The potential of high-yield plantation forestry for meeting timber needs

This study examines the performance and potential of intensively managed plantation forests as a source of industrial wood, and their environmental implications. The perspective of the study is global. Although it includes the United States and parts of Europe, much of the focus is on what are called the “emerging” plantation regions -- countries largely in the semitropical areas of the southern hemisphere -- which have not historically been important wood producers, but are growing in importance as a result of the productivity of their planted forests. The first section of this paper documents the growing importance of plantations as a source of industrial wood since the late 1970s. The study finds that plantations from nontraditional (new) regions have been growing rapidly in size and economic importance, and, thus, have been playing an increasing role as a source of the world industrial wood. Furthermore, experience seems to suggest that plantations are playing an environmentally beneficial role in (1) reducing pressure on greater areas of natural forests and (2) generating positive environmental effects as they replace degraded marginal agricultural lands. The second section of the paper examines the likely role of plantation forests in the future, and includes an assessment of financial, political and environmental considerations. This section pays particular attention to the concerns frequently expressed by environmentalists regarding plantations. Many of the objections directed at forest plantations on environmental grounds appear to ignore the substantial beneficial role of plantations on the environment. Plantations, which are financially very attractive in many locations, offer the potential of meeting large portions of the world industrial wood needs even while reducing substantially the disturbances on large areas of natural forests. This is possible because the very high productivity of plantation forests requires less area to produce industrial wood.