Priorities for International Forest Research

Priorities for international forest research
Jcf i .cy Soycr. r Ncl l l t ! ron.r Donnls l ) Ikstra, I . tcrry vanclay I
SUMMARY
The world is nro\ ing towurds knowledgc-based societ ies. Economics are global izing- The global
publ ic goods value oi forcsls is being recognized al thc same l ime that the tradrt ional role of slate
tbrest agcncies in production lbrcstLy is b€ing taken ovcr by nrult i-n0l ionalcorpo(al ions. At the same
time emergins technologies arc greatl l .cnhancing or.rr abi l i ty to assess {nd monitor forest anributes.
process and disscminate informatiol and enhancc forest production. Al l of these changes rvi l l have
an impact on horv lbrest rescarch is organizcd, who docs it and who pays tbr it. lt sccms inevitable
that nruch lradit ional forestry rcsearch conccrncd with sustainabi l i ty and productivi ty cnhancemcnt
at the stand level, si l l be luken over by lhe private seclor Howevcr, lhere i-r going to be a major
chal lenge in f inding resources lbr reselrch in supporl of lhe publ;c goods val$es offorests at both the
local. national nnd 8l(rbrl levcls. Tlrere is a widely held \ ' 'ew that we are in the mid st of a world foresr
crisis, I t is nol a crisis of decl ining production but one of crosion of thc plbl ic goods. environm€ntal
\alucs of lbrests. So lar. $c have not secn a concened scienti f ic resDonse to lhis cr isis, lhc Inter-
Gove.nmentrl Panel on Forests (lPF) has given us the nrandate to orchestrate such a response and (he
world Forestry Congress is valuable opportunity to pror ide irnpetus to a ncu, r'ision of forest science
lbr thc 2l si centur!.
NEW IMPERATIVES
Knowledge. ra(her lhan thc endo\vnlent of nnlural teso!rccs. is bccoming a primary determinant
of the econonric p. 'r lormance of nations. Countics lrhich have invested hea\i ly ir science and
technology are obsen ed to nrake morc rirpid ccononric progrcss than thosc that have not. Economists
ooN use science and technology r l \ ,eslrnelt f igurcs as indicaiors oi gxrterrt ial economic paosperit) .
, \1my industr ial izcd countr ie; invest up lo 37o of their CNP in R&D whilst most developing countr ies
invesl very mlclr less. ofren ooly a lroct ion of 17.. They are cunently being urged to invest more and
ionrc countr ics such as tr lalaysia hare set tarsets lo greatly increase R&D inlestDents in comins
] 'ears. ln asscssin-o the porenrial ofcorpomlions i t is nlso common to usc Iheir inrestmenls in reseaach
and devclopnlant is an indicator. Advnnced technolog\ corpomtions ot icr l reinve,i t 10. 20 or J09a ol
thcir annrral tuf io\er in R&f).
In the natu.al resource context. i t is common to rark co0ntr ies ind corporations on t lre basis of the
percentagc of product \alue lhat the! rcinvest in R&D. ln agriculturc, this p.-rcentage is oftcn 2 to
j9/. . I n lorestfr. i t is nruch lcss than I ' ,1 (CIFOR | 99,1). A n! nrbcr of strdies conductcd at rhe t ime
that Cenlcr lbr Intef lat jonnl Fo.esrr). ' Research (CIFOR) w.Ls being cstabl ished ( 1993) concluded
that investmenls in forcrtrv reserrch s'erc nrLrch lo*cr lhrn those in : l lnlost i lo\ other cornoarable
Cent t r fo . In r f .n . | |onr l i i r . . t r ) l t .n i r .h O l l i c . rdd !L ' \ { r l r l xn CI fo l . i . S i r r C .d : . Srndrn thcr r r r . f }o lo r l l x r i r 166\ l r
Indonc$r r Ur i l ,n ! : t& l ( . . . P( ) l lo \ 6596 JKPWII J .h r r ! l0 ! -1a t j . ln { lnncsr i
F r . \ i rb i l { : ' {61 ? l l ) 6 : : :00 : f l - !na i l : ca f (xG.c lncr cor r
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irrca ol human aclivity. Forestry conlinues to "buck-the-rrcnd ' lorr.ards greater investnrent in R&D.
