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Future bleak for natural teak?
When it comes to survival, a shrinking gene pool can put a whole species at risk. Such a problem could be facing the teak tree, which, despite increased planting efforts, is suffering from dwindling natural forests.
A survey conducted by the International Poplar Commission (IPC) shows that while natural teak forests – which can only be found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and India – are in decline, the number of planted teak forests is rising in 60 teak-growing tropical countries.
‘At the moment, teak is the only hardwood species in the world that shows an increase in the area of planted forest,’ says Walter Kollert, Planted Forests Officer at the IPC. ‘The market is good, and India is the number one teak consumer in the world,’ he says, pointing to the Asian sub-continent’s long tradition of using the valuable yellowbrown wood for tools, railways, housebuilding and ornamental carvings.
Strong market demand is good, unless you don’t have the supply to meet it. According to Kollert, this is becoming an increasingly likely situation. ‘Old growth forests have more or less been harvested. Many now serve environmental purposes and cannot supply the timber they did in the past.’ The conversion of land to agricultural uses to feed booming populations, or to supply the materials needed to develop industry and infrastructure, not to mention illegal logging, all heaps more pressure on a shrinking supply of natural hardwood.
Kollert highlights the limitations of logging bans (India, Laos and Thailand all have bans on logging in natural forests), which have had little impact on illegal operations – that by their very nature operate outside the law. ‘It’s a matter of the capability of the forestry department in the country to control illegal logging and cross-border trade. This is sometimes difficult, and not available in all the countries.’
Meanwhile, the brutish nature of market economics has taken its toll on the quality of natural grown teak, which Kollert says is deteriorating. ‘If you want to produce good quality teak, you need to give [trees] some time to grow. It’s a bit like good whisky.’ However, market demands mean that wait times are cut more and more, with some teak trees being harvested at as young as 20 years. ‘As an investor, you are interested in a quick turnover and you try to shorten the rotation periods as much as possible.’ With smaller trees being used, the resulting teak can be of a lower standard.
If quality continues to decline, says Kollert, the price for high-quality teak will shoot up, which he claims could act as an incentive for private companies to let teak trees have a longer growth period. ‘In Indonesia, there is a big state forest enterprise that produces teak logs in plantations and it takes them about 80–100 years to produce a good quality teak log. So it can be done, but it’s a long, strategic decision to do that and most private companies cannot invest money for so long.’
Diminishing natural forests not only reduce teak quality. Planted forests come from a limited range of genetic material, and their success could cause the species’ gene pool to shrink. ‘It’s the same with all natural agricultural products – you lose stuff, for example the resilience to pests, against droughts or flooding, which the original genetic sources would be able to handle,’ says Kollert. ‘A narrow gene pool that only comes from a limited number of trees will not be as resilient.’
The team is now working to establish a teak conservation programme to conserve the genetic resources in original teak-growing countries in an effort to prevent natural teak from disappearing completely. ‘Many investors from the corporate sector have invested in teak plantations and this is spreading all over the world. The area will keep growing, the knowledge and management expertise will increase, and we will have a growing teak market,’ says Kollert.
‘There may be a risk that natural teak forests will decline further but there are many organisations working on the conservation of teak forests. I think they have a good chance of achieving [these aims], but it takes time and cooperation.’
BALAKRISHNA MUTHUKURI
MOTHER AGRI BIOTECH LABORATORIES INDIA PVT. LTD.
BANGALORE.
+919035003471
When it comes to survival, a shrinking gene pool can put a whole species at risk. Such a problem could be facing the teak tree, which, despite increased planting efforts, is suffering from dwindling natural forests.
A survey conducted by the International Poplar Commission (IPC) shows that while natural teak forests – which can only be found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and India – are in decline, the number of planted teak forests is rising in 60 teak-growing tropical countries.
‘At the moment, teak is the only hardwood species in the world that shows an increase in the area of planted forest,’ says Walter Kollert, Planted Forests Officer at the IPC. ‘The market is good, and India is the number one teak consumer in the world,’ he says, pointing to the Asian sub-continent’s long tradition of using the valuable yellowbrown wood for tools, railways, housebuilding and ornamental carvings.
Strong market demand is good, unless you don’t have the supply to meet it. According to Kollert, this is becoming an increasingly likely situation. ‘Old growth forests have more or less been harvested. Many now serve environmental purposes and cannot supply the timber they did in the past.’ The conversion of land to agricultural uses to feed booming populations, or to supply the materials needed to develop industry and infrastructure, not to mention illegal logging, all heaps more pressure on a shrinking supply of natural hardwood.
Kollert highlights the limitations of logging bans (India, Laos and Thailand all have bans on logging in natural forests), which have had little impact on illegal operations – that by their very nature operate outside the law. ‘It’s a matter of the capability of the forestry department in the country to control illegal logging and cross-border trade. This is sometimes difficult, and not available in all the countries.’
Meanwhile, the brutish nature of market economics has taken its toll on the quality of natural grown teak, which Kollert says is deteriorating. ‘If you want to produce good quality teak, you need to give [trees] some time to grow. It’s a bit like good whisky.’ However, market demands mean that wait times are cut more and more, with some teak trees being harvested at as young as 20 years. ‘As an investor, you are interested in a quick turnover and you try to shorten the rotation periods as much as possible.’ With smaller trees being used, the resulting teak can be of a lower standard.
If quality continues to decline, says Kollert, the price for high-quality teak will shoot up, which he claims could act as an incentive for private companies to let teak trees have a longer growth period. ‘In Indonesia, there is a big state forest enterprise that produces teak logs in plantations and it takes them about 80–100 years to produce a good quality teak log. So it can be done, but it’s a long, strategic decision to do that and most private companies cannot invest money for so long.’
Diminishing natural forests not only reduce teak quality. Planted forests come from a limited range of genetic material, and their success could cause the species’ gene pool to shrink. ‘It’s the same with all natural agricultural products – you lose stuff, for example the resilience to pests, against droughts or flooding, which the original genetic sources would be able to handle,’ says Kollert. ‘A narrow gene pool that only comes from a limited number of trees will not be as resilient.’
The team is now working to establish a teak conservation programme to conserve the genetic resources in original teak-growing countries in an effort to prevent natural teak from disappearing completely. ‘Many investors from the corporate sector have invested in teak plantations and this is spreading all over the world. The area will keep growing, the knowledge and management expertise will increase, and we will have a growing teak market,’ says Kollert.
‘There may be a risk that natural teak forests will decline further but there are many organisations working on the conservation of teak forests. I think they have a good chance of achieving [these aims], but it takes time and cooperation.’
BALAKRISHNA MUTHUKURI
MOTHER AGRI BIOTECH LABORATORIES INDIA PVT. LTD.
BANGALORE.
+919035003471
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