Commonwealth Forests

bullet1 Chapter 1: The Forest Resource

bullet2 FOREST PLANTATIONS

A recent FAO report proposes the concept of “planted forests” (FAO, 2006c), that is combining the areas of plantations and of planted semi-natural forest formerly considered separately, since both establish similar species (often using improved seed or clonal material) and use intensive management methods.  This section is, however, is based on the FRA2005 report, which did not make this distinction so it refers to plantations.

Forest plantations were originally established to provide industrial timber, mainly in those countries, such as South Africa or the United Kingdom, which had a small natural forest estate.  But since the mid-1980s forest plantations have assumed greater importance as a source of wood in nearly every country, whatever their forest cover – thus often taking pressure off the natural forest – and for the provision of protective functions.

The total reported area of forest plantations in the Commonwealth was estimated as 14.2 million ha in 2005 (see Table 1.5 and details in Annex 2.6)

Plantation data should be treated with even more caution than figures for total forest area, since not all countries report on their plantation area – Canada being one of the most important.  The FRA2005 figures quoted above refer to plantations generally of exotic species only.  But the figures for the Commonwealth nevertheless illustrate the relative importance of plantations to regions and to countries, and show trends.

The use of rubber wood for saw timber has been pioneered in Malaysia, and rubber (Hevea brasilensis) is now included in plantation areas.

Plantations make up 1.8% of the 2005 Commonwealth forest estate, compared with a global average of 3.5%, but the rate of increase in the Commonwealth plantation area appears to be growing slightly in recent years.  Most Commonwealth plantations lie in SE Asia and Pacific (38% of the total), followed by South Asia (28%), Africa (20%) and Europe (14%).  The Caribbean area of plantations is very small, and no plantations were reported from the rest of the Americas.

Countries which are among the largest plantation nations in the world include India (3.2 million ha), New Zealand and the United Kingdom (1.9 million ha each), Australia (1.8 million ha), Malaysia (1.6 million ha) and South Africa (1.4 million ha).  The main areas of Commonwealth plantations lie in the following regions:

  1. Africa –South Africa, followed by Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania

  2. Caribbean – only Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica have plantations

  3. South Asia – India followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

  4. SE Asia and Pacific – New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia

  5. Europe – UK

There are several countries where forest plantations are highly important in the provision of goods and services.  In Africa they include Lesotho (92.5% of the forest estate), Mauritius (40.5%), Swaziland (21.1%) and South Africa (15.5%).  Ninety nine per cent of New Zealand’s industrial wood came from plantations in 1997 (FRA2000), and industrial wood products are the third largest export, after dairy products and manufacturing. In Swaziland the plantations are of great importance for the provision of timber, but in neighbouring South Africa the plantations have a protective role on watersheds, as well as a productive function.

In Bangladesh plantations make up 32% of the forest estate and are important for protection as well as the production of firewood, but in India, despite the large area, they only make up 4.8% of the forest estate New Zealand is a country which created a strong plantation programme, whose rate of expansion has now strongly slowed as land is converted back into uses such as grazing which have become more profitable again.  The UK, with a similar area of plantations, is also converting some of its plantations back to their original native species composition, but for environmental and conservation reasons.

A very wide range of species are used for plantations.  Eucalyptus species are the most common in the tropics and sub-tropics, where they meet a wide range of needs, from firewood to sawtimber, but another increasingly common species, also of Australian origin, is Acacia mangium, which is a major component of the saw timber and pulpwood programmes in Malaysia.  Teak (Tectona grandis) is important in India where it is grown for premium saw timber and peeler logs, and is increasingly being promoted as an investment by the private sector.  Teak is grown to a lesser extent in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.  Pines are grown in several countries, especially Pinus patula (in countries of eastern, central and southern Africa), Pinus radiata (in eastern, central and southern Africa and in Australia and New Zealand).  Poplar species, hybrids and cultivars are grown in many developing countries such as India where they provide veneer logs for the match industry as well as fodder and services such as shade; Populus tremuloides is planted in Canada.  Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is grown in Malaysia not only for latex but also for saw logs.

There are three issues regarding the selection of species.  The first concerns the use of exotic species, or species planted outside their native range.  They include the eucalypts in many African countries, where they have grown so long they are almost naturalised.  Others include Acacia mangium and, in the UK, major components of the industrial wood supply such as Sitka and Norway spruce (Picea sitchensis and P. excelsa).  The second issue is genetic modification, which is mainly being done on poplar species, and which has attracted adverse attention in the UK.  The third issue is invasiveness, which refers not only to introduced tree species but also insects and diseases - for a general description see:   http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/aliens/en/   In South Africa, for example, an estimated 100 739 km2 (8.07 percent of national area) have been affected by invasive alien tree species, and thirteen species of Australian Acacia have been declared invasives and subject to control programmes.

Planted trees have long been established through agroforestry, a form of sustainable land use that combines natural or planted trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock on the same unit of land, in ways that increase and diversify farm and forest production while also conserving natural resources.  Now this practice is being further developed into partnerships between small landowners and industrial companies – long used on tea estates - and known as outgrower schemes.  The forest companies benefit from access to land, diversification of supply and increased co-operation with local communities, while the farmers have an alternate and additional source of income, a guaranteed market, reduced risk and, in some cases, financial support for development.  Commonwealth examples include (FAO 2006(b) :

  1. India, Bhadrachalam Paperboards, eucalyptus pulp, 3,210 ha and 1,375 growers

  2. Solomon Islands, Kolombangara Forest Products, sawlogs, 200 ha and 100 growers

  3. Vanuatu, Melcoffee Sawmill, sawlogs, 100 ha, 50 growers

  4. South Africa, Mondi Ltd., pulpwood, 5,900 ha and 2,854 growers

  5. South Africa, wattle bark, 436 ha, 430 growers

  6. Ghana, Swiss Lumber Co. 150 ha, 25 growers

  7. New Zealand, Tasman Forest Industries, pulpwood, 11,000 ha, 27 Maori Land Scheme groups.

The growth in outgrower schemes reflects also the recent increase in ownership of planted forests by small holders, a trend noted in a forthcoming FAO publication.

Trees are also being increasingly used to rehabilitate or to protect sites.  Typically trees have been used to rehabilitate land affected by erosion or by mining – either surface mining, or the dumping of mine spoil, but now trees are used to rehabilitate many other types of degraded site and on sites irrigated with waste water. Unasylva #207 gives an overview of the use of trees to rehabilitate sites.