Learning from the China experience
A delegation from the Sarawak Timber Association (STA) recently embarked on a study tour to Southern China to observe first-hand the successful forest plantation establishment and management practices, including Research and Development.
THE cultivation of planted forests — or industrial forests — is not a new conservation-friendly plantation scheme in Sarawak.
It was initiated by the state government in 1997 to meet environmental preservation as well as economic and social objectives — and is still being practised today.
The state government has also called for serious efforts to plant trees with species that are fastgrowing and of high economic value to sustain the timber industry.
In addition to providing environmental protection, establishing forest plantation is becoming more and more important to shift away reliance on natural forest and ensure the future benefits from forests, including the supply of timber and non-timber products.
Major timber industry players in the private sector have not lost sight of the primary goal to ensure the success and sustainability of planted forests by committing the necessary resources.
Undeniably, industry players have faced and will continue to face constraints and challenges — from the technical, financial, institutional and policy-making aspects of the industry as it evolves.
Stakeholders’ consultation and commitment at various levels are, thus, essential to support, plan, implement and sustain forest plantations in the state.
Sarawak will continue to see rapid growth and structural change as it gears up for the push towards a high-income state and the timber industry will continue to play a crucial role in driving the economy — apart from oil and gas as well as palm oil.
Seven members of the Forest Plantation Committee of the Sarawak Timber Association (STA) recently embarked on a study tour to Southern China to observe firsthand successful forest plantation establishment and management practices, including Research and Development (R&D), and learn from them.
The delegation, led by committee chairman Peter Ling, included Wong Siong Kuan, Senior Assistant Director, Forest Plantation & Reforestation Division of Forest Department Sarawak, Dr Daniel Tan Lee Tung, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
In addition, the trip was also to study the processing and utilisation of plantation logs as well as understand the industry’s compliance with government regulations.
In Haikou, they visited the Hainan Forestry Department and the Ling Gao-Chen Ling Forest Farm of the Asia Pulp Paper (APP) Company while in Zhanjiang, they called at China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC), Leizhou Forestry’s Eucalyptus Forests Farm, Zhanjiang Chenming Pulp and Paper and South China Experiment Nursery (SCEN).
The delegation rounded up their tour of forest plantation establishments with a stop-over at Guangzhou where their itinerary covered the Guangdong Yuzhu International Wood Timber Market and Research Institute of Tropical Forestry and the Chinese Academy of Forestry (RITF-CAF).
The STA Forest Plantation Committee stressed that the lessons learnt from China’s vast experience in forest plantations are important to ensure positive outcomes for the stakeholders as well as the sustainability and success of forest plantations in Sarawak.
Rome was not built in a day. Likewise, in this industry where the process of growing trees is terrifically slow-paced and could take years to mature, a great deal of resources, passion and knowledge are needed to achieve the desired results.
China’s forestry development
China has a long history of deforestation and land degradation (up until 1980) before the government enacted policies, emphasising protection and afforestation or rehabilitation, without sacrificing economic and social development.
This has caused deforestation to drop steadily from 1980 to 1993 when efforts to increase forest covers through afforestation and reforestation began in earnest. China has since 1994 shifted its direction, calling for intensive efforts to prioritise ecological protection, enhance established forests to meet industrial and environmental needs, continue to spur development and enrich cultural development.
Afforestation in China covers all activities to bring trees back and increase forest cover, including categorising forest establishments as protection, special purpose, timber, economic forests and fuelwood.
At present, China’s natural forest area is 122 million ha (50 per cent protected) while the plantation area is 69 million ha.
Chinese government’s commitment
Hainan Forestry Department Chief Forest Engineer Zhou Yadong pointed out that afforestation and reforestation efforts over the past 29 years had been successful with Hainan having the largest and most beautiful tropical forest in China.
Hainan, the smallest and southern most province of China, has a land area of over 34,000 sq km with 62 per cent forest cover of which 20 per cent is dedicated to tropical natural forest.
“Hainan Island has recorded significant improvement in forest cover areas — from 38.2 per cent in 1988 to the present 62.1 per cent or an average 0.8 per cent forest growth rate annually. The result is remarkable — one you can’t find elsewhere,” he said.
