Meeting Name: FAO Committee on Forestry
Meeting symbol/code: COFO/2016/5.2
Session: Sess. 23

In the context of developing a practicable and cost effective method for obtaining a country’s forest area by remote sensing, the computer processing of NOAA AVHRR HRPT data covering Liberia was investigated. The only cloud-free scene then recorded turned out to be severely and unevenly affected by atmospheric haze. To mitigate the effects of this, the country was divided into six areas (strata) of more uniform haze conditions.

Is a forest with 1 000 species better, and managed better, than a forest with 500 species? This issue of Unasylva looks at issues related to forest biological diversity and its conservation and sustainable use. One of the key messages is that numbers are not the only issue.

Meeting symbol/code: NAFC 2000 7a

Forest genetic resources (FGR) are the heritable materials maintained within and among tree and other woody plant species that are of actual or potential economic, environmental, scientific or societal value. They are crucial to the adaptation and protection of our ecosystems, landscapes and production systems, yet are subject to increasing pressures and unsustainable use.

Situación de los Bosques del Mundo 2003 ofrece información sobre los acontecimientos y esferas que son de interés actual en lo que se refiere a los recursos forestales; la ordenación, conservación y desarrollo sostenible de los bosques; el marco institucional; y el diálogo internacional sobre política forestal.

Depending on land management objectives, plus a host of environmental variables, fire will sometimes be an enemy, at other times a friend; in nearly all cases, however, it will continue to exert a powerful influence on natural resource ecosystems. This being so, consideration of the potential impact (both positive and negative) of fire is essential in all land-use plans and programmes for forestry development.

This case study is one of a series of publications produced by the Forest Harvesting, Trade and Marketing Branch of FAO in an effort to promote environmentally sound forest harvesting and engineering practices. The purpose of these studies is to highlight both the promise of environmentally sound forest harvesting technologies as a component of sustainable forest management, and the constraints that must be overcome in order to assure widespread adoption of those technologies.

This issue of Unasylva focuses on the special challenges concerning the conservation and use of trees outside forests.

The South African forest sector makes a meaningful contribution to the economy of the country and has huge potential in the development of our impoverished rural areas. In South Africa, rural development poses an enormous challenge, a challenge that has not been successfully met by a great number of other developing countries.

An analysis of factors influencing modern forestry in Rwanda and a look ahead to the likely state of forest resources and industries in the year 2020

The Government of South Africa has a major holding of forest land, with a total estate covering 892,000 ha of forest and associated land. Within the state's forest holding there is a wide diversity of forest and land types including: commercial plantations and other afforested land; indigenous forests; legally protected (indigenous) forest areas; and associated bare land. This land is partly owned by the state and partly held on behalf of local communities, some of whom also have existing rights to use the forest land for various purposes.