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Commonwealth Forestry News

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No. 8

March 2000

ISSN 1463-3868

Contents

Message from the President
Commonwealth Forestry Fund

Association News
AGM 2000
New Secretary
In Memoriam

Correspondence
Storms

Young Professional Forestry Exchange
Madhu Sharma

Around The World
CHOGM
Commonwealth Forestry Conference
IFF IV Meetings
Our Forest...Our Future

Special feature
Production and trade

Forest Scenes
Red squirrels in love
Umbrella tree unpopular
GM trees on Mars

Management
Ghana's Forestry Commission
India's JFM Programme
Uganda Working Plans
US Forest Service at crossroads
UK labelling

Education
OBET from England to South Africa

Research
Bulungang - a researcher's dream
CIFOR Fire Research
Brazilian Amazon - Sustainable Management

CFA Initiatives
Awards, medals and training

News of members and friends

International Forestry Review

CFA Membership

The international newsletter of the Commonwealth Forestry Association

"To promote the well-being of the world's forests and those who depend on them."

CFA Administrative Office: c/o Oxford Forestry Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK.
Telephone:[+44]01865 271037 Facsimile: [+44]01865 275074. E mail cfa@plants.ox.ac.uk
Editor CFNews:
Philip Wardle, 3 Charles Hill, Elstead, GU8 6LE,Surrey,U.K.
Telephone,Facsimile:-[+44]01252702204.
E mail: 101656.1772@compuserve.com


Message from the President
on the Commonwealth Forestry Fund

The international agenda concerning forests and the environment challenges us to join the crusade and greatly increase our contribution a decade on from the Rio Summit. So in pursuit of our objective "to promote the well being of the world's forests and those who depend on them" the CFA has decided to set up a major fund to help in the urgent area of improving international communication between, and training of, professional foresters and people responsible for forests and the environment.

This contribution will be made through a great expansion of the Association's activity in four areas:

Queen's Award for Forestry

Founded, with the gracious consent of Her Majesty the Queen, these awards aim to honour persons making an outstanding contribution to international forestry and enable them to share their knowledge and experience and to become involved in the development or improvement of forestry elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

International information exchange

Through its international information exchange projects: the International Forestry Review, Commonwealth Forestry News and Special Publications the Association keeps foresters and the world community in touch through objective and disinterested information about forestry from across the world - concerned with richness, quality, accuracy and fairness but not advocacy.

Education and Training

The role of CFA is finding the right people and supporting them to get to the right places using its members as the finders and the providers of training facilities:

CFA participation in International Fora

CFA members have a valuable contribution to make to international consideration of forestry and environmental issues. This element supports the participation of appropriate CFA members from across the Commonwealth to attend and participate with a proactive and catalytic role in meetings of international forestry and environmental fora and to report through the CFA information network.

Source and application of funds

All CFA members are involved in this initiative. Major funding is sought from across the countries of the Commonwealth and beyond with the aim that all countries have a stake in the use of the funds and the benefits realised. A formal structure of accountable Country Committees will be established to collect and administer the use of the fund, which will operate within the stated objectives and rules of the Commonwealth Forestry Fund.

:from H E Mr J.E K. Aggrey-Orleans, President and
Mr Christopher Latham, Vice President and Treasurer

Association News

AGM 2000 and UK Branch Summer Meeting May 19-20

This Summer the UK Branch will assist the CFA by facilitating the AGM, a privilege which is expected to be shared with other National Branches in future. At the kind invitation of Professor Burley, we will hold the AGM at Oxford Forestry Institute on May 19 at 2.30. This will be followed by an introduction to the work of OFI. Dinner will be at Green College.

The technical meeting "Relevant Advances in Forestry World-wide" will be held on May 20 also at OFI and is designed to offer a platform for younger foresters from throughout the Commonwealth.

There will be three Sessions at which voluntary papers from younger members will expand the themes presented by our key speakers. We will focus on bridges between the tropical and temperate. The themes and probable key speakers are:

1. Conservation in production management Bill Howard The contribution of production management to nature conservation.
2. Forestry Institutions are important Steve Bass IIED The role of stake-holders in forest management.
3. Effective Forestry Research Kathryn Schreckenberg ODI The involvement of intended beneficiaries as a key to good experimental design where there are numerous socio-economic and ecological variables.

Foresters wishing to make a contribution (15-20 minutes) should send a summary to the UK Chairman. We will provide small travel bursaries for younger speakers. Invitations will be sent to members in March. Correspondence to: Caroline Howard (CFA UK Chairman), Forest House, Barbadoes Hill, Tintern, Monmouthshire NP16 6SU. E mail: Forest.House@Care4free.net

: from CAROLINE HOWARD

Secretary's move

Ms Michelle Leeks, the CFA's secretary, is leaving the Association on Friday 3rd March 2000. She joined us in June 1998 and we are grateful for all that she has been able to achieve and wish her well in her new job.

We welcome our new secretary - Mrs Michelle Brooks.

In Memoriam

We regret to announce the deaths of Dominic Iyamabo, Nigeria, Michael James and J.V. Thirgood, UK.

Correspondence

Storms

Mr B.L. Das ex Chief Conservator of Forests, Orissa, India writes:

A devastating cyclone, unprecedented in the century, hit Orissa in Eastern India 29-30 October 1999 causing colossal damage to life and property trees and forests. More than 10,000 people died, thousands of dwellings were washed away, livestock perished in thousands and it is estimated that 90 million trees - mainly Eucalyptus and Casuarina - were uprooted and damaged.

