all production is consumed within the country, foreign exchange savings. The magnitude of these is illustrated by the fact that in 1982 the developing countries exported roundwood and wood products for a total value of US$ 7.1 billion. On the other hand, the developing countries had a foreign exchange outlay of US$ 10.1 billion for import of wood products in the same year.

If the export of industrial roundwood were reduced and at least some of it were converted within the developing countries into sawnwood for export, considerable earnings could be made through the increased value added in comparison to log exports. This would also release processing residues for use as fuel in industrial plants and for cogeneration of electricity linked to the national grid, thus contributing to savings in foreign exchange now spent on imported fossil fuels. Other possible uses for these could be for fuelwood for households, for wood-based panels, or for pulp and paper.

Self-sufficiency and the export of certain non-wood forest products can no doubt be enhanced, provided that the production of these is organized through the appropriate institutional development. Some, like honey, gum arabic, resin, essential oils, etc., are already of great national importance in many tropical countries.

The greatest import expenditure with respect to the products is, no doubt, in pulp and paper - a total of US$ 5.3 billion in 1982 compared with an export to a value of US$ 1.1 billion. However, due to the capital intensiveness of this industry and the small markets in most developing countries, there is much doubt as to whether a substantial change can be expected in the global import/export pattern of pulp and paper in developing countries, although some changes can be expected in individual countries or groups of countries.

Regardless of in what products the change in the export/import pattern might be achieved, it could be mentioned, as an illustration of the possible implications, that if the value of exports of wood products from developing countries could be increased by one-third and the value of imports reduced in the same proportion, the net value of these changes would amount to about US$ 5 billion per year, based on 1982 prices.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN TYPES OF SITUATIONS

2.1 The Present

There is a great opportunity for countries with forest resources to become self-sufficient in various forest products, to the point of producing a surplus for export. However, self-sufficiency, or lack of it, always refers to a specific product. For instance, a country may have a surplus of logs, honey and resin for export, be self-sufficient in wood-based panels, but be import-dependent on its supply of sawn goods and pulp and paper. The target is to meet the country's requirement for self-sufficiency in raw materials, such as roundwood, and be self-sufficient or to have an export surplus in the products with the highest value added, such as sawnwood, fortified resins, wood-based panels or pulp and paper. This target is, of course, affected by the internal policies of the country with regard to emphasis on rural development and export-oriented developmental issues. All this must be seen against the background of availability of raw material from the forest resources of the country, and other factors which have a bearing on the development of an industry, such as the availability of skills, technical know-how and the cost of its transfer, institutional development, etc.

The situations which may arise from these policies are essentially as follows:

- Emphasis on rural development with production aimed predominantly towards satisfaction of internal requirements of wood or non-wood forest products.

- Emphasis on rural development combined with improvement of self-sufficiency to the point of generating a surplus for export, which usually means establishment of fairly large-scale industries but does not exclude the possibility of a combination of small and large units, especially not in vertically integrated enterprises.

- Improvement of the value added by emphasizing the importance of exporting semi-finished or finished goods rather than raw materials. The quality requirements of the market countries then need to be taken into account adequately and an appropriate marketing organization be built up.

2.2 The Future

Rapid change has characterized the evolution of the world in the past few decades, change without parallel in the history of mankind. It is very plausible that in many respects the speed of change will accelerate in the next decade or two, imposing drastic structural adjustments on all sectors of economic activity. For example, the size of population ten years from now is predetermined by factors that are in operation today or by events in the immediate past.

An increase in population means that income, in order to meet developmental needs, will have to grow more rapidly than the population. In rural areas, this very often has the effect of increasing the pressure on forest land for conversion to agriculture, usually with ecological and environmental damage as the result. By introduction of forest-based industries, the income of the rural population can be enhanced enough to become of national importance. It goes without saying that the resource used for this should be capable of providing raw material on a sustained yield basis, without upsetting the environmental balance. The actual outputs of the industry may contribute to abolishing illiteracy by furnishing paper for education, and can also provide improved housing, furniture, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The primary forest industries can supply electricity by using their residues as fuel.

Without attempting to produce a quantitative estimate of the development of demand for industrial forest products in the next few years, it is clear that the rapid changes in population, if combined with equally rapid improvements in income, will generate substantial new demands in developing countries in the years to come. Without exception all projections of future consumption, even allowing for a high degree of uncertainty, point towards very large increases between now and the end of the century. Greater numbers and affluence, together with growth-associated changes such as increased literacy, will surely impose new demands for paper, construction wood materials and furniture. Investment levels needed to satisfy expanded consumption will reach several thousand million per year or, alternatively, huge amounts of industrial forest products will have to be imported by developing countries, a condition that many of them can hardly afford. Expanded industrial production will also impose pressures on forest resources, at a time when there is a growing concern for the management of tropical forests and the rate of deforestation in tropical areas. Existing institutions, public and private, urban and rural, will have to accommodate conflicting demands. The smooth development of forest-based industrial activities in developing countries implies, therefore, careful and innovative thinking of a nature and on a scale probably never experienced before.

If the above-demand development is to take place in third world countries in the tropical region, the first target is to provide the necessary development on a rural and national level. This can be achieved in forested countries through establishment of forest-based industries to provide the vehicle for income generation both on a personal and national level. The second target is then to satisfy the increased internal demand of goods and services from the forest through expansion of the forest industry sector. Since meeting the first target provides know-how, institutional development and skills required for meeting the second target, the likelihood of success is far better than if sudden, major expansions of the industry are undertaken. Still, there are a number of problems which have prevented successful development of forest industries in tropical countries, and these will be highlighted in the subsequent sections of this paper.

3. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

3.1 General

Over the past ten years or so, great emphasis has been given in the industrialization efforts to the introduction of technology which is appropriate to the conditions of the developing countries. In general, this has been understood to be small labour-intensive production units with a minimum of sophistication. The result has been directives and guidelines very often as inappropriate as the approach of establishing forest industries in developing countries based on blueprints from industrialized ones. The latter approach assumes that the conditions are the same in both developing and developed countries, whereas the former is based on an assumption that all developing countries have identical conditions. In addition, both approaches fail to recognize that the technology chosen has to take into account the market requirements and the competitiveness required of the forest industry to be established. Evaluation, adaptation and transfer of technology to suit the conditions and requirements of a specific developing country are, accordingly, a very important step in the introduction of forest industries.

However, selection of technology alone in an appropriate manner does not provide the solution to the problem which, in fact, goes far deeper than that.

Developed countries as a rule have a strong private sector, a well developed and functioning institutional framework, and a stable government structure which exercises adequate control over issues such as social welfare, lending policies and rates of interest. In addition, the income distribution is not unduly askew. Developing countries, on the other hand, in general have a weak private sector which is unable to provide for major investment requirements, uneven income distribution, and an inadequate institutional framework. Lending policies, rates of interest and related issues are affected by inflation pressures and by foreign lending agencies to an extent far greater than in developed countries. The weakness in the institutional framework also has an effect on the extent to which the government can exercise or maintain control over forest policy-related issues, such as utilization of forest concessions. Constraints in availability of foreign exchange may also have a serious effect on the industrial development of these countries.

Needless to say, new approaches will be needed for the development of appropriate forest-based industries where old concepts of project formulation and implementation have failed. This emphasizes the need for multidisciplinary research covering all the different fields of activities needed for this development.

In the following paragraphs, an analysis will be presented of some of the constraints which affect the success or have been the reasons for failures in the past in the efforts of forest-based industrial development. In addition to a general lack of infrastructure, the most common problems are

- Financing.

- Lack of adequate wood supply.

- Lack of adequate domestic markets and marketing capability.

- Lack of trained manpower and managerial capability.

- Institutional problems.

- Lack of involvement of the local population.

- Constraints which do not allow modernization of existing mills to ensure competitiveness and lack of spare parts.

3.2 Financing

As mentioned before, huge investments will have to be undertaken in developing countries in the next decades in order to satisfy rapidly growing demands for industrial forest products. This raises the question of how to obtain the funds required to finance the necessary expansions and new projects. However, a distinction should be made between "availability" of funds and "access" to them. A major constraint in industrial development is inadequate availability of funding, particularly in cases where large investments are required such as for a pulp and paper industry, but in many cases there are also accessibility problems. For example, quite apart from the magnitude of investment required for a project, there are often problems of tailoring an appropriate financial structure to suit the project's specific needs, particularly if one considers that a large-scale project, once the problems of financing have been resolved, can require five to ten years before it is operating at full capacity. Capital markets in developing countries are not well enough structured and developed to handle projects of this magnitude or to satisfy the demands of long-term investments. Long maturation periods mean higher investment uncertainty, both in terms of technological factors and changing economic conditions.

At the other extreme, small industrial projects also face a number of difficulties in obtaining adequate financing. The first potential stumbling block in this case is the preparation of an acceptable and sound project proposal or plan that is "bankable". Secondly, even if the small entrepreneur or local organization had the capacity to prepare such proposal, very often financial institutions in developing countries do not have specialists who are familiar with the particular characteristics of financing of forest industries. In most cases when an institution enters into a venture with which its personnel is unfamiliar (i.e., the uncertainty is high), it will require better and more detailed than normal documentation on proposals. In addition to this, it might require higher than normal rates of return before such a project is considered to be acceptable for financing.

The means of overcoming the problems involved in financing of forest-based industry projects are essentially of four different kinds:

- training in preparation of bankable feasibility studies for small, rural development oriented forest industry projects;

- promotion of development of rural lending institutions for financing of the above type of projects and training of their staff in evaluation of project proposals with special emphasis on forestbased industries;

- assistance to governments in evaluation of feasibility of large-scale forest industry projects;

- assistance to governments in the promotion of large-scale forest industry projects which are considered viable.

3.3 Lack of Adequate Wood Supply

3.3.1 Imbalance between Resource and Industry

There are a number of reasons why the forest resource potential may be insufficient to sustain the existing forest industry, its expansion or the establishment of new industries. One reason which is more common than one would expect is that the industry was established in an area which, from the start, was unable to supply a sufficient quantity of raw material. In other words, the industry was inadequately planned. Although there may be plenty of trees in the forest, it may be the wrong kind of trees for full capacity utilization in the industrial enterprise. For instance, most of the forest resource may consist of trees suitable for sawmilling, whereas the industry established needs peeler logs for plywood production. In other cases, the forest inventories or surveys were made a long time ago and once the industry is established, forest fires, fuelwood collection, shifting cultivation or pests have destroyed large parts of the resource. The result is, once again, that the resource is insufficient to supply the industry with raw material.

The above situation can be aggravated by over-cutting in order to ensure the success of the forest industry enterprise, at least in the initial years, while one sits down to think about how to improve the situation in the long term. Even if the resource was originally fully adequate to meet the requirements of the mill, lack of sufficient reforestation efforts or forest management may have gradually degraded the productive capacity of the resource to a critical point.

From the above, it seems clear that the way to overcome these problems is to:

- Use a freshly prepared forest inventory and yield prediction as a basic pre-requisite for planning of industries. This inventory should be carried out with a view to identifying what type of industry could be established and maintained on a sustained yield basis, using the forest area as a source of raw material.

- Prepare a forest management plan for the area to establish the practices to be followed for the continuous supply of raw material from the forest as well as the silvicultural efforts required, taking into account the need for minimizing the ecological/environmental impact of the planned activities.

- Re-invest in forests to maintain productivity for industrial output and to create new resources.

- Avoid wasteful usage of raw material in the operation of the forest industry enterprise, once it is established, possibly by diversifying the production to allow use of residues from the harvesting operation and from the operation of the mill itself.

- Promote the use of lesser known species, wherever available in significant volumes, in order to extend the raw material source and reduce the possible environmental impact of the establishment of the industry.

Although these measures seem too obvious to be worth mentioning, the fact is that it is surprising how often action is taken without any serious attempt to follow these guidelines. It goes without saying that the above actions need strong institutional support from a well developed forest service.

3.3.2 Wood Harvesting Operation Inadequate to Meet Requirements

Even if the resource potential is sufficient, the supply of raw material to the industrial enterprise may be insufficient simply because the road construction and harvesting operations are unable to provide logs at the rate required.

The main reason for this is usually that in the planning stage the difficulties were not fully foreseen, very often because the project designer put the main emphasis on the design of the actual mill which was, accordingly, extremely well equipped for all eventualities except one lack of adequate supply of raw material. Other, more detailed reasons, but still essentially linked to underestimation of the requirements of the harvesting operations, relate to inadequacy of the road construction and logging equipment in view of the terrain conditions, lack of coordination between the different activities concerned with felling, skidding and transporting the logs to the mill, insufficient trained manpower allocation to these activities or insufficient trained labour in general.

The measures that need to be taken to solve or avoid these problems mainly relate to training both harvesting managers and labour and to emphasizing the importance of the harvesting operation already at the planning stage so that the constraints are identified early and steps are taken to remove them.

The concept of implementation of harvesting operations also needs special attention. The tendency is in general to look at small-scale, labour-intensive logging operations as most suitable to feed small industry operations, whereas highly mechanized logging operations are assumed to be the only method of harvesting for large-scale industries. The rate of flow of logs required by the industry is no doubt a determining factor for the selection of the overall harvesting system, but a combination of small-scale logging, using animals for skidding and large-scale mechanized harvesting, would probably in many cases be the most appropriate approach. It could also have an effect on the required road network and, accordingly, minimize any environmental damage which otherwise might be caused by, for instance, excessive construction of roads in steep terrain.

3.4 Lack of Marketing Capability

In many cases both the resource availability and the domestic market would be sufficient to justify the local production of certain goods but keen foreign competition sometimes prevents the local industry from capturing the market. This is often due to the inadequate marketing capability of the local enterprise while the foreign companies have a well-established efficient marketing network for the supply of their products. Protective customs tariffs might sometimes improve the competitive position of the domestic industry, but the governments are often reluctant to provide such protection since this can be counterproductive and lead to inefficient operation and increased prices to the consumers.

If the production is aimed at export markets, the role of marketing becomes even more pronounced than when it serves the domestic market alone. Appropriate training would provide a remedy to this provided that an adequate institutional framework is developed and has the full support of the government.

Lesser-used wood species present a specific problem which could be solved through improved marketing efforts. Appropriate promotional action supported by research results on the characteristics of such species are one of the main means in this project.

In forest industry enterprises, a close relationship usually exists between the forestry and processing functions while the marketing function does not have similar links with processing. This is partly due to the strong production orientation in the attitudes of the forest industry management. There is, therefore, the need to increase awareness in recognizing the forest industry operation to include marketing as an integral part of the industrial operations.

Rural people very seldom have any control of the marketing of the forest products gathered or produced within the community. These products tend to reach the markets through middlemen who operate from urban centres. The value-added by appropriate marketing does not, therefore, reach the rural people. With adequate training and through establishment of a suitable institutional framework (marketing cooperatives, rural lending institutes, etc.), marketing practices could be improved and the derived benefits kept within the rural communities.

3.5 Lack of Trained Manpower and Managerial Capability

3.5.1 Lack of Trained Manpower

Even in countries where a forest industry has been in operation for some time, there is a problem of availability of trained manpower to meet the requirements of labour turn-over and technical development. This becomes more serious if there is a major expansion of the overall sector. However, if a new type of forest industry is established, training of the required labour can become a major undertaking. The higher the level of sophistication of the new industry, the more serious the problems to be faced. There is a fundamental difference between having trained manpower for small sawmills feeding the domestic markets and the training requirements for the operation of a sawmill producing for export to developed countries with sophisticated quality requirements. Establishment of a pulp and paper industry requires a wide range of skills to be taught to the labour force and the cost of training in the project is usually considerable. On the other hand, some rural-type forest-based industries, especially on the raw material supply side or in manufacture of semi-processed products, may require only a minimum of training.

In order to avoid unpleasant surprises after start-up of a new mill, due consideration needs to be given to the training aspects and this is quite often done. However, continuing training activities need to be undertaken to allow for movements in the labour force, and for career development, and also to keep the workers and supervisors up-to-date with technical modifications which need to be introduced due to pressures from the market.

3.5.2 Lack of Managerial Capability

Many developing countries have a shortage of professionals in various fields of activities. By necessity, therefore, people with a minimum of professional training are given managerial jobs for which they have not been sufficiently prepared. The training provided by multilateral or bilateral agencies mainly aims at teaching practical skills, such as cable logging, saw doctoring, paper machine operation or at providing the necessary theoretical background in process technology through attendance at academic courses for one or two years for a Master's degree.

The result is that there is a lack of understanding of the mill operation as a whole, from raw material supply to markets, and a lack of coordination of the related efforts.

There is, accordingly, a very strongly manifested need for training in management in forest industries at all managerial levels, both corporate and functional, both through training courses and through on-the-job training.

3.6 Institutional Problems

An appropriate legal and institutional framework is required for the planning and implementation of forest industry projects, together with the necessary institutions for forest administration, industrial planning, training, research, financing, etc. The action programme for the development of the necessary framework is presented elsewhere and suffice it to mention in this context the importance of developing the institutional framework in conjunction with the development of forest industries.

In grass-root level forest industry projects, the institutional framework takes a very marked position, especially in projects which aim at rural development through essentially very small units of activities. These projects can relate to collection of non-wood forest produce for processing in collection centres or marketing of outputs from several small community sawmills and coordination of their activities. Establishment of rural lending institutes are also essential in this context. The number of institutions which need to be involved and established depends very much on the type of project under consideration and has to be determined in each case separately. Expanding the scope of already existing local organizations and cooperatives can be a good starting point for development of the institutional framework required for establishing forest-based industry activities in rural areas. If no such organizations exist in the project area, they need to be established as an integral part of the project implementation. Awareness of the need for this aspect of development in a project ensures that it is adequately covered.

3.7 Lack of Involvement of the Local Population

People living in and around a forest area make use of the forest according to well-established traditions. If a forest industry enterprise is introduced without considering these traditions, the enterprise may be seen by the people concerned as an unwelcome intruder. Afforestation efforts may be jeopardized since the population wants the cleared land for agriculture and destroys the planted seedlings. If the need for fuelwood is not respected, the people might start felling young plantations for this purpose. In areas with some basic infrastructure already established, services may collapse due to the sudden influx of people used to a higher standard of living, so that the power supply becomes insufficient, shops run out of goods and prices go up. A conflict may thus arise between project staff and the original population already during the construction phase.

The above examples illustrate some of the problems which have arisen when the requirements of the original rural population have not been taken into account in planning the industrial project. The first step towards overcoming or avoiding such problems is, of course, to inform the people concerned well in advance of the implementation of the project of the benefits which they will receive from it. The second is to ensure their involvement in the implementation of the project. This is best done through existing local organizations to which the people are already used. The same organizations might be used in a third step, for instance, to enhance the raw material supply to the mill, so that off-farm employment can be provided for those who will not be directly employed on a full time basis by the enterprise in the mill itself or in more subsidiary activities. The ultimate involvement of the local population is, of course, when the enterprise is owned partly or entirely by the people involved, for instance by local cooperatives or companies. This is, of course, usually possible only in the case of comparatively small and simple enterprises, but may develop in larger undertakings as well.

3.8 Constraints on Modernization and Lack of Spare Parts

In many developing countries the output of the industry is very low in comparison with its nominal capacity. There are several reasons for this but one of the most common is the lack of spare parts due to the lack of foreign exchange for import of these parts. Sometimes the situation deteriorates to the point where the mill has to close down completely. In other cases, where spare parts can be produced locally, the market requirements on quality may have changed over time so that the mill is technically outdated and cannot meet these requirements. Lack of foreign exchange or capital in general may pose a constraint on the possibilities of modernization of the production unit, which then may have to close down as economically unviable.

To overcome these problems, massive assistance programmes are often needed, given in the form of soft loans from international lending institutions. However, on a mill-by-mill basis, rehabilitation can be achieved on a smaller scale as well with smaller inputs.

4. ACTION PROGRAMME ON FOREST-BASED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

4.1 Objectives, Conceptual Framework and Strategy for Action

The problems of successful establishment of forest-based industries in the tropical countries reviewed in the preceding sections are very strongly interlinked, to the extent that unless all these problems are overcome, the success of the enterprise is very unlikely. The action programme, therefore, has to address all these problems and their solutions at the same time, in a holistic, integrated manner, bearing in mind the purpose of establishment of industries - to provide development. The objectives of the action programme are, therefore:

i) To assist governments in the establishment of forest industries appropriate to the conditions and the developmental objectives of the country.

ii) To create awareness of the need for a holistic, integrated approach to the establishment of forest industries from resource development and management through harvesting, transport and processing to marketing, with due consideration given to the evaluation, adaptation and transfer of technology.

iii) To create awareness of the social, legal and institutional aspects which need to be taken into account in the planning and implementation of forest industry projects in developing countries.

iv) To improve the managerial capability in developing countries for the successful operation of activities involved in resource management, planning, constructing and running forest industries and raw material harvesting operations.

v) To provide vocational training in the fields of raw material supply and forest industries.

The conceptual framework of the action programme needs to encompass aspects of resource management and development, harvesting and transport of raw materials to the industry, technology of processing and its transfer, marketing, etc., bearing in mind social and cultural traditions of the people affected by the development of industries in order to ensure their positive participation in the success of the enterprise. In addition, attention needs to be paid to the development of institutions, including non-governmental organizations, to support and implement various activities as part of the strategic planning for the development of forest-based industries.

The strategy to achieve the objectives of the action programme will consist essentially of an active effort in the dissemination of information through workshops, training activities, exchange of experiences between developing countries through TCDC type activities and through pilot and technical assistance projects in various countries. Advice will also be provided to governments on a case-by-case basis through the evaluation of feasibility studies and plans for forest industries. Technological developments will be monitored and evaluated as to their adaptability to the conditions of developing countries.

4.2 Structure of the Action Programme

The action programme will have the following priority elements:

- Intensification of resource management and development.

- Development of appropriate raw material harvesting systems.

- Establishment and management of appropriate forest industries[1].

- Reduction of waste.

- Development of capability in marketing forest industry products.

Although each of these elements requires special attention, the real impact on development can be achieved only by applying them all together. In many instances, however, there may be a clear need to place particular emphasis on strengthening one or two of the elements more than the others in order to accelerate the development process. An integrated approach in applying the elements is therefore vital. Furthermore, regional cooperation is also needed to accelerate the development process as well as intensified research efforts with coordinated exchanges of results and findings.

Each of the priority elements will be briefly described in order to highlight some of the main issues involved and activities required.

A further illustration of the priority elements is provided with the few selected project profiles included in Annex 1. They serve as examples of the kind of projects which could be carried out under each priority element. The examples are by no means exhaustive or exclusive as they refer only to very few cases.

Intensification of Resources Management and Development

Technical assistance in this element will focus on a series of important development issues. The key issue will be to assist the countries in maintaining or improving the productivity of the forest to ensure that local, regional, national and export requirements are satisfied on a long term basis. Therefore, the determination of forest land tenure and the development of guidelines for forest land use and concession agreements will have high priority for technical assistance.

Although this priority element focuses on the industrial use of the resource, it is absolutely necessary that forest management and plantation programmes also deal with the local requirements for fuelwood and other household needs, and give due consideration to conservation, environmental and social issues. unless these requirements are satisfied, deforestation of productive forests will continue and there can be no realistic plans made for industrial wood production.

Special attention will be given to the development of management and silvicultural systems for natural forests that will ensure future productivity, environmental stability, and at the same time will be economically feasible. Although the management of natural forests will continue to have high priority, plantation establishment and management will, in many cases, be included in the overall approach. Industrial plantations will diminish the pressure on the natural forests, the technology involved includes fewer uncertainties and funds are easier to obtain than for the management of natural forests. Where appropriate, attention will be given to the development and production of non-wood forest resources.

In some projects, applied and operational research is an important component to ensure cost effectiveness, productivity and reduction of residues.

Appropriate Raw Material Harvesting

Since the lack of trained manpower is one of the main constraints in logging operations in developing countries, special consideration will need to be given to training logging personnel at all levels. Therefore, special training programmes will have to be designed, taking into account the introduction of appropriate logging systems with a view to minimizing damage to forests, increasing log production, reducing costs and increasing productivity.

This should be achieved by establishing regional wood harvesting research centres to carry out research work and train logging managers and instructors as well as by helping the few existing national wood harvesting training centres to increase the training capabilities for foremen, technicians and forest workers.

Furthermore, training courses should be held with special reference to planning, design, lay out and construction of forest roads, management of logging operations, safety and ergonomics in forestry work and utilization of forest residues.

Another means of transfer of appropriate technology and its implementation in developing countries would be to undertake case studies on basic and intermediate harvesting techniques of wood and non-wood raw materials and their suitability for different forest, terrain and socio-economic conditions.

In relation to the reduction of waste in logging operations, studies should be carried out on harvesting of small dimension trees, on forest harvesting residues in plantation and natural forest, and on non-wood residues in order to propose improvements of the utilization of the available forest resources and the residues produced.

Establishment and Management of Appropriate Forest Industries

A great number of inter-related issues is involved in the establishment and management of forest industries which will be appropriate to the overall development and socio-cultural framework of a tropical country. The basic ingredients are the availability of raw material resources, human resources in the form of trained manpower and management, capital, technology and markets. The infrastructural factors, including provisions for the active participation of the rural population, are basic requirements for the development of appropriate forest industries.

Action in tropical countries required for the establishment and management of the appropriate forest industries include:

- Assistance in planning, evaluation and monitoring the industry projects for securing financing.

- Provision of training at all levels, including improvement of management capabilities.

- Rehabilitation, strengthening and restructuring of existing industries in response to changing conditions.

- Securing the institutional support needed for industrial operations.

- Involvement of the rural population in industrial activities.

Reduction of Waste

Most of the forest and forest industry operations produce varying amounts of residues depending on the efficiency of the operitions. Whether the residues become waste depends on the availability of uses for them.

Residues which require attention in tropical countries result from the operations based on natural forests and first thinnings of plantations. Due to their heterogeneity such residues often become waste unless action to develop use for them is taken.

Residues from operations based on plantation forests due to their homogeneity find end uses more easily in other industries.

Action needs to be taken in:

- Designing and introducing industries capable of utilizing small size logs and residues.

- Involvement of the local population in gathering and using the residues as raw material in cottage industries.

- Development of appropriate residue based energy uses in various forms including bricketing of sawdust, production of charcoal, processing for power plants, etc.

- Promotion of processing industries based on residue utilization.

- Organizing training and demonstration in residue handling, storage and use.

Development of Capability for Marketing Forest Industry Products

The role of marketing as one of the basic functions of forest industry enterprises in tropical countries needs to receive increased recognition and its linkages with other functions need to be strengthened. Action will, therefore, be taken to increase awareness of the importance of marketing as a means to improve the efficiency of the industry. Furthermore, marketing capability in industry and the supporting institutional framework will be developed and strengthened through training, demonstration and financial assistance.

Under this priority element action will be taken to:

- Increase the awareness of the importance of marketing in forest industry enterprises serving both domestic and export markets.

- Provide appropriate training in marketing of forest industry products.

- Strengthen cooperative efforts and infrastructural prerequisites to provide marketing services for small scale industries and rural communities gathering and manufacturing forest based products.

- Establish market intelligence services on national and regional level to serve forest based industries in tropical countries.

- Develop and strengthen promotional activities, structure channels of distribution and improve grading and standardization.

- Provide advice in trade policies especially to protect the local markets against dumping.

5. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDS

Development assistance will essentially be required in all regions and countries where forest resources are available to the extent that forest industries can be established. Over the next ten years, the estimated requirements of funds for the implementation of the action programme are as follows:

It could be added, to show the perspective, that total investment needs in forest industries in the tropical countries are estimated at about US$ 250 billion over the next ten years, including infrastructure, new plants, reinvestment and rehabilitation of old plants.

These investments relate to processing facilities. To these must be added those required for the development of forest resources for industries. World Bank estimates at US $ l,225 million the amount of a 5-year (1987-1991) investment programme on "forest management for industrial use" for 25 tropical countries selected on "an analysis of declining exports and rising imports of forest products and their potential for accelerated industrial reforestation and improved management of industrial forests" (see Annex 2).

[Chapter III notes:]

1 / [Section 1.1] "Tropical Forest Resources" by J.P. Lanly (FAO Forestry Paper No. 30).

