State of the World's Forests, 1997

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

M-30
ISBN 92-5-103977-1

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© FAO 1997

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Foreword

Introduction

Part 1 - Situation and prospects for forest conservation and development

Recent trends and current status of forest resources

World forest areas in 1995
Changes in forest cover and condition

Trends in forest management and utilization

Status and trends in forest management
Evolving patterns of harvesting, processing and marketing

Trends and status of forest products and services

Forests in the economy
Contribution of forests to environmental stability
Global trends in consumption and production of forest products, 1970-94
International trade in forest products

The global outlook for forest products

What does the future hold?
FAO global outlook study, 1996
Selected policy-related implications

Part 2 - Policy, planning and institutional arrangements

National policies in context - issues and trends

Trends in national forest planning

Changing perspectives in forest planning
Forest sector planning in developing countries
Forest sector planning in industrialized countries
Improved forestry planning directions: the concept of national forests programmes (NFPS)

Evolving institutional framework

The international dialogue and initiatives with relevance to forests

Intergovernmental initiatives
International forestry research efforts
Private sector and NGO initiatives

Forestry funding

Funding sources

Part 3 - Special issue: The development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management

The development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management

Background
Efforts to identify criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management
Implementation of criteria and indicators
Highlights of experiences and lessons learned
Conclusions

Part 4 - Regional highlights

Asia and the Pacific

The Near East

Africa

Europe and the former USSR

Latin America and the Caribbean

North America

Forestry in economic/political regional groups

Annexes