1. STATUS REPORT
PROGRAIIJ FOR TROP]CAL FORESTHY IN
LATII{ AIIIERICA AI{D TF]E CARIBBEAN
USDA - F'ONEST SERI/]CE
Southern Region (R-B)
Souther"n Forest Experiernent Station (S0)
Soufheastern Foresi, Experiment, SLation (SE)
Forest Products Laboratory (FPL)
Inter.national Forestry (IF)
Compiled by Loren B. Ford
Regional Forestry Advisor/Cari',bbean
Caribbean National Forest

2. Tropical Prograru Status ReporL Page 1
Status Report
Program for Tropical Forestry in
LaLin Aneri-ca and the Caribbean
1. .Sumrrarv
The FS ProgranL for Tropicai Forestry in La'cin Arner-ica and the Carlbbean
(LAC) is being inpleraented by R8, S0, SE, FFL and IF. All of Lhese
designaLed un:iLs have begun Lo carry out a.cLivllies undep t,he progr"arn,
wlrich include 1) Training and Informa.tion Exehange, 2) Teehnical
Cooperation' and 3) Research.
R8' wittr funds from Lhe U.S. Agency for InLernational Development
(USAID) and l{0' has hired a Regional Forestry Advisor for" L}re Caribbean
(RFA/C), to coordinaLe the tropical program and to assi"sb USAID
mission-s of l.he area with forestry and related malters. The Inst,itute
of Tropical Forestry (ITF) continues research j-n Puerto Rico on timber
and wildlife nanagemenLr ?od has initiaLed a program. of watershed
resear.eh. The Forest Products Lab hras designat.eri a. Tropical Forestry
Teanr rrhj.ch has visil,ed fhe region Lo conpile tropiss.l forest products
informatlon, and to nake contacLs for training' technology transfei" and
eooperatlve researeh. R8' SO and SE have all placed personnel- on
detail in lbe region, under fhe program. IF has coordinaLed all
foreign travel-: &od has identified cooperators fron ottrer F-s uniLs.
2. Acconoiishnents
This infornaf,ion was providecl by contactst in the participating unl-ts,
eitlrer through annual reports or sol-icited surnraaries. In partieular'
t,he IF Progress on International Forestry, FY 1986, and ITF Annual
Letterr w€r€ consul-ted. In these cds€sr infornation j"s provided
through FY86, while j.n other cases, up to the present. Future reporLs
of pr"ograrn accornpJ,jshmenf s will be on a FY basis.
2.1 Trai-ning- and._ Inlosnia"tign Exchange
- Cl-ark LanLz, EB/CF: gdv€ foresL tree nursery and tree irnproveilent
short courses :'-n Chapingo and Durango' liexrcor &tid gave assistance
Lo a seed processing cenLer' :.n cTafapa.
- George Dissrieyer, RB/CFr srld Lor'en Ford, p.FA/Cr 4ssist.ed Jerry
Arledge, of 1,he USDA Soil Conservation Service, with a training
eours€ in so:l} conserva-tion and rvatershed rnanagement funded by
USAID on the rsland of St. Vincent, 1n gprji, 1985.
- A l"iexj c;an seed processing specialisl received l.r'ai-nj-ng al t,lte
IIaLlona.l Fcrest Tree Seed Laboratory' iuiacon, GA.

3. Troplcal Program St,atus Report Page 2
- R8/CF personnel partlcipaLed ln a fore-qbry panel and exhibit at
the Carribbean Basj-n Initiafive workshop in Septeruber, 1985.
- Mark Bosch' "Terry Bauer and Loren Fordr of Caribbean NaLionai
Forest (CliF ), ofld Ariei Lugo' of ITF' in Puerto Rico, atLended fhe
Thrrd F1ee'cing of Caribbean ForesLersr hosteci by t.he French
gcvernment in Gu-adeloupe. Proceedings wii-1 be published by ITF.
A Caribbean Chapter of Lhe InLernai,ional- Sociely of, Tropical
Foresters (ISTF) was founded at fhe ireet J-ng, and Ford uras elected
Executive Secrebary.
- As a resul-N of bire July meet:ing rn AtlanLa, a questionnaj-re on
trairiing neecis was seilf Lo fhe forestry deparLr*ents of Lhe Lesser
Anlilles. Most of tkre countries liave returned fheir responses to
RFA/C. Opportunities for FS participation in tliis Lnarning' and
sources of fundins, need Lo be identified.
