THE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF FOREST PLANTATIONS WITH EMPHASIS ON LATIN AMERICA

Abstract

As long as the demand for wood products is not reduced, these will more and more have to be produced in forest plantations. In the next century, without silvicultural plantations, a great shortage of wood will likely result. Currently the world-wide harvest of wood is from three main sources: 1) primary forest, 2) secondary forest, and 3) plantations. Each of these sources produces about a third of the global harvest now, but the plantations portion is increasing. In Latin America there has been a strong tendency to use exotic species in forest plantations, largely with great success. Recently there has been progress in research to analyse the favourable and unfavourable conditions for successful introduction of an exotic species. Our ability to predict beforehand the probability of problems has improved greatly with models which distinguish whether a species offers low, medium or high risk of invading a site if we introduce it as an exotic. Without a doubt, a massive programme of intensively cultivated plantations, utilising unforested, marginal lands, can supply a major part of the wood society needs, and other benefits as well, including a diminished pressure on native forests. A combination of intensively cultivated plantations, native forests under extensive management, and protected areas set aside for biodiversity and similar non-wood benefits is the model most likely to succeed during the next century.