The United Nations International Day of Forests on 21 March 2017 will be marked by Forestry South Africa with the launch of an information and illustration-rich website, ‘Forestry Explained’. The International Day of Forests is about celebrating all forests, indigenous and commercial.      

Commercial forests are often forgotten despite the fact that they touch our lives in a myriad of ways. “From roof trusses and benches, to paper, packaging and tissue and the cellulose used in food and medicine, fibre from commercially grown trees plays an integral part in everyday life,” says Forestry South Africa executive director Michael Peter. “If we were to remove wood and paper-based products from our daily routines, we would soon appreciate the important function they perform.”

An indispensable sector

He adds that there is also more to forestry than planting and harvesting trees. “Thorough research, planning and management goes into keeping trees, and the land on which they grow, healthy and productive. The sector also provides jobs and supports communities.” Add to this the diverse animal and plant species that call forestry-owned land home, and you have an environmetally conscious sector that delivers an array of renewable, carbon neutral and versatile end-products.

At a local and personal level, forestry touches people – through the products they use every day without even knowing it – and communities, through education and skills development. Forestry also has a positive influence on climate change mitigation, provides a sustainable alternative to the deforestation of natural forests and is a renewable source of energy and construction materials.

One-stop guide to forestry

The new portal www.forestryexplained.co.za offers itself as ‘a beginner’s guide to forestry in South Africa’ and caters for users of all ages. It covers the basics of forestry and forest products, and everything from water-use to recreation, pest control, ownership and end-uses.

This one-stop resource offers in-depth but easy-to-read content supported by well-illustrated infographics and additional links for those who want to explore the industry further. It is ideal for learners and teachers.

Sustainably managed commercial forests should be celebrated for the benefits they bring to our daily life. To do this we need to understand them and the complex ecosystems that they are. Forestry Explained does this. It’s well worth a visit.

The Forestry Explained website supplements Forestry South Africa’s long-standing online directory platform www.forestry.co.za.

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The theme of the 2017 United Nations International Day of Forests (IDF) is Forests and Energy. Heralded annually, it shares the day with South Africa’s Human Rights Day. The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) is proud to represent the global forest products industry, which plays an important role in contributing to the production of renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels by using wood manufacturing residuals, byproducts and forest residues – collectively known as biomass – to produce much of the energy required for its operations.

The South African sector is represented through the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA). Jane Molony, PAMSA executive director and ICFPA vice chair, says that the local pulp and paper sector is in some instances totally self-sufficient and has additional power to sell into the grid. “This energy, by virtue of the cogeneration process and biomass based lignin content in black liquor, uses less water and emits less CO2 than regular coal based power production. This is why PAMSA finds it particularly galling that the Department of Energy’s recently published draft Integrated Resource Plan for energy excludes cogeneration as a viable, green technology.”

According to the international carbon accounting principle, when combusted for energy, biomass does not contribute to global climate change as growing trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis. The ICFPA reiterates the carbon neutrality of biomass in a policy statement: http://www.icfpa.org/uploads/Modules/Publications/icfpa-statement-on-biomass-carbon-neutrality.pdf.

“The forest-based industry also can substitute for a wide range of fossil fuel-based products on the market, hence providing additional climate benefits as well as welfare to society,” said ICFPA President Elizabeth de Carvalhaes.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, wood provides the world with roughly 40 percent of current global renewable energy supply – more than solar, hydroelectric or wind power. Sustainably-managed forests have a key role in meeting several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and providing solutions for a growing green economy.

To increase the role of forests in providing renewable energy and to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the forest-based industry invests in technological innovation and sustainably-managed forests to improve yields and practices. In the past ten years, the energy share of biomass and other renewable fuels has increased from 53 to 63 percent.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org.

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The words of Greenpeace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore are a good point of departure: “We should be growing more trees and using more wood. If [those] land owners had no market for wood, they would clear the forest away and grow something else they could make money from instead. When you go into a lumber (wood) yard, you are given the impression that by buying wood you are causing the forest to be lost, when in fact what you are doing is sending a signal into the market to plant more trees.”

