Here are several URL's on wood consumption. The Friends of the Earth
indicates that by 2010 2.7 billion cubic meters of wood will be consumed
each year. However in 1995, the Can. Pulp and Paper Assoc. reported that 3.5
billion cubic meters of wood was consumed. This would have required
commercial forest lands of at least 1 billion hectares. British Columbia is
the world's largest exporter of softwoods. It exports about 75 million cubic
meters per year. The US imports 50% of it's demand and the UK imports much
more. On average the demand for wood increases 2.7 percent (roundwood) each
year.
This means that by 2100, the demand will be at least 9.4 billion cubic
meters. This will require about 3 billion hectares of commercial forests.
Canada has only about 0.2 billion hectares of commercial forests. The US
perhaps has about 0.2 billion hectares of commercial forests. Russia has
perhaps 0.4 billion hectares with the rest of the world having perhaps 1
billion of commercial forests.
This means that there is a deficiency in the amount of commercial forests
required to meet world demand.
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity_and_habitats/forests/woodcon.htm
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"In the UK, 0.91 kilograms per capita wood consumption....
Food and Agriculture Organization's world demand projections for wood - 2.7
billion cubic metres per annum by 2010."
http://www.open.doors.cppa.ca/english/cppa/sustain/view.htm#view
"A global resource...
The world's forests represent both a global resource and a global
conservation challenge. In 1992, the world's total timber harvest was
estimated at 3.5 billion cubic metres, about the same, in terms of tonnage,
as petroleum. Over half of this production was for fuel wood and the
manufacture of charcoal - the remainder was turned into a variety of forest
products including pulp, paper, lumber and veneer. These are goods required
in the daily life of people worldwide, and provide over $100 billion (US)
annually in export trade.
... and a biodiversity challenge
Forests, however, represent a reservoir of environmental values required to
sustain life. They are a storehouse of biodiversity, help to regulate the
Earth's climate, play a significant role in the production of fresh water
and provide many social, cultural and aesthetic values important to life in
local and indigenous communities. The need to conserve forests and ensure
their management and sustainable use is crucial to the well-being of
humanity.
Growing pressures The necessity of sustainable forest management becomes
even clearer when we consider that global demand on timber resources
continues to expand. Every year, an amount of timber equal to nearly half of
Canada's annual harvest is added to global consumption. In real terms, a 2.7
percent annual increase in industrial roundwood and 1.4 percent rate for
fuel wood consumption is predicted from now through to 2010."
http://www.rca-info.org/wood.html
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