- Shori-tern forestry training for Lwo employees of the Barbados
Soli Conservabion Unit wa-s carried out, by CtiF and R8/CF staff in
Puento Rico and Georgia, funded by the InberAuerican Development
Bank. Thls was coordinaLed ulith Soii Conservation Service
trai.ning of tr.lo oLher employees from Bar"bados.
- ITF frosfed an international- conference' rftlanagerrient of the Forests
of Tropical- Arnerica: Prospects and Technoiogiesff , from 21-27
Septenber', 1986. The conferenee l,a-s co-spollsored by USAID, ISTF,
and the FS. Two hundred parti-cipanls from 29 countries atLencled,
Lo hear 2T i,nvj.Led and three cor:l.r-:-br"rbeci papersr orl ilaLuraf foresL
and planLatlon managementr future wood markets: comruunj-cations and
social forestry. Proeeedi.ng-s wili be disseninaLed in 1987.
- ITF published a report, rrDevefoprcent, foresLryr and environriienl;al
quality in the easLern Caribbeanrr, r^rhieh suiflrdarized activities
earrled out by ITF under USAID ccrnLracL r n Lhe regl-on.
- S:Lx foresLer"s and gane wardens from Tr"j-nidad and Tobago received
tralnin6 in neoLropical wildiife at ITF.
- lline foi"esters froru Guadeloupe recelved foresLry trai,ni-ng fron
]TF.
- The iTF iibrary annually honors hundreds of requests for copies of
articies and ITF publications.
- Frank lrladsworth, ITF, conijnues Lo ediL fhe ISTF I'Jewsr which he
has done for eight years.
- A l"lexican forest t,ree seed specialist was t,rained at, 'q0-4101
Pineville, LA arr<l SC-IJ103,qlarkville, I1S.
- At St,arkvj"iLe, MS' a Brazilian Ph.D. candj-daLe is belng Lralneci
under Frank Bonner'.

4. Tropical Program Status Repor't Page 3
- Tours for several tropical scientlsts and &anagers are hosLed
annually by S0.
- A glossary of seed germinaLion tern:s was translated into Spanislt'
enrl nrrhlished as GTR 50-55.qrrs Fsvrr u.4
- ttCone an<l seed insects of t,he l'{exican eonifersrrr by Cibrian-
Tovar, Ebel , Yates & Mendez-l'lontiel-r w&s published bilingually as
GTR SE-40, in cooperaLion wiLh 1"he AuLonorrous UniversiLy aL
Chapingo and thie Secretari-at of Agriculture and l^iater Resources,
Mexieo.
- FPL has begun to corrpile informat"ion on Latin Anrerican Lropical
foresL produ.cts t.echnology frorn iibraries an<l research
jnsfitu"l,ions. tulany previously uncirculated researcl: results were
gathered in the F'PL Trop:-eal Foresf Pr'oducLs teamf s visits to
Brazi,l, Costa Rica, Ecuador' Guatemafa' Honduras and Mexico ln
1986. Thi-s will be published in a state-of-the-arL almanac on
tropical Latin Anierican foresl produeNs fechnology.
- l"iore Lha.n 260 inLernational visiLors, in foreslny a.rr<i. r'elal.ed
fields, from tnore Nttan 45 countries, i"ncJ-uding tropicai Amet'ica,
received practieal Lralning programs at FS unifs across the
country wi|h IF coot'dinaLion.
- The FS and the University of l"hchigan, vrith financial- suppot'L fronr
USAIDT spoosoFed Lhe 2nd International Seninar on Forest Resources
Administral-ion an<1 l'ianagement, held j-n Oetober i985, fot' 26 senior
publ-ic foresL resource adnlnistralors frou 2lt developi.ng
counlries. fncluded were erght representative-q fron severr LAC
counLri-e-s. Tiie senilnar coordinator, Jin Burchfieldr wtro is
-'l.ocafed at UFt, was funcied for" two years by FSP' ard i-s now parb of
the iF :rfa.ff.
A Spani-sh language training manua-1 on agroforestry was produced
under FSP conLract, ln cooperation with tlre OrganizaLion of
Troprcal- -studies (0TS) and the Center for Tropical Agricuitura-I
Research and Traini-ng (CATIE)' Turrjalba, CosLa Riea.
- The FS Disaster Assist,ance -Suppoi"t Program, in su"pporl of LiSAlDrs
Office of Foreign Dj-saster, Assj-stance, and irr cooperaNj-on with the
USDA Office of rnternational Cooperation and Devctoprcent (0ICD)
'
hac grven train:ng on hurricane dj-saster nanagement in Anti6ua and
Earbados, and kias evaluated roiildf ire a"nd f iref 1-ghting tretj-ning
need:: in Argentir:a, CcsLa R-i ca and Venezttela.
