Vital Forest Graphics

Ten countries with the largest area of productive forest plantations

Percentage

30

10 5 2 1

United States

CHINA

RUSSIA

UNITED STATES

JAPAN

INDIA

VIETNAM

BRAZIL

SUDAN

THAILAND

INDONESIA

20

Venezuela

Peru

Source: FAO 2006a.

Brazil

Chile Argentina

Is fast-wood like fast-food?

Uruguay

J he main rationale for forest plan- tations is that they not only cater for growing demand for forest prod- ucts but also contribute a vital source of revenue in poor regions. Forest plan- tations can also help to relieve pressures on natural forests and provide a wide range of social, economic and envi- ronmental benefits. Yet in some cases they have negative impacts on biodi- versity. In those instances ecosystems are destroyed ultimately leading to the loss of revenue sources and aggravating social problems. In 2005, 2.8 per cent of total global forest cover was made up of produc- tive forest plantations, amounting to an area of approximately 110 million hectares (FAO 2006a). Productive for- est plantations are a source of various goods and services: they provide tim- ber, fuelwood, charcoal, raw materi- als for panel production, pulpwood for cellulose and paper production, as

well as a wide range of bulk non-wood products such as gum arabic, rubber and cork. According to the FAO, there was an increase of approximately 40 per cent in the area of the world’s forests plan- tations with productive functions in the 15 years from 1990 (FAO 2006a). Though the majority of these forests is devoted to production of sawn logs and veneer, recently there has been a shift to other products, with about 40 per cent Forest plantations meet an increasing proportion of the growing demand for wood products. Yet in some countries around the world, large monocultural fast growing tree plantations have replaced indigenous vegetation cover

growth in the areas of planted forests catering for the pulpwood and fibre industries (FAO 2006b). Studies indi- cate that this growth – a marked trend in recent years – is set to continue (e.g., MA 2005; Down to Earth 2006). While there has been little growth in Europe in pulp wood plantations and associated paper related activi- ties, the area in Asia doubled between 1990 and 2005 due to large scale plant- ing in China, Indonesia and Vietnam. (FAO 2006b). The trend has been for paper production to shift to southern tropical countries, where the climate is more suitable for fast growing trees. Moreover, land in these regions is more affordable, wages are low and there are generally few barriers in the way of the industrial expansion (Urgewald 2007). The concern now is that the develop- ment of giant pulpmills, each capable of producing as much as 1.2million tonnes of pulp per year, are going to require yet

24 VITAL FOREST GRAPHICS