Orissa had a stretch of 25,000 ha of mangroves along the coast, which with its characteristic multitude of species had in the past formed an effective barrier preventing cyclone damage and sea inundation. Unfortunately over the past 50 years, due to the influx of refugees, these forests were cleared for rice cultivation. As these were only protected forests (Unreserves) the Forest Department could not prevent the settlement. Government now realises the supreme need to rehabilitate the mangroves. But this will be so difficult and timetaking and will call for heavy investment that the Government is not prepared for.

Young Professional Forestry Exchange Scheme

Mrs Madhu Sharma from India, is the first to participate in this CFA scheme.

The Commonwealth Forestry Association decided to have an exchange scheme for Young Forestry Professionals. The idea was to select one forester from one of the Commonwealth countries and send him/her to another country to gain experience of forestry practices of a different kind. Besides providing an exposure to the visiting forester, the scheme was also meant to provide an opportunity to the forestry professionals in the host country to exchange information with the visiting forester about current trends in forestry practices. I was selected for this scheme as a forester from India and visited the United Kingdom for six weeks during November and December 1999.

The scheme focused on providing opportunity to meet forestry professionals working with the Forestry Commission, the non governmental organisations with forestry as an objective, the private agencies and people who practise forestry on their lands, the agencies taking up forestry on behalf of the land owners, people residing near some forest and having some expectations from the forest areas around them and academicians dealing with forestry as a subject. Most of the meetings were followed by field visits.

In connection with the above I stayed for three weeks in England and for three weeks in Scotland. During my stay at Scotland I was stationed at Perth and observed the working of Forest Authority at Perth and of the Forest Enterprise at Aberfoyle and Tay Forest Districts. Besides observing the activities of these wings of the Forestry Commission I also spent some time with Tayside Native Woodlands and the Woodland Trust. These agencies are working with an objective of conserving and enhancing native woodland. In connection with the works of the Forest Authority I also got a chance to meet with the representatives of agencies like Scottish National Heritage, Royal Society for Protection of Birds etc. Attending various meetings gave me a chance to interact with representatives of agriculture and rural development departments. I could also meet some landowners who were interested in taking up forestry on their lands along with agents like Scottish Woodlands who implemented the activities on their behalf.

During the stay in England I interacted with professors, lecturers and post graduate students at Oxford Forestry Institute. This also involved attending and contributing to seminars and field visits. A visit to the herbarium and use of the library facilities was also included. I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew to look into the works on gene conservation . I also visited New Forest to see the management of a community forest. A visit to Boughton Estate was taken up to see the management practices in a private estate. Besides these I also got a chance to visit Commonwealth Secretariat and interact with a number of people engaged in research activities and facilitating exchange of information in Commonwealth Countries. A visit to Indian High Commission and a meeting with the first secretary was arranged.

I also attended the function at Edinburgh for inauguration of the UK branch of the Commonwealth Forestry Association and the taking over of the office by the new President HE Mr J.E.K Aggrey-Orleans as the former President of the association The Duke of Buccleuch retired. This function was very well organised and it was a wonderful opportunity for interaction with foresters working in different parts of the world.

:from MADHU SHARMA, IFS Karnataka India

Around The World

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

At CHOGM in Durban in November 1999, the Heads of Government expressed concern about the effects of deforestation and called upon the Commonwealth Secretariat and other international organisations, upon request of member states, to initiate studies to increase the availability of alternative, sustainable and affordable sources of energy especially in Africa South of the Sahara.

The Committee of the whole welcomed the successful mobilisation of additional resources from a coalition of Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth donors to accelerate the implementation of the Commonwealth Iwokrama Rain Forest Programme.

16th Commonwealth Forestry Conference

Western Australia 18-25 April 2001.

Conference Venue The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Perth - an important landmark in the port city, offering excellent accommodation and conference facilities.

The Conference theme is FORESTS IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE with sub-themes:

  1. Landscape Change: Managing Conflicting Land Pressure at the Site and Community Level
  2. The Policy Landscape: Political Will and the National Forest Estate
  3. The Global Landscape: Frameworks for Co-operation
  4. Technology and the Forest Landscape: Rapid Changes and their Real Impacts

Each of the four sub-themes will allow for three discussion topics, to address a wide range of relevant issues. There is also scope for specific case studies.

The Institute of Foresters of Australia

IFA will hold their biennial conference in Perth just before the 16th CFC.

Preliminary Timetable

Tuesday 17 April: No CFC Activity. IFA Registration and meeting until 3pm on the 18th.
Wednesday 18: CFC Registration until 3pm. Official CFC Opening at 4pm followed by Reception
Thursday 19 and Friday 20 and Sunday 22 and Monday 23 noon: CFC sessions
Saturday 21: - all day field trip to Dwellingup and WA wheatbelts
Monday 23 PM - Wednesday 25: - 3 day field trip to southwest

Sponsorship

Approaches have been made to a number of donors to sponsor delegates who are professional foresters or scientists from a related discipline at a junior or middle level of seniority, particularly women, whose careers would most benefit from attendance at the Conference, or who have most to contribute.

CFA plays a key role in administering sponsorship and the selection of suitable candidates.

Technical Attachments

The technical programme is seen as an important part of the Conference and aims to give junior foresters an opportunity to attend technical sessions and lectures and carry out field work on specific topics.

