Commonwealth Forestry News |
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No. 7 |
December 1999 |
ISSN 1463-3868 |
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Contents A Tribute |
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The international newsletter of the Commonwealth Forestry Association
"To promote the well-being of the world's forest and those who depend on them."
CFA. Administrative Office: Oxford Forestry Institute,
South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK. Telephone:[+44]01865 271037
Facsimile: [+44]01865 275074. E.mail:
cfa_oxford@hotmail.com
Editor CFNews:
Philip Wardle, 3 Charles Hill, Elstead, GU8
6LE,Surrey,U.K.
Telephone,Facsimile:-[+44]01252702204.
E-mail:
101656.1772@compuserve.com
A tribute to a lover of plants
Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere
He was school teacher, member of the legislature, Pan-Africanist, Third World Crusader, translator, poet, farmer, and politician par excellence. These are but a few of the responsibilities shouldered by the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere in his life span of 77 years. The numbers seven, nine and eleven seem to have been deeply interwoven with important landmarks in his life. He was born in 1922 and was laid to rest in 1999 at 77. His political party, the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was started on 7 July, 1954; the Arusha Declaration, the policy document on the political and economic future of the then Tanzania, was promulgated in 1967. In 1977 - the formative year of Group of 77 - Mwalimu also presided over the merger of Afro-Shirazi (ASP) and TANU to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). He enrolled at the University of Edinburgh in 1949 , ten years later he was Chief Minister when the then Tanganyika got internal self rule. Twenty years later his troops made Idi Amin abandon his extravagant vow of making Jinja his last bastion!
His love for plants most likely stems from the brief stint when he taught biology. Plant identification was carried out almost at will. In difficult situations he used the 1949 Check Lists of Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire, published by the then Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford. In 1974, a young forester in Dodoma facing difficulties in recalling the botanical name of a pod mahogany, frantically rushed to the office only to find later that Mwalimu's Check-Lists had pre-empted him. This is one of the countless recollections that were characteristic of Mwalimu's up-country working tours. Those who closely followed Mwalimu's 1976 visit to the United Kingdom, might recall the considerable time he spent in the Herbarium at the University of Oxford.
Mwalimu is among others deeply missed by foresters and other lovers of flora. Heartfelt sympathies are extended to his immediate and extended Tanzanian family and beyond.
from L.Ns. HUBEMUKI, Tanzania.
Association News
Lunch with our Presidents
On November 29th a lunch was held in the Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh to say farewell His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch on his retirement from the Presidency and to welcome HE Mr J.E Aggrey-Orleans in that position.
The inaugural meeting of the UK Branch supported the appointment of Caroline Howard as Chairman and facilitator together with a committee to develop the constitution and first years programme.
Executive Committee
The 202nd meeting of the Executive Committee was held at the Ghana High Commission 27 October, 1999 by the kind invitation of our President HE Mr J.E Aggrey-Orleans. Peter Wood took the Chair.
In pursuit of the aim of establishing a much wider membership across the Commonwealth and globally first approaches have been made to the Institute of Foresters of Australia, the Institute of Chartered Foresters and the Royal Forestry Society in the UK, to explore the possibility of offering a form of affiliate CFA membership to their members. The idea is that affiliate members would receive the Newsletter and be able to attend CFA meetings, the affiliating organisation gaining the benefit of CFA's international perspective, information exchange and contacts. The detailed terms of affiliate membership for forestry organisations and associations in all countries, is to be explored further. There was concern also to reactivate recently lapsed memberships. A membership secretary is to be appointed to spearhead these initiatives.
Active members needed effective National Branches, which to function properly needed a clearly defined structure, locally elected officers and a definite programme of meetings.
Plans for the UK branch include focus on international links and advances in forestry at a global level, supporting young foresters and holding technical meetings also jointly with national associations.
The Queen's Award for the year 2000 is to be presented at the IUFRO meeting in Malaysia.
The President indicated his enthusiastic support for a major fund raising effort to gain substantial support for a Millennial Queen's Award Commonwealth Forestry Initiative.
The next meeting of the Executive Committee - 2.March 2000.
AGM 2000 - 19-20 May UK.
AGM 2001 - Fremantle, Western Australia in conjunction with the Commonwealth Forestry Conference in the period 18-25 April.
In Memoriam
We regret to announce the deaths of Alan Longman, UK*, Larry Roche,
Eire* and Hans Roebbel, Germany.
*Obituary notices are included in
IFR I/4 and II/1.
