INTERNATIONAL POPLAR COMMISSION 25th Session Berlin, Germany, 13- 16 September 2016 Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees - Renewable Resources for Future Green Economies Synthesis of Country Progress Reports - Activities Related to Poplar and Willow Cultivation and Utilization- 2012 through 2016 September 2016 Forestry Policy and Resources Division Working Paper IPC/15 Forestry Department FAO, Rome, Italy Disclaimer Twenty-one member countries of the IPC, and Moldova, the Russian Federation and Serbia, three non-member countries, have provided national progress reports to the 25th Session of the International Poplar Commission. A synthesis has been made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that summarizes issues, highlights status and identifies trends affecting the cultivation, management and utilization of poplars and willows in temperate and boreal regions of the world. Comments and feedback are welcome. For further information, please contact: Mr. Walter Kollert Secretary International Poplar Commission Forestry Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 1 I-00153 Rome Italy E-mail: [email protected] For quotation: FAO, 2016. Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees - Renewable Resources for Future Green Economies. Synthesis of Country Progress Reports. 25th Session of the International Poplar Commission, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, 13-16 September 2016. Working Paper IPC/15. Forestry Policy and Resources Division, FAO, Rome. http://www.fao.org/forestry/ipc2016/en/. Web references: For details relating to the International Poplar Commission as a Statutory Body of FAO, including National Poplar Commissions, working parties and initiatives can be viewed on http://www.fao.org/forestry/ipc/en/ ii INTERNATIONAL POPLAR COMMISSION 25th Session, Berlin, Germany, 13-16 September 2016 POPLARS AND OTHER FAST-GROWING TREES – RENEWABLE RESOURCES FOR FUTURE GREEN ECONOMIES Synthesis of Country Progress Reports Activities Related to Poplar and Willow Cultivation and Utilization, 2012 through 2016 September 2016 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This synthesis of Country Progress Reports is the product of National Poplar Commissions’ personnel, FAO Consultants and staff. It reflects the scope and diversity of information available on natural and planted forests and trees of poplars and willows from twenty-one IPC-member countries and three non-member countries. The efforts of the National Poplar Commissions’ personnel are duly recognized for submitting Country Progress Reports in compliance with the general textual and statistical guidelines, which facilitated preparation of the global synthesis. Mr Jim Carle and Ms. Michèle Millanès, FAO Consultants, provided excellent professional services in authorship, statistical compilation and editing services. To all persons who contributed to this publication the International Poplar Commission and its members express our sincere gratitude. iv FOREWORD Poplars and Willows have become significant resources in agriculture and forestry, which are ideally suited for supporting rural livelihoods, enhancing food security, alleviating poverty and contributing to sustainable development. They provide raw material supplies for industrial processing (pulp, paper, engineered wood products, plywood, veneer and other boards, sawn timber, packing crates, pallets, furniture and increasingly bioenergy) and valuable non-wood products (e.g. livestock fodder, medicinal extracts, food products). Poplars and Willows are highly valued for the provision of social and environmental services including shelter, shade and protection of soil, water, crops, livestock and dwellings. They are more and more used in phytoremediation of severely degraded sites, rehabilitation of fragile ecosystems, combating desertification and in forest landscape restoration. As fast growing species, they are effective at sequestering carbon and as carbon sinks, thus contributing to the adaptation to and mitigation of the effects of climate change. Twenty-one member countries of the International Poplar Commission (IPC), as well as three non- member countries (Moldova, Russian Federation, Serbia) submitted country reports in 20161 on Poplars and Willows in indigenous or planted forests, agroforestry production systems and as distinctive landscape components for protective, productive and multiple purposes. Most reports provided detailed information on topical issues, statistics, innovations and trends in Poplar and Willow culture and use. The total area of natural Poplars reported to the International Poplar Commission is over 54 million ha, of which 99% occur in the Russian Federation, Canada, the United States and China where they are managed primarily for multi-purposes (83%) and environmental protection (17%). The total area of planted Poplar reported in 2016 is 31.4 million ha, of which 18.3 million ha (58%) are managed for multi-purposes, 9.4 million ha (30%) planted primarily for wood production, 2.9 million ha (9%) for environmental protection and the balance of 0.9 million ha (3%) is managed for biomass production for fuelwood. The Canada and the Peoples’ Republic of China account for 96% of the world’s planted Poplar resources. The area of Willows is substantially smaller. Of the total reported area of 9.0 million ha of Willows, 95% were natural (8.6 million ha) and 5% (04 million ha) are classified as planted forests. This synthesis report was compiled from the available country progress reports and highlights status, innovations, issues and trends in regards to cultivation, management and utilization of Poplars and Willows. Another purpose is to draw the attention of policy makers, scientists, and producers to the rich diversity of expertise, knowledge and leadership documented in the various country reports. The synthesis report is complemented by a comprehensive listing of reference documents released during 2012 – 2016 by member countries (Working Paper IPC/16), encompassing more than 2000 technical publications. The synthesis report and list of publications are also available on the FAO website: www.fao.org/forestry/ipc. Walter Kollert Jim Carle Secretary FAO Consultant International Poplar Commission 1 Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Republic of Korea, Moldova, New Zealand, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United States of America. v SUMMARY OF HIGHLIGHTS AND ISSUES I POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK In general, it is noted, that the interest in the use of Poplars, Willows and other fast-growing species is increasing, as they combine the goals of bioenergy production and phytoremediation of polluted waters and soils. In the EU Poplar plantations were considered an agricultural rather than a forest crop. The area covered by traditional Poplar cultivation is continuously decreasing due to competition with other more profitable agricultural crops and with competitive Poplar products imported from other countries (Italy). As a reaction to this development, the Italian Poplar sector has launched a number of research programs to develop innovative uses for Poplars and to create new clones with higher resilience to salinity, drought and pests. Globally, many countries and the EU provide tax incentives or subsidies to promote the cultivation of Poplars and Willows. The collapse of the oil price in 2015/2016 slowed the development of the wood biomass production for the bioenergy sector. The adaptation to European policies focused efforts to mitigate climate change including review of the national strategy for renewable energy development by the heating and electricity companies which have stimulated the establishment of Short-Rotation Coppice (SRC) Poplar in recent years. However, the EU regulations needed to revisit the production of electrical energy from renewable biomass production and use of wood residues, including production of wood biomass feedstock from Poplars and Willows to ensure there was an enabling policy framework. Mitigation of climate change by increasing carbon sinks through afforestation and reforestation provided good opportunities for the use of fast growing Poplar species for carbon sequestration and a valuable wood resource for the wood industry. If Poplars are to significantly contribute to climate change mitigation, reforestation and afforestation with appropriate species/clones linked to site conditions, improved tree breeding and silviculture, will be necessary. Biomass production with Willows, Aspens and Poplars on agricultural land played a key role in achieving greenhouse gas emission objectives, including ambitious targets for renewable energy. In some EU countries the conservation and sustainable management of black Poplar has been integrated into national strategies for the conservation of biodiversity and of threatened forest genetic resources. In the EU the generally recognized capability of sustainable biomass production by SRC is not sufficiently supported by regulations and policies. In parallel, research funding for fast- growing tree species in SRCs was massively scaled down as business interest faded and newly declared research projects were no longer approved. Fast-growing plantation tree species such as Poplars provided the raw materials to the wood industries sector as substitute for harvesting from natural forests or imported wood products. Fast-growing trees are considered an environmentally