This paper is a draft report on the Ad Hoc Committee on the Draft Medium Term Plan.

Proyecto sobre Cooperación Técnica para la Incorporación de Consideraciones Ambientales y Programas y Proyectos de Desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe FP/8201/86/01

It is clear from the failure of our efforts in many countries to halt the desertification process - deserts are now advancing at a rate of nearly 15,000,000 acres a year worldwide (Worrall 1984) (that something was missing in our knowledge of the problem). Four discoveries have been made that enabled us to design a simple holistic model to manage resources successfully in a sustained and economic manner.

This article begins with an investigation into woodland management in Mali and moves onto a discussion of some of the fundamental practical problems associated with a major part of forest policy in Mali.