Indias Forest Products Economy in World Perspective

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Indias Forest Products Economy in World
Perspective
Presentation at TERI University March 2007

• Lloyd C. Irland
• Yale University
• Lloyd C.Irland_at_yale.edu

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Outline

• Indias Forest resource
• Indias paper usage and industry
• Lumber and building materials
• Implications for forest management
• Summary

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Maine

• 6. 4 MM ha forest 10 of India
• Climate North temperate
• Supports 4 MM TPA paper production from largely
  natural forest management
• Thinnings, etc can double natural growth rates
  (no planting, herbicides)
• 5 m3/ha/yr with good management
• Not hi-tech

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Maine

• Public owns only about 7
• Biggest threat, ownership fragmentation, land use
  conversion.
• India has already done all that!

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Northern temperate climate
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Source, IFS, Forest Survey of India 1999.
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http//www.mapsofindia.com/maps/punjab/punjab-fore
st-map.htm
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Indias Forests and Land Use 2003

• Forest Percent
• Very Dense 1.56
• Mod. Dense 10.32
• Open 8.76
• Total 20.64 (incl mangr)
• Scrub 1.23
• Non-forest 78.13
• FSI, State of Forest, 2003 p. 9

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Forest removals, FAO

• 1990 9,001
• 2000 5,735
• 2005 4,724
• Industrial roundwood 1,252
• Fuelwood 3,472
• Roundwood estimates -- less than Sri Lanka
  Useless data???

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INDIA 6.5
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Who Uses Paper in the World
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Who Supplies them
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http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImage
s/images.php3?img_id16586
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ITTO Report Card

• India has 36 of natural forest sustainably
  managed
• 25 of plantations have management plans
• Overall 31 Sustainable.
• Very high compared to 33 tropical countries.

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Indias Paper Industry

• Numerous small units 525 in total
• Ave size 10,000 TPA
• 5 of typical size in North America
• Microscopic comp. to new world class mills (2
  MMTPA)
• Capacity approx 6-7 MM TPA
• Operating below capacity
• Tariff protection
• Import dependence likely to rise if consumption
  increases
• Some companies seek opportunities elsewhere.

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Fiber Base

• 32 Agr and other fibers
• 40 Wood Paper industry about ¼ of India ind.
  wood consumption
• 28 Recycled
• Fiber supplies/costs a severe constraint
• Probable reason for small mills
• A fraction of size of even obsolete mills in West

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Competitiveness

• Energy Costs
• Small mills
• Pollution issues
• Fiber Costs
• Higher import dependence likely
• Increased domestic production remains important

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www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-06-35.pdf
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India Log Production estimates

• Million cu m.
• Natural Forests 14
• Plantations
• and homesteads 43
• Imports 3
• Total Consumption 60
• Source Wiles, AFPA Feb 2005.

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Lumber Bldg Materials

• Imports rising
• Logs preferred, heavy to radiata
• Construction materials mix to change?
• Larger dwellings
• New technologies
• Wood for trim, doors, millwork, etc.
• Panel products, for furniture etc.
• see WPBI for India in annual surveys

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Implications for Management

• 33 forest cover goals a plan for getting
  there?
• Assessment of future demands
• Prominent role of TOF
• Human needs and management Approaches.
• The 21st century plantation

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Human Needs Forest Values

• Locally gathered food items
• Grazing, fodder gathering
• Medicinals
• Cultural values of forest sites
• Local rights to these historic uses not
  respected, not secured
• One human need is Income (surprise)
• Kumar, Tomar in XII Silv Conf.
• false polarizations

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Human Needs for Products

• Fuel
• Paper news, literacy, packaging
• Wood for shelter, building materials, farm uses
• Pallets and shipping
• Panels for building, furniture
• Raw material for crafts, local manufacturing
• Jobs and local tax base

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Forest Management Triad Model

• From Seymour and Hunter, Univ. Maine
• Lands managed for wildness, biodiversity
• Lands managed intensively for fiber
• Lands lightly, but cleverly, managed for multiple
  uses
• Not necessarily 33 each!

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Reserves for biodiversity
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Plantation Area

• Cum area 3.3 MM Ha
• Estimates are rough
• Planting 1.5 MM ha per yr
• Potential is est. at up to 41 MM ha
• Incl multiple objectives

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A production plantation estate?

• To support needed supplies of building materials,
  industrial materials, and paper.
• Provide employment in manufacturing land
  management
• Tenure rights poisoning progress
• In local areas, already happening

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The 21st Century Plantation

• Not the wheat farm mentality
• A model using
• Multi species
• Multi layers
• Multi products
• Small carefully managed patches
• Larger role for the market
• In India, many scientists, practitioners, farmers
  working on this concept now

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A Better Market Model

• Public forests
• Community forests
• Private farmers selling direct to users
• In many nations, much of the wood comes from
  small private holdings
• Paper Industry buying (leasing) lands?
• The balance does not seem to be right at present.

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A better landscape model for intensive plantations

• Respect augment water, other values
• Emphasize degraded/unproductive lands
• Better distribution of immediate benefits
• Positive role for restoration
• Intensively managed stands in a planned
  landscape
• Not vast contiguous areas.

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Managing Natural Forests

• Essential part of Triad
• Focus on habitat, nontimber values
• Slow growth of valuable species
• Costly to manage
• returns over time low

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Ecological Restoration

• Abused soils, watersheds
• Agroforestry, agropastoralism new models
  essential
• Build on successes in community forestry and JFM
• Fund via Payments for Ecosystem Services? -- be
  careful
• Plantations as nurse crops

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Potential Carbon Cycle Benefits

• Meeting these other goals will serve Carbon cycle
  improvements
• Wood/renewable fuel to displace coal
• More efficient uses
• Where should natural gas replace wood?

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Human Needs for Products

• More building materials for homes, schools
• Paper for packaging, books, newspapers
• Income also a human need

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In Summary

• Production is important
• A human need
• Indias Product needs will increase
• Risk of higher import dependence
• Need a better balance India has already started
• The 21st Century plantation
• Better landscape approaches are available
• Better ownership/management models are available
• Polarized attitudes are not helping