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SABOGAL, C.

SILVA, J. N. M.

English

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B O I S  E T  F O R Ê T S  D E S  T R O P I Q U E S , 2 0 0 1 , N ° 2 6 9  ( 3 )  95IUFRO / À TRAVERS LE MONDEThe IUFRO international symposium was heldin Belém do Pará, Brazil, 4-7 December 2000 and wasorganized by the Brazilian agricultural researchcorporation (EMBRAPA), the Center for InternationalForestry Research (CIFOR) and the Tropicalagricultural center for research and higher education(CATIE), and sponsored by Divisions 1 and 3 of the International Union of Forestry ResearchOrganizations (IUFRO), the Center for internationalcooperation in agricultural research for development-forestry sector (CIRAD-Forêt), the United StatesForest Service (USFS) and the German agency fortechnical cooperation (GTZ).Examples of good forest management in tropical rain forestsby industries or communities are still considered rare in theworld. Nevertheless, over the last decade, some progress hasbeen observed as a response to demands made by society forthe conservation of these forest resources. In the neotropics itis estimated that currently around 0.3% of the land or 2.7 mil-lion hectares is under sustainable forest management (SFM).Ten years ago, the corresponding area was negligible. Theconcerns for the future of tropical rain forests and the multiplebenefits they can provide have generated initiatives such asthe certification of forest products or the encouragement ofparticipatory processes in forest management. These improvethe opportunities for the different stakeholders to influencethe decisions made concerning the management of the forest.Objectives and programIn this context, the symposium intended to contribute – byproviding information and recommendations – to the effortsunderway at different levels (local, national, regional) to im-prove the perspectives for a wider adoption of sustainable fo-rest management in the neotropics. The specific objectives ofthis symposium were to review current knowledge and the ex-perience acquired concerning industrial and community mana-gement of neotropical rain forests; to review the application ofsmall-scale research results in operational forest manage-ment, identifying the main constraints and opportunities forpolicy and research, and to present methodological ap-proaches, tools and policies with the potential to improve theprospects of sustainable forest management by industries andcommunities in the neotropics. The symposium program wasdivided into three main themes: industrial forest manage-ment, community forest management and means to promotethe adoption of sustainable forest management.César SabogalCIFORConvenio EMBRAPA-CIFORTrav. Dr. Eneas Pinheiro s/n66095-100 Belém, PABrazilJosé Natalino Macedo SilvaEMBRAPA Amazonia OrientalCP 48Trav. Dr. Eneas Pinheiro s/n66095-100 Belém, PABrazilIUFRO international symposium:Integrated management of neotropical rainforests by industries and communitiesApplying research results, involvingstakeholders and defining policy96 B O I S  E T  F O R Ê T S  D E S  T R O P I Q U E S , 2 0 0 1 , N ° 2 6 9  ( 3 )ACCROSS THE GLOBE / IUFROThe meeting was attended by 170 persons from 22 countries of the Americas, Europe and Asia. During thethree and a half days of technical sessions, a total of 60 pre-sentations were delivered including keynote speeches, invitedpapers and voluntary papers. In addition around 30 posterswere exhibited. A satellite meeting on Software toolbox for fo-rest managers was also held during the evening. A post-mee-ting field excursion to visit two timber companies implemen-ting commercial-scale sustainable forest managementoperations (Juruá Florestal Ltda. and CIKEL Brasil Verde SA)was attended by 46 participants. Main conclusions andrecommendationsThe main conclusions and recommendations of this sympo-sium may be listed as follow.Research results are inadequately applied at the operatio-nal level. There is a need to be more proactive in focusing ourresearch on critical problems for SFM implementation.Researchers have very few opportunities to influence deci-sion-makers and it is absolutely critical to assume a moreproactive role here (good examples were given fromGuatemala, Bolivia, Honduras and Brazil). It is also necessaryto increase efforts to widely and more efficiently disseminateresearch results and to highlight policy implications. Industrial forest managementSeveral presentations addressed the technical aspects ofharvesting planning and execution, yield regulation, silvicultu-ral practices and long-term monitoring (e.g. on growth andyield). The development and application of practical tools andcomputer-based software received special attention. The ideaof developing a software toolbox for forest managers wasmentioned. The experience gained in Bolivia illustrated some of theconditions and limitations of forest management. Political willand clear political decisions are perhaps the most critical fac-tors when introducing SFM, whereas the capacity to industria-lize new species, legal safety (against encroachment), and ad-ministrative capacity for management were mentioned asimportant limitations. Some of the proposals put forward during the presentationsand discussions, and intended to promote effective actions to-wards industrial-scale SFM, included: improve managerial skillsin forest enterprises; promote better forest-industry-market in-tegration; take more consideration of the needs of the timbermarket and the requisites imposed on product quality and pro-cessing, and implement adequate planning and marketingschemes.B O I S  E T  F O R Ê T S  D E S  T R O P I Q U E S , 2 0 0 1 , N ° 2 6 9  ( 3 )  97IUFRO / À TRAVERS LE MONDECommunity forest managementForest extractivism is a component of the production sys-tems used by traditional populations in the Amazon. It is im-portant for food safety and for the adaptation of domestic eco-nomies to regional or national socioeconomic conditions. Thepresentations devoted to extractivism included the experienceof indigenous groups with the use and management of usefulplants such as the “babaçú” palm (Orbignya phalerata), thedevelopment of