Forest Plantations

Forest plantations are a controversial source of wood for the forest and paper industries. Whilst plantations can yield benefits for the local economy, environment and local communities, in some situations plantations have caused environmental and social problems.

In many parts of the world the development of plantations has sparked off serious conflict with local people, especially where they have been deprived of the land on which their livelihoods were based. Examples of this are found in Brazil and Thailand.

There are cases where plantations have replaced habitats rich in biodiversity. In Indonesia for example, where pulp production has more than quadrupled in the last decade, more than 1.4 million hectares of natural forest have been replaced by plantations. Satellite data showed that 80 percent of the fires that burned over 2 million hectares of Indonesian forest in 1997 and 1998 were set mainly to clear land for plantations of palm oil and pulpwood. In other cases natural grassland ecosystems have been lost.

Plantations frequently reduce water yields thus leaving less water available to other users. Large plantations often reduce stream flow during the dry season.Where there is abundant rainfall, and the tree species is carefully selected the effect of plantations on water yield may be insignificant.

In other situations plantations have been established where the environment and climate do not favour them. The serious fires in Portugal in the summer of 2003 destroyed over 10% of Portugal's forests. The most seriously affected were the man made plantations, which through their location and design actually encouraged the fires to advance, and increased the destruction of various important wildlife habitats including rare bird breeding sites. The more natural forests of cork oak, which is better suited to the climate and the incidence of fires were able to survive without serious damage.

However there are some positive aspects. In certain situations plantations help to enrich biodiversity, for example when they are established on derelict or abandoned agricultural land. Plantation design and the use of biodiversity "corridors" can also improve the levels of biodiversity in and around the plantations, and preserve important animal, bird and plant habitats.

It is clear therefore that not all plantations are bad. Nor are all plantations good. Currently the only guarantee that the best techniques of plantation design and management have been applied, and that local people have been fully and fairly involved, is to buy paper products which come from forest plantations that are FSC certified. It is also clear that as our scientific knowledge advances, further improvements in plantation design and management will be made. Improved efforts will need to be made to involve local people. This will be reflected in the development of FSC certification. (source)