Given that in South Africa, paper is made from farmed trees, we can easily replace the word ‘wood’ above with paper.

Paper goes beyond common A4 printer paper from which the flawed antidote of “paperless” has emerged.

Paper includes packaging – from the boxes in which computer equipment is protected during shipment to the box that teabags come in; from your morning cereal, to the label on the coffee jar, to the bag of sugar and to the milk carton; from the tissue box to the bag and box that contained your takeaway lunch. It also includes books, magazines and newspapers. And then the important things like toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towel, feminine hygiene and diapers.

I won’t even go into the number of fibre-based, cellulosic innovations that are set to rival fossil-based materials.

Paper saves forests

South African paper products are produced from a renewable resource, in the form of:

• Wood pulp from trees farmed sustainably managed timber plantations (not from the wood of indigenous trees)
• Recycled paper fibre
• Bagasse (byproduct from sugar cane processing)

Just like most industries, paper manufacturing has an impact on the environment, but this is mitigated through the carbon sequestration by plantations, and the release of oxygen; the use of biomass-based renewable energy (derived from by-products of the papermaking process), emission reduction and water recycling initiatives, biodiversity conservation at plantation level as well as the promotion of paper recovery and recycling.

Carbon capture

In papermaking, the timber is chipped, pulped and paper is made and converted into countless products that we connect with all day, every day – in the kitchen and bathroom, at the office, at the supermarket and while travelling.

Through the papermaking process, carbon (from the CO2 absorbed by the trees) remains locked up and out of the atmosphere. And by recycling paper, we keep this carbon locked up. Destined for landfill – a compact, anaerobic environment – paper (mixed with other waste) will degrade and release gases such as methane which is 25 times more potent than CO2.

While there is no doubt that digital technologies offer security, integration, immediacy and convenience, using the mantra of “saving forests” to promote digital means needs to stop. Because it is simply untrue.

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Forests – in all forms – are essential to life on our planet. They provide clean air, water and climate regulation. As a renewable resource, forests are an important part of the solution to meeting global needs for foods, fuel, fibre, medicine and other essential products to our daily lives.

The global forest products industry is inherently renewable. ICFPA members are committed to sustainable forest management with some 300 million hectares of certified areas from which is sourced a significant amount of wood fibre used by the industry.
“By following best practices, well-managed forests of all types are a positively contribution to the provision of distinct products and services that are essential for human well-being and development. Thus our industry is helping to alleviate climate change impacts while provides social inclusion”, said ICFPA president Elizabeth de Carvalhaes.

“South Africa’s pulp and papermaking industry is built on the country’s large plantation forest industry, explains Jane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) which is represented on the ICFPA. “Our plantations are managed in a sustainable manner, which means that as one tree is felled in one part of the forest, another is planted in another area. This ensures that the supply of trees for pulp and paper making is renewed into the future.”

Molony adds that trees are the source for thousands of products – from traditional products such as timber, pulp and paper and biomass energy to liquid biofuels, biochemicals, biomaterials, nanofibres or nanocrystals of cellulose to improve products used in such applications as automobiles, aerospace, defence, etc.

ICFPA is proud to represent the contributions of the global forest products industry to sustainable development, ensuring that environmental, social and economic benefits are available to current and future generations.

The 2015 ICFPA Sustainability Progress Report highlights the industry’s improvements across a range of sustainability indicators and focuses on the industry’s contributions toward a green economy, including the reduction on Greenhouse gas emissions intensity, the uptake in certified sustainably managed forests and a high paper recycling rate.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and half of global wood production.

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org.

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“Our industry creates products that people around the world use and need,” said Mark Gardner, president and CEO of Sappi North America, who chaired the roundtable. “Coming together and sharing best practices, ideas and insights allows us all to continue to make sustainable products for generations to come.”