h is in this conrext that rhe dclibe.urions of thc IpF have increasingly l'ocused on rhe necd l.<rr
rcsearch. The reporl which enlerged liom IPFIV in New york in F-ebruary 1997 g.ve morc prominencc
k) rese rch rhan previous documenrs emergitlg ,iom inremational negotiations on foresrs.lr has becune
clear lhroughout thc IPF process that rhere are slit l great scienrit ic uncenainties on global lbrest
rssucs. IPFIV recognized the need fbr n th..rough revic\f nor orl y of rhe .esearch l ar rs rcouired b!(
of the nlech,nrsms thal exist to cx.cure rhit rcsearch and t() ge'"rot" ,"aou.aaa tn ruppoa,,,.
The ll)F repon recognizcs trrar there ls n necd for greatcr co-ordination and rbr rhe e\ploit ' l ion of
\ynetgtes bet\veen lhe $'Ork of orsrnizJtl\rns such as CIFOR, International Centre lbr Research in
Agrolbrestry (lcRAF). rlrc Europe* Foreilry Institute (EIjl), the Inremational Borcal Forest Research
Associarion (IBFRA), Food and Ag..ulrure orgaoizalion (FAo). lntcrnational rropical rinrber
organization (lrro) andol coursc [n!emarional union ofForestry Rcsearch organizltions (luFRo).
During the period of the IPF debates rher. were also suggestions for the establisbment of ne\\. fbrest
fcscarch capaciry in Russia to address rhc needs of boreal fb.ests and lbr a much greater tbcus onforcsrs and natural resources in the *orL ofrropicar Agricurture R€search and Higher Education
Cenler (CATIE) in lhe Anrericnc.
RESOUFCES FOR FORESTRY RESEABCH
The need for tbrcsrry research as finxll! bcctr recogniz.d bur untbnunaier'this recognirion has
conre at a linte rvhen conventional resources available lbr public seclcrr research a(e stagnating or
declining. Thc consulrative Gronp on lnrcrnarional Agriculrural Research (ccIAR) ,itr i.tr *u,
cstablished to suppon a numbcr ofintemarional rcsearch instilutes engaged in crop improvcmenr i the
cirh 1970s is illustrative of this rninr. D,ring hs lirst 20 years lhe cclAR enjoyed a healrh.\. rare ol'
lrorncial gro\\'th. Most ol'iL\ funding camc t-rom lhe major aid donors ot the dECD. Hor.errr, since
1990 ir lrils been much hard.r for (Irc ccl.\R to ii d funds and such growth as has occuned has come
tiom resrricted sources of funding for spet-itic rese .ch activities. The son of f'unding thar rhe cclAR
was set up to ilssurc, to st|ppon tong-temt. high-rechnology, inlernalional public goods research. has
beconre lcss arrracrive to donors. Ir is pre.iiel! this son offuuding rlrar is needed lbr lbresro.beca0se of
the lon-c pay-off periods i|lvolved and rhe public loods nalure of nlosr ol lhc porenrial b€netj!s.
Ho*c'.'cr, if rhe rcsearcrr efrbn rhdr ii req[ired ro addrcss grobar forcsl probrems is to be rearizcd,
rt seems almosr c€nain thar ir wil l nlrl be .nlirely funded from the con\ e tional oECD aitl budsets. lr{hould bc r)ored ihat the \\brld Bank preJitrs rhar in lhe nexr onc or l\.o decade\ some of rhe rr-orld s
0rost rmportant tropical lbrest counrrie_r ..\ i l l be antongst the world,s leading ccononric porrers. The
G7 of the ycar 3020 nray include Brazil. InJonesi^. India a'd china. These countries alread\ nrake
nra.jor in'estments in research and if lorestry research needs in lhe 2lst cen(ury are lo be met, tt
sec,ns inevirable rhar these and olher rropicrl counrries r\i l l have ro bear an increasing share of rhe
burden. In the closing years of thc ?fih .-enrury, we are also seeing the emergence ol m:ior n)t, lr i-
rarronal co.porations operating in foresrq.lr is to be hoped rhat these wil l be concerned $ith rhe
s$stai' labil i(y of thc rcsource birse of rheir ir]dusrry and wil l be prepared to allocale resources ro
suppon ot onl! research aDd developmen( rddressin-e their own production needs but also ro s!pport
public goods research.
THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON RESEARCH
i\lany tbrest problems have ro be res.arched at a local or regional evel. yer seD, feN libraries in
tlre \ orld ha'e comprehensive collections of l i terature oo lbrests. Most ofthe best l ibraries are in the
dcveloped rvorld. Foresr researchcrs throughoua lhe lropics have gl6ng ditficulty in accessing rhe
literalurc that lhey rcquire as a basis tbr lheir research. Ir woutd be r,irruatty impossible fbr a new
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rcscarch centre in I troprcal dcvelOping count.y tO aCClmUlale l cr i t ical mass of printed l i teralure On
forcsts in a shon space of ti|lle $ ithout a hugc finlncial investmcnt Fortunatcly. major revolutions
irrc crccuning in lhe possibi l i t ies lbr storing infonnation in elcctronic torm and in thc lechnologies
ihat al lo\\ ' i t to be shared. From 1997 olt \ ,"ards CIFOR wil l prrt al l of i ts annual publ icat ions onto a
CD-ROi\t and disrribule rhis trce to iIs major slakeholders. Wc irre rtrging other research organizations
opc.at ios in forestn ro do lht same The tvai labi l i ty of intbrm:rt ion on CD-ROMs is rapidly incrcasing
Thc \\brld Conser|irtion Monitorins Centre hls put forest nlif( of the rvorld on a CD-ROt\'t. CABI
hlrs lbr sonre years produced Trec_CD which contains citations and abstracts of mainstrcnn] forcstry
l i tcraru.e dir l inS bicl to lhe l9 J0s. Nu nlcrotts other abstmcti t tg scrviccs i t l l lurope and Nonh Amenca
:rre nou cteal ing Nith natur0l resources and forcstry nratcrial. [ncrensinglY al l lhis information is
becomins avai lable on the lnlcrnel und morc and more developtng countq'scienti \ ts are Sclt ing
;rccess kr advanced infornration technology. "\ 'e can be reasonably optimisl ic thit l €lecronic
conrmunications are going to enornlo!sly taci l i tate access to infbrmation for thc tbrcst scientists of
r l tc ne\l ue| l tury. Perhaps ot le of the new challengcs rvi l l be soning out lhe quali ty infbrmation from
a large Yolume of p,ror-qual i ly o. irr ! ' levafl t matcrial which nl i ty begin to clulter up c) 'berspace nnd
sIrw dorr n mecninlful elcctronrc cottt tntrnicatt,rns.
REMOTE SENSING
The cl( lsing years ol the :0ih ccntury have also seen anormous adlances in lhe n|ai labi l ; ly of
high-qul l i ty remolely sensed imasery dcal ing !vi th forests a d atural .esources Thc dcvelopntent
of the capscity to inlerpret his inlornlat ion digital ly md the advent of rvidely avai lable r i ldar images
coverins rhe worlt l s forests are al l leading us lo a sit t lat iotr where inlbrmation on al least sonle
btoad-scrle attributes of forests \ill he rendily available tbr lhe entire rvorld and in a forn that
permirs t ime se.ies compnrisonJ. ' Ihe fo.est nssessments of 1980 and 1990 sere based upon
assemblages of nationat infornration and lorv-intensity sanlpl ing of tbrcsl areas. The analysis rvas
caried our in dispersed locnl i t iei b! people with dif t 'ererlr compctencics. and thc l9S0 aod 1990
esrimares Nere dcriled by exlrapr.litlions (rather than fiom actual field measuremcnls in those yeats)
wc are Nilnessing the cmergence of a smalt r lunbeaofcenlres of excel leltc€ \\ i th the c!paci ly to treat
lirrge anlounts of data in efficient rvavs and to rnake lhe results of lheir rvork widely avrilable The
rvork of the TREES project supported by the Europcan Uniorl aod of the Pathtinder project in the
USA are notable exarnple\.
