Announcing a new CD ROM on forestry and sustainable development
How can mountain forests fulfil all the demands that are made on them? How can the interests of people living in the mountains be reconciled with those of people living in lowland areas? How can the multiple functions of mountain forests be used in sustainable ways? How can natural and cultural diversity be maintained? These questions are addressed in a new CD ROM commissioned and published by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for the 8th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at the United Nations in April 2000. Further information about this new CD ROM is available from:
Centre for Development and Environment Institute of Geography, University of Berne Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Berne, Switzerland Tel: +41 31 631 88 22 Fax: +41 31 631 85 44 cde@giub.unibe.ch
Forestry web sites
The Mountain Forum http://www.mtnforum.org
A recent electronic conference (April–May 1999) on “Mountain People, Forests, and Trees—Strategies for Balancing Local Management and Outside Interests” < http://www.mtnforum.org/mtnforum/whatsnew/mpft/mpft.htm> brought together experiences from all over the world, contributing to global knowledge of mountain forests and trees and their importance for low-lying regions.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on Forestry http://www.icimod.org.sg/focus/forestry/for_toc.htm
There are several forestry networks in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan region formed with the support of ICIMOD as part of its mandate to encourage the exchange of successful approaches in forest management. The Hindu Kush–Himalayan Forum for Forest Conservation (HIFCOM) is a regional forum of foresters to help communities conserve and manage forest resources. Himawanti, the Grassroots Women's Natural Resources Management Network, is involved in organization, training, and forming of women's groups and linking them to other women involved in natural resource management in the region. The Federation of Community Forest Groups of Nepal (FECOFUN) uses different media to deliver forestry information to the communities, such as a newsletter in Nepali, meetings and awareness campaigns, a regular radio program, and videos.
NepalNet on Forestry, http://www.panasia.org.sg/nepalnet/forframe.htm
NepalNet's resources on Forestry in Nepal.
UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)—Forestry Programme, http://www.fao.org/forestry
The site has various forestry-related resources such as directories, guides, focused discussion forums, announcements of events; a series of Information Notes, the State of the World's Forests reports; on-line data bases; and Unasylva, the quarterly international journal of forestry. FAO has the following on-line database: FAOSTAT forestry, forestry links database, nonwood forest products database, and media base (photos); http://www.fao.org/forestry/FO/DATABASE/dbase-e.stm
The International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) http://iufro.boku.ac.at/
Provides a forum for interacting with other scientists and specialists worldwide with similar interests.
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) http://www.cgiar.org/cifor/
The site gives you access to publications (some in Spanish and French) and the WMC Forest Information Service, which contains maps and statistics.
The International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) http://www.cgiar.org/icraf/
Carries out research on mitigating tropical deforestation, land depletion, and rural poverty through improved agroforestry systems. Has several excellent publications and is a good contact for questions related to the use of various tree species in agricultural systems. The ICRAF library, while not on-line, provides, on request, searches on AFBIB, the in-house bibliographic database, and any of the various databases available on CD-ROM. The library has web access to DIALOG, the largest database host in the world, which offers access to over 400 secondary and full-text databases; http://www.cgiar.org/icraf/inform/lib_doc.htm
Linkages—Global Forest Policy, http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/forestry/forest.html
Linkages is an IISD resource providing balanced, objective, and informative summaries of environment and development negotiations.
The European Forest Ecosystem Research Network (EFERN), http://IFFF.boku.ac.at/efern/
Promotes coordination of forest ecosystem research and improves communication among scientists working in that field. A web database provides data of projects, research units, and experts dealing with forest ecosystem research.
The Finnish Forest, Research Institute (METLA), http://www.metla.fi/
Has expertise on basic and applied forest research and provides services for both private companies and governmental institutes. Maintains an extensive virtual library on forestry.
The Global Association of On-line Foresters, http://www.foresters.org
A web-based network that aims to increase the understanding of forestry by information exchange on current topics relating to forestry. The site contains web databases, on-line libraries, help on request, on-line news, newsletters and journals, helpline, bulletin boards, chat lines, textbooks, reports, and publications, links, consultants' directory, details of on-line or distance learning, details of forestry jobs and career advice, web pages for children and schools.
The European Forest Institute (EFI), http://www.efi.fi/
EFI has an extensive forest researchers' network across Europe and beyond. It has a research program on forest resources and information, focusing on the options for the future of European forests and value-added information for policy and decision-making.
Forest Conservation Portal, http://forests.org/cgi-bin/texis.exe/webinator/portal
A searchable database of a reviewed list of several hundred of the best forest conservation resources on the Internet.
Forest World, http://www.forestworld.com/
Information-rich site on the Internet with resources for forest industry professionals and forest landowners, including news, searchable database of over 6000 forestry industry-related sites, global forestry data, data on wood species, etc.
WRI: Forest Frontiers Initiative (FFI), http://www.wri.org/wri/ffi/internet
FFI is a multidisciplinary effort to promote stewardship in and around the world's last major frontier forests by influencing investment, policy, and public opinion. The FFI team is working with governments, citizens' groups, and the private sector in Amazonia, Central Africa, Indonesia, North America, and Russia. The site contains short papers, business news, interactive forest maps, and links.
Forest Action Network, http://www.ftpp.or.ke/fan/
An Africa-based NGO working closely with local communities in utilizing forest resources on a sustainable basis.
International Network on Ethnoforestry (INEF), http://www.egroups.com/groups/inef
Peer group of concerned foresters, scientists, international agencies, and NGOs working for documentation, dissemination, and integration of indigenous knowledge on forest management with formal forestry in various cultures and indigenous peoples across the globe. The email discussions are archived on the web at the address given above.
The CAB International (CABI) databases on the Internet
This is one of the most comprehensive international agricultural database in the world. It includes forestry abstracts ( http://www.cabi.org/index/subindex/forol.htm) and Tree CABWeb, a service providing on-line access to CABI's three key abstracting journals in forestry, forest products, and agroforestry ( http://tree.cabweb.org/).
NOVAGATE
http://novagate.nova-university.org/
A gateway to selected Internet resources in the fields of forestry, veterinary, agricultural, food, and environmental sciences, produced and maintained by the libraries of the NOVA University in five countries.
Acta Forestalia Fennica, http://www.metla.fi/publish/acta/
Monographs in forest science. A peer-reviewed international series covering all aspects of forest research.
The Landscape Management System (LMS) of the Silviculture Laboratory, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, http://silvae.cfr.washington.edu/lms
The LMS uses GIS and stand inventory information and aims to assist in landscape level analysis and planning of forest ecosystems by automating the tasks of stand projection, graphical and tabular summarization, stand visualization, and landscape visualization. A new version of the LMS installation has recently been made available for downloading.
Global Forest Information System (GFIS), http://iufro.boiu.ac.at/iufro/taskforce/hptfgfis.htm
The GFIS Task Force is developing a strategy for an Internet-based metadata system that will provide coordinated worldwide access to forest information. The system will provide multiple benefits to information users and providers such as facilitating user-friendly access to forest-related information and improving its quality and dissemination. It will take into account access to electronically and nonelectronically available information on forest resources, forest policy, criteria, and indicators for sustainable forest management, research activities, and other timely and relevant issues.
Forestry Advisers Network (CFAN) http://www.rcfa-cfan.org/English/info.tree.html
The Website of the Forestry Advisers Network (CFAN) of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Its purpose is to stimulate thought on international forestry issues and to provide opportunity for Internet users to discover what development initiatives CIDA has taken to meet the challenges facing the world's forests. CFAN is an informal network of professionals concerned about the future of the forests and the people who depend on them.
