The Early History of the GAOF

1997

7th November:

The GAOF (Global Association of Online Foresters) was proposed following on-line discussions and the first people started signing up to the mailing list. This list was maintained and run manually by copying e-mails to the members.

The criteria for membership were based on a proposal by Joseph Zorzin for a Forestry Consultants group based at Massachusetts. The criteria were warmly welcomed and agreed.

In addition to the mailing list much of the discussion was also held in the chat room provided by The Mining Company and the the 'bionet.agroforestry' newsgroup.

It was felt that in the long term the GAOF web site should be developed as a location where the media could be provided with current information about forestry. It was early days but the concept was to have at least one forester in every country/county in the world connected to the net  and willing to act on behalf of the whole group.

12th November:

The GAOF now had 11 members: Ibrahim Al Khattat, Will Anderson, Nick Ananin, Citlali Cortes, Karl Gunkel , Tim Hunley, Brett Nodello, Steve Nix, Don Staples, Simon Williams and Joseph Zorzin

The aim was to get contacts in every county/state/country of the world who can then act as contacts for local networks. Also we wanted a range of people with diverse backgrounds.

Each member had to copy the details of each other their own mailing list address book. Naturally discussion revolved around the need for a list server:

A search of the web for PAML (Publicly Accessible Mailing List) was carried out to see if there was an already established list that suited our particular interest. The following were found:

1. FOREST - run for forest scientists which still remains a very important resource for technical issues.
2. FOREST MANAGEMENT DSS (Decision Support Group) - Canadian and International forest management planning.
3. FOREST GEN - Forest genetics and tree breeding with 300 subscribers in 38 countries
4. WOOD -SCIENCE - for academics and industry
5. Ted Kegebein's Bulletin Board

It was felt that these were very specific mailing lists and did not fulfill the needs of our group which included woodland owners, consultants and students. The mailing list programmes Listserv & Majordomo were assessed but they were considered expensive and a bit complex to set up. Information about the Arrow software was kindly provided by another mailing list and it was felt this could well meet our requirements.

13th November:

Discussion extended to the question of our ability to focus on specific problems within the group. It was decided that there should be a global group (GAOF) within which would be subgroups e.g. Consultants Only Group, Landowners Only Group etc.

15th November:

The Arrow mailing list programme was set up and members could subscribe directly to the GAOF@ visfor.globalnet.co.uk 

1998

8th January:

After the Christmas break Tim Hunley renewed the interest in the Woodland Owners subgroup. Unfortunately the whole question of subgroups had not been followed up as the development of the GAOF web site was proving to be quite time consuming.

The GAOF web site was run on 'free' space provided bu Nick. The main features which were provided included:

• A free helpline for forestry enquiries.
• Directories of links (e-mail and web sites) by country. Web sites were given scores to indicate which were better.
• Directory of links by subject.
• A reference section.
• Source page of forestry related mailing lists, bulletin boards, chat lines and other on-line resources.
• Calendars of events both global and with a specific page for the UK
• Forestry Jobs both global and UK.
• News items around the world were posted on a page. However this has not proven to be successful.

The philosophy of the web site was to concentrate on content. Graphics would be limited as people living in remote areas with limited facilities would have difficulty accessing it. The site also had to be user friendly.

17th March:

The use of other means of communication were considered and the use of ICQ for live chat was assessed. The question of people using WebTV posed a serious problem for the benefit of Web sites and use of ICQ. It was felt that e-mail mailing lists were the best option in the short term.

15th May :

After some thought and discussion the UK Forestry mailing list was set up. The concept of the GAOF was always to provide an international front with subgroups for each continent/country or specific topic. Members of the GAOF mailing list resident in the UK were automatically added to the UK Forestry list. The mailing list was set up as a trial to see if it could be applied to other countries. The aim of the UK Forestry list was to encourage discussion on forestry topics relevant to the UK. These included the practical aspects (silviculture, harvesting) and policy (UK Forestry Standard).

4th June :

The Xmas Tree mailing list was set up to provide a forum for people involved in growing and supplying Christmas Trees. To date this has proved to be difficult to stimulate interest probably due to the small number of members.

22nd June :

Three more mailing lists were set up:

• Cooperative Forestry Network - this aim of this mailing list was to try to improve the efficiency and management of information on the net.
• UK Forestry Jobs - this was a trial set up to distribute information about forestry jobs in the UK
• UK Forestry Events - the aim was to distribute information about forestry events e.g. meetings and conferences.

23rd June :

By now the GAOF had 100 members including forestry consultants, suppliers, woodland owners, estate foresters, students, researchers and ENGO representatives. Countries included Asia (including China), Europe (including Ukraine) South America, New Zealand etc.,

11th July:

The Woodland Owners mailing list was set up which was to be exclusively available to anyone owning woodlands. The criteria for joining have still to be resolved but one aspect was to ensure that information about each of the members would be distributed but would be in confidence. This still remains a priority.

28th September:

A domain name - www.foresters.org - was purchased together with a commercial (virtual) site. This included new e-mail addresses for the four main mailing lists. The features on the GAOF web site were also extended to include:

• A section for children
• Careers guidance for forestry
• Consultants register - although there is an on-line database there is still no sub-group mailing list.
• Section covering woodlands for sale or wanted
• A revised database of membership which can be used to locate people around the world.
• "Tour de Forests" enables members to arrange exchange visits.
• Training resources both on-line and distance learning.

The GAOF differs from many other Internet sites, particularly those of governments and large organisations, in that it aims to respond quickly to reasonable suggestions. Where a need for information or a particular service is seen then it can be rapidly implemented. This is borne out by some of the comments which have been received: "Well organized and user friendly format", "This is a well run and informative site which deals with practical forest issues", "It is great to develop and build international links. "

Membership Profile December 1998:

Currently we have over 300 members. The aim was to attract principle members from as many countries of the world. The following is the breakdown:

• 32% are resident in the UK
• 18% in USA
• 7% Canada
• 4% Australia
• balance from all around the world (including all the continents).

The aim was also to have members with a with a wide spectrum of interest, i.e. not just academics. The breakdown is as follows:

• 13% are students
• 23% are academics (or related e.g. training)
• 2% are in nurseries
• 24% are in private forestry
• 7% are in state forestry
• 9% are in government
• 2% are in timber harvesting and marketing
• 2% in sawmilling and wood processing
• 4% woodland owners (although an additional 5% are in other categories and also own woodlands)
• 3% are suppliers
• The rest are either uncategorised or Generally Interested in Forestry.

1999

January: Following elections a Council was elected to provide assistance to the founder and elected Chairman.

May: Membership has now reached 745 (93 new members during May) with members from many different countries including Papua New Guinea and Morrocco. There are 8 mailing lists including Forest Certification, Forest Health (pests and diseases), Forest Safety. After 275 days the page hits are now 475/day average since we started (estimated at 750/day).