1 / [Section 4.2] The term "appropriate forest industries" is used here in the broadest possible sense, including not only technology but also covering legal, institutional and social aspects as well as the balance between resource, production and markets.

CHAPTER IV

FUELWOOD AND ENERGY

1. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRIORITY

The present document describes a fuelwood and energy priority action programme for tropical forestry development. Its goal is to foster massive and urgent action to meet the critical energy needs of populations in the tropics. The dimension of the problems demands that such actions receive the highest priority. Woodfuels will continue to play an essential role in ensuring energy both for survival and development in tropical areas. Wood energy must figure as a prominent part of the energy and natural resources strategies of most developing countries and of the international community.

A Fuelwood and Energy priority Action Programme is justified by the situation and problems in tropical developing countries:

- approximately 2000 million people - most rural people and many urban as well - depend on woodfuels as their main or sole source of energy to cook their food and keep warm;

- nine tenths of all the wood harvested annually is used for energy: it accounts for over two thirds of total energy consumption in 24 tropical countries of which 16 are LDCs;

- increasing fuelwood demand from growing populations is an aggravating factor in the annual deforestation of 11.3 million ha of tropical forests to which should be added vast areas of land under accelerated degradation. The resulting destruction of fragile ecosystems threatens the agricultural potential and the production of food on an alarming scale;

- 100 million people, half of them in Africa, were suffering from an acute scarcity of fuel wood in 1980; another 1000 million mostly in Asia were able to meet their energy needs only by overcutting all available biomass in their environment;

- as supplies diminish, the people who depend on woodfuels are suffering increasing physical or economic burdens in maintaining even a minimal daily fuel supply. Many people cannot secure sufficient cooked food to avoid hunger and malnutrition;

- no alternative source of energy will provide a viable substitute for fuelwood on a scale which could permit a major reduction of dependence on it within the next two decades;

- in places where a surplus of wood for energy exists or could be created, wood-based energy can make an important contribution to rural and industrial development and to national energy self-reliance.

Meeting the energy requirements of those who depend on woodfuels is much more than an energy issue: it is essential in maintaining a stable environment for increasing food production and for conserving the quality of life in vast areas of the tropics. The accelerating degradation of the fuelwood situation requires that massive action be undertaken now: the earlier this is done, the more effective and the cheaper will be the total effort. In this respect, time and scale are critical factors. Fuelwood shortage is not only a problem of survival but also of poverty and development: any solutions can contribute substantially to the welfare of those who have no alternative sources of energy, employment and income.

Fuelwood was stressed as a priority area for action by the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, Nairobi 1981, and since then repeatedly by many international meetings such as the XXI FAO Conference. Action so far is not proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. A high level of political priority and commitment is indispensable. The Fuelwood and Energy priority Action Programme is designed to stimulate Governments and the international community to act without further delay on a scale proportionate to the needs and potential of forestry for energy in the tropics.

The following section of the document identifies the main types and specific nature of fuelwood situations that prevail in the tropics This is followed by an analysis of the problems and an appraisal of possible solutions. Section 4 will present the priority Action Programme, its strategy and objectives: it will describe the Programme components. The final section will indicate the development assistance needs of the priority Action Programme. Annex 1 presents some examples of project profiles and specifies the actions required in the main types of situations identified earlier.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN TYPES OF SITUATIONS

Recent analyses provide the basis for identifying the main types of fuelwood situations in tropical countries as well as their location and nature. A classification of fuelwood situations is thus derived which should help in identifying priorities for action, in designing appropriate approaches and in reaching effective solutions.

Table 1 provides a list of 60 countries where varying degrees of fuelwood deficits affect the totality or part of their territory and populations. An additional 7 countries were not suffering a major fuelwood deficit in the early 1980s but clearly would be by the year 2000 if no corrective action were undertaken.

Table 2 indicates the orders of magnitude of population and fuelwood deficit involved as well as the countries mainly threatened such fuelwood situations.

The following types of fuelwood situations are identified:

2.1 Acute fuelwood scarcity

The level of available fuelwood is so dramatically inadequate compared to needs that even overcutting of the resources does not provide people with a sufficient supply, driving consumption clearly below minimum subsistence requirements. This situation results either from particularly difficult ecological conditions or from depletion of the resource under high population pressure, or a combination of both.

Acute fuelwood scarcities prevail in the following areas:

Arid and semi-arid areas: characterized by multiple demand (fuel, fodder, food) on low productive and fragile resource base, dispersed distribution of resources constraining accessibility and use, limited prospects for food and economic self-sufficiency due to low and erratic rainfalls, high risk of irreversible deterioration of the environment due to overexploitation of the natural vegetation particularly around watering points and cities, low economic return of investment acting as a deterrent to more investment.

Mountainous areas: characterized by higher energy requirements due to climate, scarcity of suitable land for food production as compared to population densities, expansion of agriculture on steeper hill sides and fragile terrains, multiple demand (fuel, fodder) on remaining vegetation, impact of the destruction of the tree vegetation on water supplies and soil stability also affecting downstream plains, inaccessibility of remaining forest resources.

In the early 1980s, some 100 million people dependent on fuelwood, half of them in Africa, were suffering a fuelwood deficit of over 90 million cubic meters, clearly identifiable as an acute scarcity. Without corrective action, the fuelwood deficit will grow and affect 150 million people by the year 2000. In most cases fuelwood will have to be replaced by other fuels. The complete destruction of the tree vegetation will leave these fragile ecosystems unprotected against degradation.

2.2 Fuelwood deficit

People dependent on fuelwood are able to meet their current needs only by overcutting the existing resources, leading to further degradation or total destruction. This situation results either from the fast expansion of population and agriculture in relatively favourable ecological conditions or from high population densities concentrated in fertile lowlands.

Such fuelwood deficits prevail in the following areas:

Areas with rapidly increasing population and agriculture: relatively favourable ecological conditions lead to concentration of population; fast expansion of subsistence as well as cash crop agriculture and therefore accelerated destruction of tree cover; shortening of fallow periods and decline of bush fallow capacity to produce fuelwood; wasteful destruction of tree biomass in forest clearing operations for major agricultural expansion and civil works schemes; uneven distribution of remaining tree vegetation as compared to concentration of populations either in agricultural areas or in urban centers; continuous dependence on fuelwood and charcoal of fastgrowing urban energy demand and impact on surrounding rural areas.

Densely populated lowlands: due to favourable ecological conditions and very high population densities, limited forest resources are left as all accessible land is converted to food production; overwhelming importance of rural trees and agricultural residues in fuelwood supplies; increasing numbers of landless and poor are faced with restricted access to food and fuel supplies; unavailability of land suitable for tree planting combined with shortening or disappearance of fallow periods.

In the early 1980s approximately 980 million people dependent on fuelwood, the majority in Asia, were faced with a fuelwood deficit of 300 million m[3] as compared to the levels of available sustainable supplies. Such deficits were met by overcutting available resources and using extensively agricultural residues. If current trends remain unchecked, by the year 2000 the fuelwood deficit will more than double and over 1 600 million people will face an acute scarcity of fuelwood.

2.3 Prospective fuelwood deficit

Fuelwood supplies still exceeded the demand in 1980 but current trends of growing demands and shrinking resources will lead to a deficit by year 2000. This is the case in another group of areas with rapidly increasing populations and expanding agriculture, but more favourable ecological conditions.

If action is not undertaken sufficiently in advance to prevent a continuous degradation of the supply-demand situation, approximately 460 million people will face a quickly increasing fuelwood deficit of over 90 million m by year 2000.

2.4 Fuelwood surplus

A number of countries still have large forest resources compared to the size of the populations who live in or around these forests. Available fuelwood supplies consequently exceed and will continue to exceed the demand from the local populations even if in some cases the surplus may be decreasing gradually. Surplus fuelwood is potentially valuable for the production of wood-based electricity or power for rural and industrial development and can substitute for fossil fuels, contributing to national energy self-reliance.

The following are characteristic of such surplus situations:

Low populated forest areas: sparse distribution of populations available fuelwood supplies far exceeding demand except in the areas surrounding major urban concentrations, limited infrastructure constraining access to energy supplies and consequently rural and industrial development, large potential of wood energy to supply local power for rural and industrial development as well as fuelwood for household needs, potential to substitute conventional commercial fuels and to export charcoal to international markets and to nearby fuelwood deficit areas.

When favourable ecological and population distribution conditions allow the existence or creation of such a surplus, this surplus should be mobilized to contribute to the national energy balance.

2.5 Urban centres

In all situations without exception major urban centers are a special problem. A large number of urban people, particularly the poor, continue to depend on woodfuels, often having shifted from fuelwood to charcoal. The impact of such concentrated demand on the surrounding rural areas becomes severe as the limited fuelwood supplies are sold to the urban market and the rural user can hardly find any substitute. Urban centers therefore, call for special treatment. In South Asia alone 111 towns of over l00 000 inhabitants are found in areas where huge fuelwood deficits already exist in relation to rural demand only. Urban energy demand in Africa also still depends much on surrounding fuelwood supplies.

3. MAIN PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The previous section identified the types of fuelwood situations, and the magnitude of populations involved, clearly indicating the urgency and massive scale of efforts required. The present section will focus on an analysis of the main issues involved in the fuelwood problem and the identification of remedial actions.

Problems

An overwhelming proportion of the population in the tropics (up to 90% in some countries) live in rural areas and make their living growing food and grazing livestock. Traditionally trees are a normal feature of all landuse systems. However, the combined pressure of increasing human and animal populations results in the exploitation and often complete destruction of all tree vegetation. The spreading of cultivation to poorer sites original]y under tree cover and the increasing remoteness of remaining forest resources exacerbate the tight fuelwood supply situation. Trees of subsistence, economic or protection values are cut for fuel. Traditional landuse systems evolve towards more intensive and less stable forms with shorter fallow periods and reduced tree presence thus accentuating the fuelwood shortage and the risk of environmental degradation. Certain trends in commercial agriculture hasten this deterioration. Some rural industries or agricultural processing activities, such as tobacco curing, place heavy concentrated demands on fuelwood supplies.

Traditionally fuelwood was considered a free good provided by nature. The disappearance of trees is mostly due to the expansion of agriculture. Restoring fuelwood supplies cannot be entrusted to forestry alone while agriculture continues to expand and ignore the problem. Approaches which integrate forestry, agriculture and energy are essential to solving the fuelwood problem.

As fuelwood becomes scarcer and more distant, people are forced to devote more time or money to obtaining it. Fuelwood becomes increasingly an economic commodity with more and more people involved in its exploitation and trade. On private lands, as fuelwood becomes a cash crop for its owner, this means more and more restricted access to supplies for the landless and the poor. They depend increasingly on supplies from common lands and as they have no alternative sources of subsistence they make their living by exploiting the natural vegetation to supply fuelwood to others: this often takes place in the ecologically poorer areas which can least support heavy cutting.

Increasing quantities of crop residues and animal dung get used for fuel; where this diverts them from use as livestock feed and soil fertilizer and conditioner, the consequence can be declining crop and livestock yields.

When the rural poor migrate to join the urban poor, they continue to depend on wood as their fuel for cooking and heating. When they shift away from fuelwood it is usually first to charcoal, a more convenient wood fuel, but one which is very wasteful of the wood raw material, as much of the energy is lost in the production process. In many developing countries urban use of wood fuels is a very large, and growing, part of total use of these fuels.

Concentrated urban demand places heavy pressures on supply in nearby rural areas. In wood-sparse arid areas it can completely denude the surrounding countryside. Even where there is wood-rich bush fallow it can be severely degraded - to the detriment of its agricultural as well as fuelwood producing potential. In upland tropical areas it can accelerate the destructive process of erosion and total vegetative removal.

Under the pressure to meet urban demand for fuelwood and charcoal, wood fuels become a market commodity. The organization of the wood fuels market and the pricing mechanisms are constrained by the dispersed nature of the production, the number of people involved, and the limited transportability of the produce. Inadequate physical, economic and legal conditions restrict access to the resource.

Insufficient attention is given to mobilizing existing supplies in response to the location of the demand. Recent analyses have shown that in the vicinity of fuelwood deficit areas there are often fuelwood resources which remain untapped because they are hard to reach. Opening these resources to managed production could even be sufficient to fill the gap or alleviate the pressure while measures with a longer term effect get underway.

In order to meet long-term increasing energy demand by growing populations, fuelwood supplies will have to be complemented by other sources of energy. People confronted with fuelwood scarcities often switch to other fuels; this is also a feature of changing energy consumption patterns along with socio-economic development. These changes in energy consumption are poorly understood. New energy technologies such as solar or biogas are often neither socially nor economically acceptable to fuelwood users. Other possibilities cannot be satisfactorily explored with present-day knowledge and this hinders sound energy planning.

Approaches to solutions

The previous analyses as well as recent experiences clearly indicate the steps to take:

- where the remaining tree resources can still supply substantial quantities of fuelwood, priority attention should be given to their protection and management and to conditions of access. Special efforts are necessary to install the necessary infrastructure and to improve the productivity of the natural woody vegetation. The integration of such existing resources in agriculture/forestry landuse planning and the intensification of agricultural systems productivity will make increases in food production less dependent on expansion to land presently covered by tree vegetation;

- in creating additional fuelwood resources preference should be given to the multiplication of small woodlots and trees grown in the vicinity of the users. The multiple benefits of trees in providing fuel, timber, fodder, food and environmental protection should stimulate people's interest in growing trees. Multi-purpose species which can be combined with food crops offer further possibilities;

- developing economic approaches which stimulate farmers' investment in tree growing to produce fuelwood as a cash crop is crucial. Production aspects must be considered as well as market organization, price mechanisms, equitable distribution of income and benefits, extension and organizational support;

- people's participation on a massive scale is vital to the success of any fuelwood programme. No government or other institution can afford the cost and size of programmes required to solve the fuelwood problem. Information, motivation and extension based on appropriate socio-economic investigation of people's needs and aspirations are essential;

- combined activities to increase supplies, to economize energy and conserve natural resources are appropriate ways of demonstrating to people how to improve their capability to act directly and appropriately within their own cultural and socio-economic context;

- because a large group of fuelwood users are landless and poor, ways must be found to safeguard their access to supplies and their participation in the benefits of fuelwood programmes; this may include providing access to land to grow food and fuel;

- different approaches are needed to the supply of urban and other commercial markets and to the primarily subsistence rural demand with emphasis on village and farm tree planting for the latter and commercial operations for the former.

A wide range of options is possible but four essential requirements of a successful fuelwood programme are likely to be:

- a clear commitment by the government, translated into the sustained support and funding, to adapt the legal framework as necessary and to strengthen the responsible agencies;

- participation of rural people in the conservation and management of forests and trees and also in the equable distribution of benefits through effective cooperation between government agencies and rural communities;

- a forest service trained and equipped to directly manage publicly owned forests and to support the efforts of others to grow trees on their own land;

- a sound proven technical base well adapted to local ecological, social and economic situations.

All the conditions for successful programmes seldom occur in one country, despite the acuteness of the problem, and the call of the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy for a five-fold increase in current rates of tree planting for fuelwood. Hence the importance and urgency of this Fuelwood and Energy priority Action Programme.

4. ACTION PROGRAMME ON FUELWOOD AND ENERGY

The fuelwood/rural energy problem is complex both in nature and magnitude. It cannot be dissociated from the overall framework of rural development, the stability of the environment on which life depends and the multiple contribution of trees to the rural economy. Fortunately solutions to improving the supply, distribution and use of wood fuels do exist. Unlike other forms of energy, no new technology is required beyond the adaptation of traditional forestry techniques to local needs and possibilities. The task is to adapt and diffuse mature technologies and to mobilize the resources required for a massive effort. Time and scale of action are the critical factors.

4.1 Global strategy

The UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy indicated fuelwood and rural energy as a priority area for action. The Nairobi Programme of Action identified the main lines of action which fully apply to situations prevailing in the tropics:

Actions to increase the supply of wood for energy

i) protect and manage more intensively existing resources in all natural tree formations; rest overexploited areas, use all available biomass, including residues, and apply active management techniques even to lower-quality woodlands for energy production;

ii) grow more wood for fuel: increase massively the employment of fast-growing multipurpose trees in landuse systems outside the forest, at farm and community level and in non-conventional areas mainly through self-help activities by the fuelwood produced.

Actions to efficiently conserve and use wood energy

iii) organize the distribution and marketing: ensure stable access to and more economical use of available supplies, organize the supply from farther resources to counterbalance local shortages, ensure an equitable remuneration of the producers as an incentive to further investment;

iv) use wood energy more efficiently: reduce the level of consumption through improved conversion technologies all the way from better fuel preparation, improved charcoal-making efficiency to improved stoves and other end use devices in domestic as well as industrial uses.

Actions to diversify energy supplies and use

v) substitute or complement wood energy with other forms of energy either conventional or renewable with particular attention to the end users' capability to absorb the technological change and to support the cost involved;

vi) increase the production of commercial wood-based energy such as charcoal for urban or industrial use, electricity or power for rural applications whenever a surplus of wood for energy exist or can be created.

In most situations no one line of action can solve the problem but a combination of efforts to increase the supplies and to conserve and use wood-based energy more efficiently will produce a faster, greater and long-lasting impact.

The technical bases are known but constraints are many and relate mainly to the magnitude of what is required to make good the shortage of human and financial resources, the lack of political commitment, the weakness of national executing institutions and the lack of information and awareness at all levels.

4.2 Goals and objectives of the Action Programme

The Action Programme is designed to increase national and international awareness of the gravity and consequences of the fuelwood/energy problem in tropical countries and to assist in realizing the potential of forestry to solve this problem, by establishing strong national programmes which are commensurate with the scale of the problems. To this end the Action Programme shall:

- raise political awareness, encourage sustained commitment and support of wood energy programmes, and assist in adapting and strengthening the responsible institutions;

- promote coordinated policies and programmes defining priorities for wood energy in national, rural energy and forestry planning; encourage the collection of the information required for sound planning regarding resources, production and use of wood for energy.

- develop and diffuse successful approaches which integrate environmental, social, economic and technical aspects and promote the transition to more efficient technologies and cost-effective solutions;

- encourage the active participation of rural communities and local organizations in the design, implementation and distribution of benefits of fuelwood/wood energy actions, and strengthen their capability to undertake and sustain self-help initiatives;

- mobilize international technical and financial assistance to build up capabilities and meet the preinvestment requirements of large scale programmes; and encourage international and national financing agencies to increase the funds available for investment in large scale wood energy programmes; stimulate a concerted effort of the international community in order to ensure that no country wishing assistance is left without.

- promote international and regional cooperation in research, development, demonstration and training in new developments and successful approaches.

The Action Programme is intended to provide guidelines both for the authorities concerned in tropical developing countries and for the international community, also to stimulate immediate action and support for a sustained commitment to improve the fuelwood situation.

4.3 Programme description

To fulfil its objectives the Action Programme shall consist of:

- Global assistance programme for fuelwood/wood energy development (country strategy and programme formulation, exchange of information, coordination of approaches).

- Support to national fuelwood/wood energy programmes:

i) Preparatory Assistance/Preinvestment Programme

ii) Investment Programme.

- Development of wood-based energy systems for rural and industrial development.

- Regional training and demonstration programmes in support to fuelwood actions.

- Inter-regional programme for intensification of wood energy research and development.

While they are specifically oriented to tropical countries these action programmes coincide broadly with those being submitted to the consideration of the UN Global Consultative Meeting on New and Renewable Sources of Energy for the follow-up of the Nairobi Conference on the same subject.

4.3.1 Global assistance programme for fuelwood/wood energy development

Many tropical developing countries began to respond to the fuelwood/rural energy crisis as it became clear that its environmental, social and economic consequences were not to be alleviated by any softening of the international fossil fuels situation. However, much more remains to be done. National priorities, strategies and programmes need to be further developed in line with the accelerating degradation of the fuelwood situation and the growing magnitude of the population who continue to depend on fuelwood.

The objectives of this Programme are therefore to:

- diagnose the fuelwood problem in individual tropical countries and evaluate the options for alleviating the situation and from this develop realistic policies and strategies for national fuelwood/wood energy actions;

- assist individual countries in planning large scale national fuelwood programmes; identify preparatory assistance/preinvestment needs; establish and strengthen the necessary national technical, human and institutional basis for such programmes;

- provide a mechanism for exchanging information on all phases of current and new programmes: to lead to speeding up the preparation of sound projects making the best use of accumulated experience and to expediting distribution of assistance requests among the international community.

To fulfil its objectives, the activities of the Programme should consist of:

- country fuelwood assessment missions: selection is to be based on the seriousness of the fuelwood situation and the commitment of the national authorities to undertake necessary actions. The result should be a realistic proposal for a national strategy for fuelwood/wood energy development and an identification both for the country and the international community of the priority investment and technical assistance requirements to implement the strategy;

- country project formulation activities: mainly as a follow-up to the previous activity, attention shall be devoted to project proposals that establish the necessary institutional, human and technical capabilities to launch national programmes commensurate with the scale of the problem and the potential of forestry to respond to it;

- annual ad hoc working group meetings to discuss specific experiences and new developments in important fuelwood action areas with the participation of experts from developing countries and from multi-lateral and bilateral donor agencies;

- dissemination of information on problems and developments as well as on current programmes and on new programme requests.

This Programme is envisaged for an initial duration of 4 years. The development of the Programme should be monitored by a Task Force representing the main institutions, multi-lateral and bilateral, willing to participate in the Fuelwood and Energy Action Programme for tropical countries.

The financial requirements of this Programme should cover:

- Programme development activities: country fuelwood assessment and formulation missions for identification of assistance needs of national fuelwood programmes (25 countries): $ 750 000

- Ad hoc working groups meetings including the travel of 9 experts from developing countries - approximately: $ 200 000

- Consultancy funds to prepare the annual meetings: $ 80 000

- Reports and publications including secretariat: $ 100 000

The total cost of the Programme would therefore be: $1 130 000

4.3.2 Support to national fuelwood/wood energy programmes

Some 60 tropical and sub-tropical countries suffer from worsening fuelwood deficits. The guest for fuelwood by an increasing population is a major factor in deforestation and environmental destabilization. The prospects for meeting the future demand for fuelwood/wood energy of populations which lack physical or economic access to other sources of energy are dismal. A major sustained effort is indispensable to mobilize the forestry potential to supply more fuelwood. But it will just not be possible to act on the required scale unless the initiative to solve their own problem is assumed by the rural people themselves. Trees grown for energy can also help restore the fertility of the land, increase food production, provide material for shelter and rural industries and improve the quality of rural life. No other source of energy can make such a contribution towards alleviating rural poverty and achieving rural development, thereby stimulating people's participation. In particular areas, free of land pressure, a surplus of wood for energy could be created to supply biomass for producing commercial energy to enhance rural and industrial development.

Strong national fuelwood action programmes are likely to better provide the requirements of massive mobilization of resources and the required framework for a widespread effort. The main element of the

Fuelwood and Energy priority Action Programme shall therefore be the support to national fuelwood/wood energy action programmes.

A national action programme on fuelwood/wood energy should improve the fuelwood situation by:

- reducing the pressure on existing supplies through fostering more efficient and economical use by both commercial and subsistence users;

- increasing the supplies from remnant forest and tree resources through effective management and organized access;

- establishing additional supplies through large-scale tree planting for concentrated urban or industrial demand and through a massive increase of trees in land use systems at village or farm levels;

- promoting an efficient market organization and equitable remuneration to the producers in order to encourage sustained investment in fuelwood production;

- alleviating the pressures on remaining supplies by substituting other sources of energy whenever possible and rational; and exploring the potential for developing the production and use of energy based on woody biomass.

The categorization of fuelwood deficit situations (e.g.arid areas, mountains, densely populated plains) is a basis for identifying specific action priorities. A solid basis for programme development should include: information on fuelwood resources and needs and the socioeconomic situation of target groups, knowledge of suitable tree species, adapted plantation and management techniques, efficient conversion and end-use devices, an appropriate framework for the ownership of and access to the fuelwood resources, suitable incentives and participative mechanisms to mobilize the rural populations, strong institutions responsible for technical support to and implementation of the fuelwood programmes. When this necessary basis does not exist or needs strengthening, preparatory assistance is required.

4.3.2.1 Preparatory Assistance Programme

The objective of the Preparatory Assistance Programme is to establish the capability to organize and implement major large-scale fuelwood programmes that reverse and improve current fuelwood situations in the countries most in need of such programmes.

Preparatory assistance could include one or more of the following elements depending on needs:

- collection of the information required for programme planning and development: nature and location of fuelwood supplies and demands, characteristics of fuelwood growers and users, reaction of people to fuelwood scarcities, including aspects related to the adaptation of forestry policy, strategy and institutional framework;

- development and demonstration of suitable solutions including technical, environmental and socio-economic aspects related to fuelwood supply and use;

- training of forestry personnel and extension agents; development of information and extension materials and programmes;

- strengthening the capability of forestry institutions to organize an efficient supply of fuelwood, to encourage rural people, and provide sustained technical support to their effort to protect and increase their fuelwood resource;

- adaptation/reorganization of the institutional framework; adaptation of legal arrangements for access to fuelwood resources, land tenure and use, distribution of benefits, incentives and credit systems, organization of producer groupings, development of a monitoring and evaluation system, and any other relevant matters.

- financing: meeting the pre-investment requirements (human resources, physical infrastructure, pilot activities), providing the financial incentives to induce people's participation, and evaluating the financial implications of large scale programmes.

According to recent experience the establishment of a national fuelwood programme should include a package of linked fact-finding, technical assistance and implementation components: its cost can be approximately estimated at 5 million US Dollars over a period of 4 to 5 years but only a country by country analysis can provide more precise indications of specific assistance needs and costs. Funds are required essentially to cover technical assistance, training and institutional strengthening, equipment and infrastructure, a variable proportion of local costs and labour incentives. Some examples of project profiles typical situations identified in Section 2 are given in Annex 1.

The Preparatory Assistance Programme is designed to address in absolute priority country or regional situations of fuelwood scarcity or deficit: it will directly prepare the larger investments required. FAO has identified 25 countries in acute fuelwood scarcity and 35 countries in marked fuelwood deficit. The proposed Preparatory Assistance Programme is designed for 25 countries on the basis of a quick review of major preparatory assistance already being provided. It is proposed that during the forthcoming 5 years support to 25 national fuelwood programmes will be initiated, each for a duration of 4 to 5 years. Phasing the activities of the Programme result in a duration of 10 years. The cost of establishing or strengthening the basis for large-scale fuelwood programmes in 25 countries is estimated at $ 130 million.

4.3.2.2 Investment Programme

A major investment effort is needed in the massive scale of action to develop and organize fuelwood supplies. The Technical Panel on Fuelwood and Charcoal for the preparation of the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy [1] estimated at $ 1 000 million per year up to year 2000 the cost for the developing world of making up the total fuelwood deficit by the end of the century. It is estimated that, in the 60 fuelwood deficit tropical countries listed in table 1a, b, the investment in the sustainable production of an additional 900 million m3 of fuelwood per year - to fill the deficit with which otherwise 2 000 million people would be faced in year 2000 - would be of the order of US$ 10 000 million over 10 years [2]. It will result also in increased production of other important forest products for the rural economy (poles, fodder, etc.) and in significant environmental benefits. The actual cost of investment to governments and funding agencies will depend on the degree of involvement of local rural populations and their willingness to invest their own land and labour in self-help fuelwood programmes and on the capability of governments to generate investment funds from the profits arising from the organization of fuelwood markets and the manipulation of fuelwood prices to this effect. This will ultimately influence the share of financial resources raised locally and the need for external funding.

The World Bank has estimated at 1 636 million US$ the cost of an accelerated Investment Programme for a five-year period (1987-1991) for 31 tropical countries which suffer significant fuelwood shortages and need accelerated development of tree planting and agroforestry activities (see Annex 2). This estimate takes into account the time which is initially required to build up the capabilities and infrastructure for large-scale planting programmes.

4.3.3 Programme for the development of wood-based commercial energy

Despite the fact that wood is usually considered a non-commercial source of energy, commercial forms of wood-based energy do exist such as charcoal, producer gas, electricity, alcohols and oils, and some of them are already used in significant quantities.