THE CULTURE OF SCIENC€
As \ el l ns imprt-\ved science and tnorc sciencc, thcrc is also a \! idcly pcrceived need to change thc
culnrre oi science as applier.J to frrrests. Tlre issrres concemed have been revieNed in CIFOR's initial
medium-rerm plan (CIFOR 1993 r thc "Bali Dialoguc" (CIFOR 1995) and in CIFOR's stratqsy (CIFOR
19961. In rhe pasl. most ibrcslr]- retearch',{as cilrried oul b} public sector tbrest research institutes
$,hose primary nrarrdate rvas the national forest cstate The normal scnle at which rese.rch $'ts
co ducred wds that of thc nranagement tnit or tbrcsl stand. Foresters did not in gene.al look ouiside
th. limirs of the lbre<t thrt \\'as allocated ro dteir store tbrest service. A high proponion of research
r\ 'as concernecl N' i th improring productivi ty for t intber - gelet ic improvenlent of trees. stte
manirgenrcnt, si l | icr l tural trci lntanls. and iovcnl lxy and monitoring of fbrest stnndj The ne€ds
identi t iei l by the IPF nre t i l r re.. .r .ch phich Provides aLns\\ 'ers to lhe quesl ions Posed by a mlrch
broader s.t ol foresr slakcholdcr{ !r has beconre apparenl hnt nlnjordetcrmil lants ofthe extent{nd
condit ion of lbrests are decrsi( lni {hi l l i rre lake erl l i relv outside the tbtesl sector ' Thcse include
decisions i iken with regard to infrarlructure, agricult lrral nnd trndc pol icics. rese{t lenr! 'nl o miSrants.
I iscal Dolicies, etc. A whole nL'\ \ toJ) 'ol resenrch is needed to enithle us to und€r\tand the inrpl ica{ions
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ofcxtrl-aecloral decision-ntaking on forcsts. There is also a need to bctter undersland Ihc rclationshiDs
bl'r\veen pcople aod tbresrs nr the local conrnrunirv irnd honschold levcls, and thcn thc connectionsbetwesn thcse micro and olacro srudiqs (CIFOR | 996). Thcsc needs uggcst that rcscarch relating tolbresr\ nrust embracc a ne\, scicntjfic culture which includles investigati-Jn ofextra_sector influeries
and so(-ixl intcractions in addition to lhc traditionol disciplines of forest science.
THIRD GENERATION R&D
Sonre of the most inlcresrinr llndiogs lo cnrerge l'ronr forest rcscarch over thc last ta\r ycars h:l!ebecn fr.) r research rhat h.rs been irrin.utery assocratcd wirh p.ojects dealing with tocal nranagenrent
ol-rbrests This research ad nruch of rhc character ot trrc so caled'lhird generation research" (Rouse
er al. l99ll which is much talked abour in lhe conrerr of industrial R&D. Rousell er at ponrayedindusrrit l R&D ns having eyol\ed tiom first gencration R&D whcrc co.porations recognized thc
vnlre ol research and esrablished a research capacity in isolation from their day-to-day altivities in
rhe hopc lhar it would yield bcneils in thc long rerm. The second generation was where corporations\' tasks r-or their researchers to acconrprish and provided funding againsr a req.irement for specific
outputs. l-his is thc classic conlract research which norv dominatcs much work in forestry- Thirdgenerarion R&D ($hich Rouscll cr <rl. claim is characteristic of more advanced corDomtions) is\vhera rhe rcsearchers and the corporate directors rvork together so that thcrc ts lntense leedbackbct$ecn rhe rcscarch comnlunir) and corpomtc management. Research is fully integrated into theda\'-io-da\ ope.ations of the co.porarion. In sonle wirys, the community bascd rescarch on foresrs ot
rhe l9S0s rvas a form olthird lcneration R&D. perhaps s,hat has imerged frorn the IpF is lhc
requirentenr for a rhird gencrarion R&D opcraring ar higher levels of agg;egdion. Thc US Foresr
ser'ice Ecosysrem r'ranagcnrenr progranr and the canadian Nloder Fo.iit program both inregrare
research into nanaSement * the randscape rever- This would se€m to us to be the form ofrhi.dgeneration R&D which is likely ro predominatc in the foresr sector in thc early 2lst cenlury. h isIt&D \ htrh recognizes the oeed to understand thc aclationshlps betwcen interventions at difterent
scales (o lrke account or rhe interesrs of murtipre srakehorders and of rhe need to bc able to adaor
nr:r a!--nrenl objeclives lo chinses in stakehotder perceptions and rcquirements. It is thc adaotirle
rnanagenrent advocaled. tbr e)iample. by Ho|ings er a/, (1996). elc.