Forestry beyond 2000 AD - CFA India Workshop
CFA India Branch in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Forests is organising a workshop to review aspects of forest policy. This will now be held in New Delhi 18 - 21 April 2000.
CFA/IFA think-tank - Forest policy in regional context
Formulation of Australian forest policy must be based on an appreciation of the regional (Asia-Pacific) forest resource and the policies and strategies of countries throughout the region. CFA is seeking to develop a framework to promote professional dialogue on this, which would seem to be of interest to the countries of the region.
To get this off the ground, the CFA Australian branch and the Institute of Foresters of Australia set up a think tank on forest policy looking at it from an Australian perspective. This looked first at world consumption and supply trends as developed in various international studies, then at the current and prospective position in Australia in wood supply and exports and thirdly at the prospects that regional markets seemed to hold. Many studies were reviewed and a number of people contributed to the discussion - Bob Newman CFA Vice President, Mike Apsey from Canada, Alf Leslie, Z. Wu from China, Ian Ferguson - to mention only a few.
It became apparent that the many alternative ways of looking at wood export prospects and alternative opinions of these prospects call for strategic thinking and global assessment of supply and demand based on strong regional teamwork with full industry participation. FAO appears to be the body to take on the more focused role envisaged. With its objectives in human wellbeing and sustainable forest management and environmental, economic and social concerns together with its command of statistics and experience in reviews of outlook, it has the credentials and experience. The FAO Asia Pacific Forestry Commission would be an appropriate forum.
Our conclusion is that given the level and long term nature of investment required, resolution of the questions on the outlook for forestry cannot be left to chance, but requires critical studies of the long term prospects, and regional involvement is essential. This is something that the CFA should take forward.
from R.G. FLORENCE CFA Australia
Questionnaire for Commonwealth Forestry Handbook
Millennium Edition
Peter Wood has taken on the job of putting together a Millennium edition of the Commonwealth Forestry Handbook. Attached below questionnaire to seek guidelines on its form. Your comments and suggestions are invited, to help in the design of the next handbook.
- Is it a good idea for the Association to produce a handbook?
- To produce a "millennium edition"?
- Whether yes or no, do you think the traditional format is still appropriate?
- Specifically, could you comment on the desirability, format and placing of each section, as follows:
1. The CFA
Message from the President
Message from the Chairperson
The Association:
Current office holders
Past office holders
Short history
Charter and Byelaws (put into an Annex?)
National Branches and Chapters
Mission statement
Activities of the Association
Queen's Award for forestry.
List of members, life, ordinary, fellows, associates, corporate.
List of subscribers
Country list of ordinary members
Honorary and complimentary members.
2. International and national Forest Services and Institutions.
3. International initiatives and organisations:
FAO, IUFRO, IFF, CIFOR, ICRAF, etc etc.
4. International journals dealing with forests and related subjects.
5. Useful information:
Conversion tables
<Web sites connected with forests and forestry - searching the web for forestry>
Electronic information handling.
6. Useful Acronyms.
7. Anything else?
Many thanks in advance for your help and advice.
Please respond to:PETER WOOD at CFA
Queen's Award Travel
Thang Hooi Chiew, Malaysia
The Queen's Award for Forestry was presented to me on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Commonwealth Forestry Association (CFA) on 3 June, 1996 at Windsor Great Park by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth and patron of the CFA. This was indeed a great honour, not only for me personally but also to Malaysia and my colleagues in recognition of our efforts in striving to address the multi-disciplinary issues facing forestry today, especially in the attainment of sustainable forest management of the tropical forest.
My travel to London to receive the Award provided me with the opportunity to participate in the CFA Conference 'Privatisation or Public Forests?' I was chair of a Working Group with the four sub-themes - Growing Industrial Wood, the Welfare and Interests of Rural and Forest Peoples, Forest and Landscape Conservation and Management for Biodiversity Conservation. These were found to be cross-cutting leading to the need to strike a balance between the economic imperatives of forestry, meeting the needs and aspiration of the rural and forest-dwelling people and conservation.
The Award itself allowed me to attend the 15th Commonwealth Forestry Conference held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe May, 1997 and to visit various forestry activities in and around Mutare. This included visits to eucalyptus and pine plantations, a remnant of rain forest and a number of wood processing plants.. Discussions with staff of the Forestry Commission, Zimbabwe, especially Mr. Johnson A. Mhungu on the many challenges facing the forestry sector of developing countries culminated in a workshop chaired by Mr. Phillip Kariwo, where I presented a paper on "Malaysia's Approach to Timber Certification", attended by more than 30 participants from the Commission and the industries located in Mutare.
