By Jamie Barrie H owmuch wood could a woodchuck chuck if a wood- chuck could chuck wood? Well if you are looking at a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund the answer is, too much. The largest suppliers of wood products to the UK and other nations are facing a growing risk of depleting their timber resources in the next few years, the recent report has warned. In most cases the suppliers have only a few years of invento- ry left or have turned to a practice called “running a deficit” a term we are more familiar with when speaking of govern- ment spending. The term in short for the forest industry means that suppliers have used all legally harvestable timber and are now cutting down their protected forests, which is not welcome by the industry or environmentalists. Britain continues to contribute to their own problem with the use of domestic timber in the overall supply mix expected to fall from 40 percent to 22 percent by 2050 or sooner. The primary reason is the lack of reforestation in the country which has lacked as focus on forest man- agement and reinvestment since the 1970’s according to a World Wildlife Fund report on sustainable timber markets published in July. WWF is urging businesses to invest now in sustainable forest management. Their findings suggest it is the only way to ensure continued access to timber for commercial and recreational use in the future. This same report also high- lighted that Brazil, recent host of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games as only having 16 years of timber forests remaining, Colombia with 12 years remaining and South Africa with half that amount with seven years of forest remaining. What is even more concerning to the WWF was the har- vesting rates in some countries. Nigeria has lost 99% of its original natural woodland since 1990 and Vietnam that number is 80%. That means that almost all of the natural forest for both of those countries has been depleted and consists of new forest growth. It is these types of statis- tics which is caused by uncontrolled production that has serious impacts on wildlife and other natural resources not only in these countries but the world as a whole.
The report recommends revisiting unused or poorly utilized forest land and integrating it into active forest management plans. According to researchers this approach will help commercial production without damage to wildlife or recreation. It also suggests planting trees that have real commercial and wildlife value. Julia Young, global forest and trade network manager for WWF-UK said: “Committing to sustainable timber sourcing isn’t just an added bonus, but is something that any timber dependent business must be investing in if they want a healthy and resilient business that will survive.” Young warned the industry change is needed and stated “We can no longer rely on our usual sources of timber as unsustainable practices are having devastating conse- quences on forests, and we face a real danger of not having enough timber to satisfy our growing population needs.” Timber production is a valuable commodity for any economy. The ability to harvest raw materials domesti- cally and add value through the manufacturing of finished products to send to market both at home and globally is a key component of employment and GDP for many coun- tries like the UK, U.S. and Australia as well as many others. Looking at Canada, which has extremely strong regu- latory regimes in the industry current harvest levels are expected to remain below the estimated sustain- able wood supply. However, the gap between the volume of Canadian forests that are being harvested and the volume deemed to be sustainable is expected to narrow as the global demand for forest products increases because of weaker forest management and regulations in other countries. It is easy to see in our daily lives at home, at work and even at play how many industries rely on the forest for their raw materials. Every person and company uses a wood product in some form or another which make forest man- agement such an important part of the global economy and for the wellbeing of the planet overall.
50
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • SEPTEMBER 2016
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker