The Growing Need for Sustainable Plantations

Deforestation is one of several of man’s destructive activities which is being increasingly blamed for climate change and it seems more important than ever to secure the world’s timber supplies and preserve what remains of the world’s precious primary forests.  To this end, sustainable, well-managed plantations will play a vital role in supplying the world with its growing demand for wood and its products in the future.  Nearly 4 billion hectares (or approaching half the world’s total forest cover) have been lost forever and they are being destroyed more quickly than they can be regenerated.   Consequently there now exists a massive shortfall in the quantity of wood that can be supplied by the remaining forests in relation to the rising global population, which currently stands at 6.5 billion.

The most alarming losses are in countries such as Brazil, where more than 26,000 square kilometres of Amazon forest - approaching the size of Belgium, disappeared in 2004, due primarily to a large expansion in cattle ranching and industrial-scale farming, to meet the export market for beef and soya.
The world market for teak in the future is expected to increase as high quality hardwoods in excess of 20 years old become scarce. Cycles and rotations will become shorter and the production and consumption of all woods will increase.