The participants showed great interest in the strategy adopted by Malaysia and the actions taken to address the topical issue of voluntary timber certifications or labelling as called for by consumers of the developed countries, notably, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. They were worried as to who should shoulder the additional cost of timber certification in its production chain, whether it should be the producer or the consumer and expressed the need to face this new challenge squarely, taking cognisance of the choice between producing the required certified products at reasonable costs and profit or finding markets that currently do not require certified timber and timber products.
The Queen's Award has enabled me to make new friends and to share my knowledge and experience with others, as well as giving me the added impetus to further the work on criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of tropical forest. As a result, I together with Dr. Duncan Poore assisted the International Tropical Timber Organization in the preparation of ITTO's "Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forest" and the "Manual for the Application".
(Thang Hooi Chiew is currently Deputy Director-General of Forestry for Planning & Development, Peninsular Malaysia)
John Turnbull, Australia
Eleven years ago, I was the fortunate recipient of the inaugural Queen's Award for Forestry presented in 1988 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Government House, Melbourne. The Queen, who said she thought she had planted more trees than the average forester, indicated that she was pleased to be associated with the award.
At that time I was involved in research testing the adaptability of Australian trees, especially eucalypts, acacias and casuarinas, in many tropical environments. Testing such trees in experimental areas is one thing but translating the knowledge gained into practices that are economically and socially viable is quite another task. I was concerned about how to link the researchers with the government extension agents and the non-governmental organisations who were actively promoting tree planting. I therefore used the award to travel in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe to meet with researchers, extension workers and NGO groups to discuss their problems and to strengthen technical support for their activities.
In Kenya, Australian trees were already prominent in the landscape. Hundreds of small NGOs were involved in village nurseries and tree planting. CARE-Kenya was assisting over 600 women's groups and KENGO was working on energy and community development. Malawi is densely populated and the people heavily dependent on wood for fuel and building materials. Small but active programmes of the Forest Research Institute of Malawi and ICRAF were tackling a fuelwood scarcity and supporting agroforestry. In Tanzania there were forestry and agroforestry research areas, soil conservation projects, community nurseries and some NGO village reforestation groups .The Zimbabwe Forestry Commission, the Department of Agricultural and Technical Services and various governmental and NGO groups were actively supporting tree planting. Small tree nurseries were being established by individual farmers, religious groups, local co-operatives and local authorities
The visits highlighted the difficulties of channelling the research results from government agencies to farmers and NGOs through an extension service where staff were poorly trained and lacked transport. There was also a challenge to select appropriate species, especially for drought and termite resistance, and to develop technologies for tree planting particularly for semiarid and arid areas. The need for flexibility and practical testing of technical solutions through a phased learning by doing approach, rather than rigid and costly on station research efforts, was evident.
The travel opportunity enabled me to provide direct advice on some of the problems in planting Australian trees. The insights gained were extremely valuable in developing networking and collaborative research programmes in my work for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The obstacles to successful tree planting are not only technological - secure tenure, markets, credit and support from local authorities can be equally important. It encouraged me to support a more interdisciplinary approach to research and where possible to have greater involvement of farmers and NGOs.
(John Turnbull is currently Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO Division of Forestry and Forest Products, Canberra, Australia).
Around The World
Commonwealth Secretary General
The new Secretary general of the Commonwealth is Mr Don McKinnon previously Foreign Minister of New Zealand, taking over from Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria
Commonwealth Fellowship
The Commonwealth Foundation announces the Commonwealth Understanding
Fellowship. The aim is to develop a cadre of people who actively promote
Commonwealth understanding. 12 people are drawn from the professions,
non-governmental organisations, government and business to participate
in a three week programme of learning activities about the Commonwealth.
The year 2000 programme will be in UK - London - and the Caribbean. The
CFA invites applications for consideration for submission to the
Foundation by 15 January 2000.
