Pine Plantations of the South

Abstract

In the tropics and southern hemisphere, the total area of forest plantations was 50 million ha in 1990, of which 58% were non-industrial and 42% industrial plantations of hardwoods and softwoods. About 90% of the industrial softwood plantations have been established with pines from the northern hemisphere. The area of fast-growing industrial pine plantations in the southern hemisphere and tropics is almost eight million ha and the annual increment 140 million m³. Because of the young average age of the plantations, the annual cut is presently only 55–60% of the increment. The available cut is estimated to exceed 100 million m³ by 2000 and 150 million m³ in 2020. Compared to slow-grown boreal softwoods, fast-grown southern pine logs tend to produce inferior lumber, but tree breeding, pruning, product-oriented management and new processing technology will result in an improvement in the quality of both wood and end products. Although the areas of deforestation and afforestation rarely overlap, industrial forest plantations play an important role in the fight against environmental destruction.