CALM - the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Western Australia, has a number of centres for such training and is very keen to emphasise this side of the Conference.

: from LIBBY JONES Forestry Commission GB

Meetings related to IFF IV

Meetings in 2000

25-28 January 2000, Nairobi, Kenya. AMCEN Consultative Meeting in Preparation for IFF IV. Organized by UNEP in collaboration with the African Academy of Sciences

31 January-11 February 2000, New York, USA. Fourth Session of the

Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF IV)

24 April-5 May 2000, New York, USA. Eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development

15-26 May 2000, Nairobi, Kenya. Fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the CBD

24-30 May 2000, Lima, Peru. 28th Session of the International Tropical Timber Council

Our Forests Our Future: Progress and Prospects

Recently an independent report entitled "Our Forests Our Future" was produced by the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD). The report, published by Cambridge University Press, drew attention to the global nature of the forest crisis which requires decisive international leadership and action.

The fourth and final meeting of the Inter-governmental Forum on Forests (IFF IV), took place in New York in late January and early February this year. This was the culmination of an exhaustive inter-governmental dialogue which has been running since 1995 and the recommendations of the IFF will be fed into the 8th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development which meets in April. There is an urgent need to conclude this long running process on a positive note and give clear guidance on future international action.

As a contribution to this debate, WCFSD is holding a panel discussion at Marlborough House in London on the morning of 23rd March 2000. The panel will be chaired by the Commonwealth Secretary -General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and will include includ the Co-Chairman of the Commission, Ambassador Ola Ullsten (Sweden); Professor David Pearce (UK), Director of the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment; and Mr. Hemmo Muntingh (Netherlands), Founder of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment, will be joined by other expert panellists from London based organisations, which contributed to the work of the Commission.

: from BRIAN KERR, Commonwealth Secretariat

Special Feature

Production and Trade

WTO and forest loss

Nigel Sizer of the World Resources Institute writing in the Guardian 1.12.1999 notes that global wood consumption has increased by 40% between 1970 and 1996 and continues to grow, that people of North America, Japan and Europe consume 10 times as much (industrial wood) as citizens of developing countries and that this is against a backdrop of global forest loss. The US had included proposals to promote global trade in forest products among the measures for consideration at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial summit at Seattle. Proponents stress that free trade can be good for forests as it enhances competitive and efficient management. On the other hand many governments provide outlandish subsidies and tax breaks to logging companies, have weak environmental laws and many - especially in the poorer parts of the world - rarely enforce the laws they do have. Wealthy nations leading the charge for the timber trade - including the US, Canada, New Zealand and Indonesia - have paid scant attention to the potential negative environmental and social side effects of their actions. Perhaps we can enjoy benefits of free trade with less troubling side effects if we accompany it with progress on forest protection. Mr Sizer suggests that no significant progress has been made in ten years of intergovernmental talks at the UN on slowing global forest loss. He extols the G7 global forest protection fund, elimination of logging industry tax breaks, free flow of information about forest management and eco-labelling and putting forests and other environmental issues alongside trade, high on the list of global policy priorities.

The Economist considered the WTO summit in articles of 27.11.99 and 4 and 11.12 99, pointing out that the economic advantages of greater openness - faster growth, cheaper imports, new technologies, the spur of foreign competition; contributing to greater prosperity, improved working conditions and the environment - are too easily taken for granted. Despite huge strides towards open markets over the past 50 years, big swathes of the world economy, such as agriculture, textiles and shipping, remain highly protected and new barriers keep appearing. The Uruguay round, launched in 1986 slashed industrial tariff, brought services and agriculture under multilateral world trade rules and expanded the system to cover intellectual property and health standards. It also created WTO which unlike its precursor GATT is equipped with a strong enforcement mechanism. The core agenda of the Seattle summit was expected to deal with unfinished business of the Uruguay round, with the EU proposing inclusion of investment and competition opposed by the US, and America and EU wanting to add new rules on labour and environment. The developing countries see the outcome of the Uruguay round as unbalanced, with rich country promises about granting preferential treatment amounting to little and a failure to deliver expected benefits in such areas as agriculture and textiles.

Why then the demonstrations in Seattle? The Economist suggests that the WTO had also become a magnet for resistance to globalisation. Protectionists and newer critics of free trade were incensed that as economies become more closely intertwined, trade policy increasingly impinges on such sensitive issues as food safety and the environment. They resent the constraints and power to enforce yet want to use those powers for their own ends.

In an aside on the disarray in Seattle on "the non-governmental order", the Economist notes the increasing power of "citizens' groups" at corporate, national and international levels. How they have become so and what this means , are questions that urgently need to be addressed. Are citizens' groups the first steps towards an "international civil society"? Or do they represent a dangerous shift of power to unelected and unaccountable special interest groups? This perhaps is the subject for another special feature

World wood production and use 1967 and 1997

Each year, the FAO in Rome issues a Yearbook of Forest Products giving production, export and import data for some 56 categories of wood products for each of 217 countries. It is a source book and, while change is rarely more than modest from year to year, over time it provides an interesting insight of changes in wood supply and use. A few of these are given in a comparison of some of the latest data from FAO, for 1997, with those for 1967.

