Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries Linking National and International Efforts
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL VIII DEVELOPMENT Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries Linking National and International Efforts EC-FAO PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (1998-2000) Tropical forestry Budget line B7-6201/97-15/VIII/FOR PROJECT GCP/INT/679/EC PROCEEDINGS OF SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON FORESTRY STATISTICS SADC REGION MUTARE, ZIMBABWE 30 NOVEMBER – 4 DECEMBER 1998 page ii Acronyms ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific ADG Assistant Director General CATIE Centro Agronomia Tropical de Investigación y de Enseñanza. CFO Chief Forestry Officer CIRAD Centre de coopéra. internat.en recherche agronomique pour le développement CNEARC Centre national d'études agronomiques des régions chaudes CNRS Centre national de recherche scientifique CSIRO Common Wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization DAO District Agriculture Officer DCFL Director of Conservation, Forestry and Land Use Planning EHESS École des hautes études en sciences sociales ENGREF École national du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts FAN Forest Action Network (Kenya) FAO Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nation FITC Forest Industries Training Centre FOSA Forestry Outlook Study for Africa GBZ Green Belt Zone GDP Gross Domestic Product GOL Government of Lesotho I.E.M.P Lesotho Energy Master Plan ICRAF International Centre for Research in Agro-forestry IGAD Inter-Governmental Authority on Development INRA Institut national de recherche agronomique IUCN International Union of Conservation of Nature MoA Ministry of Agriculture NFAP National Forestry Action Plan NWFP Non-wood forest product ORSTOM Institut français de recherche scientifique pour le développ. en coopération RAFO Regional Office for Africa - Forestry group RAFR Regional Office for Africa - Operations TCP Technical Co-operation Programme TOF Trees outside the forest UNEP United Nations Environmental Program WAICENT World Agricultural Information Centre WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS FORESTRY STATISTICS – MUTARE, ZIMBABWE (30 Nov. – 4 Dec. 1998) FSTCU – SADC PRESENTATION 3 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Sub-Regional Workshop for South-African Countries on “Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries - Linking National and International Efforts” was held in Mutare, Zimbabwe, from 30 November to 4 December 1998. The event was organised by FAO with the financial support of the EC through the EC-FAO Partnership Programme (Tropical Forestry Budget Line B7-6201/97-15/VIII/FOR - Project GCP/INT/679/EC). This report provides the proceedings of the workshop, including an overview of the Project, the workshop objectives and conditions, conclusions and lessons learnt from this exercise, which may be useful during the implementation of future workshops. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS FORESTRY STATISTICS – MUTARE, ZIMBABWE (30 Nov. – 4 Dec. 1998) FSTCU – SADC PRESENTATION 4 2. THE WORKSHOP AT MUTARE (ZIMBABWE) 2.1. The Organisation of the Workshop The Zimbabwe Workshop on Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries was held in Mutare, Zimbabwe from 30 November - 4 December 1998 under the sponsorship of FAO, and with the support of the EU through the EC-FAO Partnership Programme. This workshop was the second of a series of five - four of which are taking place in Africa - and focussed geographically on ten selected countries of the SADC sub-regional organisation, namely: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. With the exception of Namibia, all the above countries were able to send at least one participant. In the case of Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia, two participants from each country came, and the host country, Zimbabwe, had nine participants. There were five FAO staff members present. The private sector and several NGO’s were invited but only one participant from an NGO and one from the private sector attended. A list of participants is attached as Appendix I. The workshop took place in the Forest Industries Training Centre (FITC) by kind invitation of the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission. Despite some difficult logistics at the beginning, it is believed that the choice of Mutare as location for the workshop was good. It has shown the SADC participants the training sawmill, veneer and plywood plant at FITC (an FAO implemented SADC project) and a sample of the fine pine plantation forests and sound tree breeding research done by the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission. The workshop, which lasted 4½ days, had 2 parallel groups (Forest Resources and Forest Products/Information Technology) for 1½ days. A copy of the agenda is attached as Appendix II. A senior officer of the host country, Mr. Crispen Marunda of the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission, was invited to chair the plenary sessions. The two working groups were chaired by Ms. Sebueng Kelatwang (South Africa) and Mr. Orastes Mandrate Nakala (Mozambique), respectively. The participating countries were provided with several background documents related to the forestry sector together with the presently available information on the forest resources and products of the region. This information had been sent approximately one month before the workshop, through the FAO Representative, to each country. Various other Secretariat papers were distributed during the meeting (see list of documents provided in Appendix III). Useful additions to the agenda were: an exhaustive preliminary meeting with the national chairman to review the agenda and decide “who does what”; a summary of the main trends (by chair) arising from the country presentations, as a contribution to the parallel sessions; a review of the parallel session reports as a contribution to the final plenary session in which the recommendations were drafted. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS FORESTRY STATISTICS – MUTARE, ZIMBABWE (30 Nov. – 4 Dec. 1998) FSTCU – SADC PRESENTATION 5 2.2. Introductory addresses and highlights The workshop was officially opened by the Acting General Manager of the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe, Mr Phillip Kariwo, who welcomed the participants to Zimbabwe and to FITC. He expressed his desire for a constructive meeting. He highlighted the importance of forest statistics in decision making and urged all to actively participate in the workshop. The Deputy Italian Ambassador, Ms Munzi, also welcomed the participants to FITC. She spoke of her country's key role in establishing FITC through an FAO's field project. She reviewed current Italian involvement in the forestry and natural resources sector. Owing to alternative commitments, no Representative of FAO's Country Office in Zimbabwe was able to attend. In his capacity as Senior FAO Officer present, Mr Jim Ball, Senior Forest Officer, Forest Resources Division, presented the workshop objectives and gave an overview of FAO Forestry Department's activities in Africa. He stated that forestry information is needed for three main purposes: a) national policy development and planning; b) investment appraisal and decision making, and c) international policy development and negotiation. Most of the information currently compiled by FAO falls broadly into two main areas namely: a) Forest resources information and statistics on the area, stocking, growth, condition and type of forest resources; and b) Forest product information and statistics on production, consumption and trade. Mr Peter Lowe (Forestry Planning Officer, Regional Office for Africa, FAO), conveyed the cordial greetings of Mr. Pape Kone, FAO's Senior Forest Officer in Africa, and presented a paper entitled the Forestry Situation in Africa (see Appendix III A). This paper reviewed the needs for forest statistics and, in particular, emphasised the importance of regional and sub-regional collaboration among countries to provide policy makers with harmonised data in order that they might develop and adopt common negotiating positions in global discussions of sustainable forest management. The speaker suggested that considerations of the contribution of forests to Food Security provided a powerful theme on which foresters could approach data collection, and he provided various examples. Finally, he highlighted various problems and deficiencies in forestry data collection in Africa which need to be addressed, and in so doing, informed the participants of the proposed Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) which FAO was initiating in concert with various partners, including the EU. Mr Charles Omoluabi, Forestry Officer (Forestry Policy and Planning Division) presented a draft report entitled “Methodological guidelines for improving Forestry statistics in Africa”, which was commissioned by the FAO Regional Office for Africa at the request of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC) at its 10th Session in South Africa, 1995. Strong emphasis was placed on the need for a sub-regional approach to forestry information collection, focussed on the key areas of forest resources, timber production, wood energy, non-wood forest products, operational costs and the socio-economic-political environment. All participants were given the chance to introduce themselves. Each participating country presented a paper on the current status of the forest sector. For each presentation, gaps in terms of information were identified and these formed the basis for the recommendations. Generally, it was acknowledged in all country presentations that information on plantation forests is often adequate and up-to-date, but the information