The
US Forest Service has developed an impressive
wealth of expertise in sustainable forest
management and biodiversity conservation through
a century of land management in the U.S. The
US Forest Service International
Programs can access these technical resources
to develop, initiate or improve forest conservation
and management projects with counterparts
overseas. The Technical Cooperation unit works
on collaborative projects on a wide range
of topics, many of which are co-funded by
the US
Agency for International Development,
with a variety of partners including the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, the World
Bank, the Center
for International Forestry Research, The
Nature Conservancy, World
Wildlife Fund, Ducks
Unlimited, the Wildlife
Conservation Society and other environmental
nongovernmental organizations. Our collaborators
tap the Technical Cooperation staff to manage
field programs, contribute specialized technical
assistance to existing projects, conduct training,
facilitate research, and publish technical
guides to promote sustainable forest management
and biodiversity conservation worldwide.
Technical
Cooperation is subdivided into regional
programs: Latin
America and the Caribbean; Asia
and the Pacific; Russia,
Europe, and Eurasia and the
Middle East; Africa,
and North
America. China, Brazil, Russia, and
Indonesia are important partners for International
Programs because of the importance of their
forest ecosystems and the scale of forest-related
trade with the U.S. International Programs
also works in other countries based upon
short-term assistance needs and the availability
of funding for long-term projects.
Technical Cooperation's regional program
managers initiate projects across different
technical areas that encompass many of the
most pressing
forestry issues. These include fire
management, forest monitoring and remote
sensing, forest health and invasive species,
migratory species and habitat management,
watershed management, protected areas and
ecotourism, and sustainable forestry practices.
Efforts are not limited, however, to these
primary areas of interest. Work has also
addressed enterprise development of non-timber
forest products, urban forestry, the illegal
hunting of endangered game (e.g., the bushmeat
trade) and market incentives for improved
forestry practices.
Technical Cooperation works with the other
staff units to promote sustainable forest
management and biodiversity conservation.
The Technical Cooperation and Policy
units work in tandem to bring international
criteria
and indicators of forest sustainability
to the domestic level. Specifically, the
Montreal Process and management-unit criteria
and indicators have been integrated into
several pilot projects within the United
States, such as the Local Unit Criteria
and Indicators Development programs. Technical
Cooperation and the DASP have also
worked together on several projects responding
to foreign disasters, such catastrophic
fire in Indonesia and Mexico, and disaster
preparedness training in India and the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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