Economic crisis 'hurts forests'

2009-03-16 14:11

Rome - The global financial crisis is lowering demand for forestry products and could sap investment in development and protection of the world's forests, the UN food agency warned on Monday.

"As an integral part of the larger economy, the forest sector will be affected by the overall economic slump," said the report on the "State of the World's Forests 2009".

"Some governments may dilute previously ambitious green goals or defer key policy decisions ... as they focus on reversing the economic downturn," said the biennial report by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation.

"The collapse of the housing sector, which has been at the epicentre of the current crisis, is a major blow to wood industries," the report noted.

"Wood fibre demand in North America alone is expected to fall by more than 20 million tonnes in 2009," the FAO said.

Production is being scaled down across the board, "from logging to saw-milling to production of wood panels, pulp, paper and furniture", the report said.

Countries such as Brazil and Canada that export primarily to the United States "have already been severely affected".

While lower demand for wood could positively affect forest resources, the economic crisis could also favour illegal logging, the FAO said, recalling a spike in illegal logging in several Southeast Asian countries after the 1997 financial crisis in the region.

- AFP