Why Promoting the Demand for Sustainably Produced Tropical Timber?
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Tropenbos International Info brief - May, 2014 Why promoting the demand for sustainably produced tropical timber? Deforestation, forest degradation and illegal forest use in the tropics continue at a high rate. The direct and underlying causes of forest loss and degradation have many dimensions and interrelations. There is a growing awareness of the environmental, economic and social dimensions of trade and the important role that markets and demand side measures in consumer countries can and must play in stepping up transition towards sustainable forest management in the tropics. The market in the Netherlands for sustainable tropical timber is under In environmentally sensitive consumer markets, like in Europe, pressure. More and more traders governments, trade associations and companies have are looking for alternatives to introduced initiatives, action plans and legal measures to tropical wood because they think stimulate the consumption of legal and sustainably produced it is better for the conservation of timber on the market. At the same time it is noted that the the world’s rainforests. However, demand for tropical timber in Europe is declining steadily. a stable demand for sustainably A consequence of a declining share of the European market produced tropical timber is in the international timber trade is a loss of influence by important for maintaining tropical European consumers on the conditions under which tropical rainforests and supporting local timber is produced (Lammerts van Bueren et al. 2013). economic development. The status of the world’s rainforests World’s total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares, which corresponds to an average of 0.6 ha per capita. Tropical forests may cover up to 1.7 billion hectares (figure 1) and as many as 45 tropical countries have more than 50% natural forest cover. Tropical rainforests are concentrated in three major forests blocks: the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin and South East Asia. Countries with the largest forest cover are Brazil (520 million ha of rainforest), DR Congo (154m ha) and Indonesia (95m ha) (FAO & ITTO 2011). Biomes Source: MA 2005. Map designed by Emmanuelle Bournay, Paris. Tropical and sub-tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and sub-tropical grassland, savanna, and shrubland Tropical and sub-tropical dry broadleaf forest Temperate grassland, savanna, and shrubland Tropical and sub-tropical coniferous forest Montane grassland and shrubland Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Flooded grassland and savanna Temperate coniferous forest Mangrove Boreal forest / Taiga Desert and xeric shrubland Tundra Rock and ice Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub Figure 1. Distribution of main biomes in the world. Tropical forests of various types (moist, dry, coniferous and mangrove) are indicated. Source: UNEP / Grid-Arendal (2009) Deforestation rates in the tropics are high, The destruction of the forests is occurring due but they show some signs of decline. Between to various reasons. The greatest cause of 2000-2010, annual net forest loss in the three tropical rainforest destruction today comes major rainforest blocks was 5.4 million hectares from human activities, including subsistence per year, a decline compared with the 7.4 activities, oil extraction, logging, mining, million hectares per year reported during commercial agriculture, cattle ranching, and 1990-2000 (FAO & ITTO 2011, road construction figure 2). (see figure 3). The value of forests Forests help stabilize the world’s climate, The proportion of forests that is sustainably provide a home to many plants and animals, managed depends on the definition of maintain the water cycle, protect against sustainability that is used. A minimum flood, drought, and erosion and are a requirement for any form of deliberate source for medicines and foods. To take care forest management is the existence of an of these material and immaterial services approved long term forest management forests need to be managed in a sustainable plan. The percentage of forest covered by a way. Sustainable forest management (SFM) management plan varies strongly by country; means the environmentally appropriate, as a general trend, forest management units in socially beneficial, and economically viable Europe mostly have a management plan (94%), management of forests for present and while in Africa (17%) and South America future generations (figure 4). Well-managed, (16%) this figure is much lower, in spite of selectively logged production forests retain regional variation (figure 6). a large proportion of their timber production potential, biodiversity and carbon storage Taking the area of FSC or PEFC certified function (Putz et al. 2012; figure 5). forests as a measure for sustainably managed forests, this total would be 417 m ha in 2013 (UNECE 2014). The world’s certified forest 1200 1000 800 1990 600 2000 