“Natural forest recovery rate is extremely slow. Thus, the silviculture efforts and practices adopted are reflected in the progress and achievements we have made today,” he added.
Presently, Hainan is the largest producer of mango, covering a yield area of 700,000 mu (one mu is equivalent to 0.1647 acres) apart from rubber trees, Burmese pythons and Chinese buffaloes in China.
Recognising the importance of the forest ecosystem and biodiversity, Zhou emphasised that the government’s strong support and commitment were crucial to driving the industries and achieving positive outcomes.
“In this regard, our government offers various incentives and compensations to encourage and promote commercial forestry, targeting not only private sector involvement but also those of the local communities and ordinary people or any efforts to improve our ecological environment and sustain forest goods and services,” he said.
The incentives and compensations vary, depending on the scale and type of development with consideration for factors such as land condition, logistics, operation cost and objective, among others.
“For instance, the scale is higher for coastlines and those contributing to the environment and socioeconomic growth. To accelerate development, we move to minimise constraints, including lowering or removing high fees and taxes, as well as introducing less restrictive regulations to reduce financial burdens, spur interests, motivate planters, encourage R&D and sustain on-going and future efforts.
“We know the hardships planters or investors have to endure, especially in the early years,” he said on the approaches to create a favourable environment for forest establisment.
Peter Ling, in commending such approaches, noted that the government of China is the prime mover behind the progress and sustainability of the country’s forests and related industries.
“The Chinese government has invested a lot in infrastructures to help develop the tree plantation industry. Hainan is the first province in the China to ban harvesting of trees from natural forest since 1994.
Establishment of forest plantation has been encouraged via incentives to tree planters, besides minimal intervention.”
Other enabling factors or key points meriting mention are as follows: Land uses are clearly demarcated by the Hainan Provincial government and approval is required for any changes in the land use to ensure uninterupted tree planting programmes in the province. Given the limited area available in China for farming, tree plantations are distributed in mosaic like patterns, clustered between other land uses such as agricultural cropland and fruit orchards. Cash and seedling subsidies are given to encourage farmers, especially smallholders and private investors, to plant and sell with minimal intervention. No royalty and cess are collected from the plantation logs. Sales tax is collected from the timber products and this income is channelled back to the industry through the provision of incentives for forest plantation development. Support for the development of the entire supply chain of the timber sector from forest to sawmill to processing and end products that, in turn, create business opportunities and jobs as well as increase local incomes in the process. For cost efficiency, small to medium size sawmills maintained by three to four people are set up near forests and plantations to process wood and sell back to manufacturing facilities while other wood residues and waste are sold to paper company and energy plant for biomass power generation.
DUE to lack of natural forests and to meet growing demand of industries, Eucalyptus is being introduced because it is fast growing, requiring short rotation, and productivity can be increased very quickly by intensive management in clonal plantation.
In 2015, Eucalyptus plantations covered 4.4 million ha or 6.38 per cent of forests in China with an annual harvest of 25 million cubic metres (m3)or 16.23 per cent.
The country’s Eucalyptus supply chain, valued at RMB300 billion, includes pulp and paper (10 million tonne per year), artificial board (10 million m3/per year), seedlings (1 billion plants) and fertilisers (1.5 million tonne per year). The supply chain has also expanded to furniture production, essential oil, honey nectar and candies.
China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC), directly subordinate to Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), is China’s national institute for Eucalypt research. The CERC’s responsibility is to organise and consolidate eucalypt research and publicise research results.
Since its establishment in 1987, CERC has completed many national key projects, international cooperation projects and provincial projects.
It has become the largest, most professional and important eucalypt research institute in China with research programmes covering tree breeding, silviculture, nursery techniques, wood processing, vegetative propagation, ecology and forest protection.
The Centre has four main laboratories — Breeding and Genetics, Forest Protection, Physiology and Ecology and Soil and Foliage Analytical Services.
The CAF started to establish the South China Experiment Nursery (SCEN) on 200 hectares. It was completed in 2003 and merged with CERC the following year.
In SCEN, 65 ha are dedicated to eucalypt trials, 66 ha to ornamental plants and 69 ha to green and shadow houses and office buildings.
