Investments in water have played a critical role in promoting socio-economic development in rural Asia. Sustainable management of water resources remains a prerequisite for development and reducing poverty and hunger. Water is a key factor affecting agricultural production and reduction of rural poverty. Most small farmers live in areas with poor natural resource conditions, where water-related constraints are a root cause of low production and increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate variability.

Freezaillah B.C. Yeom, de Malaisie, fait appel son exprience de gestionnaire forestier en Asie du Sud-Est pour valuer les informations disponibles sur les essences secondaires et peser le pour et le contre de leur emploi plus large dans le cadre gnral de l'amnagement des ressources. James S. Bethel, des Etats-Unis, qui a une vaste exprience de la sylviculture tant dans son pays que sur le plan international, expose ses propres observations et conclusions, ainsi que celles d'autres experts de renom, relatives la mise en valeur des ressources forestires.

Esta nota informativa cubre 20 años de historia de recopilación y análisis de datos relativos al agua y su divulgación como bien común internacional, de acceso libre para todos. La base de datos principal de países sobre recursos hídricos y sus usos – en sí misma supone un gran reto por la dicultad de presentar la información en términos uniformes—cons - tituye la plataforma para organizar y presentar más de 180 variables e indicadores que pueden buscarse y extraerse para todos los países y para diferentes regiones a lo largo de un extenso periodo de tiempo.

World Forest Inventory 1958

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.

Meeting Name: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)
Meeting symbol/code: CGRFA-16/17/8
Session: Sess.16

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.

Meeting Name: Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Forest Genetic Resources (of the CGRFA) - ITWG-FGR
Meeting symbol/code: CGRFA/WG-FGR-3/14/1 Add.1

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.

Meeting symbol/code: NAFC 2000 7a

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.

In this issue, we will be looking at work underway on the Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. We will also look at work done in Thailand and lessons learned by the German-financed Bioenergy and Food Security project.