The FAO Forestry Department has nearly 50 years of experience in the production and dissemination of information materials, both through its regular programme and through field projects. Until recently, reflecting the prevailing demands being placed on the forestry sector, the FAO Forestry Publications and Information programme focused on provision of technical information, and statistical and policy analysis mainly related to production forestry and watershed protection. Print has been the primary media and the main audiences have been government-employed professional foresters and natural resource decision makers.
Changes in the world of forestry - in the demands being made on the sector and in who is involved in forest management - are resulting in new challenges to the FAO Forestry Department. Information needs are broadening rapidly, parallel to increasing concern for sustainable and diversified management of forest ecosystems encompassing wood and non-wood products and benefits. These trends are epitomised by the forestry decisions that emerged from UNCED in 1992. Recognition of the important role of multiple actors in sustainable forest management including local populations, Non-Governmental Organizations and the private sector, as well as government is resulting in an expansion of the various target audiences for forestry information, and in a need for communication techniques based on dialogue, feedback and flexibility. Simultaneously, technologies are evolving, offering new, often faster and more cost-effective tools for the dissemination of forestry information. Video, multi-media, electronic publishing and networking offer exciting opportunities.
Key words: publications, information, communication.
Correspondence: Jon Anderson, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme de Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
Telefax: +39-6-52255137
E-mail: jon.anderson@fao.org