The largest share of wood fuels is used to meet subsistence needs at household level and of some rural industries such as: tea, coffee, grain drying, lime production, brick and pottery making, etc. Wood is likely to remain a major source of energy in most of the developing countries in the foreseeable future and it is possible that, due to the cost of commercial sources of energy, it will gain new markets in the substitution of fossil fuels for industrial uses such as: charcoal in cement factories, wood pellets for steam generation, electricity production, etc. Therefore, where there is a surplus of wood or where this could be created, wood can supply additional quantities of energy to improve and increase production in rural activities and industrial uses without conflicting with traditional uses.

Wood-based energy systems are flexible and can match local needs and resources. They result in retaining cash and other resources within the rural communities, in creating employment and income locally and in generating favourable conditions for development. This represents a valuable opportunity to stimulate self-sustaining economic development, improve agricultural production and reduce the dependency of rural communities and industries on imported fossil fuels.

The main objective of this Programme is the development and diffusion of suitable wood energy systems for increasing the supply of energy (and agro-industrial residues) in order to raise rural and industrial productivity, improve the quality of rural life and stimulate technological progress towards a more efficient and self-sustained production, conversion and utilization of locally available renewable wood energy resources.

To achieve the objective proposed the following activities are required:

- identify and analyse the potential contribution of available forest biomass to meet the energy demand in urban and rural areas;

- identify and evaluate appropriate technical solutions compatible with the resources available and the prevailing socio-economic conditions;

- establish wood-based commercial energy demonstration projects and/or promote the adaptation and diffusion of more efficient wood energy production, conversion and use systems;

- provide the necessary techno-economic assistance to strengthen national institutions in order to create the required technical, legal and financial capabilities to support the development of self-sustained projects;

- strengthen research and development activities on wood-based energy and propose the necessary changes in order to adapt them to the new requirements;

- train managerial and technical staff and labourers, to aim at a proper development of activities implemented under the projects;

- promote the exchange of experience on wood energy in order to hasten their improvement and collect the necessary technical, economic and social information for their evaluation and dissemination.

This Programme will establish the demonstration basis which will provide countries with the necessary information and experience to develop wood-based commercial energy programmes to complement or substitute fossil fuels and improve the use of indigenous renewable energy sources in their national energy balances. This Programme will also strengthen national capabilities to disseminate effective and proven systems.

The Programme will mainly develop country level actions and will also promote regional cooperation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The total cost of this Programme is estimated at US$ 9 million for a duration of 4 years.

4.3.4 Regional training and demonstration programmes in support of fuelwood action

The lack of adequate technical and social skills in forestry prevents most developing countries from sustaining the scale of fuelwood action required. Solving the fuelwood problem entails new attitudes and substantial reorientation within forestry, particularly in connection with the relationship with rural people. New staff should be trained at all levels in public and private institutions and existing staff should receive complementary training in new approaches to rural fuelwood programmes. Advances in training can also be more effective if strongly supported by a solid basis of demonstration activities where the real lessons of concrete action can be learnt and the effectiveness of working together with the rural people can be illustrated. Few countries have the necessary facilities. Regional and sub-regional cooperation in training and demonstration based on common ecological, socio-economic, cultural and technical conditions could accelerate substantially the building up of required skills. By pooling experience and resources, more efficiently results are likely to be achieved while the national facilities are being gradually built up.

The immediate objective of the Regional Training and Demonstration Programmes is to assist individual countries in mobilizing the human resources required for their fuelwood programmes through regional and sub-regional programmes designed to:

- accelerate the training of national personnel at all levels by mobilizing existing training facilities and developing new training programmes such as multi-country intensive courses for countries with similar ecological and socio-cultural conditions;

- stimulate regional co-operation through the exchange of teaching staff, through their further training in the various approaches involved in fuelwood programmes, and through multi-country inservice training in more advanced countries as well as repetition of intensive training courses for field staff;

- develop appropriate training and extension material and skills in technical and human sciences for national training programmes in forestry and rural energy;

- establish demonstration activities to further strengthen the effectiveness of training.

In each region, Africa, Asia and Latin America a programme lasting approximately four years will:

- assist countries in assessing their training and extension needs and preparing their training activities in support of their fuelwood programmes;

- encourage governments to give access to existing training facilities to those countries which lack such facilities, with particular emphasis on the introduction of new orientations of forestry towards rural development into syllabuses and into the teaching skills of the teaching staff; attention should focus on training the trainers who will constitute the core for new or improved national training programmes;

- establish a cooperative network of demonstration activities through which effective approaches, methods and technologies can systematically be built into the training and extension efforts of fuelwood programmes;

- develop suitable materials to disseminate knowledge about effective solutions and facilitate their widespread application: this should include information, training an extension material mainly directed at field staff and rural people;

- organize intensive training courses that can be held repeatedly on technical and socio-economic aspects involved in fuelwood programmes, either on a regional or a subregional level, based on the similarity of ecological and socioeconomic conditions and problems; such training courses shall be directed towards field technicians and extension staff.

- provide follow-up assistance at country level for the establishment of national training and demonstration activities.

Given the importance of the effective reorientation of forestry towards rural development, it is clear that the relatively new aspects of technical extension support, of involving people in forestry/fuelwood actions and of the closer collaboration between forestry, agriculture and energy deserve special attention. The mechanism of regional cooperation will ensure the sharing of experience and the appropriateness of solutions based on the similarity of problems and of socio-economic and cultural features.

Each regional programme should call as much as possible on the expertise available in the region in order to develop regional self reliance and to take full advantage of local technical knowledge and cultural experience. In addition, substantial technical and financial assistance will be required for the preparation and dissemination of training and extension material, for support to training in the new disciplines and their introduction in teaching skills, for the implementation of intensive training moduli and the establishment of the supporting network of demonstration activities.

The financial requirements for each regional programme is estimated at $ 3 million over a period of four years. The total cost for the three regional programmes Africa, Asia, Latin America would amount to $ 9 million.

4.3.5 Inter-regional programme for intensification of wood energy research and development

The complex nature of the fuelwood problem in the tropics as well as the potential contribution of forestry to energy supplies both call for substantial intensification of applied research in the various technical and socio-economic aspects of fuelwood production and use: including amongst other subjects species selection, integration of trees in farming systems, conversion technologies and improved stoves. Such applied research must be geared towards efficient and reliable solutions which meet the technical, environmental and socio-economic features of specific local conditions to increase the effectiveness of fuelwood programmes and speed up their development and impact. Forestry research needs in developing countries are documented in a joint FAO/World Bank Report published in 1981 which identifies the need to substantially strengthen existing research institutions. The present Programme is an effort to intensify wood energy related programmes.

Until recently forestry research has not given sufficient attention to the production and use of wood energy despite its importance in rural energy. General solutions to fuelwood problems are available, but there is a lack of knowledge and experience concerning suitable local applications. In addition to insufficient experience and a lack of resources in national research programmes there had been little or no stimulation through exchange of information and coordination with programmes operating in similar situations or problem areas. As a result, national fuelwood programmes are being markedly hampered by insufficient research support for the identification and development of suitable local solutions. Capable research institutions do exist but they lack human and financial resources.

The main objective of this Programme is to strengthen national, regional and inter-regional research programmes in energy related forestry research in order to:

- build up national research capabilities and experience related to wood energy production and use;

- encourage cooperation between research institutions in developing countries, particularly through complementary programmes on priority topics of common concern;

- develop applied research programmes aimed at identifying and implementing solutions for specific ecological and human energy problems or at advancing technological development with a longer term impact;

- stimulate the exchange of information and experience concerning new solutions and approaches of both a technical and socioeconomic nature being investigated or experimented within a group of similar situations and problems,

- speed up the development and transfer of appropriate systems of demonstrated effectiveness on the basis of which large fuelwood programmes can be established successfully including, whenever possible, the production of modern forms of energy for development.

The Inter-regional Programme should consist of three subprogrammes which address the specific conditions and problems prevailing in arid and sub-arid areas, mountainous areas and densely populated plains where major fuelwood deficits are located and which clearly call for an accelerated development of appropriate solutions.

The development of solutions of demonstrated effectiveness is required in fuelwood related silviculture, conversion technologies, social, economic and environmental aspects.

The three sub-programmes should not only investigate the technical validity and the environmental impact but also the socio-economic acceptability of approaches being developed as well as the problems related to such matters as existing institutional arrangements, land tenure and land use systems, participative mechanisms for rural people, impact of solutions on the rural groups and transfer of research results to field staff and farmers.

The three sub-programmes will work as cooperative networks of research institutions in countries partly or totally involved in the typical situations or active in the related fields: cooperative arrangements shall be established by mutual agreement. The activities of the sub-programmes shall consist in:

- defining priorities for cooperation in applied research and selecting specific subjects of most immediate relevance to the development and success of fuelwood/wood energy programmes;

- organizing multidisciplinary and complementary programmes in participating research institutions and providing assistance

- promoting training programmes for researchers including inservice training and secondments;

- stimulating the regular exchange of information, experience and contacts between researchers and institutions and collecting, publishing and disseminating the results of research and experimentation;

- providing donor agencies with the information on applied research programmes and their needs and priorities for technical and financial assistance.

A core of expertise will be required to intensify research and development in the new factors most critical to the success of fuelwood programmes and to promote the coordination of efforts among participating institutions. Expertise should be drawn as much as possible from the participating institutions which should develop the appropriate cooperation mechanisms among themselves. Technical and financial assistance will be required to support the activities of the Interregional Programme and promote the exchange of experience and expertise.

According to information and practical experience available, an approximate evaluation of financial requirements can be made. On the basis of 4 years duration, the funding requirement of the Programme can be estimated at $ 4 million.

5. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDS

Previous sections emphasized the magnitude and the complexity of the action required in order to meet the needs of populations which continue to depend on fuelwood. The scale of the necessary action cannot be overemphasized. The complexity of the problem makes it imperative to respect the manifold links between forestry, agriculture, environment and energy in the tropics. Well directed development assistance can play a critical role in providing the necessary support both for strengthening the national capabilities and for stimulating concrete achievements which could serve at least as a demonstration base for wider diffusion.

In describing the components of the priority Action Programme some indications are already provided as to the kind of assistance that is required. This section outlines the main orientations of the development assistance required in support of the Action Programme. Both technical and financial assistance are required.

a) Technical assistance

The purpose should be to generate or strengthen the capabilities of tropical countries to develop and diffuse appropriate solutions which meet their specific ecological, social and economic, political and financial

This requires above all, a most serious effort to support the development of training and extension programmes which transfer to technical field staff and to rural people themselves the necessary knowledge of suitable ways of improving the supply and use of fuelwood together with meeting other related needs. Training and extension is the area where innovative approaches are most necessary to make sure that technical solutions are being implemented after careful evaluation of their effectiveness and after a two way communication with the rural people to ensure their involvement and genuine acceptance from the start.

Assistance to demonstration activities should provide an important support to successful implementation by illustrating to all, politicians and people, the effectiveness of the solutions being promoted in addressing the fuelwood problem. Demonstration activities will also provide the critical indication of the appropriateness and acceptability of the solution as well as an essential reference for training and extension.

Assistance in applied research and development may also be required. It should aim at ensuring that innovative methods developed elsewhere are made known and that only solutions of demonstrated suitability to local conditions and effectiveness are being extended to the field. Of equal importance are technical, institutional and socioeconomic research to ensure the appropriateness of selected methods and to maximize the developmental impact of fuelwood actions.

Wherever necessary, technical assistance should also provide support to the multidisciplinary approaches that are required to tackle the fuelwood problem effectively. It has been clearly indicated that the fuelwood and energy problems cannot be solved in isolation from other benefits of trees and other aspects of the rural life and economy. The multidisciplinary approach is essential to identifying the possibilities of improving existing systems, the need for innovations, and the impact of such solutions and their responsiveness to people's needs.

Technical assistance should provide support to all the implementers who can expand the potential of forestry in meeting energy needs: governmental institutions, local and non-governmental organizations, farmers and all community members. Priority should be given to catalysing national action and to supporting activities which result in quick and concrete results.

b) Financial requirements

The global cost of the Fuelwood and Energy Action Programme over 10 years can be summarized as follows, in million US$:

Some countries are already developing significant programmes in the area of fuelwood and wood energy but the proposed Action Programme corresponds to multiplying current levels of action to restore fuelwood supplies at the level of needs by year 2000. The share of external funding as compared to national and local sources is impossible to estimate unless taken on a country by country basis. It can be estimated that it will vary between 40 and 60 percent of the total cost of the Programme. It should be stressed that at the initial stage many national programmes require access to grants in order to establish the solid basis on which loans and other financial commitments can be subscribed. At this stage, financial assistance will need to cover a package of technical assistance and implementation components which shall progress simultaneously to establish the basis for the large-scale programme.

[Chapter IV notes:]

1 / UN General Assembly: Report of the Technical Panel on fuelwood and charcoal on its second session, A/CONF.100/PC/34, February 1981.

2 / e.g. an investment cost of US$ 1-2/Gigajoule to be compared to a cost of US$ 5/Gigajoule for oil at US$ 29/barrel, to which transport and distribution costs and taxes should be added.

CHAPTER V

CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

1. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRIORITY

1.1 Introduction

The main goals of this Action Programme are:

- prevent loss or degradation of the tropical forest resource, while furthering development and the wise use of existing natural resources;

- promote the sustainable use of tropical forest ecosystems, whether exploited or not exploited for the production of timber and wood, in such a way that the genetic resources they contain are safeguarded;

- encourage and facilitate the integrated management of tropical forest ecosystems to provide wildlife and non-wood crops with minimal disturbance of the ecosystems and associated wild genetic resources;

- promote the conservation and management of samples of ecosystems as reservoirs of species diversity.

If the above approaches had been sufficiently implemented in the past, the urgent remedial action now required for the rehabilitation of watersheds, the provision of fuelwood and building up of industrial wood stocks would not be necessary and many billions of dollars could have been turned to other uses. Failure to protect ecosystems and their genetic resources now will result in an inability to respond to future needs and challenges.

The following facts underline the urgent need for action:

- tropical forest is being lost at the rate of more than 11 million hectares a year;

- this loss is selective. Certain types, such as the east coast rain forest of South America and the forests of Madagascar, have almost totally gone; a large proportion of others, such as the very rich lowland dipterocarp forest of south east Asia and the savanna woodlands of west Africa, have been seriously disturbed;

- less than 5% of the productive closed forest is managed in a satisfactory manner for the sustained production of timber;

- a mere 3% of the closed forest area is safeguarded in national parks or other protected areas, and many of these are protected on paper only;

- eighty-one endangered tree species have been identified by the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources for priority action and several hundred other are in need of attention. Few of them are satisfactorily conserved;

- very large areas of fragile soils in catchments and arid areas have been totally devegetated (see Action Programme, "Forestry in Land Use") and the process continues.

The aims of this programme are the prevention of unavoidable loss or degradation of tropical forest resources and furtherance of development through conservation and wise use of ecosystems and genetic resources.

The pursuit of these goals requires that some areas be strictly conserved and that the management of others be modified. Such management is generally compatible with other protective uses, particularly the management of catchments that are prone to erosion and the conservation of fragile soils; and areas managed for these various protective uses can strongly complement each other.

1.2 General context of the action proposed

Both the conservation of ecosystems and the conservation of genetic resources are worldwide endeavours. They attempt to ensure that species and the intra-specific variation inherent in species are preserved in perpetuity and, at the same time, contribute to present development and human well-being. This requires that the systems of protected areas should be comprehensive in all countries and that their management should be sound.

If these objectives are to be accomplished it will require a combined and coordinated effort by the tropical countries themselves and donor support and initiatives.

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FAO has been involved in the management of wildlife and on protected areas for 25 years and much of the action on the ground can be traced to these efforts. Protected areas have also been the subject of continuous attention for many years by IUCN, since 1968 by Unesco and since 1972 by UNEP. Cooperative initiatives led to the launching of the World Conservation Strategy in 1980 (IUCN with assistance from UNEP and WWF in collaboration with FAO and Unesco). Other recent initiatives are the Decade of the Tropics of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the IUCN/WWF Plant Conservation Programme.

Action on protected areas has been the subject of the World Conference on National Parks (Bali, 1981) which produced the Bali Action Plan, and of Unesco's First World Conference on Biosphere Reserves (Minsk, 1983) which gave rise to Unesco's Biosphere Reserve Action Plan prepared in early 1984. Actions in the field of protected areas and of the conservation of genetic resources have followed rather different paths. Although genetic conservation has often been quoted as one of the justifications for the establishment of protected areas, especially of the Unesco Biosphere Reserves, very little consideration has been given until recently to the means necessary to preserve intra-specific variation in these areas.

The FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources in 1974 approved Proposals for a Global Programme for Improved Use of Forest Genetic Resources, including some recommendations for in situ and ex situ conservation. Cooperation between FAO's Forestry Department and UNEP led to the publication of a report on the Methodology of Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources (1975)and Guidelines for in situ Conservation of Tropical Woody Species (1984); to the establishment of two in situ genetic reserves in Zambia; and in 1980, to an Expert Consultation on in situ Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources to advise on guidelines for the selection and management of in situ genetic reserves. A new two-year FAO/UNEP Project, focussed on in situ conservation of forest genetic resources, was started in 1985. In all these instances, "forest genetic resources", is understood in its broadest sense, to include all components of the forest ecosystem.

FAO's coordinating and executive activities in forest genetic resources conservation are complemented in ongoing international activities comprising data collecting and storage, monitoring of protected areas and wild plant species by IUCN, development and implementation of the IUCN/WWF Plants Conservation Programme and, conservation of wild relatives of crop species by IBPGR. The FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, at its first session in March 1985, acknowledged the already established inter-agency cooperation and the coordination of the activities of FAO, Unesco UNEP and IUCN through the Ecosystem Conservation Group. The Commission stressed the need for scientific, technical and financial support for national efforts in in situ conservation to be carried out under an international umbrella, requested FAO to place increased emphasis on assistance to developing countries in the formulation and execution of viable projects in in situ conservation, and endorsed the general strategy for action at national and international levels presented to the Commission.

1.4 Main issues

There are seven main issues that require action:

i) there is a pressing and widespread need to design and adopt methods of sustainable silvicultural management for those forests that are not under controlled management;

ii) in view of the rapid destruction or alteration of the tropical forest, it is urgent to select and establish a series of protected areas covering the whole range of variation of tropical ecosystems and the genetic resources of species of actual or potential socio-economic value;

iii) there is a need to guarantee the permanence of existing and future protected areas by improving legislation, the administrative arrangements for implementing legislation, and the management of protected areas;

iv) national parks and other protected areas should be treated as part of the pattern of land use that surrounds them and should be designed and operated in such a way that they are acceptable to local people and bring benefit to them;

v) methods should be developed and adopted that enable the forest to be used for the production of wood, food and other non-wood products in a sustainable manner;

vi) the concepts of conservation policy and management for conservation need to be expanded to include the maintenance of the intra-specific variation of species of actual or potential socio-economic importance; and to adopt measures that conserve as much as possible of the variation of other species whose qualities are not known;

vii) closer links need to be developed between policies for the conservation of ecosystems and of genetic resources on the one hand and, on the other, measures to encourage the recovery of natural vegetation to provide protection for soil and catchment areas.

These matters are all the joint concern of the members of the Ecosystem Conservation Group, each of whom has a part to play in their implementation. Relevant recommendations are included in the Unesco Biosphere Reserve Action Plan and the IUCN Bali Action Plan already mentioned above; and the Report on the FAO/UNEP Expert Consultation of Forest Genetic Resources (FAO, 1980). This programme takes these into account.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN TYPES OF SITUATIONS

The special problems encountered in setting up protected areas or in developing programmes for the conservation of genetic resources are very much related to the status of the vegetation (whether or not it consists of climax formations) and to the density of human population and the prevailing land use in an area. A number of different situations can be recognized which are related to the conservation of ecosystems and of genetic resources. These are the following:

i) Large areas of climax forest undisturbed or almost undisturbed by man and not subject to immediate pressures for agricultural development or timber exploitation. These will retain their value as samples of ecosystems and for genetic resource conservation with very little management as long as they remain undisturbed - a condition which is often linked with their remaiing inaccessible. In dense tropical rain forest most tree species are represented by few individuals often widely separated from each other. Large areas are therefore necessary to conserve the full range of intra-specific variation; the number of individuals is thought to range between 50 and 500 depending on the breeding system and genetic make-up of the species. Local communities are often present in such areas, but usually at low densities. Provided that they remain few in number and continue their traditional ways of life, their presence does not adversely affect conservation and management of such areas. Under these circumstances it is possible to choose the most suitable areas for conservation on biological grounds before external pressures limit the choice.

ii) Areas which require active management or manipulation of the habitat to maintain them in their existing state. There are a number of circumstances in which this may become necessary. For example, the vegetation may be sub-climax - maintained in its present state by some outside influence such as grazing or fire. Alternatively they may be too small to encompass the full range of some of the important migration animals that spend part of the year in them. Or they may contain too little variation of habitat within it to be buffered against normal fluctuations of climate (in areas with both dry and wet zones there is a possibility of limited internal migration in a succession of dry years, which is not available if the area is uniform). Under all these circumstances it is necessary to manipulate the habitat. In genetic resource conservation this is particularly important with species such as the tropical pines which require regular fire or disturbance to regenerate. For the conservation of intra-specific variation, it will be necessary to specify priority species and, based on their present distribution and variation, the limits within which such variation may be allowed to fluctuate.

iii) Densely settled areas where there is a mosaic of cultivated and uncultivated land or where the methods of cultivation are still unintensive. These are often very rich in wildlife and characteristically contain primitive landraces of cultivated crops and relict populations of their wild relatives. The maintenance of such patterns of land use in ways which remain acceptable to the local people pose very special problems. Designing means of dealing with these is a particular concern of Unesco's programme for Biosphere Reserves.

iv) Areas of degraded land where protection of the natural vegetation from cutting and grazing would, at very little cost, bring great benefits in soil conservation and catchment rehabilitation. This would, at the same time, rebuild ecosystems which would have value for wildlife management and the conservation of genetic resources. There are many examples of the spectacular recovery of vegetation where this has been done. Although initially such actions require restrictions on use, within relatively short periods these may be offset by long term benefits to local populations.

v) Areas primarily managed for purposes such as timber production or the grazing of livestock may perform an important supplementary role in supporting populations of wildlife and maintaining chosen genetic stocks, if management systems are designed to take account of the needs of conservation.

There are great opportunities, for example, to incorporate conservation methodologies into managed, gazetted forests (IUCN Category VIII) by combining their management with that of small, strictly preserved areas (such as the Strict Jungle Reserves of Malaysia) and managing both ether in the interests of the genetic resources they contain as well as timber production.

It is necessary to conserve samples of ecosystems and to provide for genetic resource conservation in each of these various circumstances. Each provides very different problems in selection, management and public relations.

3. MAIN PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

All the general constraints discussed in the corresponding section in the Action Programme, "Forestry Land Use" apply equally to the conservation of ecosystems: lack of public awareness and political will; limited investment and lack of economic incentives; inadequate institutional framework and ineffective procedures for ensuring the integration of forestry in land husbandry and proper land use; and lack of research, demonstration, extension and training; but these take a special form in relation to conservation.

3.1 Need to select and establish protected areas as part of national and regional networks

Protected areas for the conservation of wildlife or ecosystems and areas for the conservation of genetic resources are chosen because of their characteristics in an unaltered state; for example they are the best examples of a particular ecosystem, or they are very rich in species, or contain a concentration of endemic species or support populations with a rich range of genotypes. If it is a question of choosing a typical example of an ecosystem there may be alternatives, but in the other cases there may be only one suitable area. The process is different from that used for the selection of areas for, say, agricultural development which depends upon the potential soil fertility of the site and where there are normally many alternatives.

Ideally the selection of areas for protection should, therefore, be carried out before decisions are made to convert forest to other uses. It should also be done on the basis of a national or regional survey which determines the whole range of variation of the ecosystems in question and the target species for conservation, and then selects a system of protected areas to ensure that a reasonable sample of that range of variation is safeguarded. The techniques for this are now reasonably well established and have been applied in a few countries but the process is usually left for too late and is rarely applied systematically.

3.2 Need to assemble the basic information for the conservation of germplasm

The basic scientific knowledge that would provide a sound basis for establishing and managing in situ germplasm reserves requires developing for tropical plants. In fact, many tropical plants are being lost before they are properly understood or investigated for their potential usefulness. There is an urgent need to initiate and complete basic botanical surveys of plant diversity and distribution, and to initiate and complete investigations to clarify what measures are needed to conserve the intra-specific variation of any species, including those of current economic importance. The pilot project recently started by FAO in Cameroon, Malaysia and Peru, as part of the elaboration of a guide on conservation methodology, is a first attempt at country surveys.

To fill the important gap in scientific knowledge pertinent to in situ conservation of plant genetic resources, the international scientific community should be mobilized and should be brought into more direct collaboration with managers of protected areas, foresters and land-use planners.

It is recognized that a large reservoir of knowledge on plants and plant properties is being lost with the de-culturization of indigenous people in the tropics. Tapping of this knowledge to apply it on a wider scale should be part of the survey activities, when appropriate.

3.3 Need to integrate protected area planning into overall land use and regional planning

A satisfactory and effective network of protected areas should be integrated from the beginning into land use national or regional planning. It is bound to be deficient if it is tagged on as an afterthought.

3.4 Need to integrate the management of protected areas and the conservation of genetic resources into rural development and to involve rural communities

Too often in the past the management of protected areas has not been planned in a harmonious fashion and related to the management of surrounding areas. It has paid scant regard to the prevailing land use before the protected area was established, and may even have extinguished traditional rights or displaced indigenous populations.

Also, protected areas are often too small to retain their value unless they are surrounded by less intensively used land (often known as buffer zones). This may, for example, allow grazing animals to migrate into and out of the protected areas at certain seasons.

The rural peoples who live in or around protected areas should derive some benefit from, as well as understand and be sympathetic to such protection, a factor to be taken account of in planning and management.

3.5 Lack of incentives for ecosystem and genetic resource conservation

Here there are problems of reconciling long and short term requirements, together with national and local interests.

There is often no economic incentive for local people to support the establishment of protected areas. The profits from utilization accrue to people in the cities or, in the case of genetic resources, even to people in other countries and regions. Too often protected areas do not provide direct benefits, income, or employment to local people; indeed, as indicated above, they may actually have been penalized when the reserve was established. If local people are to be sympathetic to conservation, protected areas should be managed in such a way as to give the maximum long and short term benefits to those who live near them. A way of ensuring this is by combining protection with controlled cropping of wildlife or by involving local people in wardening. Conservation is often compatible with the managed utilization of goods and services from a protected area or reserve. The key is to link it with furthering rural development.

In exceptional circumstances where systems to involve and benefit local people cannot be devised, it may be necessary to resort to compensatory mechanisms to ensure that communities are not penalized by the existence of conservation activities.

3.6 Lack of awareness of the need for ecosystem and genetic resource conservation

This is a constraint at all levels. Politicians and decision makers seldom see the force of the argument that, in the interests of conservation some restrictions should be put on the exploitation or use of areas apparently suitable for development. To the public conservation seldom appears to offer immediate benefits. Also, as indicated above, local peoples may be hard to convince of the merits of exercising restraint, especially where land is desperately needed for the immediate production of food or fuel.

Many politicians and senior government officials are now becoming familiar with the arguments for establishing national parks and even nature reserves. But the arguments for genetic reserves remain unfamiliar to them. They seem also largely unaware that very large areas of forest and natural vegetation can, if managed with care, provide wood and protein in perpetuity and, at the same time, achieve most of the environmental and genetic benefits of protected areas.

Much of the problem of awareness is due to a gap in communications between the forester/conservationist on the one hand and the decision makers and the public, on the other and it is the responsibility of the foresters to bridge this gap. An urgent and sustained programme of extension and awareness is needed at all levels if the problems are to be understood, and if effective systems of conservation are to be established before many species and much genetic material have been lost. In the presentation of public relations material those persons intimately involved with a problem do not always relate the required message in a clear and attractive manner and it is suggested that any programme would be more effective if professional public relations expertise were involved.