In this time, the world cut of wood has increased from 2218 million (M) m³ to 3377 M m³ (+52%) when the world population has increased by approaching 70%. Almost all the population increase has been in the developing nations* and it is in these countries that practically all the additional wood has been cut, up from 983 M m³ in 1967 to 2135 M m³ in 1997 (+118%), with 850 M m³ of this extra wood cut for fuelwood and charcoal. Production elsewhere, in the developed nations, has changed little, at 1206 M m³ and 1242 M m³ in 1967 and 1997 respectively. The additional cut has been largely of hardwood (non-coniferous wood), up 90% from 1200 M m³ to 2133 M m³. The volume of softwood (coniferous wood) cut has increased by only 10%, an increase due largely to a trebling of production from the mainly pine plantations of the southern hemisphere to more than 100 M m³ per year; softwood production from the northern hemisphere forests has hardly altered, at around 940 M m³ per year.

Though the volume of wood used industrially, as sawnwood, panels, pulp, etc, has increased by 29% to 1523 M m³ in 1997, because of the great increase in the volume of wood used for fuel, the proportion of the total cut for industrial use has declined from 53% to 45% in the 30 years from 1967. In 1997, 70% of the industrial wood was cut in the developed nations at a volume which has increased only marginally since 1967; in contrast, industrial wood production in the developing nations has increased almost threefold, from 172 M m³ in 1967 to 451 M m³ in 1997.

World production of the three major industrial wood products, sawnwood, panels and pulp, has risen in the thirty year period by 13%, 286% and 190% respectively. Despite its only modest increase in production, sawnwood, at 439 M m³ in 1997, is by far the most important industrial use for wood, compared with the production of panels, at 156 M m³, and pulp at 163 M metric tonnes in the same year. Around 70% of sawnwood and panels and approaching 90% of the world's pulp is produced in the developed nations; however, increases in production since 1967 in the developing nations have been dramatic, by some 260%, 1200% and 700% respectively for sawnwood, panels and pulp, though in the case of the last two products from a very low base.

Advances in panel technology, including improved bond performance of plywoods, enhanced strength and durability of particle boards and the introduction of new products such as oriented strand board and medium density fibreboard (MDF), have resulted in a great increase in panel production. Today, particle boards are the most common panel board, with an annual production exceeding 70 M m³, a six-fold increase on the 1967 figure; in the same period, world plywood production has doubled to a figure in excess of 50 M m³ per year and the success of MDF can be judged by its current annual production which exceeds 10 M m³.

The value of forest products exports in 1997 is given as US$ 135 billion which compares with US$ 10 billion in 1967. With exports accounting for around 30% of the industrial wood cut, this suggests an annual value for world industrial wood production of the order of US$ 400 billion. Forest products exports in 1997 from the developing nations were worth US$ 24 billion, for a trade which used about 20% of the industrial wood cut. However, when the volume of wood used for exports is expressed as a proportion of the total cut in these nations, including that used for fuel, it is a little over 4%. It is a figure worth recalling when international trade is blamed for the destruction of the tropical forests.

*In 1967, FAO distinguished between nations with a Developed and those with a Developing

economy. The former comprised Europe and the U.S.S.R., Canada and the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, Israel, Japan and South Africa; the latter the remaining countries of the world. Though never intended to express a judgement on the economic state of a particular country and now no longer used by FAO, the terms are used here for the comparison of production and supply from two groups of nations, one predominantly temperate and the other predominantly tropical.

: from J.D.BRAZIER , Vice-President

Forest products trade flows over four decades

The European Forest Institute and the World Forests, Society and Environment programme have just completed the preparation of a standardised forest products trade flow data set for the period 1962-97 from computer readable data collected by the UN Statistical Office (UNSTAT). The data set is interesting because it brings together trade flow data for 27 main forest products and 10 aggregates and ten sorts of wood manufactures, presenting the data under standard product coding, volume and value units, comparable over all years. It identifies trade of some 240 countries and territories over the period and presents them with standard country coding so that country and regional trade flows can be compared over the years. Through the use of trading partner reports the imports and exports of all those 240 countries and territories are estimated from the data of 80 to 120 countries which actually report. In this short article we would like to present a few broad pictures of the development of forest product trade since the 60s, which illustrate the potential of this data.

The current dollar value rises from $6 billion in 1962 to $160 billion in 1996 (see Figure - World Exports). Forest products trade maintains importance in world trade in merchandise with 2-3% of the total and a very significant economic importance to the trading countries. A clearer picture of real growth is provided by the volume change of major products and the shift in composition by value.

Table 1 Product export volume and percent by value (million t, m3)

volume value %
1962 1997 1962 1997
paper t 12 86 34 43
wood pulp t 9 35 19 11
panels m3 4 45 7 12
sawnwood m3 36 124 26 18
roundwood m3 34 150 11 7
wood manufactures 3 9

The volume of trade of all products increased by at least fourfold but paper, panels and wood manufacture grew fastest and their value expanded to a larger proportion of the total.

Table 2 Export by region % value

Region 1962 1997
Africa 3 2
Asia pacific 9 16
Latin America 2 4
Europe 47 45
North America 36 31
Former USSR 3 2

The proportion of total exports from the main exporting regions has been fairly stable over the period. Asia Pacific and Latin America expanded their exports at twice the average rate of growth world wide, doubling their share of the total, while in other regions growth was less than the world average.