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com
16th Commonwealth Forestry Conference
The next Commonwealth Forestry Conference will be held in Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia on 18-25 April 2001. Details from Libby Jones, Secretary of the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry (tel: +44(0)131 314 6137, fax: +44(0)131 334 0442, email: libby.jones@forestry.gov.uk)
IFF
Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests will be held
31 January-11 February 2000, at the UN New York, USA.
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/iff.htm
from TAGE MICHAELSON, IFF
Twelfth World Forestry Congress
The offer of Canada to host the 12th World Forestry Congress in September/October 2003 in Quebec, Canada, was accepted at the June session of the FAO Council. WFC will be organised by the Government of Canada through the Ministry of Natural Resources of Quebec jointly with the Canadian Forest Service and in collaboration with FAO.
from UNASYLVA 1999/3
New executive director ITTO
Dr Manoel Sobral Filho takes on the task of guiding ITTO into the next millennium. The International Tropical Timber Council at its 27th Session held in Yokohama, Japan 1-6 November 1999, after five days of intense dialogue between the producer and consumer groups, decided by consensus to appoint Dr Sobral as Executive Director for a period of four years. Dr Sobral who is from Brazil, was formerly ITTO's Assistant Director, Division of Forest Industry.
from ALASTAIR SARRE, Tropical Forest Update
EFI to INBAR
Fergal Mulloy of Eire will take over as Acting Director of the European Forests Institute in January. Dr Ian Hunter is leaving EFI to take over as Director General of the International Network on Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), based in Beijing. This is a networking organisation established in 1997 by International Treaty and hosted by China, which now has 16 member countries. It has the goal to improve the social, economic, and environmental benefits of bamboo and rattan. Ian takes over from Cherla Sastry of IDRC, who was founding Director General. The International Development Research Centre of Canada together with The International Fund for Agricultural Development are the principle funding bodies.
Forests and Population Futures
Population Action International (PAI) is an organisation dedicated to advancing policies and programmes that slow population growth in order to enhance the quality of life of all people. It advocates the expansion of voluntary family planning, health services and educational and economic opportunities for girls and women. It seeks to increase global political and financial support for effective population policies grounded in individual rights.
Forest Futures - Population, Consumption and Wood Resources by Tom Gardner-Outlaw and Robert Engelman, recognises the accelerating loss of the world's forests as one of the major environmental challenges of the next century and the growth of human population as looming large among the factors contributing to this loss. The view that population growth is an inevitable force behind forest decline is challenged.
The escalating demand for material and intangible benefits of forests requires not only better forest policies but also better policies for forests. These may lie far outside traditional domains of forest conservation and timber management. The impact of population dynamics on forest conservation is not an argument for population control, but for the social investments needed to give individuals - especially women - control over their reproductive lives and their economic destinies; to give them education, economic opportunities and information and the means to plan the timing and size of families.
They recommend implementation of the programme of action endorsed in
Cairo at the 1994 International Conference on Population and
Development. Programs should consider the efficacy of integrated
community based approaches that improve both natural resource
conservation and access to reproductive health services. The
recommendations refocus the debate over population's role from blame and
despair to opportunity and hope. Humanity could take steps needed to
preserve forests for future generations. By understanding that sound
population policy is founded on social investment and human rights,
population and forest policy can work together to stabilise or increase
the availability of trees and forests for each human being.
http://www.populationaction.org
from TOM GARDNER-OUTLAW, PAI, USA
NAFI Australia
Keynote speaker at the National Association of Forest Industries 1999 conference was Wilson Tuckey, Minister for Forestry and Conservation. He considered Australia's "Action Agenda" to bring forest industries to produce value added products to maximise the contribution to the economy, improve the balance of trade and provide employment opportunities in rural areas. This would build on a secure resource and sustainable forest management supported by "Regional Development Agreements" and the "Forest Industry Structural Adjustment Package".
The conference heard that:-plantation area is increasing at an unprecedented rate exceeding 50,000 ha per year, but still short of "2020 Vision"; private investment would be strengthened by formation of tree grower co-operatives, which improve access to markets; a new wave of investment was represented by financial institutions as well as large international tree growers; the outlook suggests movement towards net export of sawnwood. The state of the market, with queries over the prospect of Indonesian and Japanese pulp and paper industry outlets, was also considered.
Summing up, Thorry Gunnersen, President of NAFI suggested that in
coming years "designer wood" will be attuned to the market
from its genetic inception and will come through scientific, technical
and industrial systems. This biological revolution is going to take us
to the forefront of industrial endeavour in the next century.
http://www.nafi.com.au
from FORESTRY FUTURES, NAFI, Australia
Forest Scenes
A Day In The Life Of...
Henry Osmaston served in the Uganda Forest Department (UFD) 1949-63, is an Honorary Warden of Uganda National Parks and in September 1999 was invited by Tony Finch, of the EU Natural Forest Management & Conservation Project of UFD, to advise on management of natural forests with a minor component investigating illegal pitsawing.