3.7 Lack of financial support for conservation generally and tropical forest ecosystem conservation in particular

This constraint is in part related to the low priority afforded to conservation by governments and to what are considered to be the long term nature of the benefits that conservation provides. This unfortunate situation can only be remedied by a two-pronged campaign of information and education presenting the benefit of conservation and the costs of ignoring proper conservation measures. One campaign would be aimed at the scientific community, whilst in the other (as noted in the previous section), a more popular presentation would be beamed at the wider public. The costs of losing valuable genetic material are enormous and increase rapidly as pressure on land increases. It is in this areas - of conserving and rebuilding resources - that substantial investment by countries, from appropriate sources and by international agencies is, and to this there is no alternative.

3.8 Shortage of trained staff at all levels

The lack of trained staff is a serious management constraint in protected areas. A number of training schools in conservation and wildlife management are operative, but the coverage of these is still insufficient and they need to be supplemented by further regional training facilities in areas inadequately served.

The proper management of germplasm reserves differs greatly from protected area management in general. To address this important problem, increased efforts need to be made to provide appropriate opportunities for training at all levels, to incorporate conservation principles as an integral part of biological and botanical training, and to encourage the preparation of textbooks and other curricular materials pertinent to this field.

Training and education aimed at achieving conservation of genetic resources should cover both ex situ and in situ principles and practices. So far, there has been a lack of linkages between ex situ and in situ operations, but only complementary measures can ensure the conservation of genetic resources. Care should therefore be taken in developing the appropriate links, including those relevant to training and education.

4. ACTION PROGRAMME ON CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

4.1 Goals, conceptual framework and strategy for action

The general goal of the programme is to safeguard development now and in the future, by ensuring the sustainable use of the forest resource and the conservation of representative samples of tropical forest ecosystems and of genetic resources of species of actual or potential socio-economic value. The action programme elaborated below takes account of the fact that direct conservation measures can only be implemented at the national level by the sovereign states concerned. National programmes rely on establishing country-wide networks of protected areas and initiating genetic resource conservation activities. Regional and global programmes are built up from national efforts and much of the accent is on promoting adequate geographical and ecological coverage.

Programme details elaborated below recognize the need for o-ordination with related plans endorsed by member governments in other

The development of the programme will be governed by the following

i) The interests of local peoples and partnership with them is essential. Work should be done at the request of local people, for them and by them.

ii) Natural ecosystems and genetic resources should be managed in a sustainable manner.

iii) The selection of protected areas to safeguard ecosystems and measures to conserve genetic resources in any country will be part of a global strategy. Responsibility for the development of this rests with IUCN for protected areas in general and with Unesco for biosphere reserves. Strategic global planning for the conservation of plant genetic resources, on the other hand, is the responsibility of FAO; but ultimately countries themselves must decide and agree on priorities that constitute initiatives at global and regional levels.

iv) Conservation of ecosystems and the conservation of genetic resources must be integrated with each other, and both treated as an integral part of development and of overall land use policies and land husbandry.

v) The whole field of ecosystem and genetic resource conservation is a joint interest of the members of the Ecosystem Conservation Group and is being developed by them in close co-operation, each assuming the responsibilities that are most appropriate. The Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, at its first session in 1985, endorsed the role of the ECG in coordinating work on plant genetic resource conservation.

4.2 Structure of the programme

In questions of ecosystem conservation and wildlife management, emphasis will be laid on national action, but within a framework of an international programme. Much guidance is provided by the World Conservation Strategy.

An international strategy for the conservation, management and utilization of plant genetic resources should be developed. Consideration should also be given to the most appropriate means of dealing with conservation of the genetic resources of wild animals which have hitherto received little attention in comparison with the conservation of domestic breeds.

Stress should be laid, in planning and implementation, on cooperation between developed and developing countries, and on cooperation among developing countries themselves.

The needs for training should be addressed at the sub-regional or regional levels, and by promoting exchanges between neighbouring countries.

The four main components of the action programme will be the following:

i) the development of national networks of protected areas to meet needs for the conservation of tropical forest ecosystems and of genetic resources of target species. In the case of the former (networks of protected areas) this will continue work which has already proved its worth in the past;

ii) assistance in the planning, management and development of individual protected areas and in promoting the development of appropriate management for conservation systems and techniques on a pilot demonstration basis for protected areas, and in situ reserves;

iii) in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. As part of an internationally planned programme, national centres will be set up, based on existing research establishments, to plan and develop activities in genetic resource conservation (including all components of national forest ecosystems); to develop appropriate links between institutions concerned with ex situ and in situ genetic conservation; and to develop liaison with surrounding countries.

iv) the active promotion of research into the management of tropical forests for sustainable production consistent with the conservation of species diversity and of genetic resources; the establishment of demonstration areas; and the wide dissemination of such techniques.

Associated with each of these will be the following additional elements: involving and benefiting local people; integrating conservation with rural development; making people at all levels aware of the importance of conservation; the dissemination of information about conservation and its purposes, objectives and techniques; the application of existing scientific knowledge to the design and management of protected areas; the development of research where the absence of knowledge constrains action; the provision of training in the conservation and wise use of ecosystems and genetic resources.

4.3 Development of national networks of protected areas

The conservation of ecosystems, species diversity and genetic resources can best be accomplished by a number of complementary actions: the protection and management of carefully selected reserves; certain graded controls (zonation) on the management of the land outside these reserves to buffer them against the adverse influence of surrounding landuse and to enable populations of wildlife to persist in reasonable numbers in the countryside at large; legislation to regulate utilization of fauna and flora.

These actions are most effective if planned and executed nationally. This is for both scientific and practical reasons. If protected areas are to include the whole range of ecosystems in a country in the most efficient and economic manner, the choice should be based on national surveys (which can then readily be combined with the work of neighbouring countries to ensure regional coverage). The nation is also clearly the most sensible unit for implementation because of the uniformity of its laws and administration.

The objective of the programme would be to design national networks of protected areas in all countries to:

i) ensure the conservation in perpetuity of adequately sized representative samples of the major forest ecosystems (terrestrial, fresh-water and coastal) in order to safeguard them and the range of species they contain. Take into consideration in the selection and planning of these areas the conservation of the intra-specific variation starting with a number of the most socio-economically significant wild plants and animals (see also the proposed actions on genetic conservation in section 4.5). Consideration should be given to species of importance at local, national, regional and international levels, both for local use and use by other countries/communities;

ii) plan the location and management of protected areas in harmony with surrounding land use and with the needs of local peoples; and arrange that the management of surrounding natural vegetation complements the functions of the protected areas;

iii) manage vulnerable watersheds, river catchments and other areas where protection of the natural environment is of paramount importance to the welfare of the community;

iv) provide a comprehensive system of national parks and reserves wherein representative examples of the flora, fauna and natural landscapes will be protected as part of the natural heritage;

v) provide for appropriate use of national parks and reserves for scientific, educational and recreational purposes and for development of tourism.

Comprehensive planning for national networks of protected areas is still required in approximately 60-70 countries. Priorities have been identified by IUCN in certain bio-geographic provinces (See Annex 1 section 4.1).

4.4 Assistance in the planning, management and development of individual protected areas

The ultimate success of the programmes for the conservation of ecosystems and for the conservation of genetic resources depends upon:

i) the establishment, permanence and satisfactory management of protected areas; and

ii) the management of forest lands that are being utilized (managed resource areas) in ways that ensure the continued existence of species of wild plants and animals and their intra-specific variants.

This can only be done by ensuring that protected areas and natural resource areas are soundly managed, and that this management continues into the indefinite future. Such long term viability is dependent on acceptance by local people who must be involved with and benefit from management.

The principal objective is to develop management plans for protected areas, some for conventional protected areas and others for natural resource areas, laying particular stress on the latter as areas in which economic use will be integrated with genetic conservation (See Annex 1, section 4.2).

4.5 The conservation in situ of plant genetic resources

The importance to further development of improving the production and availability of goods and services has been stressed above. Exploration and conservation of genetic resources, carried out in parallel with sustainable utilization, is of primary importance, especially in tropical rain forests. This is because of the very great richness in species in such forests (it is thought that about 40% of all plant species occur there), because of the rate at which the forest is being altered or destroyed and because few of the rain forest species can survive outside the forest environment. Dry tropical forest and shrub ecosystems, because of their ecological vulnerability and importance for the very survival of local populations, also merit special attention.

While much has been achieved over the past decade in the exploration of plant genetic resources and in their conservation ex situ, and much has been written about the need for and the advantages of in situ conservation, there are few projects where in situ conservation is one of the stated and practised objectives. Although a few countries have prepared a national strategy for conserving plant genetic resources and in many others there are protected areas in which some degree of ecosystem conservation is achieved, there is little experience in the actual selection or management of areas for intra-specific genetic conservation which could provide a ready-made model for action elsewhere.

Conservation of nature, often with emphasis on the fauna, has long been practised in national parks. Managed forest reserves, in contrast, combine production of wood with the regeneration and conservation of the tree species which produce it, as well as protection of soil and water resources. Both national parks and forest reserves protect plants (and the genes packaged in plants). But we need reassurance on two main questions: (l) What is being conserved; what percentage of the total genetic diversity is included within protected areas? and (2) How well is it being conserved; does conservation combine effective protection against destruction or adulteration of the genetic resource with the opportunity for its wise use, e.g. by controlled seed collection?

This programme is designed to ensure that the answer to both these questions is 'yes'. Two main strategies would be:

i) to consider a range of target species in a few specified countries;

ii) to focus attention on selected species or genera, coordinating activities in a range of countries within their natural distribution.

The programme is confined to terrestrial vascular plants. Though some of the principles of conserving marine and fresh water plants may be similar, conditions vary and separate programmes would have to be developed for them. The same applies to the conservation of intra-specific variation in wild animal species.

Some international action has already been taken, including publication of the FAO/UNEP report on the Methodology of Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources, and the FAO/UNEP Guide to in situ conservation tropical woody species; the establishment of two in situ genetic reserves in Zambia; and the Expert Consultation in 1980 on In situ conservation of Forest Genetic Resources. Case studies have recently been carried out in Cameroon, Malaysia and Peru, producing maps showing the distribution of protected areas and of some woody species of importance for food, wood or medicine. These provide a sound basis for evaluating the efficacy of species conservation.

As indicated in section 1.3, the international coordination of the programme for the in situ conservation of plant genetic resources is now the responsibility of FAO through its Commission on Plant Genetic Resources. This Commission also deals with the important matter of the coordination between in situ and ex situ conservation. Forest genetic resource conservation is also an FAO responsibility through the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources.

Objectives of the programme

Irrespective of the general strategy opted for, the immediate objective of the programme is to bring about in situ conservation of plant genetic resources within an international framework. Conservation efforts will from an integral part of a general strategy for the sustainable utilization and development of these resources.

International objectives:

i) to provide strategic and technical guidance and central coordination of conservation activities;

ii) to heighten awareness of the importance of genetic conservation and produce a climate of supportive opinion;

iii) to coordinate the dissemination of information, including data storage and retrieval;

iv) to encourage and assist cooperation between neighbouring countries.

National objectives:

i) to develop a network of managed resource areas and of protected areas that would conserve as much intra-specific variation as possible, laying stress first on a limited number of those with species greatest socio-economic potential or value;

ii) to develop the institutional capacity to conserve and wisely use the resources within a framework of integrated land use;

iii) to develop close cooperation with those managing forest lands for other purposes in order to integrate genetic conservation with their activities;

iv) to develop close links between those dealing with the in situ and the ex situ conservation of genetic resources and to strengthen know-how to allow full use to be made of the development possibilities which the availability of these resources offer;

v) to stimulate public awareness, at all levels, of the importance of this work.

If strategy (i) (p. 81) is used, the above would be achieved by setting up national genetic resources units. A suitable "package" for immediate implementation would consist of three simultaneous national units and an international coordinating centre (See Annex 1, section 4.3).

In strategy (ii) (p. 81), the main thrust of field activities would depend on present knowledge of the distribution, biology and genetic characteristics of target species or genera. A project profile for a dry-zone species covering five countries, occurring in pure or almost pure stands, relatively easy to manage and regenerate, and relatively well known biologically, can be found in Annex 1, section 4.4. The general costs for activities spanning ten years would be of the same order of magnitude for other species, e.g. Swietenia spp, those of important genera such as Dipterocarpaceae, or woody climbers such as Strychnos and Chandodendron. The less known the species, the greatest the need for exploration and research at the outset of the programme.

The FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources, at its 5th Session (December 1981), listed 81 woody species considered endangered with extinction or genetic impoverishment in all, or part of, their natural ranges. Programmes covering a number of these species should be devised so that those occurring in the same countries and ecological zones are covered simultaneously, with considerable savings per species, in the administration of the programmes.

4.6 The active promotion of research into the management of tropical forests for sustainable production and conservation

The conservation of species and genetic resources can only be partially covered by protected areas and managed reserves. Furthermore, the latter cannot contribute effectively to conservation unless they are appropriately managed. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop appropriate techniques These will be designed services, while at the resource conservation.

The objectives of the programme will be to:

i) promote research into tropical forest management, with particular emphasis on compatibility between sustainable production and the conservation of genetic resources;

ii) plan pilot demonstration areas under management systems which are consistent with the above requirements;

iii) disseminate widely information on techniques and systems that are developed and establish international networks for the exchange of such information.

5. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDS

Funding requirements from international donor sources to support the programme components outlined above would be as follows:

Development of national networks of protected areas: 300

Planning and management of individual protexted areas: 150

Conservation of genetic resources, with special references to in situ conservation: 61

Research into management for sustainable production: 150

Total 661

Over a 10-year period

Assistance needs would include the following:

- Fellowships and study travel

- Educational, extension, information and publicity material

- Data storage and retrieval systems

- International expertise

- Equipment and materials

- Communications support

- Organization of seminars, workshops and training courses

- Consultant and contractual services in specialized fields

- Research

- Pilot demonstrations

Benefits derived from ecosystem and genetic resource conservation will be both of immediate and long-term nature and will often, by the very nature of the action, have implications far beyond the actual geographic area of implementation. Taking into account the global responsibility and benefits to be derived, the share of international development assistance should be comparatively large, and is thought to amount to approximately 50% of the total listed above.

Although exact rates of return are difficult to specify, availability of genepools and genetic material often forms the very basis of further investment for forestry development. Investment will, depending on countries and exact action to be taken, amount to 80 to 100% of the national contribution to programme implementation. Returns on investment will have to be estimated taking into account factors such as the availability of sources of reproductive materials for plantation programmes and for the improvement of crops (including trees) and their ability to meet changing demands and environments; physical health of local populations (through continued availability of animal proteins and other goods and services provided by the natural vegetation); decrease of use of e.g. chemical pesticides through the maintenance of broad genepools buffered against the attack of pathogenes, etc. and indirect benefits such as increased lifetime of dams and reservoirs (when ecosystem conservation is combined with e.g. watershed management).

World Bank estimates the total investment requirements for a five-year period (1987-1991) covering conservation of forest ecosystems at US$548.3 million for 21 tropical countries selected on the basis of their "area of closed forest and the extent of current threats to these remaining forests" (see Annex 2).

CHAPTER VI

INSTITUTIONS

1. JUSTIFICATION FOR PRIORITY

1.1 Introduction

From the action programme studies of the tropical forests a number of technical problems have been identified with those in the field of management presenting the greatest challenge to professional foresters. However, the factors having the greatest influence on forest development are both technical and institutional in nature. It is therefore necessary to differentiate these and take appropriate action.

The institutional aspects consist of two specific, interrelated elements:

1) the development of human resources through education and training at the professional, technical and vocational levels; and

2) the development of appropriate institutional structures and tools such as policy and planning, legislation, manpower planning, extension and research.

These are elements which every action programme or project must necessarily contain, and are valid only as long as they serve the purpose of attaining a specific goal.

Time and again major projects in forestry are funded and implemented in the absence of an adequate institutional framework to support and sustain the endeavour when financial support is withdrawn and the project is terminated. It is clear, however, that until institutions for training, education and research are established - institutions which in turn strongly influence the effectiveness of public forestry administrations - no serious progress can be made in developing the forestry sector to meet national needs.

Lack of fuelwood supplies, the destruction of the ecological basis of sustained agricultural production, loss of forest genetic resources, and poorly developed wood-using industries result not only from lack of staff and adequate research programmes, but because forestry has not yet made the contribution to the well-being of nations in the developing world fo the extent possible.

There are important historical reasons for this, and these need to be understood if appropriate action programmes of lasting value are to be developed. Real and more rapid improvement requires much greater recognition by national and international agricultural research and development institutions and funding agencies, that forestry must, in the years ahead, form an integral component of land use and agricultural development in the tropics.

1.2 Overview and Conceptual Framework

Forest policy, forest law, training, education and institutional arrangements within the forestry sector, everywhere lag behind the programmes now developing. These programmes have been forced into being by most pressing ecological and economic imperatives rather than by changes in policy, law, training programmes and institutional innovation. As a consequence, such programmes are not nearly as effective as they might be.

Prevailing policies and laws, and institutional arrangements in the forestry sector in developing countries have had their origin in social, economic, and ecological circumstances radically different from those which prevail at present. The impact of developed technology, through the application of medical and veterinary science, massively increased human and domestic animal populations. In addition, the introduction of cash crops for export resulted in the concentration of the full power of agricultural science on a relatively small number of commodities of value on world markets and familiar to western science. Traditional husbandry systems, particularly African, integrated with and dependent on the continued existence of natural forests, woodlands and trees, were, for the most part, ignored.

Simultaneous with the development of cash crops, colonial administrations devised statements of forest policy which led to the enactment of forest reserves and the constitution of forest services. A major aim was forest conservation and the production of wood in perpetuity. In due course the foresters assumed the roles of administrators and protectors of the legally constituted forest estate, with little responsibility outside that. Extensive forest lands outside the reserved estate were often classified as waste or common land.

From then on, the policing role of the colonial foresters intensified but with the gradual elimination of forest cover outside of the reserves. The divorce between forestry and agriculture was complete, and differences were aggravated by the view of forestry as having an executive function whilst that of agriculture was advisory. No major changes in the situation have followed independence.

Due to neglect of traditional land husbandry and farming systems, per capita food production is declining over much of the tropics, and in Africa a severe food crisis prevails over much of the region. Planners and decision-makers in the past, whether in forestry or agriculture, did not grasp the fact that the maintenance and productivity of traditional husbandry systems, engaging hundreds of millions of people, depended on the continued existence of natural forest vegetation outside the reserves.

There is now a growing awareness of the historical forces, which led to the present situation, and increasing emphasis being given to "community forestry", "social forestry", "environmental forestry" and "agroforestry". Collectively, all that is intended by such terms, is the restoration of forest cover in all its productive forms outside forest reserves and in a way that is of maximum benefit to the neglected, traditional agricultural sector. There is also an awareness that the reserved forest estate should be managed in such a way as to provide optimum sustainable benefits for local people.

This is the epoch now reached and it cannot be too strongly emphasized that if the enormous land-use problems, now emerging and intensifying in the tropics, are to be resolved even partially in the years ahead, then major institutional support and reform is required. Highly capitalized, ad hoc crash programmes without the institutional framework, and professional and technical services to sustain them, have little lasting effect. They can be damaging and counter-productive when governments assume that if such programmes exist all is well and that nothing more is required. It is in this context, and in the context of the other four action programmes: "Forestry in Land-Use", "Fuelwood and Energy", "Forest-Based Industrial Development" and "Conservation of Tropical Forest Ecosystems", that the Action Programme on Institutions assumes its considerable importance.

1.3 Weaknesses of the present situation

Several studies have been made by the Forestry Department of FAO to assess the institutional situation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The following appear as the most common and important problems:

- There is a growing need for trained manpower at all levels in all the regions. A survey of 24 African countries indicates, for example, that some 3,900 professionals and 20,000 technicians will be required by the year 2000; extrapolation from these figures shows that the requirement of the region as a whole would be of the order of 8,000-9,000 professionals and 40,000-50,000 technicians. A similar study of 6 South-East Asian countries concluded that there were 4,300 forestry professionals and 10,500 technicians available in 1977, but that more than 11,800 professionals and 33,500 technicians were actually required. The likely requirements by the year 2000 are thought to be even twice as high. Case studies for 18 countries in Central and South America show that up to 1978 a total of 3,500 professionals and 1,300 technicians had graduated, and estimate that an additional 3,200 professionals and 14,900 technicians would be required by 1985.

Vocational training of forest workers engaged in forest management operations is still at a very elementary stage in many countries. This in spite of the fact that the task has long been acknowledged as important, and indispensable to improvement of the living conditions of field workers and to increasing the effectiveness of forestry operations. A study of 5 Latin American countries shows that for the period 1990-2000 approximately 3l,000 qualified workers will be needed. A survey covering 8 Asian countries indicates that the requirements in 1978 were for 20,000 skilled workers.

Although the demand for trained personnel at all levels is very substantial, the number of available schools and training centres remains small, especially at the technical level and for forest industry education and training.

- In many countries the forestry sector is still playing an isolated role in the economy, jeopardizing the possibility of achieving adequate and well-balanced national development. This is reflected in policy and legislation mechanisms.

The lack of capable forest service staffing limits absorptive ability and constrains the institutional capacity for active development. The resources allocated to forest services for operational purposes are often severely limited, partially because their function is seen as regulatory and partially because their development potential is neither realized nor fully understood. The situation impedes a better harmonization of the production, protection and social functions of forestry. Other institutional constraints to development include:

- the linkage of forestry activities to related operations in other sectors including agriculture, livestock, industry and social service is neither reflected in the forest service administrative structures nor in their plans or programmes. There is a similar gap in relation to forestry and the rural communities or their different forms of traditional or formal organizations, preventing the promotion or transfer of appropriate technologies, the rendering of better assistance and support and the sharing of responsibility for development in the forestry sector.

- An inability to take a sufficiently broad and multidisciplinary approach to forest development.

- Excessive centralization of forest administrations, with a consequent shortage of human, material and financial resources to field or rural services. Scarcity of management resources and bureaucratic rules intensify this problem. Some countries have attempted to overcome this factor by the creation of new and specialized institutions of a decentralized character (e.g. Ethiopia, Liberia, Malaysia, Honduras, Chile and Ghana) and these have not always attained the desired improvements.

2. MAIN PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

2.1 Formulation of policy

There can be no universally applicable forest policy unless stated in the most general terms. Emphasis in policy varies from country to country and will relate to the current state of depletion of natural forest cover, and to other socio-economic factors. An outdated traditional image of the forestry sector can also adversely influence policies, and downgrade its importance in national planning.

In some countries, with still substantial forest cover, e.g. Guyana (86%), Zaire (75%),Papua New Guinea (82%), important policy issues will relate to forest conversion, conservation and management of the gazetted forest estate, and the development of wood-using industries. Other states with much less forest cover, Haiti (1.7%), Kenya (4%), Pakistan (3%), will give greater emphasis in policy to fuelwood supplies, community and social forestry and re-vegetation of degraded areas. In short, forest policies will be strongly influenced by strategies of economic development and the potential contribution of the forestry sector to these strategies as perceived by national governments.

There is a tendency to isolate the forestry sector from the social sectors close to forest areas and from other sectors of the economy which interact in rural areas. This situation is serious and even harmful to the tropical forests where such interactions are more keenly felt due to fragility of these forests and the constant pressure to which they are exposed.

The principal issue, therefore, is to ensure that planners and decision-makers have access to factual information on the vital role of forestry in all its modern ramifications. All too often, planners and decision-makers, influenced by the traditional image of forestry and its frequently poor public standing award it low priority. Its potential as an instrument for rural development, in meeting the needs of rural communities for food, fodder, fuelwood and building poles, is not perceived.

In addition to informing planners it is of equal consequence to develop an informed public opinion, which can prove just as important as statutes, decrees and regulations by government agencies, actions by specific interest groups in making a national forest policy effective. the ideas and principles underlying the forest policy are widely known, discussed and understood - and schools are natural starting points for such an educational campaign - then the tasks of developing and implementing a policy are very much simplified. Campaigns such as the FAO "International Year of the Forest" are directly relevant and warrant continued and increased support.

Again at the national level, an informed and active forestry profession is essential. At the international level, such studies as that of FAO and UNEP on Tropical Forest Resources and the IUCN document on a World Conservation Strategy are of direct importance. Active, informed forestry professionals, and their professional associations, national and international, working with other interested non-governmental agencies, and using all information at their disposal, can strongly influence the development of beneficial national forest policies.

Forest policy, and forest history, are increasingly neglected in the curricula of forestry schools throughout the world. There are virtually no up-to-date textbooks in any language on this subject, and funding agencies have not, on the whole, recognized its profound importance in developing economies. There is a need for more research and publications in forest policy and such studies should also embrace forest law.

Between now and the year 2000 forest lands will continue to be converted to agriculture, will be gazetted as reserved forest estate for production purposes in perpetuity, or for other ends such as national parks and game reserves. The relative size of each of these categories will be decided by government policies and it is of the utmost importance that these policies be based on the best available information supplied by national and international agencies.

In 1985 there are many agencies and institutions, governmental and non-governmental, other than the central forest administration, that are, or could be in many nations, concerned with the implementation of forest policy: planning ministries, departments of energy, regional planning boards, environmental agencies, water boards, canal authorities, wildlife departments, parks services, agrarian reform institutions, land settlement boards, rural development commissions, industrial development corporations, public and private forest industries, municipalities, highway authorities, power companies and railways. Agencies such as these will be increasingly involved as forestry administrations break the mould of traditional forest policies and seek, by the formulation of policies more in keeping with real needs, to extend the values of forestry, woodlands and trees to communities generally, and as part of a broad land use pattern.

2.2 Legal framework

Forest policy provides a basis for legislation which in turn regulates the use of a vitally important natural resource. Normally, forest legislation forms a part, often an important part, of natural resources legislation generally. Current legislation, stemming from a broader and deeper understanding of the role of the forestry sector in nation building, results in the promulgation of natural resources laws which for the most part are complementary, though some contradiction and competition may result between various legal texts.

In countries where it has been updated, forest law has moved away from the narrower aspects of the control of timber production and has been broadened to include integrated planning and management of forest land. In addition, more recent laws have tended to incorporate numerous provisions that refer directly to environmental and nature conservation issues. There are a number of laws which relate to Forest law including:

- Land tenure legislation can be of importance particularly in relation to the development of community forestry programmes.

- Watershed protection, soil conservation and land rehabilitation laws are also complementary to modern forest legislation.

The obvious basis for a coherent approach in the formulation of legal norms for decisions on the future use of renewable natural resources are land capability studies. The classification of forest and other non-agricultural land according to potential use is, for instance, a standard element of many Latin American forest laws. The evaluation of potential uses will remain ineffective, however, if the provisions of the agricultural and rural development legislation do not take the results into account.

The growing emphasis on the environmental values of forests has brought about numerous legislative provisions related specifically to the environmental function of forests and forest land. Two significant issues in forest legislation result. Some forest laws have incorporated part of the environmental regulations, providing a broad framework for the management and utilization of forest resources while maintaining environmental values and based on concepts of multiple use.

A second, and probably more frequent tendency has been to remove certain environmental issues that have previously been dealt with in forest law and regulations. This refers particularly to national park management, wildlife protection and hunting control in forested areas.

The growing awareness of the importance of conservation of forest genetic resources requires legislation to give greater legal protection to strict natural reserves in gazetted forests, and modification of legislation pertaining to parks and other protected areas so as to allow the management and utilization of forest genetic resources in those areas.

There is a striking difference between the evolving legal framework and the limited analytical and scientific work that has been undertaken during recent years in the field of forest legislation. Again, as in the case of forest policy, there is a definite need to deal with forest legislation more comprehensively and more intensively in teaching and in research than is currently the practice, particularly in relation to new initiatives in forestry for community development.

2.3 Government agencies, in particular the Public Forestry Administration

To implement forest policy, governments have adopted different combinations of organizational arrangements. The structure, legal framework, administrative responsibility, and staffing patterns under these different arrangements vary in form, complexity and scope from country to country.

The most common example of the public organization of forestry is the Forest Service, designated variously as Forest Department, Forestry Bureau, Forestry Directorate, and Forestry Agency with varying degrees of importance within government structures. In some countries, forestry is placed as a division under a major department, such as natural resources or agriculture.

The functional units, dealing with production, protection, wildlife management and watershed management, are designed in such a way as to be fully integrated within the service or department, or as fairly independent sub-agencies. In certain cases, some functions are segregated and given parallel status as a separate service or department. An example is wildlife management which, in some countries, is part of a forestry department and in others forms a separate department or is integrated with tourism or national parks.

