RUNNING HEAD: NATURAL RESOURCES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies of forest products in the UK

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Wood is a resource that is extremely vital to humanity, similar to water and food. Natural forests have an enormous environmental value since it is from them that wood is harvested. However, forests are slow- growing and therefore, unable to meet the present demand. This consequently leads to degradation and loss of forests. Plantation forests possess the potential to meet the majority of wood needs on long- term basis, and therefore, reduce natural forests’ harvest pressures. It is worth noting that for this to be successful; plantation forests should have an extremely higher timber yield than natural forests. This can only be achieved in biotechnology is applied to the process of tree improvement (Boyle, 1999).  This requires more private and public capital investment. Plantation forests are necessary in order to meet the increasing wood demand in UK.

Wood has remarkable structural and physical properties which renders it immensely valuable since time immemorial. Furthermore, there no any other large- scale alternative that is environmentally acceptable. Wood is regarded as extremely vital to the human communities and global economy. However, the pressures of growing demand and human development have led to natural forests degradation globally, creating a future supply dilemma.

Unfortunately, there exists considerable confusion and uncertainty in literature in regard to wood consumption data and degradation in UK. This has consequently led to lack of agreement on how the remaining natural forest resources can be preserved. For instance, the forest area has variously been estimated to be 302 to 3.9 billion hectares. In addition, it is uncertain how much the wood harvest is globally, and what harvest can be sustained by the world forest. Maybe appropriately eighty percent of the entire forest area is used for human activity, with most of the rest twenty percent under immediate threat. It is difficult to estimate the amount of wood that UK uses since the available data gives crude estimates. Moreover, enormous discrepancies are evident.

The demand for wood is growing in UK by approximately 1.7% yearly, with extremely uneven harvest pressures. The timber extraction maximum sustainable rate from natural forests is possibly as low as 2 m3 ha-1yr-1 (Sedjo, 2001).  The current demand for wood in UK is higher than what can be supplied, which has contributed to the huge degradation.

There has been no or little recent change in UK since deforestation remains a serious concern. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), the global deforestation rate is 0.2 percent annually. This can be translated in to 96 million hectares net loss of forests. Having lost 161 million ha through deforestation was offset somehow by reforestation (15 million ha), expanding natural forests (35 million ha) and afforestation (15 million ha) (Sedjo, 2001).  Such trends are extremely critical since they cause reduces natural forests’ wood supply, particularly considering that there is a decline of natural forest productivity rate. Moreover, there is insufficient management interventions and overexploitation.

Wood fibers global demand has complemented the increased demand for timber products and round wood. The industry alone requires 1.9 million m3 annually by 2015. According to Sedjo (2001), to ensure that fiber future demand is met, fast- growing plantations can be relied. This leads to a focus on plantations for producing pulp wood due to their vast environmental concern and economic competitiveness.

Globally, people who live on less a dollar daily are equal to the 2 billion people who never access commercial energy. In 2004, the World Bank reported that 575 million people rely on wood fuels as the sole energy source in Sub-Saharan Africa (South, 1999).  The 2050 Global Vision for Forest Project purposes to have a 3 billion ha closed- forest area by 2050. The project is composed of donor institutions, industry representatives, NGOs and leading experts. The result is increased community- managed and owned forests, as well as an escalation of protected areas. The World Bank will be impacted on significantly by these developments, equal to development partners who can involve in forest management so as to formulate feasible solutions to the challenges.

The first World Bank rationale to involve in the forestry department in 1970s was aimed at solving the global reducing wood supply, as well as the rural poor dependence on wood energy. To fulfill this mission, projects encouraged forest plantations that were industrial-scale, with a keen emphasis on components for forest engineering. The components include establishing plantations, fast- growing species and plant breeding. During this period,  forest service was given a controlling and policing role, forest laws enforcement with the key goal of ensuring people keep away from state-owned plantations and forest reserves.

During the 1980s, there was a shift where participation was majorly by the community and stakeholders. The World Bank emphasized the need for community mobilization so as to stabilize forest resources and in addition, improve forest-dependent communities’ income. In the 1990s, the Bank operational activities and forest policy of World Bank focused on biodiversity conservation projects (South, 1999). This was after strong criticism from environmental NGOs who thought that the World Bank investments as solid contributors to the dynamics of forest management. This led to reduced engagement of the bank in productive forest management. The current policy was adopted in 2002, and it offers the chance to re- involve in industrial- scale forest supervision.

Several factors render the forest sector decision making vulnerable to several uncertainties. Forestry cannot be isolated from the environment. In addition, many economic and political conditions shape this sector, and are largely beyond the control. It is therefore, essential that the operating environment linkages are understood in the sector’s external impacts, and its’ decision’s consequences are to be met.

Genetic engineering possesses the potential to increase wood production in UK. To ensure reduced levels of deforestation globally, wood consumption should be brought to an equal level with sustainable supply. To achieve this, consumption can either be reduced, increased or both. Considering wood use globally, the impacts of reducing its use should be carefully considered. This is because non-renewable materials might be used as the substitute and lead to negative environmental impact (South, 1999).

Many cultures have strong attachments to forests and the concern over deforestation had led to formation of environmental groups. The groups encourage people from developed nations to utilize less paper and wood. For UK to ensure it has the wood required for long-term sustenance there should be high investment in short- rotation and high- yielding plantation forests. To achieve this, biotechnology is extremely essential.

In conclusion, alternatives are necessary to ensure the demand for wood is met in UK. Farming tree plantations that are composed of elite, fast- growing genotypes can act as an alternative. The alternative timber supply can substantially reduce wild forest harvest pressures, and therefore, their development to global sustainability is necessary.

References

Boyle, J.R. (1999). Planted forests: views and viewpoints.New Forest, Vol.17, 5€“9.

Sedjo, R.A. (2001).From foraging to cropping: the transition to plantation forestry, and   implications for wood supply and demand.Unasylva, Vol.52, 24€“27.

Sedjo, R.A. (2001). The role of forest plantations in the world’s future timber supply. Forest    Chron., Vol.77, 221€“225.

South, D.B. (1999). How can we feign sustainability with an increasing population? Forest,      Vol.17, 193€“212.