Ecological and Social Considerations

No-one likes to hear of or see the destruction of natural forests, especially rainforests, with their unique habitats. Not only are the trees being threatened but also the species that thrive in these environments are being doomed to extinction. It is realistic to say that many species familiar to us will not be known, or certainly not be known in the wild, by our grandchildren. The real threat to forests is the pressure to convert the land to a different use. City expansion, new roads, agricultural needs are examples of true deforestation. This is the action that will lead to species extinction. A species of orchid can be lost when a valley is converted to pasture for livestock. Insects and rodents and birds are not welcome in the monoculture of a wheat or cabbage field. Logging activity in a sustainable forestry scheme is not deforestation.

Bio-Diversity

Forests are a wonderful nature reserve. A different mix of birds, insects and mammals can live in the different habitats provided by the canopy, the understorey and at ground level. Trees provide shelter from the elements. Tree bark and foliage even provide a meal for some forest inhabitants. Bio-diversity is becoming restricted to the forests. Although it is a term only known in the last 50 years, increasing the land area able to support “bio-diversity” is one of the goals for today”s environmentalists. What is often misunderstood is the true cause of loss of bio-diversity. The only permanent cause of this is that stated above – conversion of land to “sterile” environments for human needs. Left to her own devices Mother Nature will recover after a disturbance such as a fire, a volcanic eruption, or indeed, logging activity. Seeds often survive in situ during a “disturbance” or get blown in or deposited in droppings. Initially ground cover vegetation flourishes due to the exposure to daylight until shrubs and trees re-establish and once again plunge the undergrowth into shade. This photo shows how a tree stump, left after logging, is acting as a “nurse bed” for a new tree to grow. In this case the span of years from the tree being felled to the time the photo being taken is 80 years. Land that is built on or farmed and maintained in this state by humans will not be allowed to regenerate to natural vegetation. It is essential to comprehend that all land is potential forest if left to the devices of Mother Nature, only time is needed to turn rock into beautiful forest. Take the Russian and Canadian forests of today that exist on areas which were covered by ice sheets and glaciers in the last ice age. In Alaska where the glaciers are retreating you can see the beginnings of the return of vegetation.

The pressure for land use conversion is quite simply down to an expanding human population. More homes will need to be built to cope with the increasing population requiring land. There are more mouths to feed and hence more land is converted to crop growing. Even the increase in the number of vegetarians will cause the creation of more monoculture food crops.

Use of paper products will likely increase. Some people believe we should make paper out of hemp or cotton, but to do this we would have to use land to grow these as monoculture crops, so why not just grow trees on the land instead. Even a plantation of trees for paper pulping provides a richer habitat than a crop.

How do we combat these pressures which cause land to be permanently converted to suit these needs? It is a simple thing to state that we only need to curb the population growth, make agriculture production more intensive and design our cities for a higher density of inhabitants. Once we fully understand these concepts we need to turn the words into reality.

There is a growing consensus amongst ecologists and resource management specialists that just protecting areas of natural forest will never adequately protect bio-diversity. Stimulating a species-rich ecosystem is only one goal for today”s environmentalists.

Other forest functions

Clean air, fresh water, reducing soil erosion, reducing pollutants are equal targets to increasing areas of bio-diversity. Planting trees is a good way forward towards tackling all these issues.

A forest has an ability to maintain its own microclimate. A forest is a watershed, meaning that it acts like a big sponge, storing rainfall and then releasing the water slowly over time. This steady release of fresh water in the waterways and lakes is vital for aquatic ecosystems to survive, and, of course, the constant human demand for water. The forest “sponge” protects us against flooding. Tree foliage and root systems protect the soil from erosion and also protect us from natural catastrophes such as landslides and avalanches.

Reforestation and afforestation

The good intentions behind planting trees are to promote areas of bio-diversity, stabilize soil, convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a carbon “sink”, generate a renewable wood source for material and energy use, and to moderate climate change. It is not just about planting and protecting trees though, a successful forestation strategy must consider the needs of forest-dependent people and the incentives to float the schemes. The forest sector will have effect upon, and be affected by, other sectors and so this interaction is also a consideration. Sustainability must also be modelled in a successful forestation strategy and be proven by independent accreditation.

Essentially producing forested land must be profitable. Current markets promote plantation schemes. Plantations grow trees for paper, palm oil, rubber etc. Harvesting techniques and costs usually restrict plantations to a monoculture. Monoculture plantations are disfavoured. They do not provide such bio-diversity. Clear-cut harvesting exposes soil to erosion and depletes the nutrient content which is usually maintained by wild fires and natural decay. Over time the plantation growth rate is reduced. Forest-dependents are displaced and/or deprived of their livelihood in subsistence farming. They also lose the range of and use of naturally occurring plants.

Today”s incentive for tree planting is to earn “carbon credits” under the terms of the Kyoto Agreement. Tree planting is, therefore, not only favoured by the international community for preserving the environment , but also allows for trading in carbon credits or to offset them against carbon dioxide emissions.

Modern day tree planting theory has also changed. As stated in “A Revised Forest Strategy for the World Bank”, July 2001, it is “…to integrate forest with agro-forestry and small enterprise activities into rural development…”.

GoldTeak

The GoldTeak project shall adopt the above approach. Our aim is the improve the livelihood of the local people, most of them poor and dependent on the land. Our scheme promotes local community forest management and agro-forestry. Involving the rural population in GoldTeak will teach them forestry while at the same time allow them to grow produce to feed themselves. We hope to inspire the locals to be proud of their work by making them essential components in the success of GoldTeak and by doing so they receive an improved income.

Our clearing, cultivation, protection and harvesting models reflect our wish to preserve forest bio-diversity as much as possible. Ours, will therefore, be a plantation with a difference. We recognize that our GoldTeak project cannot fully replace the rain forest in its diversity of species, but the teak produced represents an alternative source for a raw material which is in very high demand. In this way we hope to protect the natural forest while at the same time creating a sustainable ecology of tropical hardwood, a habitat for flora and fauna, albeit a plantation. The venture also has to be economically sound to give the man-made forest longevity.

GoldTeak has adopted the checkerboard pattern of a chess board for its logo. This reflects the visual patchwork effect created by leaving some land to be used for agriculture (the white squares on the board) and having the rest planted up with golden teak trees (the green squares).

This symbolizes the policy of GoldTeak to sustain the bio-diversity of the area through careful planning of the new plantations to minimize the impact on the local environment.

The other way to tackle the problem of deforestation of the natural teak rainforest is through consumer sympathy. If consumers are encouraged to buy products made from sustainable sources proved by certification then this will stop the logging of virgin forest.

GoldTeak”s aim is to become accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). To do this we must prove that we are running a sustainable development. This means a development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For any operation to be sustainable it must be capable of repeat performances at the same level of output as the first. However, this does not just mean the same yield or monetary value; it also includes the bio- and socio-sustainability.

To GoldTeak this means that we must protect our resources, the soil, the nutrients etc and the local community interests.

Should we successfully achieve the accreditation it would allow our wood to be certified. The certificate follows the wood right through the processing chain so that the consumer has confidence that their purchase is supporting environmental good practices.

GoldTeak plantations are to be established to comply with modern perceptions of sustainable forest management in the hope of passing certification procedures for the export market and to gain the needed national political support.