This report was the first output of the project Hardwood Plantations in the Tropics and Subtropics (GCP/INT/628/UK), funded by the United Kingdom and executed by FAO. The overall aim of this project was to contribute to regional and global planning of timber (specifically hardwood timber) supplies in the medium-term. This study covered the areas of forest plantations of all species in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Data on tropical forest plantations were presented in FAO Forestry Paper 128 Forest resources assessment 1990: tropical forest plantation resources (FAO 1995).
The total gross area of plantations in 89 tropical and sub-tropical countries was estimated in 1995 at 70.85 million hectares, of which 42.1 million hectares (59.4%) were in the tropical and 28.8 million hectares (40.6%) in sub-tropical countries. Of the net area, 56.3 million hectares, 32.3 million hectares were hardwood plantations and 24.0 million hectares softwood plantations. The majority of forest plantations in tropical and sub-tropical countries were in Asia (76.3%). Plantations in South America (14.1%) and Africa (9.6%) comprised the remainder. More than 80 % of non-industrial plantations were in Asia.
Tropical and sub-tropical plantation areas were dominated by two genera: Eucalyptus and Pinus. Eucalyptus accounted for 31.9% of the hardwood plantation net area. Other important species included Acacia spp., Tectona grandis, and Gmelina arborea. There was a broad range (more than 100) of species utilised in plantations. The significance of minor species in total plantations was evidenced by the area of species classified as "Other hardwoods", which totalled 40.8%.
China has the largest plantation area of 21.4 million hectares. The second largest area reported was from India of 20.3 million hectares. The next largest forest plantation estates were Indonesia, Brazil and Viet Nam. There were around 6 million hectares of Chinese softwood plantings of Cunninghamia lanceolata. This species was not planted on a large scale elsewhere, but the widespread Chinese plantings made it one of the world’s most extensively planted species. Among the softwood species the fast growing pines (Pinus radiata, P. patula, P. caribaea, P. elliottii and P. oocarpa) occupied about 25% of the area whereas other pines (P. kesiya, P. massoniana, P. merkusii, P. roxburghii, P. halepansis, P. maritime, P. wallichiana) covered about 36%. Leucaena spp. and similar multi-purpose and fodder species comprised a significant proportion of “Other hardwoods”.
Eucalyptus species were planted extensively throughout the tropics and particularly in sub-tropical regions. The countries with the largest Eucalyptus plantation resources were India (3.1 million hectares), Brazil (2.7 million hectares), China (670,000 hectares), South Africa (557,000 hectares) and Viet Nam (483,000 hectares) and they accounted for 73% of the Eucalyptus resource.
Other species were less widely distributed. Acacias were planted mainly in Africa, Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent. Teak (Tectona grandis) was predominantly grown in South-East Asia, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and in Africa, while Indonesia and Fiji had the largest introduced mahogany plantations (Swietenia macrophylla). About 95% of rosewood plantations (Dahlbergia sissoo) are located in India and Pakistan while Nepal and Bangladesh made up an additional 4%. Small plantations of this species were found in tropical Africa, in Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