There has traditionally been very little involvement of forestry services in rural and community development, in agroforestry programmes, stabilization of shifting cultivation, and fuelwood production outside forest reserves. Rural programmes for employment and income-generation provide novel situations which forest services have not been accustomed dealing with in the past.

The problems of the Forest Services in developing countries are well known, and these arise for the reasons stated in the previous sections where policy, planning and legislative aspects were discussed. Characteristic of these public services are:

- their isolation at the national level;

- their lack of integration with other agencies of the public sector which operate mainly in rural areas; their great administrative and technical centralization;

- their lack of trained personnel and of funds and equipment, frequently in their own central units, but even more so in their field units;

- the emphasis they place only on technical aspects, which emerges clearly from their analysis of problems;

- a lack of harmonization between their action-taking and defined policy proposals; and

- lack of motivation in their operations, which are mainly oriented towards taxation and punitive measures.

Since governments administer their forest resources through the Forest Services for the benefit of the communities, it is most important to change this situation as soon as possible.

In some cases, attempts have been made to remedy this situation, which is typical of many public administrations, by creating juridical entities which are somewhat different from the traditional ones (corporations, institutes, centres, authorities, etc.) in that they are administratively and financially independent (they are government-funded or draw funds from their own activity), have their own juridical personality, are able to hire staff going through civil service channels, and have other privileges or freedom.

Frequently, these new entities have had overlapping responsibilities since, at the public administrative level, agencies attached to the central government were not eliminated, which caused problems in addition to those mentioned above, namely a duplication of functions, resource misuses of all kinds, negligence of certain functions and/or areas of interest and bad coordination in planning and execution.

If one adds to these aspects another factor which has appeared in recent years, namely the regional orientation of functions and activities, which causes the transfer of responsibilities in the administration of the resources to regional entities (or State agencies in the case of Federal Governments), the organizational situation of the public forestry sector becomes more and more complicated, thus making sectoral coordination and integration extremely difficult.

An area of particular concern related to the provision of adequate institutional backing in project and programme formulation and execution. It is common to find programmes and projects in which all the attention is placed on the execution of activities oriented towards achieving certain objectives, but without any concern for the institutional aspects that could affect implementation, especially the achievement of the foreseen objectives and the continuity of the activities once the programme or project has been completed.

Fundamental to project or programme formulation is that the output should enhance or strengthen an on going activity, or where the input is required to catalyse or initiate activities, such activities should be clearly defined as continuing.

Mere existence or execution of successful programmes or projects, however, is not enough to ensure their continuity. They need to be able to create around them, or within them, an organizational structure and an appropriate institutional base to allow continuing internal and external official support to them.

In many developing countries, the lack of concern for institution-building aspects is the most frequent cause of lack of continuity of programmes and projects. This in spite of the full official support that many of them receive during formulation and execution. The reason for this is that they have been unable to create their own structure when needed or to develop mechanisms to transfer responsibilities to the existing structure of the sector which would avoid the loss of any accumulated experience, resources and information, and would also enable the expectations of the whole sector for continuing support to be realized.

A further serious problem raised in the action programme papers on "Forestry in land use", "Fuelwood and Energy" and "Conservation of Tropical Forest Eco-systems" is the lack of adequate funding for these areas. It is clear that government distribution of financial resources depends on the assigned sectoral priorities and on the available finance, but it is also evident that this distribution of funds and allocation of priorities will be influenced by the importance that a certain sector has in the economy and in society, as well as by its demonstrated capacity to take timely and effective action in national development.

The forestry sector has traditionally been weak in this field. It has generally been unable to demonstrate to decision-makers, the economic and social benefits that can be derived from forestry. This image of isolation or institutional self-sufficiency that the public forestry administration has projected, as well as its lack of an adequate knowledge of the political and institutional mechanisms that influence government distribution of financial resources, also reduce the chances of the sector obtaining a more substantial allocation from the government. It is clear that these deficiencies will need to be made good before the sector can attract funds from the public and private financial sectors.

2.4 Research and Extension

Forestry development since 1945 took the form of highly capitalized, geographically restricted, industrial forestry projects, often of limited benefit for local people and sometimes positively damaging to their interests. This form of development attracted national economies seeking to maximize foreign currency earnings, and had the full support of most international agencies concerned with forestry development in the tropics. This approach left the peasant farmer to his own resources and the post-war commercial thrust of both forestry and agriculture in the tropics has followed similar paths.

It is not surprising, therefore, that most research expenditure (probably more than 90%) was related to exploitation of natural forest resources and the establishment of industrial plantations and with examining the potential for better industrial utilization with emphasis on sawn timber, plywood, veneer, and pulp and paper.

By contrast, research into fuelwood, charcoal and other wood-based energy projects, which account for more than 80% of total wood consumption in the developing world, has been minimal. In addition, and despite the continued regression of natural forest ecosystems, little research was directed to management regimes and silvicultural systems which, in time, would provide data allowing the conservation and management in perpetuity of at least part of the gazetted estate. The potential of indigenous trees for a multitude of purposes, and particularly those used traditionally in farming systems, remained unassessed. The possibility and importance of forestry as an instrument for rural development received little or no attention, and the gap between agricultural and forestry research and development, if anything, widened during this period. The single-minded sectoral concentration on industrial forestry development, to the exclusion of rural communities, took place at a time when the adverse consequences of over-use of the resource outside reserves were intensifying.

The extent of damage due to excessive deforestation in upland areas in developing countries (e.g. Himalayan region, Ethiopia) is well known. Indiscriminate deforestation in the humid lowlands and drier tropics are often not less damaging. There is very little that forest research of the traditional kind can do in relation to such catastrophic land-use problems. Only substantial reform in the way forest land is used can bring about beneficial change. Research and extension can contribute to the development of such reforms but their effects will be negligible without such reforms. But it is not at all certain, given the strategies of economic development which have prevailed, that if forestry research and extension (or lack of it) during the past forty years had been radically different, they would have offset at least some of the adverse effects of what has taken place in regard to land-use outside forest reserves.

It is against this background that forestry research and extension in the coming years must be developed. Developments in this area will not cure all the ills stemming from abusive and unsustainable land-use, but if rightly structured and directed they will undoubtedly assist, at least the forestry sector, to develop practices that are sustainable and beneficial to all sections of society. Above all, what is required is the application, in enlightened development programmes, of available research results; the strengthening of prevailing national institutions conducting forestry research, and the establishment of national institutions where these are needed. Such institutional support in research and extension can go hand in hand with support for education and training institutions.

Needs in forestry research in the tropics are not confined to structural strengthening and organizational development but encompass also the determination of priorities which reflect the most pressing problems of the countries concerned. These were identified by FAO and the World Bank in the document "Forestry Research Needs in Developing Countries Time for a Reappraisal?"

Progress achieved in many fields in science and technology in the past 10-20 years has led to a better understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems and related phenomena, such as water balance and soil erosion. There has been notable progress in inventory techniques, methods of land classification and evaluation, management of watersheds, and soil conservation, as well as in tree genetics and reforestation methods. There have also been advances in agroforestry and energy-plantation techniques. There are now ways to improve shifting cultivation and systems for transforming it into permanent agriculture under certain environmental conditions. Considerable progress has been made in methods of logging and design of machinery and equipment. Fuller utilization of forest produce has become possible through industrial advances, particularly the development of board and pulp industries and those that produce energy from wood wastes and residues.

Nevertheless, large gaps in knowledge still remain and further scientific and technical advances in the field of tropical forests are an absolute necessity. These advances should include ecological, social, cultural and economic aspects in a balanced way. It is important, therefore, to expand and reinforce relevant research efforts, particularly those directed to the fields with most marked gaps in knowledge and with most urgent needs for action.

The following are suggested as key areas identified in the action programme for the development of institutional research programmes:

Land use

- Determination of land-use planning methods which effectively integrate forestry into the broad national land use classification;

- developing of systems to monitor changes in forest area.

Community Forestry or Forestry in Rural Development

- Selection of species and provenances for agroforestry systems, biomass energy production and improvement of arid zone rangelands;

- development of appropriate silvicultural systems for selected species;

- development of farming systems appropriate to up]and areas and arid zones;

- determination of economic returns from alternative farming systems.

Natural Forests

- Determination of sustainable silvicultural and management systems particularly for selected moist tropical forest types;

- development of use and marketing particularly of secondary species;

- define methods of conserving genetic resources and ecosystems.

Resource and Use

- Yield assessment methods for selected resources and systems;

- improved wood energy utilization.

Given the seriousness and urgency of the problems, cooperation at the regional and international levels is needed to avoid duplication and to ensure adequate technical consultation and judicious sharing of facilities. Such cooperation, which can be achieved through regional networks, should begin with well-defined research topics of priority interest to participating countries, which have a reasonable chance of being successfully implemented.

Decisions in regard to the development of forestry extension staff can only be taken locally. In some circumstances, well established extension services in agriculture will prove to be the most appropriate and cost-effective agency for forestry extension. Whatever the decisions in this regard, education and training programmes in forestry extension will be required. Extension is important from a socio-economic point of view for improving rural organizations and the living conditions of rural people, in the promotion of managerial capabilities of these communities, and in the creation of marketing channels for the products they process.

2.5 Establishment and strengthening of education and training systems

It cannot be too strongly emphasized that without adequate numbers of appropriately trained and educated cadres of forestry professionals and technicians, the forestry sector in any country will not achieve its potential. Forest resources will be mined for the benefit of the few rather than managed in perpetuity for the benefit of the nation generally and of local communities in particular.

It is a matter of principle, therefore, that forestry training and education should be institutionalized; nationally when possible and regionally when this is considered the best approach.

The educational institute is the foundation for the development of the professional forestry association which when soundly organized can influence policy and all levels of government. No amount of short courses, crash training programmes, and on-the-job training can compensate for lack of institutions concerned with forestry education and training.

Forestry curricula at the professional level can be developed in relation to, and integrated with, curricula prevailing in already established departments of agriculture and/or natural resources in universities in many countries of the tropics and subtropics. In this way, a formal forestry qualification can be offered which would ensure that those holding it have not merely been trained solely in a narrow discipline but have related forestry to land use and agriculture.

Over much of the tropical and subtropical world there is, as indicated in Section 1.3, a massive need for education and training at all levels in forestry. There has been a tendency, particularly in Latin America, to place too much emphasis on university-level education and too little on education at the technical and vocational level, and as a consequence it can be seen that there is a great imbalance in the relationship between professional, technical and vocational staff. This is identified by funding agencies, and there is an increasing tendency by these agencies to support an array of short-term training programmes related to specific projects in social forestry, community forestry, agroforestry and fuelwood production. This may be justified, but as a short-term expedient rather than a long-term resolution of the fundamental lack of appropriately trained cadres with formal qualifications recognized and awarded by both the public and private sectors, and with clearly defined career possibilities related to their qualifications.

Vocational training demands a high level of institutional and organizational strength if it is to be provided on a continuous and large-scale basis. The main constraint is the weakness of public forest administrations and their inadequate regional and local field services. The second major restriction is the lack of experienced and well-trained forest technicians to serve as instructors. Another factor is the limited emphasis given to working techniques and forest utilization in professional forestry education. The advancement of forest worker training is closely linked to improvements in forest service organizations as well as in forestry education as a whole.

There is also a pressing need to institutionalize education and training programmes in wood technology. Traditionally these programmes, such as exist, have evolved within establishments concerned with forestry training and sometimes are attached to forestry research institutions and are administered by Ministries of Agriculture rather than by Ministries of Industry. The present situation is that training is fragmented, spasmodic and inadequate. Although the demand for trained personnel at all levels is high, the number of available schools and training centres is still very small. There exist in the developing world at present approximately 20 university-level institutions and 40 technical and vocational training centres specifically concerned with forest industry education and training.

There is a growing demand for training in forestry extension which requires, in its first phase of development, teacher training in this field. This can be most quickly accomplished by giving graduates in forestry opportunities to complete a postgraduate diploma course in extension offered by agricultural training institutions.

2.6 Institutions supporting the private sector and local organizations

Private sector organizations, including joint sector enterprises, play an important role in forestry and forest-based industries. Such organizations cover a wide range of responsibilities and forms of ownership and include private forest owners, both individuals and companies, privately-owned processing firms, and private firms offering services related to forestry and forest industry. They are all represented at the rural level, depending upon the size of the enterprise, either directly or through agents and field establishments.

The participation of the private sector and the degree of its intervention in the forestry sector is guided by forest policies and obviously by the share of the national economy assigned to the sector. It is organized mainly around management and harvesting activities, and industrialization and marketing of forest products. In a few countries with substantial areas of tropical forests, the public sector has set up enterprises with or without the engagement of other sectors and has in some cases monopolized certain activities.

From an institutional viewpoint, the participation of the private sector in forestry activities in tropical zones also poses some problems. For instance, settlement programmes in these zones often lead to indiscriminate tree felling, from which timber enterprises enjoy good profit, while paying little or nothing for the raw material. This makes it difficult to formulate a rational and adequate development policy in the industrial sector and also hampers forest management, marketing and utilization in the rural areas, in addition to frustrating efforts to organize rural people around forestry.

The example of the concession policies for industrial development which do not cover the institutional evolution of the bodies responsible for controlling such agreements at the local level is also relevent. In others, the concessions are granted without considering the rural communities who live near the forests and who are thus deprived of the possibility of taking part in the development process.

There are examples of successful private initiatives in partnership with rural groups, where rural life has been considerably improved through forest-based processing activities. A well-known case is the operation of the Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines, and such examples are to be encouraged and supported wherever possible.

The organization of rural communities into cooperatives or other types of associations is another challenge for the forestry sector. There are only a few cases in which public forest administrations have been able to support and promote the active participation of the communities in forest development efforts and to create the necessary institutional mechanisms for the integration of rural associations with the public and private sectors. A case which is often cited as an example of a successful system of forest cooperatives, though not in the tropics, is the Village Forestry Association system of the Republic of Korea. The Korean model may not be applicable everywhere, but there is no doubt that if rural peoples are to become providers of their own needs for fuelwood, building poles, fodder and other important forest products, then similar organizational models will be necessary. Even enlightened government forest services be unable to cope with the needs of rural people, without the mobilization, in varying kinds of cooperative effort, of such people themselves. It is in this context that non-government agencies major role to play.

3. ACTION PROGRAMME ON INSTITUTIONS

3.1 Conceptual framework and strategies for action

Due to the complexity of institutional mechanisms, in which various disciplines are involved and where sustained action over a long period of time is needed to achieve concrete results, it is necessary to group them in a comprehensive way in order to facilitate action. However, it must be understood that such grouping has only a practical purpose, since these mechanisms are closely interdependent.

Moreover, institutional mechanisms are not an end in themselves; they acquire importance only in relation to the objectives of the various forest development activities. There is a need to examine them in connection with the four other Action Programmes: Forestry in Land-Use, Fuelwood and Energy, Forest-Based Industrial Development, and Conservation of Tropical Forest Ecosystems.

The assessment of the present situation regarding institutional mechanisms, the need and actual possibilities for taking action, and the interrelations between all types of institutional processes, as well as the assessment of potential and pay-off with regard to institutions, are some of the points that need to be considered in any programme or project aimed at analyzing the institutional factors involved.

In order to develop its own institutional evaluation and approach, each sectoral or sub-sectoral activity, project or programme has to evaluate its own progress in relation to its objectives and institutional requirements in a self-contained manner. This must be done by systematic institutional build-up, through the following steps:

i) evaluation of the present institutional situation;

ii) creation of new institutions;

iii) institutional support to existing institutions;

iv) improvement of interlinkages between institutions;

v) improvement of working conditions and motivation of people working within the institutions; and

vi) development of relations between institutions, policy-makers, local communities and the general public.

3.2 Goals of Action Programme

The main goals of this Action Programme are:

- to integrate forestry development into national development;

- to improve human capabilities in forestry and promote support for forestry development;

- to improve the administration of tropical forest land through an appropriate utilization of institutional support mechanisms;

- to ensure the active and integral participation of all institutions and social sectors in the forest area with a view to making forestry development technically efficient and productive and socially effective.

3.3 Major programme components

3.3.1 Strengthening the public forest administrations and related government agencies

i) Improvement of existing and formulation of new forest policies, legislation and planning systems.

ii) Improvement and change of organizational structures, both within the existing public forest administrations and between the public forest administrations and other government agencies.

iii) Development of the motivation and effectiveness of staff within the public forest administrations and related agencies through improved personnel policies, career opportunities and inservice training.

iv) Improvement of the capacity of the public forest administrations to present financial requirements within the existing budgetary system and at appropriate decision-making level.

3.3.2 Research and development

i) Evaluation of the need for and general structure of a research system.

ii) Strengthening or establishment of research institutes and making better use of research capabilities.

iii) Establishment of appropriate mechanisms for national, regional and global cooperation and coordination between forestry research institutions.

iv) Establishment of efficient mechanisms for transfer of forestry research results into rural systems.

3.3.3 Extension

i) Evaluation of the need for and the general structure of an extension system for rural forestry.

ii) Strengthening or establishment of permanent structures and mechanisms for forestry extension.

iii) Building up of a mechanism for forestry inputs into the agricultural and rural extension systems.

3.3.4. Professional, technical and vocational training

i) Assessment of manpower needs at national and regional levels.

ii) Establishment of new schools and training centres or expansion and improvement of existing ones at all levels.

iii) Review and updating of curricula of forestry schools at all levels in order to relate them to the new objectives of forestry development.

iv) Promotion of continuing education programmes.

v) Promotion of teacher training programmes.

3.3.5 Institutional support for the private sector and local organizations

i) Establishment of a permanent structure for channelling forestry inputs and assistance into existing local organizations and agricultural and other rural associations.

ii) Establishment of a permanent structure within the public forestry administration to support the participation of local communities and the creation and functioning of forestry-oriented rural associations and cooperatives.

iii) Support to existing non-governmental organizations or their creation with the aim of an increased involvement in rural forestry.

iv) Provision of incentives for industrial organization and promotion of contacts between the private sector and the rural organizations.

4. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDS

This section attempts to provide estimates of the financial requirements to cover the essential elements of the Action Programme on Institutions over a 10-year period.

4.1 Technical assistance

4.2 Investment

Two different types of investment projects/programmes are considered.

4.2.1 Investments aimed at institution-building, as detailed below.

4.2.2 Investment in sectoral or sub-sectoral activities/projects/programmes, in which institutional actions are complementary to the main objectives of the investment.

This is unquantified but is estimated at approximately 20% of such investment.

ANNEX 1

EXAMPLES OF PROJECT PROFILES

1. FORESTRY IN LAND USE

1.1 Agro-Silvo-Pastoral Development Project Profile

a) Objectives

A general objective would be to reduce indiscriminate forest clearance, and to improve the quality of community life by the introduction of appropriate agroforestry (crops, grass, trees) systems to:

- increase sustainable agricultural production;

- promote sound land use.

Any project applying these objectives to a particular country should:

- identify particular areas in need of rehabilitation or in need of intensification/introduction of agroforestry practices;

- identify finance for investment in selected agroforestry trial and demonstration areas and for the maintenance of field operations and services; identify appropriate agroforestry systems for particular areas.

b) Activities

The work of the project would cover 10 years in two overlapping phases of 5 years.

Phase I

i) assist in the development of selected multi-purpose tree species through selection, seed production, improved nurseries, provenance trials, and dissemination of planting stock;

ii) assist in agricultural crop improvement through selection of varieties and hybrids appropriate to the site and distribution of the seed of these;

iii) improve livestock production through : selection and multiplication of improved grass and leguminous pasture species, complementing tree fodders; improved breeding stock, provision of concentrates, enclosures, stall feeding and veterinary inoculations and services;

iv) conduct studies of supply and demand of farmers' perceptions of needs;

Phase II

v) strengthen the national forestry, agriculture and land use management and educational institutions in such a way that they have the demonstrable ability to influence policy and to plan and execute multidisciplinary agroforestry programmes;

vi) train extension workers in land use and agroforestry and create a network of extension workers at the village level;

vii) ensure the participation of the rural communities in all phases of the programme and provide adequate incentives for these communities to cooperate.

c) Cost and duration

The project will have a duration of ten years, of which the first five years are expected to be devoted to agricultural, livestock and forestry trials and the second five years to the dissemination and application of the results.

The total cost per project for a ten-year period is estimated to be US$ 7 800 000.

1.2 Integrated Watershed Management Project Profile

a) Objectives

The main objectives of the project are:

1) To take measures to conserve and improve the national water resource to safeguard present and future supplies for :

- population domestic needs;

- irrigation; industrial development;

- hydro-power development.

2) To promote sound upland rural development in watersheds through intensified but rational and sound land use.

In promoting these objectives in any project it would be necessary to separate the approach to protection of watersheds in good condition from that applying to the rehabilitation of degraded watersheds. Other aims would include :

i) development of institutional capability to plan, implement and monitor watershed management programme;

ii) and planning watershed management programmes at a pilot scale to test technical, financial and socio-economic options;

iii) assistance in the planning and expansion from pilot to full scale watershed management programmes;

iv) provision of technical training of staff to implement the expanded national watershed programmes.

b) Activities

At the national level the project will promote awareness among politicians and decision-makers through demonstrations, study tours, field trips and appropriate use of audio-visual material and the mass media. It will formulate legislation and strategies for upland conservation as well as prepare technical and operational guidelines and manuals. It will assist in establishing national priorities for watershed planning and implementation.

At the pilot watershed level the project will:

i) introduce and test appropriate land use technique, and also utilize various incentives to ensure people's participation in activities which are or can be made financially attractive, ecologically sustainable and which will contribute to the creation of diversified upland economy;

ii) carry out such public works as necessary to provide the watershed with basic infrastructure and protection against torrential phenomena, severe water erosion and land degradation;

iii) monitor and evaluate the upstream and downstream effects of watershed activities;

iv) train and equip field staff and provide adequate incentives and career opportunities for work in remote and hardship conditions;

v) prepare plans and projects for the expansion of the activities in collaboration with land use planning and rural development projects at the district level.

c) Cost and duration

The project will have a duration of ten years. Assistance is required in the areas of introduction and testing of incentives, organization of extension programmes, staff training, monitoring and evaluation of upstream/downstream relationships, promotion of diversified upland economies, production of audio-visual materials, and development of institutional capability to create awareness and to plan programmes, monitor and evaluate watershed management activities. The total cost per project is estimated to be US$ 8 000 000.

1.3 Arid Zone Forestry and Desertification Control Project Profile

a) Objectives

In the arid zone the primary objective is to determine forestry and agroforestry systems that will contribute to the needs of the population for food, forest products and services related to environmental protection.

In any arid zone project the following factors would be considered:

- the trial and development of agroforestry systems that will meet the needs and aspirations of the people and provide a sustainable alternative to shifting cultivation;

- the trial and development of forestry system to combat desertification whilst producing such vital additional outputs as fuelwood and fodder;

- the development of technologies to improve the productivity and to diversify the production of the natural vegetative covers.

b) Activities

i) Test, develop and demonstrate agro-silvo-pastoral management systems such as: silvopastoral systems, tree/shrub related associations, shelterbelts and windbreaks, which diversify the production base and conserve the environment. Demonstrate and diffuse proven technologies. Develop dry farming practices and water resources and their management;

ii) increase and diversify the production of natural vegetation through appropriate techniques for multipurpose products (fuelwood, fodder, fiber, non-woody products); develop and disseminate, appropriate management systems, regeneration techniques for local species and knowledge on growth, yield and optimum rotation; produce more wood, fuelwood and charcoal by combining the improved management of natural vegetation with the cultivation of trees and shrubs; develop and diffuse information on species and provenances of trees and shrubs; improved nursery, plantation establishment and management techniques;

iii) improve the processing efficiency of dry land products both for local consumption and for the market; develop and diffuse more efficient conversion technologies for fuelwood, for the production of gum, resin, chemicals and other outputs from trees and shrubs and for the conversion of leaves, seeds, branches into fodder;

iv) training and extension : develop the capabilities of rural people through the transfer of technical and managerial skills which improve their organization and socio-econolnic situation, based on a clear understanding of perceived needs and capabilities;

v) where appropriate, decentralize technical activities, transfer decision and responsibilities at local level and strengthen local organizations; stimulate and support self-help initiatives; develop cost effective approaches and appropriate appraisal methods which are suitable to generate investment on a carefully evaluated basis.

c) Cost and duration

The project will have a duration of ten years. Assistance is required in the areas of applied research training, organization of extension programmes, support to local initiatives, integration of forestry with other disciplines, reorientation of the forestry institutions to support tree growing efforts by other institutions and people, and financial resources to establish a sound base for further investment. The total cost per project of such assistance is estimated to be US$ 7 600 000.

1.4 Assessment of Tropical Forest Lands and Land Use Planning Project Profile

a) Objectives

The main objective of this project is to assist the national land use planning and land development organizations in the formulation of sound land use plans for specific areas with the aim of developing the maximum economic, social and environmental benefits from forest lands.

In applying this objective any project would :

i) assist in assessing forest land and resources as a basis for planning and management;

ii) provide guidelines in land development operations to minimize damage to the environment;

iii) in forest areas allocated to alternative use or agriculture, assist in ensuring :

- that forest resources are utilized to best advantage;

- that the alternative use is based on land capability and sound husbandry;

- that local communities be integrated into the protection and development of the forest resources and that established rights are maintained.

b) Activities

i) Preparation of guidelines for land use planning

ii) Training of staff in the assessment of forest land and resources and identification of environmental impacts of deforestation

iii) Preparation of pilot land use plans for selected areas assigned to new settlement

iv) Design of forestry related components to ensure a sound implementation of land development and the establishment of new settlements in harmony with the forest resources

v) Evaluation and dissemination to decision-makers of the economic, social and environmental benefits of colonization schemes according to land suitability and optimization of the values of the forest resources.

c) Cost and duration

The project will have a duration of 10 years divided in two phases of 5 years. The total cost per project for a l0 year period is estimated to be US$ 6 000 000.

2. FOREST-BASED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Integrated Forest Management

a) Background

Of the total tropical area of three billion ha covered with woody vegetation, 881 million ha, or roughly 30%, are classified as productive closed forests. The average yearly output of these forests was 123 million m of veneer and sawlogs in 1981, an even larger volume for fuel and other family needs and a series of minor forest products essential for the livelihood of millions of people.

Yet, only some 4.7 percent of these forests are presently under management. Large areas of formerly managed forests have been cleared for agriculture and there are doubts as to the degree of implementation of the working plans prescription in several countries.

Key problems include lack of trained manpower and capital, insufficient investments in stand improvements/afforestation to maintain/improve productivity, and uncoordinated efforts in forest management and industrial planning. This has, in many cases, led to imbalance between the actual productive capacity of the forests and industrial and market requirements.

b) Objectives

i) Create permanent timber estates, improve their productivity through investment in silviculture and infrastructure and improve yields through the rational utilization of the harvest.

ii) Rationalize the forest industry and marketing in harmony with the yield of the forest resource.

iii) Integrate rural communities and forest enterprises by means of projects which contribute to employment and income generation.

iv) Maintain ecological stability.

c) Activities

i) Identify regions that lend themselves to integrated forest/forest industries development and formulate a strategy for implementation.

ii) Select specific priority forest areas and determine the size and composition of the resource, the ecological and socioeconomic constraints and the feasibility of industrial development.

iii) Prepare and execute management plans in harmony with existing or projected industrial requirements, socio-economic requirements and environmental limitations.

iv) Prepare conceptual designs for the contemplated industries, including the selection of equipment. Alternatively, improve the design of the existing industry.

v) Assist in the construction, start up and operation of the contemplated forest industry, or improvement of the existing industry.

vi) Develop norms for silvicultural prescriptions, timber cruising, harvesting, road construction, industrial operations and accounting.

vii) Carry out applied research in silviculture, harvesting, utilization and marketing.

vii) Incorporate local communities in the forest management process.

ix) Strengthen the national forestry and forest industries institutions in such a way that they will be able to plan and carry out integrated forest development projects.

d) Costs and Duration

The project will have a duration of five years. It will have two components: (i) assistance in national forest/forest industries planning, and (ii) practical development of one or several forest areas including industrial development.