Legal pitsawyers (Bushenyi All Pitsawyers' and Wood-users' Assoc) had complained about being undercut in the market by illegal timber from Maramagambo F.R. in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, so I helped to prepare plans to stop it with Denis Katunguka (Law Enforcement Warden) and Moses Mutrammi (Forest Officer).
Accompanied by 8 park rangers, armed with AK47s, we drove over steep rough tracks to Kagati village on the south-east side of the Maramagambo. Before reaching the village we met a pickup laden with about 64 boards of mvule (Chlorophora=Milicia excelsa) 12" x 1" x 7ft. The driver was arrested. Tracks showed that it had loaded at the furthest house with padlocked door, but by peering through a hole we could see many boards stacked inside. We left the pickup and driver there in the charge of two rangers and set off towards the forest, now a party of 14, including 6 rangers and assorted National Park and UFD officers.
We entered the forest over the River Serere and followed a narrow but well used path northwards. Soon we met two men each carrying a mvule board 6" x 2" x 14 ft. so we arrested them. A little later we passed the remains of a recently felled Funtumia tree of which the butt-log had been pitsawn and removed. An advance party of rangers moved ahead. Over the next hour we passed abandoned boards mostly of mvule and Cordia millenii, in a variety of sizes - 12"x1"x14ft, 6"x2"x14ft and 12"x1"x7ft. At 13.15 we caught up with the advance party who had arrested a further 18 people. In total this meant we had caught 20, the most that could be effectively guarded. Information from the carriers suggested that the pitsawing site was 1 1/2 hrs away, further than could be reached and returned from that day.
So at 14.30 we turned back with all the prisoners carrying boards and with rangers ahead and behind them and spaced at intervals among them. Marching through the forest in this caravan of about 34 people, I was entertained by imagining myself a modern mini-version of Henry Stanley, Bula Matari - The Breaker of Rocks, marching through the Congo Forest not far to the west over a century ago. Or did it resemble more closely a slave caravan of the notorious Tippoo Tib, each slave yoked by a forked stick to the neck of the one in front? Would an episode of 37 years ago be repeated, when poachers captured on Mt.Elgon had fled into the bush. We had no means of preventing this except fear, as I had told the rangers on no account to use their guns.
On reaching the village we found the entire population of 70, who too had evidently mostly profited from the illegal trade, lined up along the street regarding us glumly. The pickup driver had escaped. There was long debate over what to do with so much wood required as evidence and so many prisoners. Should the Law Enforcement Warden force the door of the wood store but this needed the support of the LC2 (Local council chairman) who though present was most uncooperative. I tried to pin some responsibility on him for the security of the timber, but my status being ambiguous, I restrained natural impulses to act as Sanders of the River. I remembered at 77, to follow that reputedly Confucian maxim "When confusion inevitable, sit back and enjoy it".
We cut the 14ft boards in half to fit in the vehicles, released the youngest prisoners (some were only boys) and packed the rest on to the three vehicles and set out for base. After a few kms, the captured pickup got punctures, back and front. A heavy thunderstorm threatened. A rear wheel of the UWA vehicle developed an oil leak and lost the bolts holding the half-shaft to the wheel. Neither vehicle had any hand-tools to repair it, so no power to back or front wheels. Contact with HQ by radio failed to persuade them to send a rescue vehicle.
After lengthy discussion the pickup was left in the charge of two guards fetched from a Local Defence Force. A wire was found and used to tow the UWA vehicle. On the flat or down hill everyone crowded on to the two vehicles. Uphill (and there was lots of this) everyone leaped off and pushed, particularly the prisoners, the rangers running alongside to see that they didn't escape. At intervals the cable came untied or broke. The UFD Landrover also developed an oil-leak, which the driver, lacking any tools, stopped by throwing cold water on it - a novel remedy. By now it was quite dark and I strolled ahead sucking my emergency supply of Kendal Mint Cake and contemplated Scorpio, indicating that we were still heading south away from home. However we were on the plateau again.
This enabled us to commandeer a 14 seater taxi and load all the prisoners into that. Thus at 21.15 we reached county HQ and roused the LC4 Chairman. As usual "The man with the key had gone" and it took half-an-hour before the prisoners were safely incarcerated, though without food or water. Remembering the Black Hole of Calcutta, I felt quite sorry for them and for the rangers left to guard them.