SYSTEMS APPROACHES TO FOREST RESEARCH
Reselr-.h at all thes€ scalls can henetit grcatly t iorn the application of systems anatysis to its
concep!(in rnd cxecution. The ..s):tenls approach. .coopled with nllch greater capacity lo manipulate{patial dar. through geographis intornlation svslems. is transtbrnring our abirity ro predicr outcomes
ot dit leren( nanagelnent inlerventionr in forests at a numbea of scales. We are already wilnessing a
mo'e fr.rnr reduclionisr tbresl sciencc working ar the rever ofcomponents offoresr sysrems to a morc
eclecri. t.rence atlemptins to
_cenerate insighrs into the funclioning of the systems themselves.
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR FOFEST RESEARCH
i\'loir research on tbrcsts has rn the pasl becn conduchd by tbrest research Instrtures estabrished
wrthan fi i l i tonal lbresr dc.pnnnlentr. In some countries universit ies have hacl o capacity ro conduct
rescarch ind a lot of t lre $ orL on the t- 'rodiversily ol lbrests has come from acadenric institutions and
oon-qrr,. artnrental organizalions. The privatc scctor has dcah lvrth a relatiYely narrow subsct ofresearch
rssues nil inl),(lcirl ing \\rth Irees tor indusrrial pli lntations and tcchnoiogies tbr harvesting antlproces:rn! \\ 'ood. In our inrrcduclion we speculaled lhlr increased investments in forestrv research
will conre rft)lr) the pril 'are secnr mere 'han fronl thc lradirionar pubric sccror iesearch Institutes.Ho\r-er.r. lhe diff icultY of L,htIini 'rc intellectual propcny prorection on nruch of the ourput of lbres(
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rescarch and the incrcasing apprccl i l t ion ol thc publ ic goods nature of lbrcsts are l ikely to ha\e an
impact on who actuully undcnakes research in lhe futurc, and $.ho payi f(rr il.
Ciassic mainstreanr esearch on paoducti\.ity enh:lncen|ent, nolablv on gen('tic improventent. trcro-
. propugrrr<rn and relaled issues to improve plantins matc. ial tbr induslr ial r inrber estalcs seenr l ikelr
to move almost cntirel l into the domain of the private seclor. Fc$.er and le.r,cr govenrments are
i l t lcmpting to nltnage phntation torcstr i lnd sonre rery large corrmrxtionr ( irrd some smnller orer)
are alrci ldy at thc cult ing cdge ofthe technologier rur olvcd. privl l te \cclor in|esrnlenls in biotechnoloa\
are already run rng f iu i lhead of t losc l-ronl thc Fublic $e,ctor. o$r predicrion rs. thereforc. rtrrt thir
a r ca o f r esea rch $ i l l be a ln )os t cxc l . . s i ve l \ r hedo .na ino f t hep r i va rese ! ( r r i n the2 ts t cen ruo .The
b€ncfits ofsuch reJearch can be readily captured ond privatized. consonia oiprivare scfior researchert(e.9. tree'breeders in,{.nstral ia and Nen,Zeallnd) can achieve economi.s of scir lc. reducing onl
comparative adrlnta!es State sponsored re\eitrchers m y pre\'to(sl\, ha\ e hald.
Proccssing and har\est ing rescarch and de\ek pnlent nlay also nlo\. ! ' to the Frivale sector AdvanceJ
in processing nnd harvesting wil lcome f lom n.\ nnd be er i lchincs and nur.r inls ha dt ing sysler|1s.