Europe's exports were valued at $2.8 billion in 1962 increasing to $68 billion by 1997. In 1962 80% was traded within Europe and 20% exported to the rest of the world. By 1997 the proportion going to the rest of the world had increased to 33%. In 1962 pulp and paper accounted for half the trade within Europe, by 1997 it accounted for two thirds, while in trade with the rest of the world it accounted for about two thirds throughout the period. By 1997 wood manufacture amounted to 10% of the trade within Europe.

Asia Pacific's exports increased from $0.5 billion in 1962 to $24 billion in 1997. The product composition changed from predominance of roundwood, sawnwood and panels to predominance of paper, panels and wood manufactures. Trade within the region accounted for 50% of the total exports in 1962, but for 80% by 1997 In the trade within the region roundwood plays an important but diminishing role through the period 80% at the beginning but down to 15% by the end. Paper, panels and wood manufacture play an expanding role. The roundwood exports to the rest of the world are insignificant in the total. Panels and sawnwood dominate throughout, but paper and particularly wood manufactures emerge as very important components from the mid 1980s, the last accounting for 35-40% in the later 1990s.

The Figures depict total value of trade by regional trading partners, showing respectively exports of Canada and Malaysia and imports of the UK. They indicate the rather stable relative position of particular regions as trading partners in the trade of individual countries. These three examples support the expectation that the nearest region will be pre-dominant in the countries trade.

: from BRUCE MICHIE and PHILIP WARDLE, EFI/WFSE

Forest scenes

Red squirrels in love

The States of Jersey has started to plant 16000 trees and bushes in a line to link squirrel colonies in St Brelade in the south-west and in St Martin in the north-east. The move follows warnings that the squirrels would become extinct due to inbreeding within the isolated territorial groups. "We hope the tree corridor will secure the future of our red squirrels".

:from the DAILY TELEGRAPH, 17.1.2000

Umbrella tree unpopular

The umbrella tree (Terminalia ivorensis and T. mantaly) became popular in Uganda at the beginning of the last decade because of its ornamental value and the shade it provided. The planting craze quickly spread from urban centres to villages, giving it the potential to become the most common tree. Now many people, who had planted them earlier, are ruthlessly uprooting them on the grounds that they bring doom to the family. They are cutting the tree down due to the belief that it is associated with any bad luck that strikes the family which has it in the courtyard. People keep pointing at houses whose owners have died and blaming the tree which stood in the compound. "What else could be hitting our tycoons from Kampala who built houses recently. It is the tree which must be causing problems for us." Dr John Kabogozu Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at Makerere University, Kampala described the claim as the work of superstition. "Probably it is because of AIDS that many communities have come to link the umbrella tree with the death of their loved ones."

:from THE NEW VISION 9.11.99

GM trees and humans on Mars

Within 50 years humans could begin to make a home on Mars. Freeman Dyson, a physicist from Princeton, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the way to do it was to grow the habitat - by breeding plants that would create their own greenhouses around themselves, and give out oxygen that would allow animals to breathe. You need habitats which are cheap and reasonably user friendly. Forests, of course, are what we are accustomed to. If forests will learn through genetic modification to build huge greenhouses over their heads, they can flourish on Mars and anywhere where there is water and suitable minerals.

:from the GUARDIAN, 19.2.2000

Management

Ghana Forestry Commission Reorganisation

A law has been passed which establishes Ghana's Forestry Commission as a corporate body with a board of eleven commissioners mandated to ensure proper planning for protection, management and development of forest and wildlife in a sustainable manner. It monitors the condition and extent of forest and wildlife resources, recommends on granting timber utilisation rights and develops and disseminates standards and trade guidelines for the timber industry. The Forestry Commission is now the corporate umbrella for all forestry sector institutions in Ghana and encompasses the following:

TEDD is responsible for market development and product promotion for Ghana's timber industry.

:from TEDD London Office
E mail: gtebd@btconnect.com

India's JFM Programme picks up

A decade ago the Indian Government implemented the Joint Forest Management programme in the country in furtherance of the goals set in the National Forest Policy of 1988. Under the programme, the Government owned forest are managed jointly by the Government and villagers residing in and around the forests. The basic philosophy is to involve the people in care and share of the resources. The programme first implemented by foresters in West Bengal in 1970, was formally implemented through a resolution of the Government in June, 1990. Since then, the programme is being implemented in 22 of the 25 States. As of 1.1.2000, 10.24 million ha. of forest lands are being managed by 36,075 Village Forest Protection Committees. This is around 15% of the total recorded forest. The programme involves an innovative attempt to empower the people through decentralised functioning and recognition of their subsistence needs

The Government of India in 1998 opened a Joint Forest Management Cell in the Forest Protection Division to monitor the impact of JFM on the protection and development of forests, which is now in the process of preparing fresh guidelines on extension of JFM and its monitoring. Any information on the JFM can be had from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

:from Dr. V.K. BAHUGUNA, Deputy Inspector General of Forests
E mail: bahugunaifs@yahoo.com

Uganda Working Plans

The Commonwealth Secretariat has co-operated with the Uganda Forestry Department in the collection and preservation and reproduction of publications from before independence and notably the working plans of individual forests.

By the end of the 1960s Working Plans and Management Plans had been prepared for all the gazetted reserves in Uganda and in some cases these had passed through a series of revisions usually after 5-10 years. Each plan provided summary information about the forest such as legal status, soils, vegetation and management history in Part I, while Part II outlined future management and set down operational guidelines. They are primary sources for managers today and provide important information for researchers and are interesting historical records providing insight into the vision of an earlier generation of foresters.

