The Vietnam country case study for the APFC review of logging bans posed the following questions in the introduction:
“Where will materials for forest industries come from to replace the wood volume previously exploited from natural forest? How much can the potential wood supply from planted forest be in the following years? Does the planted forest wood meet the need for wood of forest industries?”[10]
It is clear that plantations will play an increasingly
significant role in future timber supply. The answers to these and related
questions, however, will only be answered on a case-by-case basis as governments
and investors determine where and how plantations can be technically,
economically and socially feasible – as well as environmentally friendly.
In the near term, plantations in Asia-Pacific can contribute towards offsetting,
but not replacing, reductions in harvests from natural forests. It is likely
that for both the Asia-Pacific Region and globally that the current pace of
industrial plantation development will barely keep pace with losses from
deforestation and the additional transfer of natural forests to protected
status. Timber imports will increase, placing new demands on Asia-Pacific
suppliers who will need to demonstrate that they can provide sustainably
produced plantation timber. Economic development will also continue to stimulate
demand, adding significantly to consumption. Plantation development for
substantial increases in industrial wood, while theoretically possible, is
presently not sufficient to offset both growing consumption and declining
natural forest harvests.