The order of magnitude of the total costs is estimated at US$ 14 million, of which the donor contribution would amount to 25% or US$ 3.5 million. Government costs depend on the amount of local staff to be involved. The costs of investments in new industries or the up-dating of existing ones have not been included.

2.2 Raw Material Supply for Forest Industries by Rural Communities

a) Background

In many countries of Latin America the rural communities are basically involved in agricultural activities with little or no participation in the harvesting operations of the natural forests which grow in nearby areas. These operations are mainly carried out by contractors from other areas with the result that the rural people are mere spectators of the operations which are performed with large mechanized logging and transport equipment and which are beyond their economic or technical capabilities, as they do not even have a tradition of manual forest harvesting work.

The available forest resource could provide these rural communities with employment to avoid the increased migration to urban areas of the younger landless people and serve as an additional important source of income generation if their involvement in wood harvesting were increased. This does not exclude use of higher technology when required, but would supplement the wood supply in larger scale operations. The local population, draught animals and basic technology should be used to the extent feasible.

b) Objectives

The project will, through this technical assistance programme, increase the involvement of the rural population in forest harvesting operations to improve the wood supply for forest industries, thus promoting employment and income generation in the rural areas.

The project will serve as a pilot project for other countries in the region where similar conditions exist.

The main immediate objectives are as follows:

i) Promote the participation of rural communities in forest harvesting operations.

ii) Improve the wood supply to forest industries.

iii) Increase employment and the living standard of rural communities established close to forest resources.

c) Activities

The activities mentioned below will be performed during five years.

i) Establish a pilot project for the harvesting of local forests to supply wood to the forest industries in the area.

ii) Introduce adequate basic and intermediate logging technology for forest harvesting, using a combination of hand tools, draught animal and/or simple forestry attachments for agricultural tractors.

iii) Carry out a continuous training programme on logging technology and managerial aspects.

d) Costs and Duration

The main cost elements of the project will be personnel, equipment, tools and general operating expenses.

The total cost will be approximately US$ 2 500 000 of which the contribution will amount to US$ 2 000 000.

2.3 Asian Regional Forest Harvesting, Research and Training Centre

a) Background

When developing a forest industries enterprise, it is often assumed that raw material supply is a simple process and, therefore, does not require any special attention as long as there are ample forest resources within a reasonable transportation distance of the planned mill.

Yet, both in the developed as well as in the developing countries, there exist many examples of forest industries which have failed or are seriously limited in their operations, lacking the necessary raw material on a sustained basis because this assumption had been made.

It can, therefore, be said that wood harvesting operations are often considered to be the missing link between the resource and the industry which, by no means, is a simple activity but a complex process which has to take into consideration many alternative systems and methods according to the characteristics and availability of the resource, its accessibility, environmental considerations and manpower development, among other important factors.

There is a need for a strong input of research data to guide the managerial decisions to be taken to assure an adequate and continuous wood supply and a proper utilization of the resource base. Data, such as the operational characteristics, yields and production costs of the most relevant alternatives to carry out the various phases of forest harvesting are of vital importance in selecting, for example, the most appropriate cable systems, primary and secondary land and water transportation equipment, loading and unloading devices, and road construction and maintenance equipment, among others.

Another major constraint is the non-availability of adequately trained manpower at all levels to plan and carry out forest harvesting operations that meet the existing and more demanding future needs and conditions

b) Objectives

The project will provide and improve the supply of information and expertise in research and training and, thus, help forest harvesting operations in the region to increase their efficiency. To achieve this, there will be strong involvement of local institutions.

The main immediate objectives are as follows:

i) To strengthen the forest harvesting, planning and managerial

ii) To improve the wood supply to forest-based industries.

iii) To improve harvesting operations of small dimensioned trees and residues in plantation and natural forests.

iv) To strengthen national forest research and training centres in the field of forest harvesting so as to improve the technological, social and economic conditions.

c) Activities

The principal activities mentioned below will be carried out during an initial period of five years:

i) Establish an Asian Regional Forest Harvesting Research and Training Centre which would also serve as a model for other regions. The Centre would be closely linked with other research and training centres in the Asian region so as to strengthen their capabilities.

ii) Carry out extensive research work in the different fields of forest harvesting in close cooperation with other existing centres in the region.

iii) Organize a comprehensive training programme at all levels.

iv) Prepare and distribute technical publications, training manuals and other information in the region.

d) Costs and Duration

The main costs components will be extra and inter-regional personnel, equipment, fellowships, study tours, research funding, travel, publications and general operating expenses.

The estimated total cost would be US$ 8 500 000 of which the donor contribution would amount to US$ 6 500 000.

2.4 Training Programme for Intermediate Level Management in Forest Industries

a) Background

Although forest-based industries are fairly well established in many developing countries, their operation and management, in most cases, is not very efficient. This leads to low capacity utilization, low recovery of products from the raw material and inferior quality of products. These facts again increase the production costs per unit of production. High costs, together with low quality, make the marketing of products difficult, especially in export markets where industries in many developing countries are aiming in order to earn valuable foreign exchange.

b) Objectives

The main long-term objective of the project is to improve the efficiency of wood-based industries in developing countries and to increase their self-reliance in the management of these industries through training personnel in middle-level technical, commercial and administrative management. This training personnel should not only be able to run their industries more efficiently, but should also be capable of planning and implementing further internal training in the industry.

The short-term objective of the project is to arrange a series of two-week training workshops in various regions of the developing world for intermediate level management in forest industries. It is planned to hold two workshops in Central and South America, two in Africa, two in Asia and the Pacific, and one for Europe and the Near East, or altogether seven such workshops.

c) Activities

The activities of the project will be divided into two specific phases. Its total duration is estimated at about three years.

i) Preparatory phase

This includes the preparation and printing of all lecture material and audio-visual aids required in the workshops. Most of this work will be carried out through consultancies and this phase is estimated to take about 18 months. Printed material will have to be produced in three languages (English, Spanish and French), while the audio-visual materials, because of their high cost, would be prepared only in English.

ii) Training phase

This phase includes the holding of seven two-week training workshops in the regions described above. Based on the experience from the first courses, the contents should be modified to correspond better to the requirements of the trainees, if found necessary. The actual training phase is estimated to last about 18 months.

d) Costs and Duration

The total cost of this project is estimated a US$ 2 million, of which the donor contribution would amount to about US$ 1 300 000.

2.5 Rural Integrated Wood Industry

a) Background

In order to achieve development in a rural area, some new income-generating activity needs to be introduced. In its simplest form, very small scale industrial activities on a village level can provide individuals with some extra income, if this produce can reach buyers with sufficient means for purchasing the goods. Usually this means displaying and selling the goods in local markets in nearby towns, often quite far from the village.

Moving from this village industry-type activity to intermediate scale industrialization of an area puts very strong demands on concurrent development of the institutional framework for organizing and coordinating the activities of several small units, collecting the primary products, very often in a semi-finished form, further processing in a central unit, marketing the final product and, finally, distributing the profits generated back through the production chain to the rural population.

In addition to the institution(s) directly involved in the raw material procurement, production and marketing, a local lending institution usually also needs to be established to assist in the financing of the day-to-day activities. An overall linkage with national institutions would be needed as well.

The development of industries of this type in rural areas is best achieved through the establishment of pilot projects which provide nuclei for further expansion and also facilities for demonstration for transfer of the know-how to other areas. Although the present proposal deals exclusively with wood-based industries, processing of locally available non-wood raw materials may also be incorporated in the activities of the pilot project once the project area has been identified, either from the start or at a later stage.

b) Objectives

i) To establish an integrated rural wood industry in connection with one or several timber estates, coordinating the production of semi-finished goods in small units and marketing the final products manufactured in intermediate size, central production facilities.

ii) To develop the necessary institutional framework for the successful implementation and operation of the industrial network and the marketing of its products.

c) Activities

i) Identify one or several timber estates already established in an area in a tropical country which can be utilized as sources of raw material for a sawmilling industry on a small scale, preferably where the institutional framework already exists for management and planned utilization of the timber estates.

ii) Introduce small mobile sawmill operations on a village level, at the same time training locally available labour in the operation and maintenance of these saws and in the supply of logs from the adjacent timber estate(s) to them, using locally available draught animals and/or machinery.

iii) Establish a central resawing and planning facility for further processing of the sawn goods received from the villages, concurrently developing the transport system required, and using to the extent possible already available means and routes of transport.

iv) Based on a market survey, establish a secondary wood processing unit to produce furniture, prefabricated houses or other products as applicable.

v) Develop the infrastructure necessary for access to the market.

vi) Develop the necessary institutional network required for financing and operation of the above activities, marketing of the products and distribution of the profits earned to members of the rural population involved in the activities.

d) Costs and Duration

The project will have a duration of five years towards the end of which it should already be generating its own funding and profits. The total cost of the project is estimated at about US$ 5 000 000 with a donor contribution of some US$ 3 000 000.

2.6 Utilization and Reduction of Mill Residues

a) Background

The conversion of roundwood into marketable wood products necessarily involves the generation of residues ranging from 30 to 70 percent of the round timber input depending on the symmetry of the log and the degree of internal defect, the conversion process, the quality and maintenance of machines and cutters used in the process, the demands of the market and the resulting quality control, and the standards of drying and storage of the finished product. Since mills need energy, it is logical that they use their own residues for the generation of electricity or steam or producer gas or a combination of these. This type of utilization has obvious economic advantages, and problems arise only when residues are produced in excess of energy needs or where (as in some urban mills) the use of external power sources is convenient or obligatory. In these cases the prime needs are first, to minimize the generation of residues and, second, to market the residues, if necessary after further processing, in order to offset part of the cost of mill operation.

b) Objectives

The long-term objectives of the project are to assist in improving the recovery of sawnwood and veneer so as to ensure the optimum utilization of the raw material provided by the forest.

The immediate objectives are to assist in improving the techniques of log and lumber storage, in raising the standards of processing, and in developing processes and outlets for surplus residues.

The project is designed to assist medium-sized mills with some specific characteristics, namely: good quality handling and processing equipment, kiln drying facilities, access to a substantial (e.g. urban) local market, existing facilities for reprocessing residues or potential for the development of these, own power generation or a convenient external power supply. There will be two locations, both in a developing country, one at a mill processing tropical hardwood, the other at a mill processing plantation softwoods.

c) Activities

The activities will concentrate on two aspects, residue reduction and residue utilization, which will be studied separately. The project will make recommendations for, but will not finance, major equipment purchases, which could form a base for an extension project.

A. Residue Utilization

1. Identification of residues (months 1 to 2).

2. Log storage study (months 2 to 3).

3. Primary conversion study (months 2 to 6).

4. Drying and storage study (months 5 to 6).

5. Market study (months 6 to 8).

6. Conclusions and recommendations (months 6 to 9).

B. Residue Reduction

1. Residue identification and quantification (from activity A.1).

2. Product identification studies (months 2 to 6).

3. Techno-economic feasibility studies (months 6 to 12).

4. Conclusions and recommendations for action (months 10 to 14).

d) Costs and Duration

The estimated total project cost is US$ 650 000, of which the donor contribution is US$ 610 000. Costs include personnel and travel costs, contractual services for feasibility studies, training costs, costs for materials and supplies, and general operating expenses.

2.7 Utilization of Forest Harvesting Residues

a) Background

The volume of timber extracted every year from the productive broadleaved forests in tropical Africa, Asia and America is estimated at about 135 million m[3] (r). Hardwood logging may be highly selective, as in the closed forests of Africa and America, or more intensive as in parts of southeast Asia where the proportion of marketable species is higher. The range of forest types, stand density and topography are reflected in a diversity of harvesting economics and techniques. The larger operations, serving large-scale sawmills or producing logs for the export trade, have achieved a high level of mechanization. At less intensive production levels, simple and inexpensive extraction and transport systems are all too often combined with relatively wasteful felling and logging techniques which may leave as waste or residues as much as 45 percent of the standing tree volume. The purpose of the project will be to demonstrate how this waste can be reduced.

b) Objectives

The main long-term objective is, in the first place, to demonstrate how waste in harvesting can be reduced; and, secondly, to design a viable system for the recovery and utilization of harvesting residues.

The immediate objectives are to provide training in harvesting techniques for forest workers and advice on equipment and operations to logging supervisors; and to undertake a technical and economical analysis of the potential utilization of residues.

c) Activities

The project will be located in a tropical high forest area in a developing country where logging operations are in progress to supply one or more medium-sized sawmills. Emphasis will be on the conversion of residues to energy, in particular the generation of electricity for the mills and for nearby rural communities.

The main activities of the project would be:

i) Residual of residues (species, quantity and quality).

ii) Residue collection and utilization:

(a) Evaluation and improvement of harvesting operations.

(b) Studies on residue recovery.

(c) Studies on residue utilization.

(d) Investments in equipment according to results from above studies.

The duration of the project would be three to four years, but could be extended based on results achieved.

d) Costs and Duration

The total project cost is estimated at US$ 470 000 of which the donor contribution is US$ 390 000. Costs include personnel, travel, training, equipment, supplies and materials, and general operating costs.

2.8 Improvement of Marketing Capability in Forest Industries in Tropical Developing Countries

a) Background

Forest industries are technology intensive which leads to technical considerations often dominating the attitudes of the management even to the detriment of other functions of an enterprise. Marketing is one of the functions which often seems to be overlooked. It is then treated as a secondary activity meaning just selling and delivering the goods which the mill manages to produce. However, in many instances, the local company meets keen competition from foreign suppliers as the markets are usually not protected or the protection is "inadequate" for the local mill. With appropriate marketing practices the local mills could be able to better meet the outside competition and secure better prospects for their survival and growth. In supplying the export markets, the role of marketing becomes even more important due to many complicating issues involved.

The problems are therefore associated with inadequate awareness of the need for efficient marketing and with the lack of marketing know-how and the appropriate institutional framework to support it.

b) Objectives

The objectives of the project are:

i) To increase awareness of the importance of marketing in forest industry enterprises in both the public and the private sector.

ii) To identify the specific needs for and to improve the marketing know-how in forest industry enterprises.

c) Activities

The two objectives will be pursued by organizing six regional training workshops designed to take into account the specific features of different regions or groups of countries within the regions. More specifically the project will:

i) Prepare appropriate promotional and training material to be used during the workshops, including audio-visual material to be used as training material by the trainees themselves in subsequent, national workshops arranged by them in their home countries.

ii) Identify training needs in specific functions of marketing, e.g. in grading and other product quality related matters, trade promotion, selection and establishment of channels of distribution, marketing research, marketing intelligence, etc.

iii) Conduct, during the last eighteen months of the three-year project, six training workshops of two weeks' duration each in all tropical regions and sub-regions.

Once the first series of courses have been completed, repeat courses can be held, using the same material, at much lower cost.

d) Costs and Duration

Total cost of the three-year project is estimated to amount to a total of US$ 2 400 000 of which approximately US$ 1 600 000 will be contributed by the donor.

3. FUELWOOD AND ENERGY

3.1 Development of Fuelwood Resources in Arid and Semi-arid Areas

a) Background

In arid and semi-arid human demands presently exceed the capacity of the natural resources. The problem is basically a "vicious" poverty cycle in which poor people intensively exploit a poor and fragile resource base in a desperate quest for subsistence. The dependence on wood vegetation as the sole source of energy exacerbates the pressure of growing populations too poor to have access to other fuels. The degradation of the environment affects the food production potential thus linking energy, food and poverty problems. One approach to the problem lies in improving the welfare of people while maintaining or improving the environment for sustained production. To pursue this goal, forestry activities in arid areas should be oriented towards involving the rural people in increasing the productivity of all available natural resources and managing them on a sustained basis for their own benefit. In so doing the following facts should be recognized:

i) due to a combination of unfavourable climatic, edaphic and biotic factors, arid areas are "fragile" and therefore not suited for short-term, high profit development in view of the high risks of ecosystem degradation;

ii) arid area populations usually participate minimally (or not at all) in national development or have not been encouraged to do so. Institutional support should be based on clearly defined arid lands development policies integrated into national policies and on the provision of skills and resources to support people's participation;

iii) arid areas can hardly be differentiated into "single purpose land uses"; natural formations (e.g. forest, bush or grass land) are all closely intermixed and interdependent and people depend on the one and same area of land for food, fuelwood, construction timber and fodder. The segregation of users into such groups of crop producers, livestock raisers and fuelwood gatherers, creates competition and accentuate social conflicts.

b) Objectives

Any project aiming at solving the fuelwood problem should:

i) develop and implement agro-silvo-pastoral systems for sustained fuel, food and fodder production;

ii) develop and apply technologies to improve the productivity and diversify the production of the natural vegetation;

iii) develop the human capacity for a multipurpose management and efficient use of arid ecosystems.

c) Activities

i) Develop and demonstrate agro-silvo-pastoral management systems such as: agro-forestry or silvopastoral systems, tree/shrub related activities, shelterbelts and windbreaks, which diversify the production base and conserve the environment. Demonstrate and diffuse proven technologies (such as Acacia Albida);

ii) increase and diversify the production of natural vegetation through appropriate techniques for multipurpose products (fuelwood, fodder, fiber, non woody products). Develop and diffuse appropriate management systems, regeneration techniques for local species and knowledge about growth, yield and optimum rotation;

iii) produce more wood, fuelwood and charcoal by combining the improved management of natural vegetation with the cultivation of trees and shrubs. Develop and disseminate information on species and provenance of trees and bushes, improved nursery, plantation establishment and management techniques;

iv) improve the processing efficiency of dry land products both for consumption by local people and for the market. Develop and publicize more efficient conversion technologies for fuelwood use, for the production of gum, resin, chemicals and other outputs from trees and shrubs and for the conversion of leaves, seeds, branches into fodder;

v) provide training and extension to develop the capabilities of rural people through the transfer of technical and managerial skills which improve their organization and socio- economic situation. This should be based on a clear understanding of their perceived needs and capabilities;

vi) decentralize technical activities, transfer decision and responsibilities to the local level and strengthen local organizations. Stimulate and support self-help initiatives;

vii) Develop cost-effective approaches and appropriate appraisal methods in order to generate investment on a carefully evaluated basis.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance as required in the areas of training, organization of extension programmes, support to local initiatives, integration of forestry with other disciplines, reorientation of the forestry institutions to support tree growing efforts by other institutions and people, applied research, financial resources to establish a solid base for further investment.

A preparatory assistance project would require approximately 1 million $ per year over 4 to 5 years. Funding should allow the establishment of the required infrastructure and cover as necessary implementation costs. The size of the investment programme to follow will vary according to specific situation.

3.2 Development of Fuelwood Resources in Mountainous Areas

a) Background

In mountainous areas, forests are an integral part of farming systems. Possibilities to intensify agricultural productivity are limited and there is much dependence on surrounding natural vegetation to obtain the considerable fuels for cooking and heating and the fodder to raise the livestock. Suitable land for food production is limited and growing populations tend to expand agriculture to steeper slopes. Clearing of natural vegetation results in fuelwood and fodder shortages and in accelerated land degradation and erosion. Agricultural residues and animal dung are increasingly used for fuel instead of fodder or manure.

The following should be recognized:

i) natural vegetation, even when very degraded, is an important source of fuel and fodder for local populations;

ii) erosion and degradation of the natural resource base in upper watersheds threaten the food production potential on downstream plains. Uplands and lowlands should be integrated in overall national policies;

iii) generally low productivity of the ecosystems make it imperative to use multi-purpose species for tree growing in combination with food crops; in this context, adapted local species deserve

b) Objectives

Any project aiming at solving the fuelwood problem should:

i) develop and implement suitable systems for restoring the natural vegetation and managing it as a diversified cropping of fuel, fodder and other products;

ii) integrate tree growing with agriculture and other land uses for stabilizing soil and water resources;

iii) develop local capabilities for self-sustained decentralized action.

c) Activities

i) Develop and demonstrate protection and management systems which intensify and diversify the production of the natural vegetation with special attention to regeneration.

ii) integrate forestry and agriculture development with due attention to maintaining environmental stability and controlling the water flow;

iii) develop tree growing on communal and private lands with multipurpose species which can be combined with food crops;

iv) improve the processing of tree products both for consumption by local people and for the market; develop and diffuse more efficient conversion technologies particularly for saving fuelwood;

v) develop the capabilities of local staff and rural people through training and extension in order to transfer the technical and managerial skills. This should be based on a clear understanding of needs and capabilities;

vi) decentralize technical activities, transfer decision and responsibilities at local level; stimulate self-help initiatives and strengthen local organizations where appropriate;

vii) develop cost effective approaches suitable for generating income and employment and supporting self sustained efforts.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is required in establishing the information base, developing training and extension programmes, strengthening the necessary institutional support, developing appropriate solutions for multi-purpose tree growing combined with agriculture and land protection, developing efficient conversion technologies for fuelwood and other products of trees and providing support to their diffusion.

A preparatory assistance project requires approximately 1 million $ per year of external assistance for a period of at least 5 years. A variable amount of funds is required to establish the required local infrastructure and support direct implementation. The size of the investment programme will vary according to specific situations.

3.3 Development of Fuelwood Resources in Areas with Rapidly Increasing Population and Expanding Agriculture in Ecologically Favourable Conditions

a) Background

In areas where, due to relatively favourable ecological conditions (soils and rainfalls) for the expansion of agriculture, there is a continuous concentration of population as a result both of demographic growth and immigration from less favourable areas. Because of the traditional way of life and farming systems the expansion of agriculture by growing populations results in the destruction of the tree vegetation leading to fuelwood scarcities and environmental degradation. In turn, the degradation of the environment affects the food production potential. The solution to the fuelwood/energy problem has to be seen in the broader perspective of restoring the natural resources base and combining energy production with food crops. In doing so, the main constraints which need to be recognized are the following:

i) food production should be increased to meet the needs of growing populations, however the technical and economic situation of farmers prevent them from doing so by intensifying their agriculture. Increases in food production result mainly from clearing natural vegetation for new lands for agriculture and from shortening fallow periods with resulting decline of the fallow capacity to produce fuelwood;

ii) lack of integration of forestry and agriculture land use planning with little concern about long-term issues and little dialogue with the rural populations have resulted in no provision being made for maintaining a sufficient local fuelwood supply while clearing new land for agriculture;

iii) shortage of land for plantations, lack of infrastructure and inadequate legal framework limit access to remaining natural fuelwood supplies which are seldom managed despite their potential for sustained production;

iv) almost total dependence of local populations on surrounding biomass for energy consumption leads to over-exploitation of all remaining tree vegetation and a shift to agricultural residues as the next available fuel to complement short fuelwood supplies;

v) continuing dependence of a large share of urban populations on fuelwood; causes over-exploitation of surrounding areas on and an increasing number of landless and rural poor who make their living from fuelwood supply to urban markets.

b) Objectives

Any project aiming at solving the fuelwood problem should:

i) integrate forestry/fuelwood programmes with agriculture development;

ii) develop and apply appropriate management systems to natural tree formations with the active involvement of neighbouring populations and develop the integration of trees into farming systems for sustained production of fuelwood and other products in combination with food crops;

iii) develop and apply tree planting techniques suitable for small farmers and communities to tree growing on non directly productive lands with particular attention to combined production of fuelwood and fodder.

c) Activities

i) Develop and demonstrate appropriate solutions which integrate forests and trees into farming systems that combine the production of fuelwood and other products of trees with an increasing food crop productivity in adjacent land;

ii) intensify through an appropriate choice of species to raise the productivity of bush fallows;

iii) develop cost-effective systems of seeds and seedlings production and distribution to farmers as a support to their tree growing efforts;

iv) develop market and price mechanisms which ensure an equitable remuneration to fuelwood growers and therefore, stimulate a sustained investment;

v) improve the processing efficiency of various products of multipurpose trees for consumption by local people and for the market. Develop more efficient conversion technologies for the use of fuelwood and other outputs from trees;

vi) provide training and extension to develop the capabilities of rural people through the transfer of technical and managerial skills based on a clear understanding of their needs and capabilities;

vii) decentralize technical activities, transfer decision and responsibilities to the local level and strengthen local organizations. Stimulate and support self-help initiatives;

viii) implement applied research and demonstration of suitable multipurpose species and appropriate tree plantation and management techniques in combination with food and fodder production.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance as required in the areas of training, organization of extension programmes, support to local initiatives, integration of forestry with other disciplines, reorientation of the forestry institutions to support tree growing efforts by other intitutions and people, applied research, financial resources to establish a solid base for further investment.

A preparatory assistance project requires approximately 1 million $ per year over at least 5 years. The establishment of the required infrastructure and support to direct implementation should be covered. The investment programme should be designed according to specific situations.

3.4 Development of Fuelwood Resources in Low Populated Tropical Forest Areas

a) Background

The sparsely populated tropical forest areas are characterized by a growing exploitation of their resources and by the establishment of new settlements which require additional consumption of energy to support their activities. However, fuels cannot be supplied easily due to the lack of infrastructure, while a high quantity of residues are wasted due to inefficient harvesting for timber production or land clearing for agriculture expansion. The forest residues could be used for energy production, either for local power generation or for export to neighbouring zones with energy deficit. Wood material could be conveniently transformed into charcoal, pellets, etc. to be used on a commercial basis for domestic or industrial use (cement factories, lime kilns, steam generation, etc.). In this way, the energy utilization of forest resources could:

i) improve the energy situation in remote rural areas and contribute to national energy self-reliance;

ii) improve the income and the welfare of rural people;

iii) promote a more rational and efficient use of locally available renewable resources and contribute to restoring and maintaining environmental stability.

A typical project in sparsely populated tropical forest areas should aim at promoting the utilization of residues locally produced by existing forest industries for thermal energy for timber drying, for electricity in rural communities or for grain processing resulting from farming operations.

b) Objectives

i) Promote rural development by creating new jobs and increasing the income of rural people;

ii) improve the quality of life in remote rural areas through the production of electricity, not only for industrial use but also for domestic lighting or social purposes (health centres, food preservation, etc.);

iii) promote a more rational, efficient and integrated use of forest resources through the production of energy and/or selling of fuelwood, charcoal, pellets, etc. to neighbouring areas;

c) Activities

i) Diagnose the energy needs of the region where the project would be implemented with particular attention to those to be covered by wood energy;

ii) identify the site for the establishment of demonstration plants and decide the type of technology to be used; undertake training of personnel and collection of results;

iv) advise the local authorities to establish the legislation, technical and financial support required to expand the use of wood as a source of energy.

d) Costs and Duration

Support to local authorities, industries and communities for the implementation of the activities should include training programmes, institutional support, extension and demonstration activities, exchange of information and experience.

Such a preparatory assistance/pilot project would require 1 million $ over three years and should include the provision of equipment and expertise. The results of this pilot project will provide the basis for the design of a larger investment programme.

3.5 Fuelwood for Urban Centres

a) Background

An unprecedented development of urban centres has occurred in the last four decades. In many countries the urban growth has exceeded manifold national population growth. This resulted in increased pressure directly on the woody resources surrounding urban centres and indirectly on the more distant areas that provide food, fuelwood and construction material for urban dwellers.

Much of the degradation of the vegetation cover reflects the cities continuous dependency on fuelwood and building materials. In the absence of economically viable alternative fuels, available woody resources often have been exhausted over a radius of as much as 50 km. Decreasing supplies and the need to transport fuelwood over long distances result in considerable increase in fuelwood prices. Lack of organized markets and storing facilities particularly during rainy seasons, insufficient transport and speculative prices are dominant features of the fuelwood situation in urban centres. Because of the monetized nature of urban demand and given an efficient market organization, there is a high potential for stimulating investment in large-scale production of fuelwood and charcoal and for generating employment and income in and around urban centres.

b) Objectives

i) restore and increase the productivity of woody resources through a rational land use management around urban centres;

ii) improve distribution, market organization and pricing of fuelwood for urban centres, including storage and transport;

iii) improve urban fuelwood supply through the development of industrial fuelwood production programme from both plantations and natural forests;

iv) improve the efficiency of fuelwood conversion and use through the development and diffusion of improved charcoal and wood burning stoves.

c) Activities

i) Develop and demonstrate appropriate land use management systems around urban centres integrating trees in the form of woodlots, greenbelts, shelterbelts, roadside plantations and linear plantations, for the production of fuelwood, building materials, amenity and other products of trees.

ii) Organize fuelwood distribution, market and transport which ensure equitable remuneration to fuelwood growers and economic accessibility to the users.

iii) Improve the processing of fuelwood for the market - develop and disseminate adapted and efficient conversion and end use devices for saving fuelwood.

d) Costs and Duration

Technical assistance is required in: developing and demonstrating models of land management systems integrating fuelwood production around cities; preparing feasibility studies on industrial fuelwood production programmes; studies on fuelwood market organization, transport and consumption; development and diffusion of more efficient technologies for charcoal production and fuelwood and charcoal stoves. Such assistance is required for a period of 5 years and will cost approximately US$ 1 million to cover technical assistance, support for demonstration activities, equipment and training of local staff.

4. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

4.1 Development of a National Network of Protected Areas

a) Objective

To assist in the establishment of a national network of protected areas designed to conserve representative samples of ecosystems occurring in the country.

b) Activities

The project would include:

i) national survey of the status of ecosystems and of the wild flora and fauna, and examination in relation to other land use and national development plans;

ii) selection of protected areas to cover representative samples of the range of ecosystems, centres of endemism and species richness;

iii) study of the requirements for legislation to protect species, establish and maintain protected areas and to integrate them with rural development programmes;

iv) the preparation of a national conservation plan;

v) the development of systems to maximize socio-economic benefits to local people from protected areas and assistance in designing material to explain the purpose and significance of protected areas to people at all levels, from Government servants to those who would be affected by protected areas in the field;

vi) assistance in training staff at all levels and in the strengthening of institutions.

c) Costs and Duration

The estimated financial requirements for a national programme would be US$3.3 million over three years. The global budget for 60-70 priority countries would thus amount to US$200-230 million.

4.2 Planning, Management and Development of a Protected Area

a) Objectives

To plan and initiate the management and development of a protected area.

b) Activities

i) Assessment of socio-economic context of the protected area and survey of natural resources.

ii) Planning the establishment of the area and its integration into development programmes and overall land-use.

iii) Delineation of boundaries and zones in consultation with local people.

iv) Design of systems to ensure the accrual of benefits to local people and their appropriate involvement in management.

v) Definition of objectives of management and formulation of management plan.

vi) Drawing up of legal instruments and regulations; and drawing up the conditions for use of genetic resources.

vii) Establishment of recording and monitoring procedures and, if necessary, research programmes.

viii) Training staff and provision of equipment.

c) Costs and Duration

The estimated funding over two years required for a typical protected area would be some US$2 million. A reasonable minimum target for ten years would be 70 areas; the global budget would therefore be US$140 million.

4.3 Network of National Genetic Resource Units

a) Objectives

The programme aims at developing the capacity of individual countries to conserve plant genetic resources within the framework of international activities in this field with the ultimate objective of developing these resources for improved provision of goods and services.

This would be accomplished through setting up national genetic resource units. A suitable "package" for immediate implementation could consist of three simultaneous national units (one in each major tropical region: Asia, Africa, Central/South America), and an international coordinating centre.

b) Activities Specific activities at national level would include:

i) identification of target species;

ii) preparation of descriptions of successional stage, natural distribution and genealogical variation;

iii) preparation of botanical descriptions of the species, including flowering phenology, breeding system, storability of seeds, possibilities for artificial regeneration, management, etc.;

iv) collation of information on protected areas and forest reserves in which the species occur.

v) study of legal framework for the setting up of in situ reserves; identification of possible in situ reserves;

vii) demarcation and inventory of reserves, and the drawing up and implementation of management plans;

viii) specification of complementary methodologies of ex situ conservation and their implementation;

ix) Drawing up and implementing plans for research, extension and training and the dissemination of information to raise public awareness.

c) Costs and Duration

Total budget for activities at the country level would require an annual input, for each genetic resource unit, of US$370 000. Costs for international coordination are estimated to amount to US$990 000.

The total, annual cost for an international coordinating unit and three national genetic resources units, would thus be US$2.1 million. To be efficient, a genetic conservation programme will have to run for at least 10 years. The total cost for such a programme would thus be US$21 million.

4.4 The Conservation of Prosopis cineraria (An example of a single species conservation project)

a) Objectives

Exploration, conservation, evaluation and sustained utilization of Prosopis cineraria.

b) Activities

i) International activities: Overall coordination, technical and financial support to national institutes.

ii) National activities: Plant exploration, combined with the systematic collection of seed of Prosopis cineraria throughout the natural range of the species the demarcation of in situ conservation areas of Prosopis cineraria covering the genetic variation and the establishment of ex situ conservation stands of endangered provenances under pressure; the establishment and evaluation of field trials, aimed at determining the genetic variation in the species and its adaptation to a range of ecological conditions in potential planting sites; revision of management techniques in in situ conservation areas, based on experience in managing them for the dual purposes of maintenance of genetic variation and utilization by local populations; dissemination of information, training and raising of awareness of the importance of genetic resource conservation.

c) Costs and Duration

The project should be of a duration of 10 years to be able to have a lasting impact. Investment at a more modest level will be needed also in future years for the maintenance of the reserves in and ex situ established within the framework of the project, however, this is not considered in the present budget.

The total budget for the conservation of one species, over ten years in five countries, is estimated at US$6.2 million. The conservation of 10 out of the 81 woody species listed for priority action because of threats to all, or parts of, their natural ranges would be some US$40 million.

5. INSTITUTIONS

5.1 Strengthening of Forest Administration

a) Background

Practically all documents, technical reports, studies and regional appraisals of the forestry sector recognize that institutional constraints are among the greatest obstacles to an effective development of the forestry and other sectors. It is thus necessary to identify and analyze these constraints in order to overcome them and allow the forestry sector to contribute to rural and national development.

It is also recognized that efforts are required to ensure that the new orientations of forestry development are reflected with more emphasis and coherence in forest policy and legislation drafted in the light of prevailing conditions in each country, and to stress the contribution that the sector can make to the different sectors of the economy.

The full potential of the forest administration to achieve these aims is not adequately and clearly perceived. This has led to a restrictive attitude on the part of national financial authorities and policy-makers towards these institutions and to satisfying their requirements for human, financial and material resources needed to achieve their objectives adequately.

The aims, structure and size of the organizations responsible for the development of the forestry sector should be commensurate with the importance of the forest resources and their potential contribution to development. The strengthening and up-dating of forestry institutions so as to achieve a better harmonization of the production, protection and social functions of forestry needs to be pursued and emphasized.

Consequently mechanisms must be found to create or improve the internal structure, procedures, planning and information systems of forest administrations, to strengthen the managerial capability and efficiency of their staff and to adapt the administration to the concept of fully integrating forestry development with socio-economic development.

b) Objectives

The development objective is to assist countries in developing the institutional structures, procedures and mechanisms needed to achieve the appropriate management of their forest resources and to contribute to national economic and social development.

The immediate objectives are:

i) to assist developing countries in the analysis, evaluation and restructuring of the internal structure and institutional functions of the forest administration;

ii) to promote the revision and updating of the forest policies and normative framework;

iii) to contribute to the establishment of an appropriate system of information and planning, to facilitate and improve the decision-making process in the sector;

iv) to promote the rationalization of internal procedures to make the administrative actions of the forest administration more efficient and effective; and

v) to support the motivation of the internal human resources of the forest administration in the pursuit of operational and technical efficiency.

c) Activities

i) Preparation of national and regional studies on the institutional aspects of forestry development, identifying the factors that contribute to or hamper the achievement of political, technical and administrative aims.

ii) Preparation of a manual on organization and management systems.

iii) Revision of existing or formulation of new forest policies, legislation and institutional functions and objectives.

iv) Establishment or strengthening of appropriate systems of collection and analysis of information and statistics to initiate or improve forestry planning.

v) Strengthening of internal mechanisms of training, communication and organization in order to enhance the contribution of forestry to rural community development.

vi) Improvement of the managerial capabilities of forest administrations through assistance to their organizational and staff development efforts (training).

Costs and Duration

Assistance is required in all these activities including project proposals on various subjects. The approximate cost over a 5-year period is estimated at US$ 120

5.2 Strengthening of Forestry and Forest Products Research and Programmes in Developing Countries

a) Background

At the 17th IUFRO Congress, Kyoto, Japan, 6-17 September 1981, a paper prepared by FAO and the World Bank was presented on the subject "Forestry Research Needs in Developing Countries - Time for a Reappraisal?"

The paper was based on a study of future forestry research needs in developing countries carried out jointly by the World Bank and FAO in early 1981, and also on the results of a questionnaire on Forest Research sent out by FAO in 1980 to many different countries aimed at identifying current research topics of major interest.

Alternative institutional strategies for ensuring a shift in emphasis of forestry research more towards the areas of concern identified were examined. The main conclusion was that first priority should be given to the strengthening of national research institutions in the developing countries themselves, the majority of which are weak and have been severely constrained by lack of staff and funding. Well-conceived national research is likely to be more enduring than imported research.

It is well known that, in many institutions, research is carried out in isolation from the real problems in the field. In addition, many valuable research results are never disseminated to the field and consequently never implemented.

There are many traditional and other reasons for this state of affairs but it is important to narrow the gap between the research institutions and the field for an optimal use of the existing resources, inadequate as they are. This can be institutionalized in a number of ways depending on local conditions in different countries.

One way is to create an intermediate organization which can disseminate research results to the field in different ways but which can also bring the relevant problems in the field to the attention of the research institutions.

Another way is to create advisory boards with representatives from the research institutions, and field organizations to discuss and advise on research programmes and on the application of research results in the field.

Training of researchers to present their research results in a language appropriate to individual target groups is very important.

It is also important to train and give responsibility to certain field staff to act as liaison officers and to ensure, in particular, a two-way flow of information between researchers and field staff in general.

More action research or research carried out in cooperation with field staff is yet another possibility to narrow the gap.

The institutional arrangements mentioned above can all be used together as a package or in different combinations.

b) Objectives

The long-term objective is to develop an institutional framework for an effective use of research capabilities to serve the developing countries' real needs for improvement of their forest resources and for rural development.

The immediate objectives are:

i) to evaluate alternative research systems and structures appropriate to developing countries;

ii) to assist developing countries in strengthening their research institutions or, if necessary, establishing new ones;

iii) to establish efficient mechanisms for the transfer of forestry research results into rural systems;

iv) to establish efficient mechanisms for the identification of research priorities relevant to the real needs of the countries;

v) to establish appropriate mechanisms for national, regional and global cooperation and coordination between forestry research institutions.

c) Activities

i) A general study on the structure of research organizations in selected countries including the direction of research priorities, dissemination and implementation of research results.

ii) Preparation of a report based on this survey showing alternative models of research organization due to different local conditions or criteria.

iii) Assessment and improvement of existing research institutions in terms of research resources, research priorities and programmes research organization and dissemination and implementation of research results.

iv) Establishment of new forestry or forest products research institutions in countries where these do not exist and the need for them is recognized.

v) Training of research managers and research officers in their special field of research through arrangement of courses, seminars, workshops and fellowship programmes.

vi) Identification and development of new research areas such as work science and social forestry with special attention being given to narrowing the gap between other disciplines such as agricultural and social research.

vii) Information exchange and cooperation between research institutes on national, subregional, regional and global basis.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is required in all these activities including project proposals on various subjects.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at US$ 100 million.

5.3 Regional Cooperation for Wood Energy Research and Development in Africa

a) Background

Wood is the dominant domestic fuel for rural and most urban families in Africa. The current population of Africa is approximately 450 million inhabitants, using an estimated volume of 300 million cubic metres of fuelwood annually. This represents over 70% of the total energy consumption in the Region. Almost three-quarters of it is used for cooking, and most of the remainder for rural industries. As underlined by the Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1981, no source of energy that is technically, economically and socially acceptable to the user will be able to replace fuelwood in the foreseeable future.

Many countries have substantial research capabilities but research is rarely directly related to wood-based energy. Fuelwood production is most often a by-product of plantations created for other industrial purposes, whereas the fuelwood deficit should be the major concern of forestry research in the Africa Region.

A project is proposed to mobilize international funds to activate regional cooperation in expediting the growth of fuelwood and ensuring its efficient use which would include promotion of appropriate improved cooking stoves. The role of the project would be to provide the critical inputs for collective self-reliance in the form of a cooperative network among participating countries (along TCDC lines).

b) Objectives

The long-term objective is to improve the socio-economic well-being and development potential of countries of the Africa Region through the provision of adequate supplies of renewable energy based on wood. The immediate objectives are:

i) to accelerate the development of appropriate approaches to improve supplies of fuelwood and the efficiency of its use;

ii) to stimulate the exchange of information, materials and expertise through technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) for the benefit of the least developed countries and other countries facing major fuelwood supply problems;

iii) to assist the countries in the Region in strengthening their research and development capability.

Particular emphasis will be given to agroforestry systems which combine energy production with the provision of other goods and services. The development of the growing of fuelwood trees as an integral component of agricultural and rural development programmes will be encouraged.

c) Activities

Activities will relate to the catalytic role the project should play in establishing the regional cooperative framework for wood energy development. Major activities include assistance to the countries of region to establish this cooperative framework and technical assistance relating to fuelwood production and use.

The project will collaborate closely with the numerous agencies including non-governmental organizations already working on aspects of wood-based energy research and development within the countries of the Region.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is needed to link institutions in developing countries with those in the developing world, and between African countries involved in the cooperative programme; to train people and to assist in organizing national projects or institutions in such a way that they provide for the transfer of knowledge and technology, for accelerating the process of strengthening national capabilities; and for formulating appropriate research programmes.

The project should provide a permanent framework through which TCDC can be channelled efficiently and rapidly in response to the specific needs of or requests from participating countries.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 3.5 million.

5.4 Strengthening of Extension Programmes

a) Background

Evaluation of existing extension programmes has revealed that programmes suffer from a lack of well-trained extension agents, lack of follow-up actions and lack of locally-produced extension materials, and even when the latter are available, they do not reach the villages or the district forest officers. However, there are also some cases of successful extension programmes (e.g. in Nepal, Peru and the Republic of South Korea).

b) Objectives

To promote a better forestry image improving existing extension programmes and where necessary formulating and implementing new ones.

c) Activities

i) Train both agriculturists and foresters in social forestry and extension techniques;

ii) introduce the above subjects in all forestry training programmes.

iii) create extension organizations that are better suited to local conditions;

iv) stimulate socio-economic research and surveys;

v) convince governments of the necessity of changing laws and policies so as to obtain successful social forestry programmes; evaluate existing extension programmes;

vii) stimulate the exchange of information on successful approaches and experiences.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is required in the areas of curriculum revision, conduct of seminars, production of extension materials, formulation of research programmes, evaluation and monitoring of projects, and formulation of project proposals on different subjects.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 1.5 million.

5.5 Improving the Quality of Forestry Teaching

a) Background

The need to reorient the work of foresters in today's society from the traditional to a more rural-development-oriented activity requires new approaches in developing programmes. There is a need to change the attitudes of traditional forestry organizations, inducing them to work with people instead of taking a punitive or supervisory role in forestry activities.

Training has always been one of the basic tools to bring about change. The most practical approach is to start with the training of teachers and instructors.

Research results and new experiences gained in the field should reach training programmes rapidly so that dissemination of up-to-date knowledge, is expedited. Many forestry schools have not kept up with progress. The syllabuses and curricula are frequently inadequate, teaching materials are out-dated or may be lacking completely, libraries are often archaic, and the teachers are not trained for their important task.

b) Objectives

To improve the quality of forestry teaching, to facilitate the transfer of improved techniques and of up-to-date knowledge and experience to training institutes, and to make teaching a better instrument for transferring this knowledge and experience to students and forestry personnel.

b) Activities

i) Develop systems whereby up-to-date knowledge, experience and policy can be transferred to forestry training institutes;

ii) set up permanent or ad hoc forestry teacher programmes on a national, regional or sub-regional basis; develop new curricula in different forestry subjects;

iii) introduce new subjects in existing syllabuses, such as social forestry, watershed management, extension techniques and ergonomics;

v) improve school facilities such as libraries, laboratories, teaching aids and demonstration areas;

vi) stimulate the exchange of information between training institutions;

vii) promote the exchange of teachers, study tours, seminars, workshops, etc.;

viii) improve monitoring and evaluation of forestry training programmes;

ix) improve the contacts between the training institutes and the field;

x) improve the contacts of these institutions with others of a similar nature, such as pedagogical, agricultural training and research institutes.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is required in the formulation of teacher training programmes, in the establishment of teacher training centres on a permanent or ad hoc basis, in curriculum revision, in the creation of networks between training institutions, and in the formulation of project proposals for such assistance.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 2 million.

5.6 Strengthening existing forestry training and education institutions in the Sahelian zone

a) Background

Current training and education centres in the region, and associated research programmes, are poorly developed and have inadequate resources in relation to the diversity, complexity, and scope of problems in land-use in the region.

A vigorous and well-supported programme to strengthen institutions could ensure the integration of teaching and applied research with the related fuelwood and land-use action programmes. This is essential if the latter programmes, and current projects in the region, are to be sustained in the longer term by local field expertise at both professional and technical levels.

b) Objectives

The principal objectives are:

i) To assist institutions to develop and implement appropriate research programmes;

ii) to provide training to improve the capability of

- technical and professional staff for forest management and,

- specialist research staff.

c) Activities

The following are the activities of the programmes. Individual institutions would have direct responsibility for their development, maintenance, and completion:

i) Species and provenance trials.

ii) Inventory methods, particularly in relation to the existing resource, and development of silvi-pastoral management regimes.

iii) Survey of use of indigenous trees by local people.

iv) Agronomic, genealogical, and vegetative propagation investigations of some three of the most heavily exploited or useful indigenous tree species.

v) The production of teaching texts and field manuals which would incorporate available knowledge in each of these fields and in time would be updated as information accumulates from the research implemented.

vi) Provision of equipment.

vii) Training of staff.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is required to develop the capability of training and research institutions in planning and organization in reformulating curricula, in preparing teaching materials and in designing and executing research projects.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 4 million.

5.7 Regional Training in Fuelwood Production and Use

a) Background

Wood is the dominant domestic fuel for rural people and sometimes also for urban populations. In some regions, more than half of the population is suffering from fuelwood shortages and can only meet its needs through overcutting existing supplies. Areas of acute scarcity exist where lack of wood makes it difficult to cook properly, especially the traditional legume foods which require lengthy cooking periods to make them palatable and safe to eat.

Despite this, wood, either in the form of fuelwood or as charcoal, is still used wastefully because people are neither aware of the advantages of using improved wood-burning and charcoal stoves, nor of the improved techniques for making charcoal which have been developed in some regions of the world. The use of improved technologies, already well-proven, could result in a saving of 50 percent of the wood used, which is equivalent to doubling the raw material resource available.

b) Objectives

The purpose of the project is to make an immediate impact, through training and dissemination of knowledge, on the use of fuelwood in the manufacture of charcoal and in cooking. The project would train teachers and research workers from selected countries in improved technologies for the use of fuelwood. The project would also help develop curricula and teaching materials for use in forestry schools and training colleges in all zones, and for extension work aimed at promoting the planting of multipurpose trees by rural people.

The achievement of these objectives would stimulate the exchange of information, materials and expertise through technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) for the benefit of the least developed countries (LDCs) and other countries facing major fuelwood supply problems.

c) Activities

i) Hold seminars and courses for forestry instructors and research workers, with special emphasis on the use of fuelwood;

ii) study the role of women in fuelwood production and use;

iii) develop special programmes related to wood-based energy production;

iv) produce teaching materials on this subject and include it in school curricula;

v) establish appropriate extension programmes to introduce new techniques in rural areas for charcoal production and for avoiding fuelwood waste.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is needed for training in curriculum development, in organizing extension programmes, in the motivation of rural communities, and in the reorientation of research programmes.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around

5.8 Organization Rural Communities for Forestry Development

a) Background

It is generally recognized that the organization of rural people with a view to solving their problems and defending their common rights is extremely important. The task of the forestry sector to maintain or recover the right of these communities to have access to the natural resources, which are essential for their subsistence, has not received sufficient attention. The frequent depletion of natural forests, often sanctioned by law, has separated man from the forest, thus leading to a degradation of the resource. Also, many forest development strategies of the past did not recognize the benefits rural communities should derive from the forests through their participation in development activities. As it is important to protect forest resources, action must be taken to organize rural populations in such a way that they can contribute to forestry activities in a rational and coordinated manner, either independently or in conjunction with public or private agencies.

b) Objectives

The purpose of the project is to promote a rational and coordinated use of tropical forest resources and products by organizing people around forestry activities.

The objectives of the project would be:

i) to develop incentives to encourage participation in forestry;

ii) to promote rural organizations such as associations, cooperatives, etc.;

iii) to promote the integration of rural organizations with forestry activities being carried out by public or private entities;

iv) to develop appropriate forestry training programmes for rural people;

v) to develop forestry extension programmes.

c) Activities

i) Review or modify legal instruments related to forestry and rural incentives;

ii) carry out socio-economic studies on the rural communities in forest zones;

iii) set up rural organization programmes for forestry activities in conjunction with public or private entities dealing with this subject;

iv) establish a pilot project for rural community participation in forestry development;

v) include well-established rural organizations involved in agricultural or livestock programmes in forestry activities;

vi) establish forestry training programmes for rural people;

vi) seek technical and financial assistance to support and improve field activities of rural organizations;

vii) find appropriate mechanisms for the distribution and marketing of forest products produced by rural organizations.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is needed: (i) to train the staff of public forestry administrations and other public institutions dealing with the organization of rural people; (ii) to develop extension programmes and tools; (iii) to promote and support rural development and rural organizations with a view to reorienting and reorganizing forestry institutions; (iv) to create appropriate mechanisms for product distribution and marketing; and to establish delivery services for rural communities.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 3.5 million.

5.9 Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including cooperatives in forestry and forest industries development in rural areas

a) Background

NGOs have assumed considerable importance in many forms of social forestry in recent years. They have grown rapidly to meet real needs, but with very few exceptions (South Korea being one), their efforts have been fragmented, uncoordinated, often without a supporting legal framework, and sometimes in conflict with national forest services.

National forest policies and laws have not yet been drafted to allow the mobilization in a much more effective and positive way of all such private efforts. In addition, there is clearly room for improvement in the management and support of NGOs if they are to play a more effective role in forestry development in the rural areas in the years ahead.

b) Objectives

In selected countries the principal objective is to assess the structures, roles and needs of NGOs so that the more effective organizations may be strengthened in line with national strategies of forestry and forest industries development in rural areas.

The programme would be confined to those countries where NGOs have grown and assumed considerable importance in forestry development in recent years (e.g India and Kenya).

c) Activities

The proaramme in each selected country would include the following activities:

i) A comparative assessment of the structure, role, and needs of each NGO.

ii) Identification and quantification of the accomplishments of each NGO in forestry and forest industries development in rural areas.

iii) An analysis of the linkages relating NGOs and government agencies in forestry and forest industries development including any legal facilities supporting the role of NGOs.

iv) On the basis of these analyses, identify those NGOs requiring support and the kinds of assistance required.

v) Plan and develop support strategies for selected NGOs.

vi) Report on each phase of development and each phase of completion of the programme.

d) Costs and Duration

Assistance is needed to assess the situation and potential of NGOs, to build up structures and mechanisms to improve coordination and action between them, the Public Forestry Administration and relevant rural organizations. Training to improve the servicing capacity of NGOs will also be needed.

The approximate cost over a 5-year period is calculated at around US$ 8.8 million.

ANNEX 2

SUMMARY OF INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS

(Prepared by the World Bank, UNDP and the World Resources Institute)

The five action programme proposals of the FAO Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics as presented in Chanters II to VI describe the types of activities to be carried out, both of a technical assistance as well as of an investment nature, in all tropical countries over a 10-year period, taking into account the various constraints facing tropical countries.

Concurrent with the Committee's work, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme with the assistance of a non-governmental organization - the World Resource Institute based in Washington - worked out investment requirements for a 5-year period for 53 tropical countries [1] priority fields which are closely related to the four non-institutional ones of the Committee:

- "rehabilitation of upland watersheds and semi-arid lowlands" (which covers a large portion of the Committee's "forestry in land use" programme);

- "forest management for industrial use" (which covers roughly the forest resources portion of the Committee's "forestbased industrial development" programme);

- "fuelwood and agroforestry" (which in effect covers the same field as the Committee's "fuelwood and energy" programme, with the notable exception of wood-based commercial energy);

- "conservation of forest ecosystems" (which covers roughly the same field as the Committee's "conservation of tropical forest ecosystems" programme).

This work on national investment profiles is the first overall country-by-country exercise of this kind.

Though they would need to he refined and discussed more in-depth with the countries concerned, they represent already a useful analysis of the means needed in forestry by a large number of tropical countries. This is the reason why they are annexed to the Committee's Action Plan in line with the recommendation it made at its June 1985 Session that "the action programme proposals be complemented by national investment profiles carried out by governments with the assistance of the World Bank and other competent organizations."

The criteria for selection of the 53 tropical countries have been the following:

- for the "rehabilitation of upland watersheds and semi-arid lowlands" area, the countries are those where concern exists for the correction of land misuse on upland watersheds and which have adequate information on actions needed to rehabilitate degraded watersheds on a large scale;

- for the "forest management for industrial use" area, the selection has been based on both an analysis of declining exports and rising imports of forest products and the potential for accelerated industrial reforestation and improved management of industrial forests;

- for the "fuelwood and agroforestry" area, countries are those where large populations are affected by acute scarcity of fuelwood, according to the FAO survey of fuelwood supply and demand in developing countries;

- for the "forest ecosystems conservation" area, the selection is based primarily on the area of closed tropical forests and the extent of current threats to these remaining forests.

As for institutions, the authors of these summary investment requirements consider that approximately 20% of the funds indicated have to go to strengthening national and regional institutions, particularly in research, training and extension. Corresponding activities have not been regrouped in a distinct area as in the case of the Committee's Action Plan.

Other general estimations by the authors are that (i) approximately 50% of the funds indicated correspond to official development assistance while the remaining half represents the contributions of national governments and the private sector, and (ii) the total amount which is arrived at of US$ 4.6 billion probably represents about two thirds of the total investment needed to respond more effectively to the problems of deforestation in tropical developing countries.

An important point which the authors highlight - and which applies mutatis mutandis to the Committee's programmes - is that a significant part (estimated at one third) of the funds indicated correspond in fact to investments in the agricultural sector. They estimate for instance that 50% of the funds needed in the forest ecosystems conservation area aim at sustainable agricultural development of buffer lands adjacent to protected areas.

[Annex 2 Introduction notes:]

1 / 56 countries were selected but three of them, Argentina, Chile and China have not been considered in this annex since they are only marginally tropical.

SUMMARY OF INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS

1. Rehabilitation of Upland Watersheds and Semi-Arid Lowlands

Country: Colombia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Training of management and extension staff, for watershed rehabilitation to protect hydropower investments.

Investment (US$ million): 50

Country: Ethiopia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Technical assistance in preparation, training, and organization of watershed rehabilitation projects in the Central Highlands Plateau region; soil conservation and provision of inputs to improve agricultural yields; shelterbelts and on-farm tree planting on denuded areas.

Investment (US$ million): 100

Country: India

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Watershed rehabilitation treatment of 45 million ha to protect the 18 out of 31 flood-control reservoirs identified as most urgently in danger of destruction by sedimentation; tree planting and rehabilitation of agricultural land at a cost of $250/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 500

Country: Indonesia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Technical assistance in support of the government watershed management program to: improve agricultural productivity emphasizing tree crops; replant denuded areas of protective forest on steep slopes; and develop productive agricultural settlement on Sumatra, Kalimantan, and other islands.

Expansion of watershed rehabilitation program by 50,000 ha per year at a cost of $4 00/ha.

Investment (US $ million): 100

Country: Kenya

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Rehabilitation of 200,000 ha of upland areas in the Upper Tana River Watershed through soil conservation, agricultural improvement, and tree planting activities:

- 50,000 ha of densely settled hills at a cost of $300/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 15

- 150,000 ha of forest and sparsely settled hills at a cost of $100/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Sediment control in semi-arid areas of the Lower Tana River Watershed through improved grazing and tree planting:

-100,000 ha of selected sub-catchments at a cost of $50/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 5

Investment (US$ million) [Kenya total]: 35

Country: Madagascar

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Technical assistance for rehabilitation of degraded watersheds, including reforestation, soil conservation, and agricultural improvement, at a cost of $2 million a year.

