Meeting Name: Regional Conference for Africa (ARC) (22nd Session)
Meeting symbol/code: ARC 02 INF/7

The present issue of Forest Genetic Resources (FGR) goes to press immediately following the Eleventh World Forestry Congress held in Turkey 13-22 October 1997, which more than 4000 colleagues from 145 countries attended. In regard to the conservation and use of forest genetic resources, the Congress, in its deliberations and report, stressed that action to conserve, manage, sustainably utilize and enhance forest genetic resources is an urgent priority.

Agriculture is coming under more and more pressure to justify its use of the world's freshwater resources and to improve its productive and environmental performance. The allocations of raw water to agriculture (and the allocations within the agriculture sector) all need to be negotiated in a transparent way. This report reviews the large set of literature on the subject and makes the case for the adoption of a functional approach to water valuation as a basis for such negotiation.

L’eau nécessaire pour produire notre nourriture quotidienne représente mille fois le volume d’eau que nous buvons chaque jour et cent fois celui nécessaire pour satisfaire les besoins domestiques des ménages. L’agriculture pluviale ne peut assurer seule l’approvisionnement en nourriture de la population du monde, et plus de 70 pour cent de l’eau que nous prélevons des rivières et des nappes aquifères sont destinés à l’agriculture irriguée. L’agriculture est la principale source de nourriture et de loin le premier secteur consommateur d’eau dans le monde.

Details of the forest resources and forest industries of Korea. Forest policy, legislation and forest product trade is covered along with the contemporary social, political and economic climate.

The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000) provides a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the world's forest resources at the end of the second millennium. It is the result of the collective efforts of the countries of the world. This major undertaking was based primarily on information provided by the countries, supplemented by state-of-the-art technology to verify and analyse the information and to make the results accessible to the world through the Internet. The FRA 2000 process emphasized collaboration and transparency.

Environment and Natural Resources Management Working Paper 45. Reducing “Energy Poverty” is increasingly acknowledged as the “Missing Development Goal”. This is because access to electricity and modern energy sources is a basic requirement to achieve and sustain decent and sustainable living standards. It is essential for lighting, heating and cooking, as well as for education, modern health treatment and productive activities, hence food security and rural development.

New Zealand works closely with FAO in support of shared food and agricultural development and food security goals. Over the past five years, the country has channelled more than US$7.5 million into FAO projects, principally for emergency assistance in the Asia and Pacific region. Other areas of New Zealand cooperation – both in the region and further afield – include support to development projects ranging from food safety to livestock development.

The purpose of the expert consulation was to review of current policies that affect the management of livestock and natural resources, focussing on sub-regions and different agro-ecological settings and the identification of policy trade-off. Presentations/resource papers were delivered from each of the five different sub-regions of the Latin American/Caribbean region (Amazon/Brazil; Andean countries/highlands; Central American countries and Mexico; Southern Cone; Caribbean).

Land Tenure Working Paper 11. This co-publication of FAO and UN-HABITAT seeks to better understand and define the processes, mechanisms and institutions of governance of tenure in rural and urban areas. The paper recognises that excellent land policies, laws and technical reforms have been developed. However, in many cases their implementation has slipped, stalled or even been reversed. By adopting a governance and political economy perspective, the paper offers insights for the design of reforms and for the development of land governance tools.

Meeting Name: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Meeting symbol/code: CGRFA/WG-PGR-8/16/Inf. 5
Session: Sess. 8

This regional study presents an overview of the socio-economic importance and ecological impact of the use of non-wood forest products (NWFP) in the Near East. The document consists of two main parts: i) presentation of background information on the programme activities and analysis of the available information on the regional level; and ii) presentation of data on NWFP on the national level (so-called "country profiles"). The country profiles were originally compiled to be made available on the FAO Web site.