This EC-FAO Partnership Project aims to promote the sustainable management of trees and forests in Caribbean countries, by helping them to develop policies that integrate and balance all of the relevant economic, environmental and social aspects of forestry. It aims to do this by strengthening the capacity in countries to collect and compile reliable information about forestry and to use this information for the development of forestry policies.
to help countries to formulate appropriate forestry policies that are based on improved information about the sector.
Data collection and outlook study workshop. A workshop was held to review and assess the current availability, accuracy and completeness of forestry statistics and to suggest viable options for the collection and use of statistics in the future. The workshop also discussed the trends and prospects for the development of the forestry sector in Caribbean countries. The workshop included participants from the public sector and other institutions working in the Caribbean.
Thematic country reports. Country reports have been produced by individuals and institutions working in the Caribbean. These reports present information about a number of different aspects of forestry, such as wood and non-wood forest products (NWFP).
Pilot studies. Pilot studies have been implemented to test data collection methodologies in the areas of non-wood forest products and forest harvesting in Suriname.
Outlook study reports. A small number of thematic reports have been produced for the Caribbean Forestry Sector Outlook Study (CFSOS).
Workshop proceedings. The Caribbean workshop proceedings includes copies of country papers presented at the workshop plus a record of the discussions and conclusions reached at the workshop. The workshop discussed both data collection and the outlook for the forestry sector in the Caribbean.
Thematic and country reports. Thematic and country reports include the contributions of experts working in the Caribbean forestry sector on the topics listed above. In addition to presenting statistics, the reports on data collection include descriptions and analyses of the processes used to collect and disseminate information as well as suggestions about how information management might be improved in the future. The outlook study reports include the main report of the outlook study and reports on various themes at the regional level.
In addition to the production of reports, this Project has also led to a number of other results. Statistics presented in country reports have been used to update the FAO forest products statistical database (FAOSTAT) and have been used as an input to the Global Forest Resources Assessment. As a result, the best forestry statistics that are currently available in these countries have been widely disseminated to a large audience throught FAO's global presence on the Internet and in other publications that are widely distributed.
Statistical capacity in countries has also been enhanced by the technical review and comments provided FAO staff on these reports and by the networking and discussion of common problems and issues during workshops.