The CEOs discussed industry improvements in sustainability practices and innovation as well as global developments in manufacturing, marketing, products and workforce. Keynote speaker Joey Reiman provided insights about using purpose to create a brighter future and lasting legacy for the industry.

The CEOs endorsed the Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award initiative, which aims to reposition the global forest products sector, renew its image, and create interest in the industry as a future workplace.

South African organisation Pamsa, a member of ICFPA, are proud to already have an extensive pre-competitive research and development programme run through their Process Research Unit (PRU). “Their role is to do innovative pre-competitive ‘building block’ type research which individual companies can then develop further to create competitive products and innovation,” says Jane Molony Pamsa’s executive director.

At the same time PAMSA’s PRU produces masters and PhD students who can then further the aims of reinventing the industry through innovation. PAMSA looks forward to having students compete for the Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award

The next ICFPA International CEO Roundtable will take place in Berlin, Germany in 2017.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and half of global wood production.

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org.

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The full report is available at http://www.icfpa.org/uploads/Modules/Publications/2015-icfpa-sustainability-progress-report.pdf.

“We are proud of the significant progress our global industry has made on our sustainability commitments,” said ICFPA President Donna Harman. “We look forward to continuing to manufacture sustainable products that people use and need while contributing to the well-being of communities around the world.”

The South African pulp and paper sector has made significant energy efficiency improvements. “We have decreased our carbon intensity by in excess of 20%, over a ten year period,” says Jane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (Pamsa). “The use of renewable biomass-based energy has also resulted in the avoidance of 1.3 million tonnes of fossil fuels and the associated carbon emissions by our sector. Add to this an annual sequestration rate of 20 million tonnes of CO₂ by the country’s timber plantations, and you have a truly sustainable industry,” adds Molony.

The association works closely with industry to support government’s efforts to increase renewables in the energy mix. Recently, the Ngodwana Energy Biomass Project, a Sappi-led initiative, was announced as a preferred bidder in the Department of Energy’s fourth window Renewable Independent Power Producers Producer Programme (REIPPPP). This will see the establishment of a 25MW biomass project that will be fed by local plantation biomass.

The global sustainability performance of the forest product industry is improving, with all aggregate indicators for reporting associations showing progress:

• Greenhouse gas emissions intensity was reduced by 17% between 2005 and 2013.
• The share of bio-energy in the industry’s fuel mix increased by 8 percentage points, to 61%, since 2005.
• The number of hectares certified to a third-party sustainable forest management certification system increased by 41 percentage points, to 52% of wood supply, since 2000.
• The global paper recycling rate increased by 11 percentage points, to 58%, between 2001 and 2013.

• Onsite energy intensity was reduced by 4.3% between 2005 and 2013.

• Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions decreased by 40% between 2005 and 2013.
• Employees’ recordable incident rate decreased by 9% between 2007 and 2013.

In addition to reporting on performance, the Sustainability Progress Report illustrates how the forest and paper industry is supporting a green economy through resource efficiency, carbon sequestration, innovative technologies, bio-based products, and benefiting communities.

Contributing to the 2015 report are forest and paper industry associations from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and half of global wood production.

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org.

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 The ICFPA’s Statement on Climate Change is available at: http://www.icfpa.org/uploads/Modules/Publications/icfpa-statement-on-climate-change.pdf

“Trees, especially those in well-managed forests, absorb carbon dioxide,” said ICFPA President Donna Harman. “Carbon dioxide remains stored when trees are used to make forest products, and that storage can be prolonged through recycling.”

Renewable energy producer

In addition, the forest products industry plays an important role in contributing to the production of renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels by using residuals and byproducts to produce much of the energy required for its operations. These residuals and byproducts, known as biomass, are carbon neutral when combusted for energy, according to the international carbon accounting principle.