Though these documents were normally duplicated and sometimes printed and distributed widely in Uganda and in many cases copies were lodged at that time in the Forestry Institute in Oxford, unfortunately these working plan documents suffered badly in the period of civil unrest in Uganda. These older documents provide an essential basis for Department's priority task to prepare revised plans for all working forests in the country. Plans for Bunyoro by C.M.Harris, 1934; for Budongo and Siba, by W.J.Eggeling 1945-54 and for South Mengo Forests by R.G. Sangster, 1948-57, are among those reissued so far.

:from BRIAN KERR, Commonwealth Secretariat and HENRY OSMASTON

US Forest Service at a cross-roads

For 900 million visitors a year, the 191 million acres of forest and grasslands of the US Forest Service are a vast playground for camping, hiking and other outdoor activities. For conservationists, these lands are home to dozens of species of endangered plants and wildlife, as well as the headwaters for one fifth of the country's fresh water. And for industry, the Forest Service's holdings contain a vast bounty of oil, minerals, timber and land for grazing.

The US Forest Service has long tried to maintain an uneasy truce among these competing interests. Its central mission, according to legislation passed in the mid 1970s, is protection of multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services obtained on the forest land and co-ordination of outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness. In other words the Forest Service is required to be all things to all people.

The daunting mission would change substantially if the recommendations of a recent advisory committee appointed to review the Forest Service mission were adopted. The report of the "Committee of Scientists" says that ecological sustainability should be the guiding star for the stewardship of the national forests. On its release it was hailed as "a new planning framework for our forests for the 21st century." by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman whose department oversees the Forest Service.

Roger Sedjo of Resources for the Future(RFF), who was on the 13 member Committee, believes it overstepped its charge. By giving pre-eminence to preservation of biodiversity the committee tips the scales away from mining, grazing, logging, or other commercial activities in a way that is directly counter to the Forest Service's legislative mandate. In a dissenting appendix to the report, Sedjo says that such a shift, if warranted, should not be decided by a committee of scientists but by the will of the people, eg. through new legislation or some other means and through dialogue initiated by Congress and the President.

:from DON QUINN, RFF in Resources, No137 1999.

International Approval of UK labelling

Forestry Commission Director General, David Bills, welcomed the announcement in November by the Forest Stewardship Council that its International Board had formally endorsed compliance of its own GB labelling scheme with the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme: welcome news for the forestry industry, for the environment and for the consumer.

UKWAS was launched in 1999 after many months of consultation and negotiation between woodland owners, wood processors, the Government and environmental organisations. Certification of a woodland under the scheme allows products sourced from the wood to bear labels that state the wood meets recognised standards, thus encouraging good forest management and reassuring customers that by buying the wood, they are not damaging the environment.

The Forestry Commission has already taken steps to have all the 800,000 ha of public woodland in its care audited for certification. If the audit shows that the Commission meets all the stringent UKWAS standards, any wood produced from its forests will be able to be marketed with the FSC label, supported by environmental bodies such as WWF and the major retailers.

: from the FORESTRY COMMISSION, GB

Education

OBET from England to South Africa

John Jenks, working for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) was stationed at Fort Cox College for Agriculture and Forestry in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. His brief was to develop a new curriculum for the National Diploma in Community/Development Forestry, following the Outcome Based Education and Training (OBET) method. This has been in use in England and elsewhere for years, but is only now being introduced at many levels, especially in schools and universities, in South Africa.

It had been agreed years before that the National Diploma training for commercial foresters would be given at Saasveld College near George in the Southern Cape, while commercial training at degree level is taught at both Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape, and Natal university in Pietermaritzburg. The Fort Cox qualification has so far received little support from outside the Eastern Cape - only local black students take community forestry, mainly to work in the community division of the government department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

The aim with the new curriculum, with a stress on development forestry, is to develop entrepreneurs, contractors and officials who take part in forestry developmental tasks in communities all over SADC, with much wider employment possibilities in forestry, tourism, agroforestry, communities and many

government departments instead of one only, including self-employment.

At short notice John Jenks succeeded in October 1999 in bringing 8 South African forestry experts together to teach them all about OBET. Another 5 experts joined the original group for the second workshop in November 1999, at which the art of writing learners' and facilitators' study guides was

taught. The next step is therefore the writing of the actual study guides for about 60 modules for the 3 year, 6 semester course. The new local DFID project co-ordinator is Dr.Isla Grundy at Stellenbosch, and the project leader Dr.Philip Bacon at OFI, UK

We in South Africa certainly hope that this project will continue towards its original aim. For the year 2000 students at Fort Cox are taking a bridging course, so that we have the rest of this year to complete the study guides. We are certain that once the new curriculum is in place and advertised, that students from all over South Africa, and from other SADC/Commonwealth countries will want to equip themselves for development of their communities and themselves.

: from Dr DICK van der ZEL, SA

STOP PRESS

Storms over Europe 26-28 December caused extensive damage to forests resulting in 165 million m3 of windthrown timber, equivalent to 40% of the region's annual harvest. In France the volume was 115 million m3, 270% of cut. Governments are considering action to minimise market disruption.