In the end we were back to base at Ishaka at 22.30. The mix of adventure and misadventure, high farce, hard walking alternating with tedious waiting, was quite like old times! A welcome change from most consultancies today. Moreover it had produced tangible results, not just a report to gather dust on a shelf.
from HENRY OSMASTON
Special Feature
Forest Biotechnology '99
Against a backdrop of beautiful sunny July days and Oxford's "dreaming spires", 200 scientists from 20 different countries participated in Forest Biotechnology '99. The conference was a joint meeting of IUFRO Working Group for the Molecular Biology of Forest Trees and the International Wood biotechnology symposium. It was held at the spectacular University of Oxford Natural History Museum and Keble College between July 11 and 16.
The conference provided a forum for discussion of the recent progress that has been made in the relatively fast-moving field of forest biotechnology. Conference attendees included scientists from academia, industry, and government research institutes, as well as the press, and non-governmental organisations such as The Soil Association and The World Wildlife Fund. In addition to discussion of scientific issues, conference participants were also exposed to the very public debate surrounding the deployment of genetically modified crops in the UK.
The conference opened with a keynote address by Professor Ron Sederoff of North Carolina State University, which provided a comprehensive overview of the history of forest biotechnology. He cited the successes in the field, including the use of molecular markers as selection tools for conventional breeding, and the development of techniques to genetically engineer a range of economically important forest tree species. Professor Sederoff then noted that the most significant area of progress in the coming years was likely to be in the application of genomics to forest tree species. He predicted that genomics, an amalgam of genome sequencing, large-scale gene expression analysis and bio-informatics, was going to be the most powerful tool in the development of biotechnological, silvicultural and conservation strategies for forest tree species.
The conference proceeded with sessions dedicated to the tissue culture and genetic transformation of forest trees; the analysis and modification of wood properties; the analysis and modification of reproductive development; the analysis of woody plant traits other than wood production; the use of biotechnological methods in forest tree breeding and conservation; and the deployment of genetically modified forest trees. Scientific highlights were frequent. For example, two speakers (Clint Chapple, Purdue University; and Vincent Chiang, Michigan Technological University) presented compelling evidence that the classical textbook description of lignin biosynthesis would have to be rewritten. Perhaps it was most striking that these speakers arrived at the same conclusion independently. Both pieces of work were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Another highlight was the demonstration of the benefits of genetic modification of forest trees for industrial end-uses. By genetically modifying poplar to down-regulate the expression of a step in the lignin biosynthetic pathway, Tsai and co-workers (Michigan Technological University) were able to not only decrease lignin content, but also simultaneously increase cellulose content and overall growth in these trees. The possible benefits of these trees for the pulp and paper industry can not be overstated. The work presented by Dr. Tsai was published as a Nature Biotechnology paper.
One of most exciting developments at this conference was a dialogue that was initiated amongst all the delegates and which focused on the highly contentious issue of genetic modification of plants. Breaking from the tradition of featuring purely scientific talks at such conferences, the session on the deployment of genetically modified trees featured speakers from academia, as well as industry and an NGO (The Soil Association). This session provided an excellent opportunity for participants to initiate discussions on the relative benefits and risks of genetic modification in a forestry context. Unfortunately, this open and engaging dialogue, which involved NGOs, academic scientists, government scientists, and industrial representatives, was marred by the fact that an extreme environmental group vociferously protested the conference in a day that was also marked by the destruction of a UK government-sanctioned field trial of genetically modified trees. To their credit, the NGOs that were participating in the conference made it clear that they did not condone these actions. Furthermore, it was unclear as to why the protestors were protesting the conference, given that it was an open dialogue that anyone could have participated in.
On a positive note, the session on the deployment of genetically modified trees was used as a "springboard" for delegates to develop a position statement on the genetic modification of forest trees. The position statement, the brainchild of Dr. Steven Strauss (Orgeon State University) has since been further developed by Dr. Strauss and a collection of colleagues from across the globe. Furthermore, the position statement has been considered and voted upon by all conference participants. As such, it represents perhaps the most democratic scientific position statement on genetically modified plants produced to date. More information on the position statement can be found at http://www.fsl.orst.edu/tgerc/iufro_pos-statm.htm
The conference ended as it began, on a warm and sunny July day in Oxford, but between the open and close, the conference participants had been treated to some thought provoking and engaging scientific and philosophical discussions. Based on the quality of discussions at this year's meeting, all conference delegates agreed that the next meeting of this group, in Oregon in 2001, will be an exciting meeting indeed. See http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/extended/conferen/treebio/.