South African context

The South African forestry sector plants an average of 260 000 trees daily. Some 600-million trees are grown across 762 000 hectares specifically for pulp and paper manufacturing. These plantations are among the world’s best in terms of sustainable forestry management and include biodiversity-rich conservation areas and grasslands as part of the managed area.

The local paper value chain employs 149 000 people from planting trees, manufacturing paper and sorting and processing paper for recycling. “The forest products industry is providing a wide range of renewable bio-based products that are used by homes and businesses on a daily basis,” says Jane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and half of global wood production.

More information

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org. Information on the South African sector can be found at paperstory.co.za.

The post International Day of Forests – The Paper Story (PAMSA) first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

In the comprehensive study, scientists from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and the University of Washington’s College of the Environment evaluated a range of scenarios, including leaving forests untouched, burning wood for energy, and using various solid wood products for construction.

The researchers calculated that the amount of wood harvested globally each year (3.4 billion cubic meters) is equivalent to only about 20 percent of annual wood growth (17 billion cubic metres), and much of that harvest is burned inefficiently for cooking. They found that increasing the wood harvest to the equivalent of 34% or more of annual wood growth would have profound and positive effects:

• Between 14% and 31% of global CO₂ emissions could be avoided by preventing emissions related to steel and concrete; by storing CO₂ in the cellulose and lignin of wood products; and other factors.
• About 12% to 19% of annual global fossil fuel consumption would be saved including savings achieved because scrap wood and unsellable materials could be burned for energy, replacing fossil fuel consumption.
• Wood-based construction consumes much less energy than concrete or steel construction. Through efficient harvesting and product use, more CO₂ is saved through the avoided emissions, materials, and wood energy than is lost from the harvested forest.

“This study shows still another reason to appreciate forests — and another reason to not let them be permanently cleared for agriculture,” said Chadwick Oliver, the Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, director of the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry at F&ES and lead author of the new study. “Forest harvest creates a temporary opening that is needed by forest species such as butterflies and some birds and deer before it regrows to large trees. But conversion to agriculture is a permanent loss of all forest biodiversity.”

The manufacture of steel, concrete, and brick accounts for about 16 percent of global fossil fuel consumption. When the transport and assembly of steel, concrete, and brick products is considered, its share of fossil fuel burning is closer to 20% to 30%, Oliver said.

Reductions in fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions from construction will become increasingly critical as demand for new buildings, bridges and other infrastructure is expected to surge worldwide in the coming decades with economic development in Asia, Africa, and South America, according to a previous F&ES study. And innovative construction techniques are now making wood even more effective in bridges and mid-rise apartment buildings.

According to Oliver, carefully managed harvesting also reduces the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires. And maintaining a mix of forest habitats and densities in non-reserved forests — in addition to keeping some global forests in reserves — would help preserve biodiversity in ecosystems worldwide, Oliver said. About 12.5% of the world’s forests are currently located in reserves.

“Forests historically have had a diversity of habitats that different species need,” Oliver said. “This diversity can be maintained by harvesting some of the forest growth. And the harvested wood will save fossil fuel and CO₂ and provide jobs — giving local people more reason to keep the forests.”

• JOURNAL REFERENCE: Chadwick Dearing Oliver, Nedal T. Nassar, Bruce R. Lippke, James B. McCarter. Carbon, Fossil Fuel, and Biodiversity Mitigation With Wood and Forests. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 2014; 33 (3): 248 DOI: 10.1080/10549811.2013.839386

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

The post Using More Wood for Construction Can Slash Global Reliance on Fossil Fuels first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

For centuries, forests have enabled humans to make products to improve their lives and meet their needs. Forests are renewable.  Even in today’s rapidly changing world, forestry is part of the solution to meeting global needs for food, fuel, paper, wood, medicines and other necessary products that improve quality of life for this generation and for those to come. 

ICFPA members support sustainable forest management around the world and are committed to using forest management and manufacturing practices that meet environmental, social, and economic objectives.

