L'Afrique contribue pour 7 pour cent seulement aux émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre. Soixante-dix pour cent des émissions du continent proviennent du changement d'usage des terres, essentiellement de la déforestation. Par contre, le continent africain est potentiellement le plus exposé aux conséquences négatives des changements climatiques.

The FAO Forestry Department promotes, among others, the responsible use of wood as an environmentally friendly raw material. In the last decades, wood and wood-based products have been faced with stronger competition from substitute materials, such as plastics, concrete, steel, glass or aluminium, as these materials appear to offer wider options to the customers. Some of the factors that can influence customers' decisions on what kind of end products to acquire include marketing efforts, product prices, quality, durability and image.

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.

The FRA 2000 estimates of forest area and change are largely based on national statistics and inventory reports, which contain detailed information on the forests of individual countries. However, differences among data sets from the various countries can be great owing to the methods applied, the terms and definitions employed and the currency of the information in the individual inventories. Despite adjustments made to accommodate these differences, uncertainties can still arise when statistics from different countries are compared, especially those relating to forest change.

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.

Ce manuel de terrain contient les définitions et les procédés utilisés pour planifier et réaliser un inventaire national des ressources forestières, suivant l’approche développée par le Département des forêts de la FAO dans le cadre du programme d’Évaluation des ressources forestières (FRA). La méthodologie repose sur un échantillonnage du pays et utilise des placettes permanentes de terrain. L’approche a été testée et mise en œuvre dans plusieurs pays depuis 2000 (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Philippines, Cameroun et Liban).

L'Evaluation des ressources forestires mondiales 2000 (ERF 2000) est prsent acheve, mais les travaux relatifs la suivante ont dj commenc. La consultation d'experts Evaluation des ressources forestires mondiales - harmoniser les efforts nationaux et internationaux, connue sous le nom de Kotka IV, a rassembl, en juillet 2002, des experts internationaux pour examiner les concepts et les stratgies futurs. Les articles de ce numro d'Unasylva ont t adapts pour un plus large public, partir de documents prpars pour la Consultation.

Une forêt qui renferme 1 000 espèces est-elle meilleure et mieux gérée qu'une forêt qui ne contient que 500 espèces? Unasylva consacre son numéro à la diversité biologique des forêts et à sa conservation et sa gestion durable. L'un des points cardinaux de son message est que le nombre n'est pas le seul critère d'évaluation.

Temperate broad-leaved trees grow in different ecosystems in the northern and southern hemispheres, but are also found extensively in many tropical and subtropical mountain areas. A wide range of non-wood forest products derived from temperate broad-leaved trees, and their description is organized in this volume according to the part of the tree from which they are obtained (whole tree, foliage, flowers, etc.).

According to an estimate made by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), the global local usage of rattan is worth US$ 2.5 billion and external trade of rattan is estimated to generate US$ 4 billion. Seven hundred million people worldwide use rattan. Most of the raw material for local processing and for supplying the rattan industry is still obtained by harvesting of unmanaged, wild rattan resources in natural tropical forests. Only a very small share is obtained from rattan plantations.

¿Es mejor, y se administra mejor, un bosque con 1 000 especies que un bosque con 500 especies? Este número de Unasylva trata de cuestiones relacionadas con la diversidad biológica forestal y su conservación y uso sostenible. Una de las conclusiones básicas es que los números no son lo único que importa.

This training package examines conflict within forest resource use and community-based forest management and offers strategies for managing it. It aims to support diverse and multiple forest user groups to manage conflicts that inevitably arise in the protection, use and control of forest resources. It has been prepared primarily for trainers who help people and organizations that work collaboratively in community forestry.