Details of the conference, including the complete set of abstracts can be found at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~dops0022/conference/info.html
from MALCOLM CAMPBELL, OFI
Correspondence
Opportunities for forestry
Thank you for sending me a copy of the CFA July newsletter and back copies of previous issues. This short message is simply to let you know that we have been trying for some time to promote British interest and involvement in the forestry sector in Nicaragua (everything ranging from re-forestation and sustainable management to certification) but so far without success. If however any of your members identify opportunities for research or work in the forestry sector in Nicaragua (or the Central American region including Nicaragua) please do not hesitate to let me know. We shall do our best to support such activities to the extent that our limited resources permit.
From Roy Osborne, HM Ambassador to Nicaragua
Research
IUFRO XXI World Congress
7-12 August 2000, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
At the opening of the 21st century and the third millennium there can hardly be a more exciting yet challenging time for forestry research. Natural, political and social environments are changing with demands on forests for ever greater output of multiple economic products and environmental and social services, requiring new research and the dissemination of information from earlier scientific work to a wide range of uses.
IUFRO's quinquennial Congresses provide an opportunity for forest scientists to present their results, to join international networks of researchers working on specific topics and to share their experience, materials and results. Some 2,000 - 3,000 participants are expected to enjoy the varied and stimulating programme.
Malaysia is proud to host the XXI IUFRO World Congress, with a theme -Forests and Society: The Role of Research. The venue for the event is the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, a world-class convention and exhibition centre. The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), has been entrusted by IUFRO and the Government of Malaysia as the organising agency. To ensure the success of the Congress, a Congress Organising Committee (COC) headed by FRIM with members from other government forestry related agencies has been formed since 1996 and supported by a Congress Secretariat based in FRIM. Currently more than 1800 potential participants have indicated their interest to participate in the Congress.
The scientific programme of the Congress consists of five plenary sessions:- sustainable management of natural resources; forests and society needs; changes in environment and society; cultural diversity and forest management; the global vision of forests and society. Some of these sessions will be dedicated to the delivery of State-of-Knowledge Reports written for all stakeholders of the world's forests, particularly policy makers, managers, scientists and the public.
There will be 20 sub-plenary sessions and 129 group sessions involving 500 scientific papers and 1000 posters. Thursday, 10 August, 2000,is reserved for tours of Malaysian forestry, forest industry and selected tourist attractions. Post-Congress excursions to 15 destinations cover forestry and related issues in much more detail. These range from three to five-days duration to Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
Apart from scientific programmes, the COC has also made special arrangements for accompanying persons. A Commercial exhibition will be held at the disseminated Malaysia International Exhibition & Showroom and a non-commercial exhibition at the Putra World Trade Centre. In conjunction with the Congress, a commemorative stamp will be released, a tree planting ceremony will be held and FRIM will launch a book on Malaysian forestry to commemorate the Congress.
The final announcement and Registration Package, will be circulated by
December 1999. Information:
http://www.frim.gov.my/iufro.html
and
http://www.iufro.boku.ac.at/iufro/congress/
IUFRO 2000, Congress Secretariat,Forest Research Institute Malaysia,
Kepong, Malaysia. Tel No: +603-6302143 Fax:+603-6365687 E-mail:
iufroxxi@frim.gov.my
from IUFRO WORLD CONGRESS SECRETARIAT, Malaysia
Rattans of Africa
A state of knowledge Seminar, 1-3 February 2000 at Limbe Botanic Garden, Cameroon, will bring together experts concerned with rattan research and development in Africa. The subjects include taxonomy, ethno-botany, ecology, anatomy, inventory, management, cultivation and processing, socio-economics and trade. This is organised jointly by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK and PAFT Gabon. Information E mail: afrirattan@aol.com and paftgabon@internetgabon.com
from TERRY SUNDERLAND, Kew, UK
IIED on certification
The International Institute for Environment and Development is midway through a large project "Instruments for Sustainable Private Sector Forestry", looking at how the private sector does and can contribute to more sustainable forest management. The project includes collaborative work in five countries: Brazil, China, India, Papua New Guinea and South Africa; on the focal themes: certification, corporate-community partnerships and payments for environmental services.
The writer's particular work is concerned with the impacts of
certification, a key element of the overall project. A first product is
"An overview of Global Trends in FSC Certificates". This,
based mainly on Forest Stewardship Council information, identifies 156
certificates covering 14.9 million ha of forest, of which 7.7m.ha are in
Sweden, while 2.4m.ha are tropical. The principal certifiers are: SGS-UK
- Societe Generale de Surveillance; SCS: Scientific Certification
Systems, (USA); the Rain Forest Alliance and the Soil Association.
