Agriculture and Environment: Wood Pulp

Environmental Impacts of Production: Habitat Conversion and Deforestation

The establishment of extensive monoculture plantations results in a loss of biodiversity, irrespective of the vegetation type existing before the plantations were established.

Indonesia's policy of clear-cutting native forests with outstanding biodiversity and then establishing plantations is an extreme example.

Similarly, native or old growth forests have been, and in some cases still are being, logged and chipped in Canada, the United States, Chile, and Tasmania; afterwards they are replaced by plantations.

Conversion of natural forests to plantations accounts for 6-7% of all forest conversion each year (Cossalter and Pye-Smith 2003). According to some estimates, 15% of all plantations in the tropics were established on lands where natural forests were cleared immediately prior to planting the seedlings (Mattoon 1998).

However, even if plantations replace degraded forest or grasslands, there is a loss of biodiversity when monoculture plantations of exotic, introduced species are planted. The initial clearing is not the end of the process. After seedling trees are planted, other seedlings and sprouts of native vegetation are attacked aggressively to prevent them from competing with the desired species. This is done through hand or mechanical weeding or with the use of herbicides.

Once tree plantations are established and branches extend to close the forest canopy, few other species will appear. In short, there is little biodiversity. Native flora and fauna may not be able to adapt to the new habitat. The intensive management of plantations means that epiphytes, parasites, and climbing flora common to tropical forests do not have an opportunity to develop.

Soil flora and fauna also decline due to changes in soil composition and leaf litter. The use of agrochemicals affects leaf litter, and the lack of mature or dead tree results in less habitat available for fungi and insects. Crop pollinators and other ecosystem services offered by natural forests are no longer available.

The few native insects and animals that do find a way to adapt to a specific niche within a plantation tend to increase exponentially because of the large size of industrial plantations. This often causes serious problems, resulting in the need for increased use of agrochemicals or, in severe cases, abandonment of the plantations. For example, the pine shoot moth (Ryacionia buoliana) proved such a problem for pine plantations in Uruguay that they were abandoned (World Rainforest Movement 1999).

Plantations are sometimes established on marginal or unsuitable lands, which may also increase environmental problems. In Indonesia, the Sinar Mas group intends to establish extensive plantations on peatlands, which will increase fire and environmental management risks.

An independent audit concluded tat these risks have not been adequately addressed (Amec Simons Forest Industry Consulting 2001). Furthermore, such lands are not as productive, so they will have financial implications that could affect the overall viability of the company.