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SUMMARY Deforestation in Indonesia and links with the pulp and paper industry has led environmental groups to campaign against the industry's practices. This paper focuses on two environmental campaigns against the activities of an Asian pulp and paper company that were widely perceived to be having a strongly detrimental effect on the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. The analysis is based on interviews and questionnaires of those involved in the campaigns, as well as a review of related published and unpublished documents. The results show that the target company has become more sustainable since the campaigns started, though is still failing on certain issues. These findings are supported by some Environmental Non-Government Organisations (ENGOs), although others strongly believe that the company has made no progress at all and is still involved in illegal and unsustainable practices. Despite the increased awareness of the implications and destructiveness of deforestation in Indonesia, and the increas...

SUMMARY This study summarizes recent trends in China's paper and paperboard sector and projects supply and demand for each of the major grades through 2010. Baseline projections suggest that China's aggregate demand will grow from 48.0 million tonnes in 2003 to 68.5 million tonnes per year in 2010. With domestic production projected to reach 62.4 million tonnes per year, China is expected to dominate global capacity expansion for most major grades. China's annual demand for fibre furnish across all grades is projected to rise from 40.2 million tonnes in 2003 to reach 59.6 million tonnes by 2010. Of this, approximately 58 % will come from recovered paper, 25 % from wood-based pulp, and 17 % from nonwood pulp. This rapid growth has far-reaching implications for forest sustainability and rural livelihoods both within China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It will place new strains on China's domestic wood supply and may exacerbate forest conversion and illegal logging in key supplier countries, in add...

SUMMARY Plantation forests are being established on more marginal, harsh sites to accommodate expansion of agriculture. Because of this, tree breeders and silviculturists are interested in improving drought hardiness of trees. Breeding approaches to improve drought hardiness includes the assessment of trees as dead or alive in trials after severe droughts followed by the selection of the best surviving phenotypes for the establishment of seed orchards or land races. Physiologists estimate water utilization in trees in terms of water use efficiency (WUE). It is a function of biomass per unit of evapotranspiration and is calculated on a leaf or wood scale in clonal plots and stands. The gene complexes that control drought hardiness and WUE are probably different. It one respect, traditional breeding might have a limited impact on changing WUE since it will be difficult to alter rate of evapotranspiration through selection. In another respect, one could argue that selecting trees for high productivity is ind...

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of laminated composite made from phenolic resin-treated wood and bamboo strips. Sesenduk (Endospermum diadenum) wood and Sematan bamboo (Gigantochloa scortechinii) strips were impregnated using 30% phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin and assembled in different configurations and orientations prior to compreg nation. The assembled samples were then compressed in a hot press at 150 ± 2 °C for 60 minutes. Dimensional stability, hardness, bending, shear and compression strength of the products were assessed. The results revealed that the properties of the compreg laminates were significantly affected by the treatment variables. Laminated compreg wood had inferior mechanical properties compared to laminated compreg bamboo and bamboo/wood hybrid. However, the dimensional stability of laminated compreg wood is the best among the three types of laminates. Samples assembled parallelly possessed better properties. Mixed application of wood and bamboo had imparted respective advantages to the compreg laminates.

In order to improve the inherently poor properties of oil palm wood (OPW), this study examines the effects of resin molecular weight, diffusion time and compression ratio on the properties of laminated compreg OPW. Treating solutions used were medium molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (MmwPF) and low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde (LmwPF). OPW strips were soaked in the treating solutions for 24 h before wrapping in a plastic bag and leaving them for diffusion for 2, 4 and 6 days, respectively. Then, three-layer laminated compreg OPW were fabricated and compressed in hot press at 150°C for 20 minutes to achieve compression ratios of 55%, 70% and 80%. Results indicated that dimensional stability and mechanical properties of the phenolic resin treated laminated compreg OPW were significantly better than the untreated laminates. MmwPF-treated laminates exhibited inferior properties in comparison to that of LmwPF-treated laminates. Nevertheless, MmwPF-treated laminated compreg OPW emitted significantly lesser formaldehyde.