a. Timber b. Carbon c. Biodiversity 400 2010 200 100 100 100 0 80 80 80 Africa Asia Europe North Oceania South and Central America America 60 60 60 40 40 40 Figure 2. Trends in forest area, 1990 - 2010 (million ha). Carbon Retained (%) Carbon Retained Source: FAO 20 20 20 Species Richness (%) Retained Timber Volume Recovered (%) Recovered Timber Volume no data Same 0 Same + Same + 0 0 Birds Plants Mammals Third harvest Invertebrates Second harvets Logging ~1-y Post-logging 5-8% Pasture (cattle ranching) 40% Figure 5: What is sustained in logged tropical forests? Small-Scale agriculture (subsistence agriculture) Diagram shows (a) the increased volume of commercial timber 15-30% after one or two cutting cycles of 20-40 years if the same tree species is harvested (‘Same’) or additional species are harvested (‘Same+’); (b) carbon in living tree biomass one year after selective logging; (c) species richness in selectively logged forests compared to undisturbed old-growth forests. Other* Large-scale agriculture 3% (soy, oil palm, maize, rice, etc.) Source: Putz et al. 2012. 15-20% * Other includes urbanization, dams, infrastructure, mining, non-agricultural fires Figure 3. Causes of tropical deforestation, 2000 - 2005. Source: Rhett A. Butler / mongabay.com 1050 900 750 1990 600 2000 450 Ecological 2010 300 Values 150 0 Africa Asia Europe North Ocenia South and Central America SFM America Economic Social Figure 6. Forest area with a management plan, 1990 - 2010 Values Values (million ha). Source: FAO 2010 Figure 4: Sustainable Forest management (SFM) model area, as a percentage of total forest area, production forest (c. 6%, PwC 2012, equivalent has topped the 10% mark (UNECE 2014), with to c 2% of the total forest area, UNECE 2014). some regions exceeding 50% (Western Europe: 60%, 2013). The largest producers of tropical timber (industrial round wood) are Indonesia, Progress in sustainable forest management has Brazil, India and Malaysia; the most intense bypassed the tropics. The area of certified production in terms of production per unit of forests in the tropics is growing steeply, but area occurs in Togo, Nigeria and Ghana (FAO still represents just a small proportion of the & ITTO 2011). Wood consumption The EU the EU-27 together import about 3.1 million m3, In 2007, before the economic downturn, the or 10.7% of its total hardwood imports EU-25 was the world’s largest single importer (cf. ITTO 2012). of timber products, accounting for 22% by value of all import trade. Since then, it has The Netherlands declined in relative importance, in 2011 The total volume of sustainably produced wood representing 17% of the market, while China that in 2011 was imported to the Netherlands accounted for 19%. accounted for 536,010 m3. Sawn hardwood imported to the Netherlands is coming mainly Although Europe’s share in the international from Malaysia, Brazil and Cameroon. The timber trade is significant, its share in proportion of tropical wood in overall supply world tropical timber consumption is limited declined from 13% in 2007 to 8% in 2011. (1.8%, varying by product category from The greater part of the certified sawn tropical almost nothing for logs to 6.2% for veneers). hardwood in 2011 has the FSC certificate The consumption of tropical timber varies (209,075 m3). There were also 27,881 m3 significantly among European countries, but certified by the PEFC standard (ETTF 2012; on total European hardwood consumption, and figure 7 and 8). the contribution of tropical hardwoods is just 3.3% (cf. ITTO 2012). The UK, France, the Estimated growth of domestic markets Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain In many countries domestic trade and and Belgium import substantial volumes of consumption is a high proportion of total timber tropical sawn wood, veneers and plywood – production and comparable to exported volumes. The world population is expected to grow larger, up to 9 billion people in 2050. 40.7% Malaysia 22.0% Cameroon 74.8% Malaysia 10.4% Indonesia 9.7% Brazil 10.9% Cameroon 6.3% Congo Brazzaville 5.7% Indonesia 3.4% Gabon 3.6% Congo Brazzaville 1.4% Bolivia 1.4% Brasil 1.4% Ivory Coast 1.2% Congo Kinshasa 0.9% Congo Kinshasa 0.7% Gabon 0.2% Guyana and Suriname 0.6% Africa overall 1.4% Africa other 1.3% Asia other 0.4% Asia overall 1.1% Unknown 0.8% Unknown Figure 7. Origin of all tropical lumber traded in the Figure 8. Origin of legally verified tropical timber traded Netherlands. Source: Oldenburger et al. 2013 in the Netherlands. Source: Oldenburger et al. 2013 Europe North America Middle East Asia Pacic and North Africa Sub Saharan Africa Central and South America 100mn 2030 500mn 2009 1bn Sources: OECD, Standard Chartered Research Figure 9: Projected global middle class growth By 2030 we are looking at a projected global middle-class expansion will be accompanied middle class of some 4.9 billion people – more by increased purchasing power, while these than 2.5 times as many as today (figure 9). markets are not (yet) concerned about Of this growth roughly 85% will come from sustainability.