STATE OF THE WORLD'S FORESTS 2001 riculture Organization
Foreword he State of the World's Forests reports every two years on the status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector. This is the fourth edition of the publication, the purpose of which is to make current, reliable and policy-relevant information widely available to polic makers, foresters and other natural resource managers, academics, forest industry and civil society. Our hope is that it will facilitate informed discussion and decision making with regard to the world,s forests As we approach the benchmark year of 2002, the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), it is an opportune moment to take stock of the progress made over the past decade. UNCED sparked a decade of change, characterized by new thinking and fresh approaches to forest management, as well as questioning as to what its objectives should be and who the neficiaries should be. A vision of sustainable forest management emerged, commitment was strengthened and innovative alliances forged with the aim of achieving common goals in forestry. Over the past ten years, the sector has moved in two seemingly opposite directions simultaneously, towards"localization", on the one hand, and"globalization", on the other. At the national level, forest planning processes, policies, legislation and field programmes have taken on new emphases, including increased decentralization and participation. Internationally it has been a time of intense debate with discussion over the past five years resulting in agreement on several proposals for action, including -very recently- the establishment of an international arrangement promote the sustainable management, conservation and development of all typ forest, to strengthen long-term political commitment and to promote the implementation of the proposals for action. At the technical level, a wide variety of intermational initiatives on forests have been launched through various mechanisms, and regional cooperation in forest-related issues has been strengthened The State of the Worlds Forests 2001 examines these developments, focusing mainly on the past two years. Part I provides an overview, briefly highlighting some of the recent key developments in the sector. Part II comprises four chapters, each focusing on a selected topical issue that merits an in-depth review. The first reports on the findings of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, the most recent and omprehensive assessment of the status and trends of forest resources worldwide; the second chapter discusses climate change and forests, a topic of particular interest that stems from concern about possible climate-induced changes and from the recent gotiations on the Kyoto Protocol. The conservation of forest biological diversity in protected areas- the topic of the third chapter- is an area that has developed and
iii The State of the World’s Forests reports every two years on the status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector. This is the fourth edition of the publication, the purpose of which is to make current, reliable and policy-relevant information widely available to policymakers, foresters and other natural resource managers, academics, forest industry and civil society. Our hope is that it will facilitate informed discussion and decisionmaking with regard to the world’s forests. As we approach the benchmark year of 2002, the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), it is an opportune moment to take stock of the progress made over the past decade. UNCED sparked a decade of change, characterized by new thinking and fresh approaches to forest management, as well as questioning as to what its objectives should be and who the beneficiaries should be. A vision of sustainable forest management emerged, commitment was strengthened and innovative alliances forged with the aim of achieving common goals in forestry. Over the past ten years, the sector has moved in two seemingly opposite directions simultaneously, towards “localization”, on the one hand, and “globalization”, on the other. At the national level, forest planning processes, policies, legislation and field programmes have taken on new emphases, including increased decentralization and participation. Internationally, it has been a time of intense debate, with discussions over the past five years resulting in agreement on several proposals for action, including – very recently – the establishment of an international arrangement to promote the sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forest, to strengthen long-term political commitment and to promote the implementation of the proposals for action. At the technical level, a wide variety of international initiatives on forests have been launched through various mechanisms, and regional cooperation in forest-related issues has been strengthened. The State of the World’s Forests 2001 examines these developments, focusing mainly on the past two years. Part I provides an overview, briefly highlighting some of the recent key developments in the sector. Part II comprises four chapters, each focusing on a selected topical issue that merits an in-depth review. The first reports on the findings of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, the most recent and comprehensive assessment of the status and trends of forest resources worldwide; the second chapter discusses climate change and forests, a topic of particular interest that stems from concern about possible climate-induced changes and from the recent negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol. The conservation of forest biological diversity in protected areas – the topic of the third chapter – is an area that has developed and Foreword
evolved markedly over the past ten to twenty years. This, together with the prominence of forests in upcoming discussions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, makes forest protected areas a subject of current interest. The fourth chapter of Part II addresses illegal activities and corruption in the forest sector, which was considered a taboo subject until recently but is now openly discussed in international fora. Part I provides an update on the intermational dialogue on forests and global and regional initiatives for forests, and Part IV provides forest related information on major regional economic groups Advance copies of the State of the Worlds Forests 2001 were made available to the delegations attending the fifteenth session of the Committee on Forestry, FAOs highest policy forum on forests, held in March 2001. The final publication incorporates feedback from countries and includes national forest resource data provided to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 after the Committee on Forestry meeting was held. The FAO Forestry Department trusts that the State of the World's Forests 2001 will succeed in increasing awareness of key issues in the forest sector today and in providing valuable information that contributes to the achievement of sustainable forest management. FAO would be pleased to hear from readers and welcomes comments, ideas and information that may be useful for the next issue, the State of the world 's Forests 2003 M. Hosny El-Lakany assistant director -General FAO Forestry Department
