Sir,
In my letter of 21st May 1958,1 informed you of the position regarding the examination by the Organisation of Recommendation 135 of the Consultative Assembly on the forestry situation in Europe.
The Recommendation was discussed in the Timber Committee, but opinions were divided. However, it was generally agreed that the questions raised in Recommendation 135 should be closely studied in connection with the establishment of a free trade area. Current negotiations are not sufficiently advanced for me to say when this will be possible, and it is therefore difficult for the Organisation at present to offer any written comments on the substance of the Recommendation.
The Chairman of our Liaison Committee proposes to discuss the matter with his colleagues from the Council of Europe at the next joint session of the two Committees.
I thought it might be helpful in the meantime to inform you personally of these developments.
I remain, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Signed: CITTADINI CESI.
Sir,
In your letter of 22nd July 1957 you were good enough to transmit to me t he text of Recommendation 135 adopted b y t h e Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In my absence, M. Glesinger, Assistant Director of the Forestry Division and Director of the Mediterranean Development Project, sent an acknowledgement of this letter to M. Lucifero d'Aprigliano, Chairman of the Council of Europe Committee on Agriculture.
In this letter, M. Glesinger informed M. Lucifero d'Aprigliano that I had decided to launch a far-reaching campaign to carry out Mediterranean re-afforestation on a much more intensive scale than previously attempted in this sphere and enclosed the document drafted in this connection for the 9th Session of the FAO Conference, which was to be held in Rome in November 1957 to discuss the Organisation's programme and budget for 1958 and 1959. In this document the Council of Europe Resolution was quoted in full, demonstrating the close affinity between your action and our present project.
On the basis of the aforementioned document, the Conference adopted the enclosed Recommendation, which I would ask you to communicate to the Consultative Assembly of t h e Council of Europe.
I have just instructed the Forestry Division to prepare a memorandum on the present state of the Mediterranean Development Project. This memorandum might be of interest to the Council of Europe Committee on Agriculture on whose work Recommendation 135 was based and which, at its recent meetings, has been kept abreast of the progress of the project by my representative. The memorandum will be transmitted to you in the near future.
I remain, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Signed: B. R. SEN,
Director-General.
The Conference,
In the firm belief that a balanced programme of agricultural expansion, improved pas-turage and afforestation could make an important contribution to the social and economic development of the Mediterranean countries;
Considering the provisional report entitled " Mediterranean forestry programmes and their place in agricultural and economic development "; the memorandum of the Director- General (C 57/5, Sup. 5) putting forward the Mediterranean development project as a major expansion of the Organisation's programme and budget for 1958 and 1959; the conclusions already reached by the Conference on the forestry aspects of the project and the discussions which followed the Director-General's statement;
Noting that various delegations have asked for detailed surveys of their country to be carried out as soon as possible, having regard to the urgency of the measures they propose to take and to the approaches they intend to make on the basis of these surveys in connection with the financing of their programmes, and that the Mediterranean countries have expressed a desire to co-operate with F.A.O. to the fullest extent required for the follow-up and completion of this project;
Recognising that future work should be mainly directed towards drawing up national surveys and programmes in co-operation with the Governments concerned, by means of special committees set up in each country to collaborate with the staff of F.A.O., and that close co-operation should be established with all the other United Nations institutions interested in this project in their respective fields of competence,
Decides to group together the countries of this area, including North Africa, in conformity with the regional structure of F.A.O. in order to correlate the national surveys insofar as this proves desirable at the international level;
Approves the proposals for the satisfactory completion of the Mediterranean survey put forward by the Director-General in Document C 57/5, Sup. 5;
Invites the Director-General to submit this survey together with the national surveys to the Member Governments, if possible ninety days before the Tenth Session of the FAO Conference, and, meanwhile, to take all necessary steps, on the basis of surveys already completed, to help the Governments concerned to put their programmes into operation; and
Recommends, since the budget total has been adjusted, that consideration be given to the possibility of economising by first concentrating attention on countries whose need is greatest and by other means, and, in this connection, that the original figure suggested by the Director- General, namely 110,000 dollars for 1958 and 1959, be borne in mind.