2. 2 Technipel_ Jp-qeeratio-t
- A S&PF positlon has been esLabListred and fiLled in the Caribbean
Nationai ForesL wiLh signifrcant funding frorn USAID' and
assislance fr.cm OICD. Loren Ford, as Regional ForesLry Advisor
fo1 the Carlbbearr (RFA/C), coordj.nates the FS tropical prograrn'
a.nci prov-i cies asslsLance with foresLry and relaLed naLt.er'^.j to USAID
ruissions in the region. Cc'nfacts are naini,ained wj,fh l,he units

5. Tropical Prograrc St.ai;us Report. Page 4
parLrcipating in Llie proglant. Assil:Lanee has been givsn 10
rrissions in Barbadcrs, Fe-l,ize, the Donini can triepublie' GuaLenala,
Haitj- and Janaica. Opport,uniLie-q f,or FS cooperaLion r^riih USAID
projecLs have been'identified, jncludirrg Lraj-ning, fechnj-ca1
assisLance and researclr. Ccntacts have also been nade wiLh otlter
developnent agencles, universitles and privaLe volunl,ai-";i
c'rganlzaLj,onsr, 1.;o l-ear.rr cf their" forest,r"Sr pr.ograftniogr arici tcr
a-nl nno nrreai hi r iLieS fOr COllabOfatiOn.v4yfvr
Rj-charci Birdsey' S0-4'101 -st arkvil-le, FlS aud Peter Weaver, S0-1152
(ITF) carried out a forest inventory irr St. Vincent, lrJest Indies,
in coopera.til on witl'r Cajv:ln i'ii-clrolls of tiie St. Vincent Foresl"ry
ftep,artnent. ResulLs were pub1i,*shed as RP 50-229.
Caribbean Deveiopment Bank r:eeLings in Bair"bados on reglonal
for.eslry secior" deveJ-opnienL lrele at,tencied Lry' iTF I s Peter" irlearrrer'.
Frank I'ladsworth, of ITF, chaireC t,he Silvicuiture Study Gror,rp of
tiLe }io:"Lh As:erlcan Fo:'estry Conrniis.s:-on untrl 1986. Loi'er: Ford, of
CNF, joined t,he st,udy groulr in 1985, tihici: net j-n lJew Or'lea.rts in
l.iay. Frank Bor:.ner" and Eriss Btrrns, i'IO/Tlm, provicied technical
suppont.
fTF sci.eirfi-sLs adrrise fhe Caribbean Conservation Association on
r'orestry and rel-ateci n:aLters.
Bob Venat.or"(S0-4104 Alerarrdr'ia, LA) rs on lc:tg-Lerrr detail to
USAID in l{exico, to inpi"ove nursery producfionr seed coileci,ionr
coa| nv,nna q.r-i nrn o nA l- naa i nnnarroXiglll .
0n assignrirenr Lo FAO in the Eahamasr Dt". Eugene Shouldersr
Aie:sandlia, LA, developed foresl pian-* and rrade recor'inelrdaiicns
for leforesLa.tlcrn and plantatron nanageaent.
Assi-sf ance hras given Lo ii. S. iruport,ers by Lonnie i'ii1
Gulfport, l'!-R, fot' protecLion of Brazrl,ian hardwoods
borers using borate dip diffilsir:,n l,reafn'et:t.
Tlre FS r"enrescnt s l-he tj. .S. i n
Cc;:nrci ssi"on. Charli-e Philpot,
Octobei-, 1986, neeting of t.he
Jiams, S0-4502
from lyct.id
the FAO Latin Aner'-ican Foresi;r-y
ADC/RES, led Lhe FS clel-egatj,on at. an
Coniurissi-on in Costa Rica.
Dick liemingr{'ay, 50-4701 Aiexandria, LA, cooperated witlr Lfre
InstiLtrf e of Teehnologyr Durangor i,lexico, on cheuica,t, uf;ilizaLiort
of rntood res'i <!lres .
The !'oresLry Pri-vafe Enterprj.se Intj.t.iative is a cooperatirre
pr"ogram betweerr SE ancl iFlFSP, r€c€iving US!-iD f inanc j-al sr"tpporL.
A special-ist ha-s t'een hired and st,ationecl i-n Ecuador", t.o prepare
fo'i:'est p)-arrtal,ion invesLnenL prof il-esr Lo evaluafe AII4Ar a f ocal-
wood prcducts trade associabion, and to sllrvey techn:.ea1 and
narketing assisLance needs of sriaf I satimif i otritters and fu.rntu.re
nranufaclurers.

