PART IV FORESTRY IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROUF 129 League of Arab States The League of Arab States, more generally known as the Arab League, was established on 22 March 1945. It comprises Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Irag, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Sudan the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The broad objectives of the Arab League are to develop cooperation and strengthen complementarity among its member states in economical, cultural, scientific, social and military fields. To do so, the League has set up several pecialized agencies. Those of interest to FAO are: the arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Khartoum, the Sudan); the Arab Centre for the Study of Arid Zones and Dry Lands(Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic); the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development(Kuwait); the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization(Tunis, Tunisia); the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development(Khartoum, the Sudan); the Arab Academy for Science and Maritime Transport (Alexandria, Egypt); and the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation(Kuwait) DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST SECTOR The combined forest area of these countries accounts for only 2 percent of the worlds forests. Some land"which, although not counted in the forest area figures, are important for forest products, grazing and desertification control. Fuelwood and charcoal are the major forest products. Production of industrial wood is very limited; about two-thirds of the demand for industrial roundwood and processed wood products is met by imports. Gum arabic, a non-wood forest product, is a major export of the Sudan. Forest resources Land area(000 ha) 1308642 Quantity %of world total saea,2000(00ha) Woodfuel (000 m) 24643 Percentage of land under forest Industrial roundwood('000 m) 4226 Forest area per capita(ha) Sawnwood('000 m) Annual change in forest area, 1990-2000 Wood panels('000 m) 1013 Pulp for paper('000 tonnes) Paper and paperboard ('000 tonnes)671 t.International forest products trade: quantity and value, 1998 Import value USS thousands of world total USs thousands of world total Woodfuel(000 my) 1506 Industrial roundwood(000?) Sawnwood 1156295 1930 532859 Pulp for paper('000 tonnes) 179860 Paper and paperboard ('000 tonnes) 40058 1512306 Note: ns.-not significant, indicating a very small value.PART IV FORESTRY IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROUPS 129 League of Arab States Quantity % of world total Woodfuel (’000 m3) 24 643 1 Industrial roundwood (’000 m3) 4 226 n.s. Sawnwood (’000 m3) 242 n.s. Wood panels (’000 m3) 349 n.s. Pulp for paper (’000 tonnes) 234 n.s. Paper and paperboard (’000 tonnes) 671 n.s. Forest resources Land area (’000 ha) 1 308 642 Total forest area, 2000 (’000 ha) 79 246 Percentage of land under forest 6.1 Forest area per capita (ha) 0.3 Annual change in forest area, 1990-2000 - Thousand hectares -1 013 - Percentage -1.3 Production of wood-based products, 1998 Product Export Export value Import Import value quantity quantity US$ thousands % of world total US$ thousands % of world total Woodfuel (’000 m3) n.s. 16 n.s. 17 1 506 n.s. Industrial roundwood (’000 m3) 6 346 n.s. 585 83 029 1 Sawnwood (’000 m3) 4 1 537 n.s. 6 620 1 156 295 5 Wood panels (’000 m3) 31 23 696 n.s. 1 930 532 859 3 Pulp for paper (’000 tonnes) 83 37 442 n.s. 395 179 860 1 Paper and paperboard (’000 tonnes) 47 40 058 n.s. 2 288 1 512 306 2 Note: n.s. = not significant, indicating a very small value. International forest products trade: quantity and value, 1998 The League of Arab States, more generally known as the Arab League, was established on 22 March 1945. It comprises Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The broad objectives of the Arab League are to develop cooperation and strengthen complementarity among its member states in economical, cultural, scientific, social and military fields. To do so, the League has set up several specialized agencies. Those of interest to FAO are: the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Khartoum, the Sudan); the Arab Centre for the Study of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic); the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (Kuwait); the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Tunis, Tunisia); the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (Khartoum, the Sudan); the Arab Academy for Science and Maritime Transport (Alexandria, Egypt); and the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (Kuwait). DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST SECTOR The combined forest area of these countries accounts for only 2 percent of the world’s forests. Some countries (Algeria, Morocco, Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen) have significant areas of “other wooded land” which, although not counted in the forest area figures, are important for forest products, grazing and desertification control. Fuelwood and charcoal are the major forest products. Production of industrial wood is very limited; about two-thirds of the demand for industrial roundwood and processed wood products is met by imports. Gum arabic, a non-wood forest product, is a major export of the Sudan