Further IIED work on certification is based on case studies of the
impacts it has had on forests, stakeholders and markets. This includes
national level work in Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, PNG, and Zambia, and
studies of the impacts on international trade links through examination
of the supply chain of products coming from certified sources in South
Africa, Brazil and Poland. Work has begun in South Africa, where
certification has already had a significant effect on the forestry
sector.
IIED website www.iied.org/psf
and EFI Certification Information Service website.
from KIRSTI THORNBER, EFI, UK
Wollemi Pine
Wollemenia nobilis, an ancient relation of hoop pine, Araucaria cunninghamii, but whose closest relatives are fossils from about 100millon years ago, was discovered in Wollemi National Park north of Sydney in 1994. Making the rare plant available is seen as the best way of preserving the "living fossil". Queensland Forestry Research Institute has won the rights to propagate the species to be old worldwide, a percentage of the price going to the Government of New South Wales, to finance future conservation of the tree.
from QFRI News, Australia July 1999 and the Garden, RHS, UK October 1999.
Camphor trees dying
One hundred years ago Cecil Rhodes planted an avenue of trees from Groote Schuur to Muizenberg on the Cape coast of South Africa using trees from all over the then British Empire. Twelve of the Camphor trees Cinnamomum camphora are dying. Research of Mike Wingfield, Professor of Forest of Pathology at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein has found fungal infection in the vascular system, the prime suspect being the ceratocystis group of fungi. This new disease has symptoms similar to oak wilt and Dutch elm disease. The immediate concern in the Cape is that older camphor trees, planted in 1700 by Willem Adrian van der Stel about 50 km away, might become infected.
from the Garden RHS, UK October 1999
CFA Initiatives
CFNews Book prize
Our book prize is awarded to Dr. Karen Ter-Ghazaryan, Forest Research and Experimental Centre, Armenia, in recognition of the contribution "Save Armenian Forests" published in the sixth edition in September 1999. Our thanks go to CABI Publishing for offering this prize.
There is a book prize for the best essays received from students, young researchers and young professional foresters.
CABI Publishing is a major international publisher of forestry books for academics/researchers. The new Research Series offers high quality publications arising from the major International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) meetings.
The first title, Forest Dynamics in Heavily Polluted Regions (ISBN 0 85199 376 1), is available at £40.00. For copies or information on other forestry titles contact: CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE, UK, Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111, Fax: +44 (0)1491 829198, Email:publishing@cabi.org The full text of our forestry titles can be read at http://www.cabi.org/readingroom/.so browse and read online before you buy!
International Forestry Review 1(4)
PAPERS
J. BURLEY
Collaboration versus competition in forestry research
and development
P. BLANDON
Forecasts of Japanese sawlog supply
T. J. FOY and M. J. PITCHER
Private sector/community partnerships
for commercial forestry development: recent experiences from South
Africa
A.N. HONLONKOU, V.M. MANYONG and N. TCETCHE
Farmers' perceptions
and the dynamics of adoption of a resource management technology: the
case of Mucuna fallow in southern Benin, West Africa
B.P. PETHIYA
Financial viability of agroforestry projects: field
studies from western India
D. ALDER and F. MONTENEGRO
A yield model for Cordia
alliodora plantations in Ecuador
J.C.F.WALKER and R. NAKADA
Understanding corewood in some
softwoods: a selective review
COMMENT
J. STUDLEY
Forestry and environmental degradation in SW China
REVIEWS/NOTICES
IFR special issues
The Publications Committee has considered a number of topics which might form the basis of future special issues. There will be two special issues of the Review during 2000, one devoted to papers on reduced impact logging given at the Iwokrama project in Guyana during April 1999 and another to international aid in forestry. Topics considered for subsequent special issues are the following:
- Genetic modification - progress and prospects
- State of the art of silvicultural systems - plantations, continuous cover, agroforestry, tropical rain forest management
- Biodiversity conservation
- Evolution of wood products and their supply
- Education and training
- Managing for multiple use
- Equity and efficiency conflicts
- Trends in forest management objectives
- Framework of governance around decisions about forests
Comment is invited on these, as are suggestions on any other subject of sufficient general interest to justify a special issue of the Review. This is also an invitation to indicate willingness to contribute an article on these or any other subject area.
from ARNOLD GRAYSON Editor IFR
CFA Membership
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