SUMMARY The pulp and paper industry is a key contributor to the Indian economy. Of 660 paper mills in India, 26 are wood-based and face challenges with forest-based raw material. Annual pulp production is 1.9 million tonnes (mt) using 6.8 mt of wood. Nearly 20 percent of wood is procured from government sources and 80 percent from agro-forestry sources. To sustainably supply the ever-growing demand for wood, the industry relies on social and farm forestry, and tree cover has increased through mill-promoted plantations. Under private farmer and private industry partnerships, ITC Ltd. has promoted over 80 000 hectares (ha) of clonal plantation, using R&D to increase productivity to 20–58 mt/ha/yr compared with 4–6 mt/ha/yr from seedling plantations, favouring fast wood forestry. In Andhra Pradesh, a forward-looking state, eucalyptus, casuarina and leucaena wood are declared as agricultural produce and marketed through agricultural market committees.

1SUMMARY The Chinese government is aggressively promoting development of a domestic wood pulp industry, integrated with a plantation-based fiber supply and downstream paper production. It is doing so by providing discounted loans from state banks, fiscal incentives, and capital subsidies for establishment of at least 5.8 million hectares of fast-growing pulpwood plantations. This article examines the development of bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP) mills in South China, including the Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Jinhai mill in Hainan Province and the proposed Fuxing pulp mill project in Guangdong Province. Both mills face fiber shortfalls over the medium term, and significant new investments in plantation development will be needed to provide a sustainable fiber supply at the mills? projected capacity levels. However, there are few sites in southern coastal China where fiber can be grown at internationally competitive costs. In most instances, the cost of Chinese plantation pulpwood will be considerably higher than in countries like Indonesia and Brazil, raising important questions about the economic competitiveness of Chinese pulp producers even within their home market.

SUMMARY India produces a range of processed wood and non-wood products. Total industrial demand for wood in roundwood equivalents (RWE) is predicted to increase from 58 million m3 in 2000 to 133 million m3 in 2020, when it is estimated that more than SO percent of total Indian wood supply will come from non-forest sources. Sawn wood and composite panel industries face raw material shortages, supply—demand gaps increasing alarmingly. The raw material scenario in the pulp and paper industry is discussed, along with industry initiatives to overcome such problems. The merits and demerits of wood substitution via non-wood and recycled fibre are discussed and a mathematical model outlined which is helping gauge raw material requirements. Possible reforms are suggested to improve the efficiency of wood production, distribution and use in India, for example, cutting out waste so that less wood needs to be harvested to produce the same output of manufactured products.

SUMMARY This short paper continues the regular reporting of performance of successive rotations of pine grown on a 15–17 year rotation in the Usutu Forest, Swaziland. Evidence suggests that the mean height of 5–6 year old fourth rotation P. patula is significantly greater than in all preceding rotations. The increase in mean height of 6–10% probably arises from genetic improvement. Factors of hail damage and variable stocking affect the comparison but do not invalidate the significant overall conclusion. In view of the intensive management of the highly productive plantations on the relatively poor soils at Usutu, namely short rotations, no thinning, and a clearfelling silvicultural system, the data reported here augur well for the sustainability (narrowsense) of plantations more generally.

Solomon Islands has relied on highly unsustainable industrial logging since the 1980s. While the development narrative around logging emphasizes its macro-economic importance, it structurally overlooks the impacts on local people's lives. Based on 200 qualitative interviews conducted in 25 villages and 14 logging operations in Malaita Province between 2016 and 2019, this paper demonstrates that the impacts of logging on subsistence and social relations are systemic rather than incidental. By making use of interview quotes, the paper gives voice to rural Solomon Islanders. The results show that the logging industry fails to generate lasting local benefits, while unsustainable logging practices undermine subsistence livelihoods, especially fisheries. Logging triggers conflict that long outlasts the operations themselves, causes sexual exploitation, facilitates excessive alcohol use and reinforces gender disparities by stru cturally excluding women from decision-making and benefit-sharing. This paper calls for a stronger focus on the social impacts of logging in forestry science, policy and practice.