Forests of the world

There are still original primary forests in the tropics, and in temperate zones.

Forests in North America, Scandinavia and Russia supply a lot of wood for the paper industry, and are increasingly managed in a sustainable way.

Tropical forests, however, are still being felled at a high rate. The production of hardwood will therefore suffer increased pressure in the future.

There will be an increase of hardwood scarcity because of the decrease of tropical forests and the restraint on illegal felling activities.

In the future, the supply of tropical hardwood should merely come from sustainably managed forests and forest plantations.

Currently only a small percentage (1%) of the world production of tropical hardwood is supplied by responsibly managed plantations.

Research has shown that the worldwide demand for hardwood will increase strongly in the future. This increase is partially caused by the fast economic development of growing countries such as China and India.