6. Tropreal Progran *9t,atus Beport Pa6e 5
- iniayne Swank, CoweeLa Hydi:ol-ogic Laboratory, SE-4351 Franklin' I{C,
has assisLed the fnstj"l.r-tte of Bi,<llogy, AuLonotiotts Liniversit,y of
l,lexico, Fiexico Cj.t,y' t.o irrsLa-'1"1 a watershed researctr sit.e in
deciduous frorricai foresf on the Pacj.fic Coast of liexj-co.
* The FPL Tropicai- Fc)rest Fr"oduets tean v-i-sited BraziL' CosLa Rica'
Ecuador', Guatem.ala, Honduras and l'lexico, where kelr ssngtcLs were
nade for Lechnology Lransfer possrbr"liLies.
- About 400 san'iples of wood from Latin Anterica are rdentified
annually by tire FPL Center for Woocl Anatomy Re-cearch., frorn -qone 10
r.equesLs per. nionLit, rro-qtly fron LIS cornpanies and univers:'-tj-es.
- l4ajor progress has been s.iade by IF in planning U.S. part'i"ci.pattron
in the FAO Associate Professionaf Officer Progran. Efforls are
uncie:"way to include 1-2 American foresters rn FY 1987, trllc rr:iglrl
be assigned- to posts i-n l,r'opical America.
- FSP funded 2T trtps by FS and gfher.forestly speci,aiist,s t,o i,AC
counl,rles to provicie technical assistance.
- IF coorclinat ed travel for 125 TDYs by FS personnel lo LAC
countrie s.
) 4 HAqpt nanjj.Y"ry
- A waLershed research progran has been sta:'fed on Luquillo
Erperimental Forest, with feehriical assistance ft'om SLan Ursic
(S0) ancl llayne St'rank (SE).
- Tirrtber nanagerent research by fTF includes an assess$ent of LLre
per.forr.rance of planlatrons and species Lrrals of tropical- trees in
Puerto Rico bY John Franc-1s.
- Tweniy-four research pubircal,ions on tropieal forestry and ecology
have been auLhored or co-auLhoi'ed j-n 1985-85 by ITF scjentisLs
and/or coopera-tors.
- s0 resear.ch proving ti:ai dip diffu.siop j,n a boraLe sol-ution
pr,ofects gr.eeri Lroprcai irardwoods frora lyctid borer"s has been
cor,'ipieLed aud publisheci.
- SO resea,rch on pr,essure treatnenL wrth borates of dry crl' L)ar'tiail;r
dry fr-op5ca} hat'dt";oods 'is under vlay.
- S0 conLrcrl scu-ciies of su.bter'fanean Lern:ites in Fanana contillue.
- Forestr.Sr pploaLe Enterpri.se lr:j-tiative Research L:as been carried
out in a cooperative progran between sE, IFIFSP an<l liC-qu at
Resear'ch Triangle Park and NC 'sLate.
- The FPL Tropical Folest Prociucts Teal: macie key contacLs for
cooper.aLive research wit'i: -i-rrstitr,rtiorrs j.n Brazil, Ccsla Rica,

7. Tropical Prograrrt Status Report Page 6
Ecuador, Guatenaia, Flonduras and Mexico' during Lheir visits to
these counLries.
- The FPL Center for tiood Anatomy Research dedicales a large porlion
of bheir time to studies on brop:'-cal woods from Latin Anerica.
1- Futrrr"e Aet'i vities4
Ongoing projects will continue under the tropicaf progra&' and new
initiaLives will be developed. New legi,slation has amended Lhe Foreign
Assistance Act eL 99-529, Title III), requiring USAID to speclfieally
addr.ess tropical forests and blological diversify in rulssion plansr
progranming and reports. Requests for FS assistance wit'h these
activiti-es are expected.
Upcoming activibies include:
3 . 1 Training and Inforngtian- Eeehelgg
- Plannrng is underway for individualized foresL adninisLration
training of a -sL. Vincent Forestry Department enployee.
Attachnent to FS, state and privaLe administrators of nurseries'
silviculturai operations, extensionr FecrosLion and forest
management units in R8 rs foreseen.
- Coordination r."rilf continue with USAID training officers in t,he
Caribbean, to identify training needsr &trd to pJ-an and impJ-enenb
courses.