iv evolved markedly over the past ten to twenty years. This, together with the prominence of forests in upcoming discussions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, makes forest protected areas a subject of current interest. The fourth chapter of Part II addresses illegal activities and corruption in the forest sector, which was considered a taboo subject until recently but is now openly discussed in international fora. Part III provides an update on the international dialogue on forests and global and regional initiatives for forests, and Part IV provides forestrelated information on major regional economic groups. Advance copies of the State of the World’s Forests 2001 were made available to the delegations attending the fifteenth session of the Committee on Forestry, FAO’s highest policy forum on forests, held in March 2001. The final publication incorporates feedback from countries and includes national forest resource data provided to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 after the Committee on Forestry meeting was held. The FAO Forestry Department trusts that the State of the World’s Forests 2001 will succeed in increasing awareness of key issues in the forest sector today and in providing valuable information that contributes to the achievement of sustainable forest management. FAO would be pleased to hear from readers and welcomes comments, ideas and information that may be useful for the next issue, the State of the World’s Forests 2003. M. Hosny El-Lakany Assistant Director-General FAO Forestry Department
Contents Foreword i Acknowledgements Executive PART THE SITUATION AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FOREST SECTOR Recent developments The status of forest resources Management, conservation and sustainable development of forest resources est goods and services 13 The changing institutional framework for the forest sector KEY ISSUES IN THE FOREST SECTOR TODAY The status of forests: the global forest resources assessment 2000 The assessment process Global forest resources in 2000 Forest management in 2000 Conclusions Climate change and forests Global carbon cycle The role of forests in the global carbon budget Climate change and forests Carbon management strategies 67 Conclusions and future issues Forest biological diversity conservation: protected area management The status of protected forest areas: what and how much should be protected Effectiveness of protected area management 77 Current approaches to protected area management Paying for protected area management Conclusions llegal activities and corruption in the forest sector Illegal activities affecting forest resources and industries 88 The magnitude and effect of illegal forest activities What can be done about illegal and corrupt forest activities? clusions 01
v Contents Foreword iii Acknowledgements vii Executive summary viii ___________________________________ PART I __________________________________ THE SITUATION AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FOREST SECTOR Recent developments 1 The status of forest resources 1 Management, conservation and sustainable development of forest resources 6 Forest goods and services 13 The changing institutional framework for the forest sector 22 ___________________________________ PART II __________________________________ KEY ISSUES IN THE FOREST SECTOR TODAY The status of forests: the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 29 The assessment process 29 Global forest resources in 2000 33 Forest management in 2000 51 Conclusions 58 Climate change and forests 60 Global carbon cycle 60 The role of forests in the global carbon budget 61 Climate change and forests 65 Carbon management strategies 67 Conclusions and future issues 73 Forest biological diversity conservation: protected area management 74 The status of protected forest areas: what and how much should be protected 75 Effectiveness of protected area management 77 Current approaches to protected area management 79 Paying for protected area management 85 Conclusions 86 Illegal activities and corruption in the forest sector 88 Illegal activities affecting forest resources and industries 88 The magnitude and effect of illegal forest activities 91 What can be done about illegal and corrupt forest activities? 94 Conclusions 101
PARTⅢl NTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS International dialogue and global nal and national initiatives The IFF and UNFF processes International conventions and agreements related to forests Recent initiatives of regional groups 110 Efforts at the ecoregional level 113 National-level efforts to support sustainable forest management Other initiatives l18 PARTⅣ FORESTRY IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROUPS Association of southeast Asian Nations Caribbean Community and common Market Commonwealth of Independent States Economic Community of West African States 26 European Community 127 Latin American Economic System 28 League of Arab States North American Free Trade Agreement 130 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperati 131 South pacific Forum 133 Southern African Development Community ANNEXES Annex 1: Definitions and acronyms Annex 2: Data tables 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY 175
vi ___________________________________PART III__________________________________ INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS International dialogue and global, regional and national initiatives 103 The IFF and UNFF processes 104 International conventions and agreements related to forests 106 Recent initiatives of regional groups 110 Efforts at the ecoregional level 113 National-level efforts to support sustainable forest management 114 Other initiatives 118 ___________________________________PART IV__________________________________ FORESTRY IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROUPS Association of Southeast Asian Nations 123 Caribbean Community and Common Market 124 Commonwealth of Independent States 125 Economic Community of West African States 126 European Community 127 Latin American Economic System 128 League of Arab States 129 North American Free Trade Agreement 130 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 131 South Pacific Forum 133 Southern African Development Community 134 ANNEXES Annex 1: Definitions and acronyms 137 Annex 2: Data tables 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY 175