: from KIT PRINS, UN/ECE

Research

Bulungang - a researcher's dream

Indonesia has generously granted CIFOR Bulungan Research Forest, a 303,000 hectare forest in East Kalimantan, for its landscape-level research on sustainable forest management. Part of Asia's largest remaining tract of tropical rainforest, Bulungan forest is extremely biodiverse and is home to hunter-gatherer and rice farming forest-dependent people. The hilly land (100 - 2000 metres altitude) is predominantly under primary forest but also has secondary forest, fields of palm oil and rice, industrial-scale logging and open-cast coal mining sites.

The complex interaction of man and forests; of forest-dependent people with industrial man; of global and regional forces with local pressures and traditions; of landscape dynamics and ecological functions and values; and of diverse stakeholder interests and rights call for many disciplines in research. CIFOR is seeking a better understanding of the processes and factors influencing forest use and conservation. The plan is, on the basis of the research, to propose improved forestry policies, management strategies and best practices in sustainable forest management.

Determining the comparative productivity, economic costs and benefits, impacts on biodiversity and on local communities, and policy influences on adoption for reduced-impact logging is an important aspect of the programme. It is also assessing rural development trends; non-timber products in the local economy; mechanisms for local peoples' engagement in multi-stakeholder dialogue and in decision-making; and introduction, and testing and adaptation of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.

This CIFOR research is co-funded by ITTO, the Indonesian Government and the MacArthur Foundation, with in-kind inputs by state logging company Inhutani II and equipment company TrakIndo. Partnerships have been forged with many Indonesian and foreign Universities and NGOS and with the international model forests network.

: from K. KARTAWINATA, CIFOR
E mail: k.kartawinata@cgiar.org

CIFOR Fire Research

Mention forest fires these days and many people will think of Indonesia. Even though the last big fires were in 1997 and 1998 the images beamed around the world of burning trees, smoke filled skies and suffering people still remain clear. This was no minor event; it is estimated that 9.7 million hectares. burned (forest and non-forest land), with some 75 million people affected by smoke, haze, and the fires themselves. The economic costs were estimated to be between US$ 4.5 billion and US$10 billion.

Since the early 1980's the international community has directed much effort towards helping Indonesia solve the fire problem. (WWF Indonesia Report of the Fires of Indonesia 1997/98; A Review of Fire Projects in Indonesia (1982-1998). Rona Dennis, CIFOR). However, a review carried out by CIFOR in 1998 identified that there were still gaps in knowledge regarding causes and impacts of fires. In order to fill this gap, CIFOR and ICRAF, with funding from the USFS, started a research project in 1999. The project is carrying out a comprehensive assessment of fire on an island wide scale for Sumatra and Kalimantan with in-depth research on the underlying causes and impacts in ten detailed study sites. The central methodology integrates social science with remote sensing and GIS to provide a powerful analytical tool.

Initial results are promising. CIFOR has confirmed that the problem is indeed complex and varies significantly from province to province and hence justifies the approach of working in a large number of sites. The relationship between land users is crucial in understanding the problem of fire, which can be used as either a tool or a weapon in different scenarios. The integration of the site-specific studies with the island-wide assessments will provide a solid base for the government-oriented policy analysis and recommendations that will be the ultimate output from this research.

: from RONA DENNIS, CIFOR

Brazilian Amazon - Sustainable Management of Production Forests on a Commercial-Scale

During 1999, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Brazilian agricultural research corporation (EMBRAPA) initiated research targeted at medium to large-scale timber enterprises. The initial aim of the project is to develop, test and evaluate a Forest Management System (FMS) for sustainable and more efficient use of forest resources to be implemented into practice in partnership with Brazilian timber enterprises, and to compare its ecological, economic and social impacts with conventional forest management practices.

Highlights of the techniques and tools being investigated or developed include: reduced-impact logging (RIL); post-harvest silviculture; monitoring, book-keeping and software for planning forest operations. RIL research already started with tests in a pilot area of 400 ha during 1999, using basic guidelines from experiences in the Brazilian Amazon region. RIL area will grow to nearly 1000 ha out of the 2000 ha annual coupe in year 2000. Regional sets of criteria, indicators, verifiers and assessment methodologies for monitoring and auditing the sustainability of forest utilization by commercial timber enterprises were defined in 1998 through an international workshop and field-tested in early 1999. Further refinement continues with a view to supporting future certification of Brazilian Amazon timber operations.

During 2000-2001 the International Tropical Timber Organization will fund testing and validation of an operational scale prototype FMS by two timber enterprises in Para State. The exercise will be fully monitored and documented, including its social impacts, environmental efficacy and cost-benefit attributes. A concluding phase (2002-2004) will focus on technical transfer of the validated Forest Management System and its associated sustainability of forest utilization to other timber enterprises in whole Brazilian Amazon.

: from CESAR SABOGAL, NATALINO SILVA and BENNO POKORNY, CIFOR
E mail:c.sabogal@cgiar.org OR cesar@cpatu.embrapa.br

CFA Initiatives

Awards, medals and training opportunities

The Association's programme of awards, education and training is designed to promote and publicise the aims of the association and forward the attainment of its objectives. The president is leading a new initiative to revitalise this programme. Members in all countries can be active in this, seeking and nominating worthy candidates and mobilising funding to increase its effectiveness. This short note summarises the present programme.