The earliest eucalypt plantation, cultivated in 1952 mainly to supply the coal plants and construction industry, has been inherited and maintained by the Centre until today.
The Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry (RITF-CAF) affiliated to the State Forestry Administration (SFA), is a nonprofit research institute aimed at providing technical services or solutions to enhance ecological and key forest project construction in the tropical and south subtropical regions of China, and build an open platform for forest research, innovation and international cooperation in tropical and south subtropical areas.
The main research fields cover terrestrial and wetland ecosystems, forest tree genetics and breeding, silviculture, cultivation of valuable tree species, non-timber forest resources, urban forestry and applied microbiology.
These dedicated R&D agencies have been assigned to conduct research, provide technical support and advice as well as supply improved planting materials for the planters.
Technical support
Better knowledge through experience, trial and error but most importantly R&D, is critical to the future of the forest industry if it is to increase impact, ensure quality of forest resources and prevent waste of money and effort.
This will definitely boost the private sector in terms increased technical support, backed by research information and supply of high quality sapplings of suitable tree species to accelerate private sector efforts and improve the prospects of success.
Lack of knowledge and expertise will lead to a lot of problems, including the impact on soil and land, slow growth and poor or planting of wrong species, all of which will not only cost the industry heavily but also the State Government in terms of loss of cess, taxes and employment.
The importance of sustained funding and focused R&D is reiterated in all areas the delegation visited in Southern China.
On R&D spending, CERC deputy director Chen Shaoxiong said the government provides fixed fundings for individual researchers (on project basis) and for managing on-going projects, besides collaborating with the private sector with mutual interests.
“We can also propose and apply for additional funding at different levels of the government to start new and better projects. Of course, most of the funding comes from the government. For instance, this year, the government has allocated RMB9 million
— with RMB1 million contributed by the private sector.”
R&D plays a very important role in managing forest plantation risks posed by pests, diseases and natural disasters. To further enhance the industry,
committee, alliance or group, comprising local and international scientists, planters and stakeholders, dedicated to resolving issues faced by the planters, are also set up.
Through focused research, the yield of Eucalyptus hybrids has increased from 5m3/ha/per year in 1960 to 20m3/ha/per year in 2010. Eucalyptus clones, resistant to wind (typhoon) and pests and diseases, have also been produced.
Perspective on challenges and lessons learnt
Even though the current highest average mean annual increment recorded by APP is about 30m3/ha/ per year, it is, however, still below the average yield of 40-45 m3/ha/ per year in Brazil. Even though Eucalyptus has a ready market in China, the high costs of production, including high land rentals and labour costs, have affected the profitability of the forest plantation industry. As a result, many planters have stopped planting, especially in Hainan and Guangzhou. RITF director and chief research scientist Xu Daping said they had reduced planting of Eucalyptus in several areas, including Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan, due notably to low economic productivity of fast-growing species. “We have turned to more valuable species and because labour cost is higher and the land lease is expensive, so we can’t turn around the low productivity. For example, the field labour to plant trees was about RMB30 per day 20 years ago but today, it’ss RMB300, equivalent to tenfold increase but timber price has not changed much.” Apart from labour shortage due mainly to the millennial generation’s reluctance to do the hard work, Xu emphasised the market would also be adversely affected because of price volatility. “Half of the companies, including those invested in Eucalyptus in China, are “losing” money — the same with rattan, one of the previously concentrated species but has now disappeared due to the high costs in harvesting rather than in cultivation.” In view of this, the RITF has advocated the planting of longrotation high value native species as the Eucalyptus produced cannot compete with Brazil in terms of higher mean annual increment, and Indonesia which has cheaper labour and land rent. However, the committee chairman Peter Ling observed that this practice has not been adopted by the industry as the return on investment is unknown due to market restrictions and timing uncertainties. Considering the key characteristics of the environment, market performances and scenarios which differ from country to country, Xu is, however, optimistic Malaysia will play the big role in providing valuable timber for the next generation. “Tree planting is timeconsuming and professional knowledge is important. You can concentrate on small area with intensive management. Malaysia should be a good country to plant valuable tree species,” he said. Keeping this advice in view, Ling acknowledged the need to highlight some of the critical issues in order to arrive at sound decisions for the benefit of forest plantation, particularly in Sarawak.