' lhisisonearearrhereinrel leciual propen\ prorerr ion does al los private secrol rcsearch to ca9ture
rhe val{e of i ts ourp(r through lrateoti g, The s,rphrsricated fel lcr-Lru'!cherr no*, lbund irr thc lbrestc
ol Scandinavia lre an e\ ntple of private scctoa R.tD. As soci€t ies lnlpo\(, slr ictct. conditroos upon
the environmcnral tolerances asso(iarcd Nir lr roreir hxrvestinB. rhc need fbr :ophist icared technok)gies
to rcducc impac(s $rl l i rcreasc-' l -his houhi prorrJe a nr. jor opponunitJ ror rrre private sector. The
r(t le ol thc statc ls not to Jo thc rcsearch. nor tLr specity rvhich techn(,r logiei nrust be rsed. but rnrher
ro spcci l i the accepti lble inrpacts and pcrtbrman.. stNrdi lrds thar society clenrarrr ls. lndustr) can besr
devise \vi lys to rchie\ 'e the spccif ieal l inr i ls. Thts represcnts i l change t i .rm a rulc-based to a
pertbrmance-bascd systcm.
There is a signiticanr ixea of tbrert rcsearch \\ hrlse products \r.ill be narr.ru..rl public goods. This is
research $'hich deals r!'irh en'ironmcrtal a']J rorixt issucs of tbresrfy and also rvith the needs rbr
lechnolo{ies. plnnrinr In rerixl and si l . iculrural mcthodologies and inJrirut ional and te ure
aftangcrnents lbr small producers. The lnrter leahnologics l ic in rrcns $here inrcl lccl(al paopcrt)
p.otecl ioo is dif f ic( lr . \ \ 'e Notld expect thir to br thc main tbcus lbr puhl ic sector forcsr rcsearch
insti tutes in rhc irr i | ' rc. Th('se tns(i tutcs \r ' i l l i r l \o hn\. rn imponnnt rolc i deal ing wir h the increasingh.
complc\ iss..€ ot rhe si l ' iculrrre of rbres(i which n.c maintairred prtnl ir i ly fbr anreniry nn.r
cnvironnrcntal r(. i lsons L)Lr{ \ \ hich i l rc Inanagcd lb. I rvide varicty of goodi and scr*ices desttned to.
consump(lo arl l rehcir l l .vel. lvluch of r lr is resc'arch rvi l l be local ly speci i i i in naru.e ancl ofatype
where le\\ ,prodrcrs \{ i l l be contmercial iTeJ and tntel lcctual propenl,proreir ion rvi l l be dit l iculr
l 'his seenls l ikel\ to bccortte thc nrain tbcus ofni lorrnnl brcsl lese{rch inst i lutes. l t wi l l req{i .e f lrajor
change:i n those insrirurcs and part icularl l i r ! ' . r l l .eq[ire thern ro nrobihze morc scienri l ls t iom
disciphnes such as biology. the social scrc ceJ and econornrcs.
'rhere
rernains i l sienir lcant i l rea of rescarch Jei l l ing rvirh thc inrernotionrl prbl ic goods deri.ed
l.( 'nl Iorcst\. - fhese i l rc rhe issues bcing dcalt , . i rh f ,) ( l le l l )F.nd lhc'conrirn clobal cnviron,nental
scr-viccs s0clr :rs ci lr l lon , ier luestr:rt io imd biorl i rer: i tv conservatior). As the donrini lnt rolc of at 'onal
govc rnn ren (sdcc l i r eJandg lob ; r l gove rnanc ( - s l o \ \ l \ bccon tcs iL re i t l t \ nndas thcao leo fm t | l t i nd t i on i l
co rpo rd ronsg ro \ ! s r i n rpo r l ancc . t he rca re l i ke l r l o l g i l q l g l 5 l ns res r - i l r chnee l s \ ' " h i chw i l l l n l l i n t o
thc antemirt ion'r l prrbl ie g.ods irrcni! corpo.lonr lre l ikely to re-locra. ro areas of c'rnl.rari 'e
i ldvdnttgc lbr t l le prod[f l ion of lbrest producti Courrtr ies are l ikelv t(r iol l i lbo.rte ntore and Ie
rccognizc the sigrr l i . 'anre trf trnnsltoundarr \ ' i rhte. (. i ibrests. Thrs nri tr lcad ro a rvhole new se erir l i ()n
ul r€search r( lc\cls ol ggregation at r 'hi .h t t ,resters h{vc nrrr so.kecl ln rhe nrsl. t f so. i t , , i l l
require thc mobil izat ion oi new t) 'pcs of scrc :e ceographcrs. Brl i t lcal !aicnrrsrs irnd econornrsls
r lr iry becorle !ruah nl()re rntpor{nD( players in globtl l inest resel lrch.
J92