The Queen's Award for Forestry

Founded at the bicentennial forestry meeting in Australia in 1988 this is the flagship award of the Association. In 1988 and 1996 the award has been presented by the Queen in person. The award aims to honour and to publicise persons who are making an outstanding contribution to international forestry and to enable the successful candidate to share his or her knowledge and experience and to become involved in the development or improvement of forestry elsewhere in the Commonwealth, with particular emphasis on assisting and networking amongst developing countries. It provides a cash sum for travel in Commonwealth countries. The level of funding at present available enables an award to be made every one to two years.

The Schlich Memorial Awards

This is the oldest of the Commonwealth forestry awards, set up by subscription in 1920 in memory of the late Sir William Schlich. He was the first Inspector General of Forests in India and the first Professor of Forestry at Oxford University, founding the Forestry School there in 1905.The memorial fund is shared with the Institute of Engineers and Architects in London. It provides periodical support to national Forest Departments hosting the Commonwealth Forestry Conference and supports the Schlich Memorial Medal which is awarded annually to the best student on the MSc course at the Oxford Forestry Institute. The chairman of the Trustees for forestry is the Director of OFI

Tom Gill Medal

Tom Gill was a notable American Tropical forester and a lifelong supporter of the CFA. The medal, originally awarded for literary merit in forestry, has more recently been awarded for work in silviculture and wider service to forestry. It should be awarded annually until the supply of medals is exhausted.

Regional Awards for Excellence

This award was introduced in 1998 to recognise distinguished achievement in the service to forestry, long-term commitment and integrity and raising the Association's profile in their region. The Regional Chair, in each region is responsible for nominations, arranging and funding the award presentation and publicity. Two Regional Awards are proposed per region per year.

Commonwealth forestry exchange scheme

This idea has been around for more than two years and finally came to fruition this year with the arrival of Madhu Sharma from Karnataka, India who spent a month with the Forest Enterprise in Perth Scotland. The Commonwealth Foundation was the main benefactor in this case, while much of the cost of local visits was covered by host department, the Forestry Commission. This scheme has wide potential for support of exchange between members of forest services, research institutes, universities and forestry schools and forest industries throughout the Commonwealth.

Education and training

The exchange scheme is only one of several opportunities for the CFA to further the cause of education and training The following are some other ideas about the considerable potential to contribute to educational advancement in forestry for, which there is enormous unrequited demand. CFA and OFI jointly funded scholarship for the MSc course at Oxford. The most recent is the generous award of GBP3500 for a Ghana scholar provided by the Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants. Support to young foresters to prepare papers for, and attend the Commonwealth Forestry Conference. This is co-ordinated through the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry. CFA plays a key role in administering sponsorship and the selection of suitable candidates. The Association also collaborates with the Commonwealth Foundation in identifying and submitting candidates for relevant CF fellowships.

: from PETER WOOD Vice-President

News of members and friends

Plant Sciences Honoured

Professor C J Leaver, FRS, FRSE, the Head of the Department of Plant Sciences in Oxford University was awarded the CBE in the UK New Year 2000 Honours Lists. This Department is one of the largest, scientifically most wide-ranging, and successful departments of Plant Science and incorporates the Oxford Forestry Institute.

: from JEFF BURLEY, OFI

CFA Chairman Jag Maini Honoured

The Government of Canada has decided to appoint Dr Jag Maini as Officer of the Order of Canada. This is the highest recognition given to a Canadian citizen. Jag as well as being CFA Chairman is Co-ordinator of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests of the United Nations (IFF).

: from TAGE MICHAELSEN, IFF

International Forestry Review

2/1 March 2000

INTRODUCTION
A.J.GRAYSON

PAPERS

Logging in South Cameroon: current methods and opportunities for improvement
W.B.J. JONKERS and G.J.M. VAN LEERSUM

Reduced impact logging in the tropics: objectives, principles and impact of research
PLINIO SIST

RIL for real: introducing reduced impact logging into a commercial forestry operation in Guyana
SIMON ARMSTRONG

Testing the applicability of reduced impact logging in greenheart forest in Guyana
PETER VAN DER HOUT

Lesons learned from the implementation of reduced impact logging in hilly terrain in Sabah, Malaysia
MICHELLE PINARD, FRANCIS E. PUTZ and JOHN TAY

Domestication of neotropical rain forest after reduced impact logging
N.R. DE GRAAF

Benefits, bottlenecks and uncertainties in the implementation of reduced impact logging techniques
DAVID S. HAMMOND, PETER VAN DER HOUT, DAVID S. CASSELLS, RODERICK J. ZAGT, JULIAN EVANS and GODFREY MARSHALL

COMMENT

Comment on paper by R.Tipper and B.de Jong 'Quantification and regulation of carbon offsets'
IAN ENTING

Reply to Enting
RICHARD TIPPER and BEN DE JONG

REVIEWS/NOTICES

CFNews invites contributions

Send them to the editor E-mail: 101656.1772@compuserve.com
CFA Facsimile: [+44]01865 275074. E.mail cfa@plants.ox.ac.uk
CFA., Oxford Forestry Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK.

This is a call to all foresters, to people concerned about forestry - around the Commonwealth - in every country and organisation university, forestry school, research station, company, association interested in forestry - around the world.

A contribution may be about the organisation, a particular initiative, activity or piece of research or a descriptive piece, of interest to colleagues worldwide about approaches, studies, problems or exciting features of your forestry. We are asking for a very concise essay of not more than 250 words. Authors should provide their name and address and position in the institution.

There is a book prize for the best essays received from students, young researchers and young professional foresters.

A lively and participative CFA needs you!

CFA Membership

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