Showing posts with label Forest Statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forest Statistics. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Forest Statistics

By Liliana Usvat  
Blog 318-365

New, high-resolution satellite-based maps released today by the University of Maryland and Google on Global Forest Watch, a partnership of over 60 organizations convened by the World Resources Institute, reveal a significant recent surge in tree cover loss largely in Russia and Canada during 2013.

Global tree cover loss in 2013 continued to be high at over 18 million hectares (69,500 square miles)—about twice the size of Portugal—slightly lower than 2012, but a troubling 5.2 percent increase over the 2000-2012 average. In 2011-2013, Russia and Canada topped the list , jointly accounting for 34 percent of total loss. 

Tree cover loss is a measure of the total loss of all trees within a specific area regardless of the cause. It includes human-driven deforestation, forest fires both natural and man made, clearing trees for agriculture, logging, plantation harvesting, and tree mortality due to disease and other natural causes.


Brazil

According to the government, deforestation rose 28 percent in 2013 compared to the year before. Who’s behind the turnaround? Most of the usual culprits: farmers, ranchers, loggers and the officials who turn a blind eye to illegal logging. And now there may be a new threat: the looming end of a global suspension on buying and selling soybeans planted on newly cleared forestland.

Canada

93% of Canada's forest land is crown owned, facilities for harvesting and processing wood are held mainly in private ownership. Since the earliest days of land settlement, the transfer of harvesting rights and forest management responsibilities from the public to the private sectors-while ensuring that public resource management and development objectives are achieved-has been one of the foremost policy questions facing governments in Canada. 
Much of Canada’s logging activity occurs on Crown (often referred to as “public”) land and is regulated by various provincial commercial forest tenure systems that allocate cutting rights to and confer obligations on recipients of the tenures. It is these tenure systems on Crown forest land that are the focus of this data product.
The various agreements that have been devised to accomplish this task have become collectively known as forest tenures (Haley and Luckert 1990). Forest tenures, along with forest legislation and regulations, help Canada's jurisdictions ensure that crown forests are managed responsibly and that forest companies remain accountable to Canadians.

Sixty-three percent of the crown forest land in Canada that is under some form of tenure is under volume-based agreements (Table 5.2a). The rest is under long-term area agreements. Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador use area-based tenure agreements, while Manitoba, Quebec, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories use volume-based agreements. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia use both area- and volume-based tenure agreements.

China now accounts for more than half of North America’s lumber exports, an amount of wood equivalent to 300,000 housing starts in the U.S. China also now consumes 30% of the world’s pulp


New Trend Power Plants Fueled by Wood Porducts

There is a new trend to use lumber products in power plants as combustible.  
The global bioenergy boom is driven by a surge of interest in biological materials – or biomass – to produce heat, electricity and fuels. In a world of declining fossil fuel deposits and rising fuel prices, industries and governments are hastily switching back to an ancient source of energy: trees.

 In Canada, forest bioenergy once referred to a sensible, small-scale and local solution to produce heat and power by using mill and pulp residues at the plant. This is no longer the case.
 

Now, the sector is rapidly developing into large-scale, industrial use of natural forests for energy. This is due to new government biomass extraction policies and subsidies. Without public hearings, exhaustive science or adequate environmental standards in place, provincial governments have allocated large volumes of biomass from publicly owned forests to be burnt, thereby radically
changing the way forests are used in Canada. 


This is turning to ash sustainable job opportunities, threatening the greening of the forest sector and the value- added product trend that has been emerging in recent years.