- The Land and Resource }lanageraent Pi-an of Caribbean NaLional ForesL
wil-l- be anended to emphasize denonstration of multi-resource
tropical forest management t,o fonestry and planning personne] fron
developing countries.
.. A seminar" for pollcy-makers from Caribbean countries was suggested
in the July meeLing in Ablantar &od a sinil-ar seminar for LAC
countries was proposed by Charlie Philpot, ADC,/R' at fhe October
neeting of the FAO LaLin Anerican Forestry Commission in Costa
Rica. FAO response wari positiver buf funding and a site need to
'oe idenbified.
- The ITF library wiil- be part of the FS II{FO computer-based onLine
bibliographic citation network, rshich ean be expected to increase
the demand for lts services.
- Planning has beerr carr:-ed out, for a seven-week counse in 1987 at
ivlississippi StaLe University for tropi-cai seed nanagers, wiLLr
na rr- i ^ i r.6 + i"on of Bonner and John Yozzo of s0-4 1 03 .P4r uf,ulvq ui
- I'jAB-3/MAB-1 wor"kshop on Lroplcaf foresL grazing and conversicrn of
forest to pasture is schecluled for l"larch 1988, under Heriry
Pearson, SO-4201 and Ariel- Lugo' of ITF.

8. Tropical Progran Status Report Page i
- Training by FPL specialisfs may be programlned for severaf
disclplines in Conocoto, Ecuadorr afld for wood drying in
Guatemafa. Al-fredo de Sousa' of l{anaus, BraziLr fl&} visrt FPL lo
learn dryi-ng technology.
- The Spanish language agroforesfy training nanual pnociuced by 0TS
and CATIE under FSP confract wil-l- be releasedr and ttie nanual- will
be evaluated by giving one or more trial courses.
3 . 2 Technrcal _C_o-op-efe-tipn
- Opportunities are foreseen for providing short-term assistance to
USAID forestry projects, in Guatennala, Honduras and Panarna.
- Opportunj-ties for forestry progranrnlng by USAID in Belize will- be
ldenLified. Shorb-tern asslstance from fhe FS in carrying out a
Forestry Seetor Feviewr to prepare an action plan for forestry
prograrrning by doltor agencies' Ini6;trt ensue.
- Short-term assisLance and evaluation wil-l- be provided to the FAO
Forestry Sector Revievr for the Doninican Republi-c, at USAfD/SanLo
Doriringo reque sb .
- Assisfance wi]l- be given in forestry roatlers to isl-and cooperalors
of Lhe the Car"ibbean Conservation Association, in implementing the
USAID-sponsored Regional EnvironriienLal Prof ile for' fhe Lesser
Antill-es.
- Assistance in sawmifling, drying, marketing and silvicuiture night
be provided to the Worl-d Wrldlife Fun<i project on Dominica, rlSmafi
Business Approach to Forest Resource ConservaLion and
DevelopmenNrr.
- Assistance in nursery production' seed coliecbion and processl-ng,
i.ree inprov€nr€Ff r &rld other areas wiII continue to be provided Lo
Piexican eooper"ators by Bob VenaLor'.
- Technology Lr"ansfer by FPL for preservative treatnents and solar
drvinn in in Ecuador' CosLa Ri-ca, Guatemala and lolexico' and for
sawnilling in Ecuador and Chrle.
3.3 nsscerch
- A research needs assessuent will be raade for ITF' as parb of the
CNF Land and Resouree l4anagement Plan amendroentr ahd Lo identify
opportunifies for ITF coordirration and/or implemenfat'lon of
forestry research in Latin Anerlca and tite Caribbean.
- Watenshed and timber managemenL research wiil conLinue in Puerto
Rlco, wiLh cooperative projects rn other eountrles of tite regi"on.
- Dick l{emingway will contlnue cooperafive research wrth the
InstituLe of Technology at Durango, Fiexico' on chemical
utlli"zation of wood residues.

9. Tropi.cal Progran Stabus Repor"t Page I
- CocperaL're r"esearch will be j.njtiated by the FPL and inslilubions
in Latrn America. Potentiai sLu-di-es are: saw nat.ei.J-al Ce sign aL
IPT, Sao Pau1o, Brazil; derrelopment of di.ying techniques and
schedules for. 1esse1" or unusecl trcrp:',ca_1 speelesr wiLir Ii{pA,
l'ianaus, Brazil; exterlor f - nishes for wooci etructures: i.n l,r'op., s5,
Conocoto' Ecuador'; and design sl,resses for tropical l.iooci-sc wr'i;lr
var j ous instj-t utrons.