methodologies based on traditional know-how for monitoring non-timber forest products–illustrated bythe palm “tucumã”, Astrocaryum aculeatum–, and research-oriented trials with silvicultural treatments to improve produc-tion in Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa). It was recognizedthat a need has arisen to develop forest management tech-niques for extractive species and to better understand indige-nous models for extractivism and the impact of technologicalinnovations on these models. It was also pointed out the needto better integrate scientific and traditional knowledge and todevelop mechanisms to circulate information, experience andresearch results concerning this important production system. Community forest management (CFM) was recognized as animportant component of any strategy for sustainable develop-ment in Latin America. Interest in CFM has grown dramaticallyover the past few years, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon.Studies in Bolivia, for instance, highlighted as (potential) be-nefits of CFM the more profitable use of forest resources (e.g.better prices for forest products), improved cooperation bet-ween communities to use forest resources in a sustainablemanner and to protect their communal area.In Middle America, where most broadleaved forests areunder community management, CFM is an effective instru-ment to check forest conversion in the agricultural frontier.Studies conducted in Guatemala (community concessions inPeten), Honduras and Mexico highlighted the importance ofdefining and reconciling the changing roles of key actors (go-vernment, communities-concessionaires, NGOs) in shapingthe process and outcome of CMF. Several presentations addressed CFM constraints or its criti-cal issues, particularly: lack of clarity concerning land tenure;lack of experience and skills in (business) management; in-flexibility and bureaucracy of the legal framework and regula-tions; poor organizational structure and mechanisms; insuffi-cient information and local capacity to prepare, legalize andimplement forest management plans; lack of training; poor ac-cess to information (e.g. on appropriate technologies for tim-ber harvesting, on management and processing of non-timberforest products); poor access to credit (under favorable condi-tions) and to markets.Some of the actions proposed to overcome these constraintsincluded: strengthen community self-governance and empo-werment; pay more attention to social, managerial and partici-patory aspects (with less focus on solely the silvicultural as-pects); create and maintain functional hierarchical structures(e.g. more stable functions) in community organization; encou-rage horizontal cooperation and establish strategic alliances orpartnerships with the private sector; simplify bureaucratic pro-cesses (e.g. for forest management plans); increase competiti-veness of forest production; diversify production by promotingless-known species in CFM operations; promote greater effi-ciency in resource use (i.e. waste reduction or its use to gene-rate energy); introduce changes in university curricula (e.g. in-troducing anthropology, participatory planning, conflict mana-gement).Emphasis was placed on the need to find a way to structureand systematize CFM experiences and processes in order toinitiate the learning process. This will help provide a better un-derstanding of the actors involved, the factors influencingthem and interrelations with forest resources, as well as iden-tify and define principles, draw lessons and establish recom-mendations for a much wider audience. An important message and recommendation was also to beproactive in inserting key forest management themes in thepolitical and social context. We need to improve communica-tions between the forest sector and society (a good examplebeing forest certification). Adaptive collaborative management of forests (ACM) is animportant approach and was brought into this broad theme.ACM was defined as a process based on the hypothesis that ahigh level of collaboration and adaptability will result in theimprovement of human well-being and ecological sustainabili-ty. ACM uses participatory methodologies and regards com-munities as the main actors interacting with other actors.Recent experiences using ACM in the Brazilian Amazon (statesof Acre and Para) as well as in Guyana were presented. It washighlighted that changes at the political and institutional levelare needed to create opportunities for integration among dif-ferent actors involved in forest management.Means to promote SFMThe following means to promote SFM adoption receivedsome attention: forest concessions, legal framework, forestcertification, selling of environmental services and the use offorest residues.Forest concessions can be an important mechanism toachieve sustainable management of tropical humid forests inLatin America. However, such concessions should be grantedby governments in a transparent manner, enabling fair partici-pation of all interested parties and possibly with economic in-centives to provide long-term security to the concessionaire.The granting of forest concessions must be based on on-the-ground inspection and continuous monitoring of planning andimplementation of forest activities. Criteria and indicators (C&I) are appropriate tools to assessand monitor the implementation of forest management.Different actors in the region, and for different purposes, areshowing an increasing interest in the use of C&I. The interestin C&I in Latin America is also in accordance with the interna-tional conference on the subject held at CATIE, Costa Rica, inNovember 1999, which led to the recent establishment of anew IUFRO Working Party: 1 07 20 dealing with this matter.

IUFRO International Symposium: Integrated management of neotropical rain forests by industries and communities: Applying research results, involving stakeholders and defining policy.

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IUFRO International Symposium: Integrated management of neotropical rain forests by industries and communities: Applying research results, involving stakeholders and defining policy.

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