Investment (US$ million): 10

Country: Nepal

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Technical assistance for panchayat forest development on 75 watersheds in the Middle Mountains covering 375,000 ha.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Country: Pakistan

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Land use reorganization, control, and rehabilitation of the lower watersheds above the Mangla and Tarbella Dams; including reforestation of critical slopes with forage and fuelwood trees, terracing and improvement of permanent agriculture, and protection of forests from invasion.

Investment (US$ million): 45

Country: Philippines

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Rehabilitation and protection of the 200,000 ha of annually logged virgin forest to ensure regeneration of forest cover, at a cost of $120/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 120

Country: Zimbabwe

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Land use reorganization and improvement in Communal Areas:

- organization and management of grazing in Communal Areas. Five pilot schemes of 100,000 ha each at a cost of $20/ha;

Investment (US$ million): 10

- agricultural intensification and tree planting in Communal Areas. Five pilot schemes of 20,000 ha each at cost of $200/ha

Investment (US$ million): 20

- development of irrigation schemes in Communal Areas. Three pilot schemes 15 of 1000 ha each at a cost of $5000/ha;

Investment (US$ million): 15

- watershed protection for irrigation schemes. Control of runoff from 20,000 ha of grazing lands at a cost of $50/ha.

Investment (US$ million): 1

Investment (US$ million) [Zimbabwe total]: 46

Total estimated investment requirements for management of upland watershed and semi-arid lowlands in 5-year period (1987-1991) for 10 selected countries: $ 1,021

2. Forest Management for Industrial Uses

Region/Country: AFRICA

Region/Country: Cameroon

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Increase the rate of industrial plantation establishment from 1,000 to 5,000 ha, concentrating on higher-valued peeler species and sites close to export ports; bring under more intensive management one million ha of natural forest; intensify utilization of existing species and strengthen forestry department's capability for effective control of concession licenses.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Congo (People's Republic of)

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Bring under effective management 1.5 million ha of natural forests in north Congo; accelerate industrial plantation establishment in the Luobomo region and around Pointe Noire with a target of 30,000 ha over a 5-year period; strengthen institutional management and control of logging operations in natural forests.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Ghana

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen forestry department to restore protection and management to 1.2 million ha of natural forest; intensify utilization of secondary species; increase rate of industrial plantation establishment from 3,000 to 5,000 ha/yr.

Investment (US$ million): 10

Region/Country: Ivory Coast

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Place 3 million ha of natural forest under more effective management and protection; complete forest inventories; intensify utilization of secondary species; increase annual rate of industrial plantation establishment form 5,000 to 25,000 ha/yr over a five-year period; provide technical assistance to identify measures needed to limit log exports to 1.5 million m[3]/yr.

Investment (US$ million): 75

Region/Country: Liberia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Bring an additional 300,000 ha of logged-over forests under more effective management and protection; continue with steady expansion of the Bomi Hills plantation project to a total of about 3,000 additional ha/yr shifting the emphasis to hardwoods; strengthen forestry institutions to control logging operations.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Nigeria

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Accelerate industrial plantation establishment from the current rate of 13,000 to about 40,000 ha/yr over a five-year period and intensify maintenance of existing plantations.

Investment (US$ million): 45

Region/Country: Uganda

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Place 500,000 ha of existing natural forest under secure protection and management; strengthen institutions responsible for management of existing plantations, increase rate of industrial reforestation from 1,000 to 5,000 ha/yr over a five-year period.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Region/Country: Zaire

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Intensify management of 100,000 ha of natural forest; continue forest inventories in the more accessible areas; build up the forest department capability for administration of logging concessions; establish 20,000 ha of industrial plantations in the Bateke region.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Subtotal for Africa Region: $ 230

Region/Country: ASIA

Region/Country: Burma

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Assuming improved security in the area, bring 400,000 ha of teak forest under improved management; continue to expand teak planting program by an additional 40,000 ha over the next five years; further strengthen forestry department capability for effective protection of remaining forests.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: India

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Bring an additional 30 million ha under natural forest management; double the rate of industrial plantation establishment from 120,000 to 240,000 ha/yr over a 5-year period.

Investment (US$ million): 190

Region/Country: Indonesia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Expand the area of intensively managed forest by 1 million ha; increase utilization of secondary species; increase the rate of industrial plantation establishment from 78,000 to 100,000 ha/yr over five years; assist with forestry research and training, especially regarding management techniques for logged forests.

Investment (US$ million): 50

Region/Country: Malaysia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Provide assistance for analysis of achievements to date in managing logged-over areas; improve protection and management of 2.5 million ha of natural forest; continue with enrichment planting and more intensified utilization of secondary hardwoods; increase rate of establishment of industrial plantations from 4,000 to 30,000 ha/yr over a five-year period.

Investment (US$ million): 40

Region/Country: Pakistan

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Bring 100,000 ha of the Hazara and other industrial forests under effective management and control; establish an additional 25,000 ha of industrial plantations; strengthen forestry department's administrative capability for controlling management in remote hill forests.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Papua New Guinea

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Bring 250,000 ha under improved management and protection; assist with training and strengthen the capability of the forestry department to supervise concession licenses and to carry out enrichment planting in cut-over areas.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Philippines

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Assist with forest survey and place million ha of natural forest under effective protection and management; intensify utilization of secondary species; increase current rate of industrial reforestation from 9,000 to 25,000 ha/yr over a five-year period; review forest policies with a view towards increasing participation of the private sector in industrial reforestation.

Investment (US$ million): 40

Region/Country: Thailand

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Place 1 million ha of natural forest under secure forest department control and intensify hardwood management; accelerate industrial planting from 6,000 to 20,000 ha/yr over a five-year period; assist in the preparation of a long term development strategy for the forestry sector.

Investment (US$ million): 35

Subtotal for Asia region $705

Region/Country: LATIN AMERICA

Region/Country: Brazil

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Double the annual rate of establishment for industrial plantations from 160,000 to 320,000 ha over a five-year period; assist in defining forest resources management policy for the Amazon region; provide for integration of northeast Brazil and other wood-deficient areas into forestry activities; bring under effective control and management 5 million ha of Amazon species of high value, in areas close to industrial centers such as Manaus.

Investment (US$ million): 325

Region/Country: Colombia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Evaluate the achievements under the National Reforestation Plan; identify institutional, financial and other constraints to meeting planting targets and develop appropriate solutions; rapidly expand the annual rate of industrial plantation establishment from 8,000 to 35,000 ha/yr, over a five-year period.

Investment (US$ million): 45

Region/Country: Costa Rica

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Establish 15,000 ha of fast-growing industrial plantations; strengthen institutional management and protection of remaining natural forest reserves.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Ecuador

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Establish 10,000 of fast-growing industrial plantations in the Sierra; bring under more effective management about 1 million ha of natural forest in the Esmeraldas region; continue forest inventory work in the more accessible Amazonian forest.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Guatemala

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Establish 15,000 ha of fast-growing industrial plantations; strengthen forestry service's capability for protection and management of remainder of productive forest lands.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Jamaica

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Intensify management of the existing pine plantations; establish an additional 10,000 ha of fast-growing plantations.

Investment (US$ million): 10

Region/Country: Mexico

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Accelerate current efforts to organize and assist forest owners, to provide for intensified forest management on 1 million ha of natural forest; assist with forestry sector analysis and recommended changes in forest policy, especially regarding forest management guidelines and incentives to accelerated development of forest industries; increase rate of industrial reforestation, from 2,000 to 50,000 ha/yr over a five-year period.

Investment (US$ million): 90

Region/Country: Peru

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Complete inventory and intensify protection and management of 6 million ha of the more accessible Amazon forest resources, with special emphasis on securing future supplies for existing milling industry; initiate reforestation with faster growing, more valuable peeler species in accessible areas close to industrial sites.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Venezuela

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Continue with the Orinoco pine planting program, with a target of mechanized reforestation of 50,000 ha over the next five years.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Subtotal for Latin America Region $575

Total estimated investment requirements for forest management for industrial uses in 5-year period (1987-1991) for 25 countries: $1,225

3 Fuelwood and Agroforestry

Region/Country: [1] AFRICA

Region/Country: Botswana

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Explore most efficient means to reduce fuelwood consumption and give appropriate support to use of improved woodstoves such as the Louga metal model; strengthen capability of Forest Department, in extension forestry; encourage decentralized seedling production; focus reforestation program around population centers (Gaborone, Lobatse and major villages of eastern Botswana); improve recovery of logging wastes in forest reserves; follow-up with recommendations of Rural Energy Survey.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Burkina Faso

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Accelerate and expand extension/rural forestry programs; promote decentralized seedling production of multipurpose species; encourage on-farm reforestation with Acacia albida and planting within or around family compounds; promote dissemination of improved woodstoves; intensify management of forest reserves and savannah woodlands with community involvement; increase support for forestry research and training.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Region/Country: Burundi

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Introduce improved woodstoves and more efficient charcoal production; decentralize multipurpose seedling production; strengthen agroforestry research and forestry extension; promote farmer participation in establishment of peri-urban and farm forestry plantations.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Cape Verde

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen Forest Service in order to expand extension forestry program, accelerate National Afforestation Program and increase protection and management of remaining forested areas; aim to reforest 5000 ha in high reas and 20,000 ha at lower elevations within 5 years; expand training components of existing projects; promote fuel efficient woodstoves; provide assistance to update forest legislation, define forest policy and strengthen financial base of Forest Service.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Chad

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen forestry sector planning; accelerate training of forestry extension agents; promote decentralized seedling production and increase incentives for on-farm tree-planting; intensify management of existing forests; promote gum arabic production; improve efficiency of charcoal production.

Investment (US$ million): 14

Region/Country: Ethiopia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Make more effective use of agricultural residues and improve recovery of logging and sawmill waste; promote woodstoves protect existing woodlands and improve management of existing fuelwood plantations; strengthen extension and promote participation of Peasant Associations and rural communities in reforestation; increase support for training and research.

Investment (US$ million): 40

Region/Country: Kenya

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve charcoal production techniques and introduce solar technology for tobacco curing; intensify management and increase productivity of natural forests; continue to decentralize seedling production; promote tree-planting with mass media and expanded extensive programs; encourage farmer and private sector establishment of peri-urban fuelwood plantings as a component of broadly-based rural forestry program; strengthen forestry research, tree improvement, training.

Investment (US$ million): 48

Region/Country: Lesotho

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Accelerate training programs, with emphasis on agroforestry and extension techniques; strengthen the Forest Division in the area of extension forestry; assist with socio-economic surveys designed to identify chief constraints and potential incentives to tree-planting; expanded reforestation programs, with accent on multi-purpose plantings by individual families; explore increased use of substitutes, particularly biogas fuel produced from dung.

Investment (US$ million): 10

Region/Country: Madagascar

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Make more effective use of logging wastes and crop residues; support increased substitution of electricity and briquetted crop residues for fuelwood in Urban areas; intensify management of existing plantations; accelerate establishment of peri-urban plantations and promote farm forestry.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Malawi

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve efficiency of wood use for tobacco curing; strengthen sociological and agro-forestry research; expand seedling production and extension support for tree-planting; improve management of natural forests with involvement of small-holders on lease-hold basis; strengthen forestry sector monitoring, evaluation and planning.

Investment (US$ million): 24

Region/Country: Mali

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen forestry training and extension support to promote rural forestry; promote community involvement in management of unreserved natural vegetation; increase fuelwood substitution and use of improved woodstoves in urban areas; intensify management of forest reserves.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Mauritania

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen research and development of improved methods of charcoal production and fuelwood use; intensify management of forests in Senegal River basin; promote tree planting on borders of irrigated perimeters; increase seedling production and forestry extension; provide technical assistance and training for planning.

Investment (US$ million): 16

Region/Country: Niger

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Increase use of substitute fuels in urban areas; promote local participation in management of natural forests as being done at Guesselbodi; support agroforestry and planting in family compounds; continue trials with irrigated plantations; intensify management of gum arabic; strengthen forestry training and research.

Investment (US$ million): 20

Region/Country: Nigeria

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Make more effective use of logging wastes from industrial forestry clear-felling in the south; decentralize multipurpose seedling production, particularly in the north; convert degraded forests close to urban centers to energy plantations; further strengthen forestry extension and research.

Investment (US$ million): 50

Region/Country: Rwanda

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve the efficiency of charcoal production; encourage use of substitute fuels, including peat; promote participation of farmers in establishment of peri-urban plantations; increase forestry extension efforts to support for farm forestry and decentralized seedling production.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Senegal

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Establish Community Forestry Department and increase extension support for rural reforestation with emphasis on agroforestry (Acacia albida in farmfields; planting of windbreaks, use of multipurpose species); intensify management of Forest Reserves; strengthen forestry research.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Region/Country: Somalia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen technical capabilities of Forestry Department; improve charcoal production methods; strengthen forestry research and wood-based energy planning; review pricing policies for fuelwood.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: Sudan

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve charcoal production techniques, promote involvement of rural communities in management of savannah woodlands; establish 7,500 ha of fuelwood plantations on mechanized farms; strengthen research on irrigated plantations; encourage use of briquetted crop residues; review pricing policies of gum arabic; strengthen extension service support for farm and community forestry.

Investment (US$ million): 35

Region/Country: Tanzania

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve productivity of miombo woodlands, in cooperative programs with rural communities; expand village afforestation programs; encourage farmers' involvement in establishment of multi-purpose peri-urban plantations; improve efficiency of charcoal production and tobacco curing barns; strengthen forestry extension and research.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Uganda

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Assist with survey of fuelwood consumption and inventory of tree cover outside forest reserves; revise curriculums at agricultural and forestry colleges to place greater emphasis on agroforestry and extension; reorganize extension unit of Forest Service and expand field capabilities, especially in areas of low agricultural productivity; promote private sector involvement in fuelwood plantings by provision of seedlings and management assistance; provide for efficient recovery of logging wastes from existing plantations.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Subtotal for Africa region $497

Region/Country: ASIA

Region/Country: Bangladesh

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve recovery of logging residues from agricultural settlement schemes and commercial logging operations; continue to work on improved end use efficiency particularly via improved stoves, provide incentives for use of substitute fuels (solar and wind) with particular attention given to solar drying of grain crops; increase the productivity of natural forests that have been logged-over by conversion to fast growing fuelwood plantations; encourage reforestation around villages, homesteads, and along irrigation dykes by planting of multipurpose trees; strengthen forest extension and research with special emphasis on intensive biomass production technologies such as tree breeding, and closer space planting.

Investment (US$ million): 52

Region/Country: India

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Expand the social forestry program to double the number of seedlings planted and aim at an annual target of 3 billion trees for the next five years; strengthen the new Forestry Department created within the Ministry of Environment; continue to give strong support to multipurpose farm forestry with particular attention to involving the landless in tree crop farming as was done in West Bengal; intensify efforts to bring degraded forest and agricultural wastelands into tree farming; strengthen forestry research and extension; concentrate research on technologies that can help improve biomass productivity; provide support for a newly planned all-India Coordinated Forestry Research Extension Program; continue to support fuelwood conservation programs particularly for improved production of charcoal, introduction of improved stoves and more efficient wood burning crematoria.

Investment: (US$ million): 500

Region/Country: Nepal

Recommended Programme (1987-1991) Encourage involvement of local panchayats in community management and protection of forest particularly in the Hills; prepare management plans for existing forests; continue to increase their productivity by introduction of fast growing species (25,000 ha over the next five years); aim at distribution of 10 million seedlings over the next five years for multipurpose farm forestry and agricultural wasteland planting; aim at a target distribution of 300,000 improved woodstoves; further strengthen Community Forestry Division forestry survey and forest inventory activities; strengthen forestry research, extension and training particularly in the area of farm forestry.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Pakistan

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Continue efforts at introducing rural electrification into villages and further improve the efficiency of charcoal production; increase support for social forestry with strong emphasis on energy needs; accelerate current rate of rural afforestation at least five-fold via multipurpose farm forestry and reclamation of wastelands and ravines; intensify planting of trees around irrigated perimeters; further strengthen forestry extension and research for energy related forestry; strengthen forestry and energy sectoral planning.

Investment (US$ million): 40

Region/Country: Sri Lanka

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Promote efficient recovery of wood residues from land-clearing operations, especially in area of Mahaweli Development Project; strengthen agroforestry and tree-planting component of agricultural sector programs by encouraging boundary plantings and strip plantations along canals and roads; increase outreach capability of Community Forestry Division; expand reforestation and fuelwood production program to achieve an annual planting target of 30,000 ha within 5 years; give priority to reforestation of degraded lands closest to centers of fuelwood demand.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Subtotal for Asia region $ 652

Region/Country: LATIN AMERICA

Region/Country: Bolivia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve efficiency of charcoal manufacturing and transport systems in the Santa Cruz region; initiate reforestation for charcoal production in the Oruro area; accelerate tree planting in the Cordech area as part of a broadly based social and industrial forestry program; expand the forestry component of the Osmauyos/Los Andes forestry project; intensify efforts to step up soil conservation and reforestation in the heavily eroded Tarija valley; intensify agroforestry research with special emphasis on high protein crops and other leguminous plants; strengthen forestry education.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Region/Country: Brazil

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Support the Government's National Energy and Forestry Program with special attention to replacing at least 26 percent of national fuel oil demand with firewood or charcoal by the mid 1990's; aim at establishment of about 500,000 ha of energy plantations over the next five years and improved management of remaining natural forests; strengthen rural afforestation activities particularly in the northeast; further strengthen the institutional capability of IBDF for managing energy/forestry programs; extend improved charcoal production techniques used in Minas Gerais to other areas.

Investment (US$ million): 400

Region/Country: Costa Rica

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Strengthen the human and financial resources of the Forest Service to achieve a target of planting 10,000 ha/yr within 5 years; support extension forestry programs aimed at organizing communities and landowners to improve management of remaining unreserved forest, with emphasis on protecting natural regeneration; assist in translating recommendations of existing fuelwood and forestry sector studies into new rural development and forest policies; explore potential fuelwood substitutes for large-scale industrial users; promote more efficient recovery of fuelwood from land clearing operations.

Investment (US$ million): 15

Region/Country: El Salvador

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Provide assistance for briquetting residues from coffee and banana crops, to substitute for fuelwood; strengthen Forest Service to accelerate reforestation programs and to improve management of remaining forests.

Investment (US$ million): 10

Region/Country: Haiti

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Continue to support the decentralized production of seedlings in areas not already covered by USAID-funded project; continue to give strong emphasis to involvement of non-governmental organizations and existing communities in seedling production; aim at a target of 100 million seedlings a year within 5 years; intensify training programs with emphasis on intensive practical training for extension forestry agents to form the core of a new "community forestry division" in the Forestry Department; accelerate applied research in agroforestry and in low cost seedling production techniques; incorporate soil conservation techniques and work with farmers more intensively to increase survival rate and productivity of planted trees; provide assistance to increase the efficiency of charcoal production to at least that of Casamance kiln; provide assistance for the development of audiovisual aids and other extension material needed for promoting tree planting in rural areas; explore the potential for lease-hold arrangements to farmers in the vicinity of upland Forest Reserves; strengthen land use planning capability within the Forestry Department and integration with energy and agricultural planning.

Investment (US$ million): 12

Region/Country: Peru

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Accelerate sociological research of peoples' attitudes to fuelwood planting; promote expansion of rural afforestation programs by involving farmers and local communities in raising tree seedlings; increase support for extension and forestry research (concentrate on topics that have potential for increasing biomass productivity); intensify promotion of fuelwood substitution (coal, briquettes, liquid/petroleum/gas (LPG) and kerosene); continue to examine feasibility of developing charcoal production in the Selva region to supply deficit areas; strengthen forestry training.

Investment (US$ million): 25

Subtotal for Latin America region $487

Total estimated investment requirements for fuelwood and agroforestry in 5-year period (1987-1991) for 31 countries: $1,636

[Annex 2 Section 3 notes:]

1 / Indicative listing of countries with significant areas of fuelwood scarcity and need for accelerated development of tree-planting and agroforestry activities.

4. Conservation of Forest Ecosystems

Region/Country: Bolivia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop a national conservation strategy; develop a conservation data center and biological inventory accede to Wetlands Convention; better enforce existing laws and treaties; strengthen the Centro de Desarrollo Forestal, responsible for parks and protected areas; train nationals in natural resource and parks management; strengthen capability of local non-governmental organizations to educate and build public awareness of conservation needs; expand protected area system; ensure protection of Isiboro-Secure National Park, identify and establish protected areas in the Amazonia region.

Investment (US$ million): 31.3

Region/Country: Brazil

Investment (US$ million): (estimated) 50

Region/Country: Cameroon

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory to determine conservation priorities; accede to Wetlands convention; expand protected area system to include proposed Korup National Park, proposed Dja National Park, proposed Pangar-Djerem National Park, and Mt. Cameroon to be established as protected area.

Investment (US$ million): 30.5

Region/Country: Colombia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; further expand Cauca Valley conservation data center and build links to resource agencies; accede to Western Hemisphere Convention and Wetlands Convention; expand agency efforts to limit trade in endangered and threatened species; identify and establish protected areas in: (a) Choco region, (b) Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, (c) Amazonian Colombia.

Investment (US$ million): 30

Region/Country: Costa Rica

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop a national conservation strategy; further develop the conservation data center, Programa de Patrimonio Natural de Costa Rica: a) increase funding for salaries and equipment; b) improve capacity to disseminate information and improve access to existing information abroad, especially on Costa Rica plants; accede to Wetlands Convention; increase protection: (a) La Amistad International Park, (b) Bagaces, Guanacaste Province, (c) Zona Protectora La Selva, (d) Corcovado National Park; establish new protected areas identified by the conservation data center.

Investment (US$ million): 20.5

Region/Country: Ecuador

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop a national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to Wetlands Convention; delimit Indian lands and enforce land tenure laws; provide training for additional conservation personnel; conduct regional studies of Amazonian natural resources and their economic benefits; increase conservation efforts in: a) Cuyabeno and Curaray (inventories), b) mangrove ecosystems, c) Pajan and Paute Protection Forests (management plans), d) Yasuni Scientific Research Station (boundary delineation and long-term management funding), e) Amazonia (inventories to identify conservation priorities), f) forests in coastal region and mangrove ecosystems; revise land colonization laws.

Investment (US$ million): 17.1

Region/Country: Gabon

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to CITES [1], World Heritage Convention, and Wetlands convention; expand protected area coverage to include part of Gabon-Cameroon border; expand and improve protection and management of existing conservation areas.

Investment (US$ million): 2.7

Region/Country: India

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Support and expand National Plant Conservation Action Plan: (a) establish proposed system of Biosphere Reserves, (b) establish gene sanctuaries, (c) identify management needs for known threatened plants, (d) conserve endangered flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, (e) prevent over-exploitation of herbal drug plants, (f) survey plants used extensively in tribal societies; improve protection for: (a) all mangrove ecosystems, (b) Gir National Park, Silent Valley National Park, and Manas Tiger Reserve; identify and establish conservation units in the Western Ghats.

Investment (US$ million): 32.2

Region/Country: Indonesia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Improve management of all protected areas; protect sea turtle nesting sites in Straits of Malacca and elsewhere, e.g., Irian Jaya; accede to World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; provide greater financial and technical support for Ciawi training school; expand protected area coverage: a) in Irian Jaya, b) in proposed Kutai National Park and in other areas in Kalimantan, c) in Siberut, d) in Sumatra (Kerinci-Seblat National Park); support existing efforts of nongovernmental organizations to conserve and manage wildlife and critical ecosystems.

Investment (US$ million): 42.7

Region/Country: Ivory Coast

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to CITES and Wetlands Convention; increase protection: (a) in Tai National Park (330,000 ha plus 20,000 ha buffer zone),and (b) in Mt. Nimba; identify and establish conservation areas in Southwest area adjacent to Liberia.

Investment (US$ million): 23.7

Region/Country: Liberia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; contract 2-year study of conservation priorities, emphasizing major ecosystem types; accede to World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; improve and/or expand protected area coverage: (a) in Sapo National Park, (b) in Mt. Nimba, (c) in Southeast area adjacent to Ivory Coast.

Investment (US$ million): 13.0

Region/Country: Madagascar

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to Wetlands Convention; continue and expand present activities in environmental education and training of conservation area managers; develop new types of protected areas to achieve conservation objectives not possible with traditional national parks strict nature reserves; establish additional protected areas a) along narrow band of tropical moist forest in east; and b) in dry forest areas of south and west, especially in those areas now coming under pressure of oil exploration and development.

Investment (US$ million): 24.9

Region/Country: Malaysia

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Continue to develop conservation strategies for all 13 states; support biological inventory and database begun by Malayan Nature Society for Peninsular Malaysia, expand to cover entire country; accede to World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; expand protected area coverage: a) in lowland rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, especially along northwestern and eastern coasts, b) in sea turtle nesting sites, c) in Klias National Park, d) in Sabah, in combination with existing forest reserves.

Investment (US$ million): 34.3

Region/Country: Nicaragua

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop a conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to Wetlands Convention; continue to improve and/or expand protected area coverage: a) in Saslaya National Park, b) in Mosquitia forest near Honduras border.

Investment (US$ million): 17.4

Region/Country: Panama

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop a national conservation strategy; develop a conservation data center and biological inventory to identify conservation priorities; improve enforcement of CITES, and accede to Wetlands Convention; provide additional funding either for RENARE or for other groups to aid RENARE in providing an integrated management and protection system; develop conservation public awareness, and enlist private sector support for this; expand protected area system to include: (a) mangroves, crucial to large shrimp and fisheries trade, (b) coral reefs and islands off Caribbean coast, (c) Darien lowlands and areas adjacent to Colombia, especially Darien National Park, (d) La Amistad International Park and (e) Kuna Indian Udirbi forest reserve project.

Investment (US$ million): 20.9

Region/Country: Papua New Guinea

Investment (US$ million): (estimated) 10

Region/Country: Peru

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop a national conservation strategy; further develop Centro de Datos para la Conservacion del Peru (conservation data center); accede to Wetlands Convention; conservation public awareness campaign; consolidate administration of protected areas system; improve and/or expand protected area coverage: a) in Manu National Park, b) in Amazonian forest and c) in coastal "Loma" Formations.

Investment (US$ million): 35.6

Region/Country: Philippines

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Continue development of, and implement, Philippine National Conservation Strategy, including reassessment of current system of conservation areas; develop permanent biological inventory program to assess conservation priorities and to review potential environmental impacts of development projects; accede at World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; improve and/or expand protected area coverage: a) in mangrove and coral reef ecosystems (in addition to lowland forests on all larger islands), b) in Mount Apo National Park, and c) in sea turtle nesting sites in southern islands.

Investment (US$ million): 30.4

Region/Country: Thailand

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Update and develop existing national conservation plan; develop a conservation data center and biological inventory; accede to World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; better enforce wildlife trade laws; improve and/or expand protected area coverage: (a) in lowland moist forests, (b) in freshwater marshes, and (c) in Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries (483,100 ha; proposed Biosphere Reserve).

Investment (US$ million): 27.7

Region/Country: Venezuela

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy; develop conservation data center and biological inventory to further determine conservation and planning priorities; accede to World Heritage Convention and Wetlands Convention; restructure and unify protected areas administration; develop management plans to minimize averse impact of illegal settlement in parks; improve social and economic incentives for park employees; improve and/or expand protected area: (a) in Peninsula de Paria, (b) in Sierra de Imataca and Altiplanicie de Nuria, (c) in Laguna de Tacarigua National Park, and (d) in tropical dry forests south of Orinoco river.

Investment (US$ million): 19.6

Region/Country: Zaire

Recommended Programme (1987-1991): Develop national conservation strategy which should also address maintenance of indigenous peoples: develop conservation data center; contract 2-year study of conservation priorities; accede to Wetlands Convention; expand and/or improve protected area coverage: a) in Garamba National Park; b) in forests bordering Rwanda.

Investment (US$ million): 23.8

Total estimated investments requirements for Conservation of forest ecosystems in 5-year period (1987-1991) for 21 countries: $548.3

(of which: tropical Africa: $ 128.6

tropical America: $ 242.4

tropical Asia: $ 177.3)

[Annex 2 Section 4 notes:]

1 / CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora