[Index]
 |
Food
and Agriculture Organization of
the United
Nations
|
Wood production in Europe
will shift further to the east
in the next decade
Countries in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) will play
a greater role in European forest products
markets over the next two decades, according
to a statement by the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and UN Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE).
This was one of the main
conclusions of the European Forestry Sector
Outlook Study, presented to the joint
session of the FAO European Forestry Commission
and UNECE Timber Committee in Geneva this
week, to be published by end 2004.
Production and consumption
of forest products are expected to increase
in Western Europe at about the same rate
as in the last decade. However, in Eastern
Europe and the CIS, forest products markets
will grow very rapidly in the future as
these countries continue to liberalise
and attract new investment into the sector.
The forestry sector in
much of Eastern Europe and the CIS collapsed
in the early 1990s, with production and
consumption falling by as much as three-quarters
in some cases. A number of countries in
the region have already rebounded and
production and consumption in Eastern
Europe is expected to grow two to three
times faster than in the west. Recovery
in the CIS has taken longer, but this
region is expected to show the greatest
growth in the future. For example, a presentation
by the Russian delegation showed double-digit
growth in markets for a number of forest
products over the last two years.
“Eastern Europe
and the CIS are very competitive because
they have significant forest resources
and very low labour and raw material costs,”
said Adrian Whiteman, an FAO economist.
Future potential
The major challenge for
policy makers all over Europe will be
to satisfy the increasing demands placed
on forests to produce a wider range of
goods and services for society. Europe’s
forests can meet all of these demands,
but the problem is how to pay for them.
“Almost half of
Europe’s forest products are recycled
and they have many of the characteristics
that people say they want in terms of
sustainability” said Whiteman. “However,
the market does not pay for all of these
extra benefits and the forest owner still
has to rely mostly on the sale of wood
to pay for forest management. Under current
market conditions, it is very difficult
to meet all of these demands”.
Countries at the meeting
discussed a number of strategies to improve
the economic viability of forest management,
including marketing and promotion of forest
products, development of wood energy and
greater co-ordination between all of the
different interests in the sector. In
particular, countries recommended that
a greater effort should be made to address
policies outside the sector that have
a negative impact on forests.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Christopher Prins
Chief, UNECE/FAO Timber Section
Trade Development and Timber Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)22 917 2874
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 0041
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/trade/timber
or:
Ms. Maria Kruse
E-mail: [email protected]
Ms. Cheemin Kwon
E-mail: [email protected]
Forestry Policy and Information
Division
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO)
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
I - 00100 Rome, Italy
Fax: +39 (0) 6 570 52151
Web site: http://www.fao.org/forestry/index.jsp
Ref: ECE/TIM/04/P04