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Delegates met informally on the floor and redrafted text to include
an explicit cross-reference to the IFF program element, as per the
US proposal. >>
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<< COLOMBIA called to delete reference to corruption as an underlying
cause. |
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 Side-event: Global Forest Information
Service
At a side event on forest research and information systems, Brad Smith
of the US Department of Agriculture delivered a report on the achievements
of the Global Forest Information Service (GFIS) task force. He explained
that GFIS generates data through inventories and forest valuation,
serves as a clearinghouse for information, improves communication
between users and providers of information, and seeks to harmonize
standards and measurements in data collection. The task force enjoys
stable funding and endeavours to create a "one-stop shop" for forest
information on the web. For more information: http://iufro.boku.ac.at/iufro/taskforce/hptfgfis.htm
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 Side-event: Definition of Low
Forest Cover
H. Gyde Lund (gklund@worldnet.att.net)from
the International Union of Forest Research Organizations presented
results from a study on the definition of low forest cover (LFC).
He dwelled on the multitude of possible definitions based on various
measures such as ratio of forest to total land, ratio of open forest
to closed forest, forest area per capita, and the purpose of classification.
Various discussants agreed that defining LFC is an enormous challenge
due to the difficulty of defining forests per se. They noted the
wide discrepancy among national and international definitions of
forests that could be based on forest size, density, or height,
and that lead to very dissimilar classifications of land areas.
The report is available at http://home.att.net/~gklund/LFCreport.html
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In the corridors:
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The selection of a
chair for the contact group on Category III appears to be creating
some intrigue. Finding someone who fits the criteria of being "neutral,"
"a go-getter" and "from a developing country" is proving to be somewhat
difficult.
The trade and environment
discussions appear to be exasperating a number of delegates, with
one questioning how any conclusion can be reached in this meeting
when WTO officials failed to come to an agreement in Seattle.
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