A woman turns to a forester called Philip, who is sitting next to her on an aeroplane, and asks genially, “So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a forester,” he says. Her expression darkens, and Philip realises he’s in trouble − yet again. Doesn’t he know that plantations are disastrous for the environment, she says heatedly, giving him a host of reasons he’s heard only too often before. He tries to respond, but she’s having none of it. Eventually, he goes to sit elsewhere on the plane. (Yes, this is a true story!)
The Dolphin Bay Brief interviewed several foresters for this story, and all expressed their frustration with the public disapproval they often encounter. In this story, Philip, other foresters and several industry leaders put the record straight, relaying the information Philip tried in vain to convey on that ‘plane.
The truth, they say, is that forestry is one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly of land uses, and foresters go the extra mile. Why?
There’s a vast amount of technical detail, but it’s largely instigated by foresters’ priorities. They choose their jobs because they love the outdoors, and typically have hobbies like hiking, mountain biking and more that feed their love of nature. “All foresters are conservationists,” says Philip vehemently, a refrain that every forester we interviewed echoes, unbidden.
“I have yet to meet anyone in forestry who’s not deeply passionate about the natural environment and the resources they work with,” observed Ronald Heath, Research and Protection Director at Forestry South Africa. In our experience, this rings true.
What, exactly, are these nature-loving foresters up to?
Conserving indigenous forests
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, South Africa’s indigenous forests were over-exploited. Their slow-growing trees could not provide the volumes of timber people needed.
The first foresters, who were conservationists employed by government, began creating an industry out of exotics both to save the native forest and to supply the demand for timber.
These days, many tracts of indigenous forest are preserved within commercial forestry land as part of the industry’s conservation efforts. “Protected from fires, some of these tracts are thought to be expanding,” pointed out Ronald.
“All foresters are conservationists,” says Philip vehemently, a refrain that every forester we interviewed echoes, unbidden.
South African foresters are pioneers, having had to create their plantations from scratch. Most countries with a substantial forestry industry – think Australia, the United States, Canada and Scandinavian countries – have large indigenous forests of pine, eucalyptus or other species that grow fast enough for commercial purposes.
In managing South African plantations, the industry developed wide-ranging standards to ensure its sustainability, which have advanced dramatically in recent decades. In the previous century, there were few laws governing where forests could be planted. Trees were grown alongside water courses and other areas where their growth is now prohibited. These days, forestry is governed by a suite of national legislation. In complying with these laws and international forestry standards, the forestry industry’s environmental efforts have advanced dramatically.
High standards
“In forestry, we live and die by Forest Stewardship Council certification,” said a forester known to Dolphin Bay. “It’s a fantastic certification … Whether you want to sell your timber locally or export it, most buyers won’t take it if you’re not FSC-certified.”
“In South Africa, 80% of all forestry companies are FSC-certified,” pointed out Hlengiwe Ndlovu, chairperson of the FSA’s Environmental Management Committee. “The remaining 20% consists largely of small growers.”
These small growers are operating legally, she added, by complying with local legislation: they supply timber to the larger growers, who are obliged to ensure their supply chain respects the rules.
The extensive FSC requirements include that national legislation must be satisfied and that 10% of forestry land must be dedicated to conservation. In reality, the figure is 25% – 35% in the local industry.
This conserved land is identified in a land-use map, which outlines how various areas in a plantation should be managed, based on their natural characteristics. There are several categories of conserved land, including areas identified and conserved for their ecological importance, as legislation requires; networks of conservation corridors running both along and across contours, to allow movement of species; and a 20m boundary around the highest temporary edge of all wetlands, rivers, and streams, as legislation requires.
“This leaves large corridors around rivers and wetlands,” pointed out Hlengiwe.
To keep their FSC certification, forestry companies must conduct their own internal audits every year. FSC inspectors also conduct annual audits.
There is another standard, the Sustainable African Forestry Assurance Scheme (SAFAS). The criteria within the two are fundamentally the same, explains Hlengiwe.
Forests are not green deserts
Plantation forests do not contain the biodiversity of indigenous forests. Nevertheless, the common claim that they are “green deserts” is an unfortunate misconception, said Hlengiwe. Oribi, samango monkeys, aardvark and rodents are among the animals found living in plantations or moving between them and the indigenous vegetation. Jackal are found, and sightings of leopard have been confirmed.
“You find many rare and threatened species within forestry land,” says Hlengiwe. “Sappi has recorded more than 30 of these species.”
They included the long-toed tree frog in a wetland within a plantation, the Pennington’s protea butterfly, and the Karkloof blue butterfly.
Forestry companies declare areas with high or unique biodiversity to be Formally Protected Areas (FPAs), as described by the National Environment Management Protected Areas Act. These areas are managed in partnerships between landowners, provincial conservation authorities and non-government organisations.
“For example, we’ve declared a nature reserve on a certain portion of Sappi land because it’s a breeding site for the endangered blue swallow, which nests in mist-belt grassland,” says Hlengiwe. Sappi has six other such reserves.
“If you don’t have the habitat, you don’t have the bird. We manage habitats, not species.”
Water efficiency
Plantations are often slated as “water guzzlers” – another misconception that foresters pointed out. Commercial forests are not irrigated, and forestry uses only about 5% of the total water used by the irrigated agricultural sector alone while contributing about 27% of its GDP, wrote Forestry SA Executive Director Michael Peter in a recent article.
The forestry industry tills the soil and applies fertilisers and pesticides at a small fraction of the rate of other sectors. “So the quality of water coming out of plantations is orders of magnitude better, both in terms of siltation and the presence of pollutants, than that from almost every other land use in the country,” wrote Michael.
Landowners cannot choose to grow forestry trees without a water licence, and forestry is classed as a “streamflow reduction activity” so plantation landowners, unlike farmers, must pay for their water usage. This, despite the fact that their trees rely on rainfall, rather than irrigation.
“We’re receiving bills for the rain,” observed one industry insider wryly.
Plantation trees are “some of the most water-efficient species we have on the planet,” said Prof Ben du Toit, Associate Professor of Forest and Wood Science of Stellenbosch University.
Other foresters, too, pointed to the efficiency of plantation species. Plantations are situated on relatively poor soil, as areas with the most fertile soil are kept for agriculture – “rightfully, as food security is crucial”, they acknowledged. Nevertheless, plantations produce far more timber per hectare than the yield per hectare from maize or any other agricultural crop.
“When we consider the biomass produced for the water used, it’s quite an efficient system,” one of our sources observed.
“I did say at the start of this interview that I’d be biased,” laughed Hlengiwe, “but that bias is based on experience. In the FSA environmental management committee, the environmental managers from all the forestry companies sit together to work through issues and collaborate. We’re really trying to get a grasp of what else is out there, that we could be doing better.”
Substantial resources are devoted to environmental concerns, she added. “At Sappi, I have a team of five scientists working with me, including aquatic scientists and conservation biologists. Other forestry companies have similar team specialists working with them to drive environmental sustainability. We don’t just make the claims; we commit the resources and do the work.
“Forestry is an environmentally sustainable industry.”
Feature image: forestry landscape showing areas under plantation, indigenous forest, biodiversity corridors and open grasslands. Credit: Samora Chapman/PAMSA.
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