“Sustainable forest management is a key strategy and development opportunity,” said ICFPA President Donna Harman. “It enables our industry to leverage the multiple benefits of forests and forest products while meeting the world’s growing demand for forest fiber.”

The global forest products industry also is committed to fighting illegal logging and associated international trade in illegally harvested wood around the world. ICFPA members work with governments, environmental organizations and community groups to implement policies and laws that aim to stop the import and trade of timber that is harvested in violation of respective country laws.

Finally, the ICFPA’s 4^th Sustainability Progress Report (2013) highlights the industry’s progress on a number of key sustainability indicators including the uptake in certified sustainably managed forests, reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity, the significant share of carbon neutral biomass energy in the fuel mix and a high paper recycling rate.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent nearly 90 percent of global paper production and 60 percent of global wood production.

The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa is one of the associations that supports the global effort to promote the sustainable management of forests and timber plantations.

For more information about the sustainability of the forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org and www.thepaperstory.co.za.

March 20, 2014

CONTACT: Katharine Eaton

(202) 463-2436, comm@afandpa.org

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World Environment Day is one of the days in the year where we receive a flood of ‘green’ messages about saving precious resources such as water and energy, buying less and recycling more and living in a sustainable way so we can ensure the health of our planet. While a number of these messages are well meaning, there are certain messages that perpetuate long-held misconceptions about the paper industry: that paper kills trees and that our paper consumption threatens rainforests.

The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) would like to set the record straight for the South African context with the following facts:

Paper is made from farmed trees.

• All paper in South Africa is produced from plantation-grown trees, recycled paper or bagasse (sugar cane fibre).  Plantation-grown trees are farmed for paper, just as maize is planted for cereals and wheat for bread.
• Our fibre is not sourced from the wood of rainforests, indigenous or boreal trees. This is a myth, often wrongfully perpetuated by e-mail footnotes.
• In South Africa, 600 million trees across 762,000 hectares are specifically grown for use in pulp and paper manufacture and the industry plants in excess of 260,000 trees every single day.
• The industry has made significant advances in terms of environmental sustainability over recent decades. The use of renewable biomass-based energy has enabled the industry to avoid the use of 1,3 million tons of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas annually and therefore the associated carbon emissions.

Timber plantations help fight climate change.

• Plantations are atmospheric carbon sinks which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing oxygen through the natural process of photosynthesis.
• South Africa’s timber plantations, which cater for pulp and paper, furniture and other wood based-products, lock up 900 million tons of CO2— a key environmental service and a means of mitigating climate change. (Forestry South Africa, 2011)
• Only 9% of the total plantation area is harvested annually. This is replanted within the same year.  Only mature trees are harvested.
• Carbon absorption continues as the new trees grow and young trees are able to absorb carbon more rapidly than the older trees. These trees, and thus paper products, are a renewable resource.
• Interestingly, if it were not for the pulp and paper industry operating world-wide for the last 150 years the CO2 levels in the atmosphere would be 5% higher (about half a degree in Celsius) than they are at present. This is according to the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Special Report on the greenhouse gas and carbon profile of the global forest products industry published in February 2007.

• South Africa has the highest level of international certification of its plantations in the world. Over 80% of South African plantations are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
• PAMSA members – Kimberly-Clark, Nampak, Mondi, Mpact and Sappi – subscribe to the FSC’s Chain of Custody which tracks FSC-certified material through the production process – from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution.
• Consumers should look out for paper and wood products bearing the FSC mark of certification.

Recycling is rewarding.

• An important reason for paper recycling is that it extends the period over which the carbon in the paper is locked out of the atmosphere.
• Paper recovery and recycling reduces costs to local municipal authorities and frees up space at landfill sites.
• Recycling creates jobs for many in the informal and formal sector.
• With 65% of recovered paper used as raw material in paper mills, more than half of the country’s paper mills depend on recycled fibre and a number of them use it as their only fibre source.

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