6. Global ownership of plantations

In the Southern Hemisphere, there is a trend away from government development and ownership of plantations to ownership by processing companies, landowners and individual investors. The plantation ownership in South America is mostly private. Parts of Asia, on the other hand, maintain high levels of public ownership and this is likely to continue due to different political objectives (Table 4). Private ownership of plantations is, however, on the increase in all regions.

Table 4: Global industrial plantations at a glance by FAO statistical regions

	Africa	North Central America	South America	Asia	Europe Former USSR	Oceania	World
Industrial Plantation Area (103 ha.)	3.9	24.2	7.8	30.1	47.1	2.8	115.9
Total Effective Area (103 ha.)	1.4	24.2	7.5	11.2	47.1	2.5	93.9
Plantation area suitable for commercial wood production (%)	36	100	96	37	100	89	81
Species planted (% softwood: % hardwood)	50:50	98:2	53:47	31:69	88:12	90:10	71:29
Ownership levels (% public: % private)	n.a.	60:40	0:100	n.a.	50:50	33:67	n.a.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia 1999

n.a: not available