 New power plants are springing up, while others are being converted from coal to pellets. For example, the Tilbury plant (UK-RWEnpower) will be converted to burn wood pellets and according to an independent estimate, will burn nearly 7 million tonnes of per year 19. The company RWE have suggested that less than2 million tones per year would be burnt , but under any circumstances, they will become one of the world’s largest pellet power plant, importing wood pellet
The top 20 Canadian companies increased their market share of total Canadian lumber shipments, rising from 79.8% in 2012 to 80.5% in 2013. Canfor retained its leading position as the top Canadian lumber producer with 4.2 billion bf of production - a 9% gain over 2012. West Fraser held onto the number two spot with 3.6 billion bf of output (+3%). Tolko and Resolute Forest Products remained in the number three and four spots, while Interfor leaped into the number five spot from production gains at its B.C. Interior SPF mills. Together, these five firms produced a total of 12.1 billion bf (51% of Canadian lumber shipments - similar to in 2012). B.C. Interior sawmills continued to struggle with processing dead logs from mountain pine beetle-killed timber (West Fraser and Canfor both announced mill closures for the first half of 2014).
The output of the top 20 U.S. companies rose strongly: from 16.6 billion bf in 2012 to 17.9 billion bf (+8.2%) in 2013. In doing so, these firms increased their market share of U.S. production from 58% to 60%. The five largest producing U.S. companies, Weyerhaeuser, Sierra Pacific, Georgia-Pacific, West Fraser (U.S. operations), and Hampton Affiliates, produced almost 10.0 billion bf or 33% of total U.S. production. Of note, all regions in the U.S. recorded production increases in 2013, with the U.S. West leading the surge in output with a gain of 6.1%; the U.S. South increased 5.1%.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/sawmilling/top-20-lumber-producers#sthash.AABY9x0z.dpuf
The top 20 Canadian companies increased their market share of total Canadian lumber shipments, rising from 79.8% in 2012 to 80.5% in 2013. Canfor retained its leading position as the top Canadian lumber producer with 4.2 billion bf of production - a 9% gain over 2012. West Fraser held onto the number two spot with 3.6 billion bf of output (+3%). Tolko and Resolute Forest Products remained in the number three and four spots, while Interfor leaped into the number five spot from production gains at its B.C. Interior SPF mills. Together, these five firms produced a total of 12.1 billion bf (51% of Canadian lumber shipments - similar to in 2012). B.C. Interior sawmills continued to struggle with processing dead logs from mountain pine beetle-killed timber (West Fraser and Canfor both announced mill closures for the first half of 2014).
The output of the top 20 U.S. companies rose strongly: from 16.6 billion bf in 2012 to 17.9 billion bf (+8.2%) in 2013. In doing so, these firms increased their market share of U.S. production from 58% to 60%. The five largest producing U.S. companies, Weyerhaeuser, Sierra Pacific, Georgia-Pacific, West Fraser (U.S. operations), and Hampton Affiliates, produced almost 10.0 billion bf or 33% of total U.S. production. Of note, all regions in the U.S. recorded production increases in 2013, with the U.S. West leading the surge in output with a gain of 6.1%; the U.S. South increased 5.1%.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/sawmilling/top-20-lumber-producers#sthash.AABY9x0z.dpuf
The top 20 Canadian companies increased their market share of total Canadian lumber shipments, rising from 79.8% in 2012 to 80.5% in 2013. Canfor retained its leading position as the top Canadian lumber producer with 4.2 billion bf of production - a 9% gain over 2012. West Fraser held onto the number two spot with 3.6 billion bf of output (+3%). Tolko and Resolute Forest Products remained in the number three and four spots, while Interfor leaped into the number five spot from production gains at its B.C. Interior SPF mills. Together, these five firms produced a total of 12.1 billion bf (51% of Canadian lumber shipments - similar to in 2012). B.C. Interior sawmills continued to struggle with processing dead logs from mountain pine beetle-killed timber (West Fraser and Canfor both announced mill closures for the first half of 2014).
The output of the top 20 U.S. companies rose strongly: from 16.6 billion bf in 2012 to 17.9 billion bf (+8.2%) in 2013. In doing so, these firms increased their market share of U.S. production from 58% to 60%. The five largest producing U.S. companies, Weyerhaeuser, Sierra Pacific, Georgia-Pacific, West Fraser (U.S. operations), and Hampton Affiliates, produced almost 10.0 billion bf or 33% of total U.S. production. Of note, all regions in the U.S. recorded production increases in 2013, with the U.S. West leading the surge in output with a gain of 6.1%; the U.S. South increased 5.1%.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/sawmilling/top-20-lumber-producers#sthash.AABY9x0z.dpuf

Links

New data show Russia and Canada (two of the biggest forest countries in the world) accounted for 34 per cent of global tree cover loss from 2011-2013, losing a combined average of nearly 6.8 million hectares (26,000 square miles) each year, an area equivalent to the size of Ireland.  - See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
New data show Russia and Canada (two of the biggest forest countries in the world) accounted for 34 per cent of global tree cover loss from 2011-2013, losing a combined average of nearly 6.8 million hectares (26,000 square miles) each year, an area equivalent to the size of Ireland.  - See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
New data show Russia and Canada (two of the biggest forest countries in the world) accounted for 34 per cent of global tree cover loss from 2011-2013, losing a combined average of nearly 6.8 million hectares (26,000 square miles) each year, an area equivalent to the size of Ireland.  - See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
New data show Russia and Canada (two of the biggest forest countries in the world) accounted for 34 per cent of global tree cover loss from 2011-2013, losing a combined average of nearly 6.8 million hectares (26,000 square miles) each year, an area equivalent to the size of Ireland.  - See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
Globally, the world lost more than 18 million hectares (69,500 square miles) of tree cover in 2013 including both permanent deforestation and temporary losses due to harvesting, fires and other disturbances.
The data find that Russia, Canada, Brazil (2.2 million hectares), the U.S. (1.7 million hectares) and Indonesia (1.6 million hectares) make up the top five countries for average annual tree cover loss, which measures removal or death of trees within a given area, from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, Indonesia experienced its lowest tree cover loss in a decade.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
Globally, the world lost more than 18 million hectares (69,500 square miles) of tree cover in 2013 including both permanent deforestation and temporary losses due to harvesting, fires and other disturbances.
The data find that Russia, Canada, Brazil (2.2 million hectares), the U.S. (1.7 million hectares) and Indonesia (1.6 million hectares) make up the top five countries for average annual tree cover loss, which measures removal or death of trees within a given area, from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, Indonesia experienced its lowest tree cover loss in a decade.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf
Globally, the world lost more than 18 million hectares (69,500 square miles) of tree cover in 2013 including both permanent deforestation and temporary losses due to harvesting, fires and other disturbances.
The data find that Russia, Canada, Brazil (2.2 million hectares), the U.S. (1.7 million hectares) and Indonesia (1.6 million hectares) make up the top five countries for average annual tree cover loss, which measures removal or death of trees within a given area, from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, Indonesia experienced its lowest tree cover loss in a decade.
- See more at: http://www.woodbusiness.ca/industry-news/forest-fires-caused-significant-tree-cover-loss-in-canada-and-russia-in-2013#sthash.eiddy4pM.dpuf