Friday, September 2, 2011
International Year of Forests 2011
Sustainable forestry: New woods from the glasshouse
Over the past five years, Bayer CropScience has been helping its customers in the forestry sector to plant trees and to keep them healthy.
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| Most tree nurseries use rapid-growing, high-yielding varieties, which they raise in the glasshouse for about 80 to 90 days, before transplanting out into the field. | |
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This is why weed control is also an important matter in forestry. And there will soon be a new tool to support this activity: “In 2012, we will launch the new active substance indaziflam into the forestry market under the leading brand name Esplanade™ – at first in Argentina, then in Brazil, Chile, Australia and other countries”, enthuses Flavio Brandao, Forestry Manager for Bayer CropScience’s Environmental Science business unit.
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| Flavio Brandao lives in Brazil. He is responsible for Bayer CropScience’s Forestry Plantation segment. |
Harvest after five to 40 years
Flavio Brandao, who comes from Brazil, is the Forestry Manager responsible for Bayer CropScience’s Forestry Plantation business segment, which was founded in 2005. It’s main target is a particularly promising segment of the forestry sector: the plantation market. The main actors here are the large forestry companies whose goal is to cultivate high-yielding trees – especially for the production of paper pulp and lumber. This involves raising young trees in the greenhouse and then transplanting them out into plantations. The species of most interest to the industry is pine, followed by eucalyptus, teak, poplar, acacia and mahogany. The wood can be harvested from five to 40 years after transplantation: the exact timing depends on the particular tree species.
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| The young plants are sensitive to attack by pests and diseases during the early stages of growth in the raising box. Fungicides and insecticides are often applied as standard treatments to keep the plants healthy. | |
The trees need most care and protection during the first two years of growth, because this is the period of greatest vulnerability to competition from a variety of broad-leaved and grassy weeds. But weeds are not the only problem. Even insects such as the leaf-cutting ant or the bark beetle can cause considerable harm to trees. This makes the targeted, professional use of herbicides and insecticides particularly important – and Flavio Brandao and his staff are there to help.
“With a total of 20 different brands, we have the broadest portfolio of products and solutions to help the forestry sector to maximize yields” explains Brandao. “Our customers, large paper and pulp companies, are very technology-oriented and open to any new developments that can increase productivity.” The search for new active substances and approaches succeeds through close collaboration between Bayer CropScience’s Crop Protection and Environmental Science divisions.
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| The popularity of Eucalyptus for the wood processing industry lies in its ability to grow quickly and to produce high-quality wood. |
But the activities are not restricted to the sale of products: “We offer complete solutions,” emphasizes Brandao. Examples include regular visits to the greenhouses and plantations, consistent support and advice on raising, transplanting and subsequent care of the trees – and even more: “At the moment, we are investigating the extent to which our products have a positive effect on the CO2 emissions of one of our major Brazilian customers.”
Among the key partners in these activities are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC). Both organizations are committed to promoting sustainable forestry, and they issue the corresponding international seals of quality. “Our customers share our ideals regarding the stewardship of the living environment,” explains Brandao: “Almost all of the companies we cooperate with are FSC-certified, and are interested in solutions that are compatible with the principles behind the certification.”
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| Bayer CropScience’s experts meet regularly in order to exchange their knowledge of tree-raising and to discuss new, innovative ways of keeping tree crops healthy. | |
And a whole new business segment could become ever more important in future: the planting of various tree species for nature conservation or other non-commercial purposes. Here, the use of chemical crop protection products is mostly prohibited, but pest management methods based on biological agents is allowed. “We also expect to be successful in this area,” predicts Brandao. Work is in full swing in our Development department.”
Our planet is graced by over four billion hectares of forest. That’s equivalent to 30.3 percent of the global land surface and corresponds to an average of 0.6 hectares (6000 square meters) – slightly less than the area of a football field – per head of population. The five most densely-forested countries are: the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China, which together carry more than half of the global forest area. Planted forest continued to increase The total global area under forest declined by 5.2 million hectares a year between 2000 and 2010. At the same time, the proportion of planted forest continued to increase, growing by around five million hectares in the same period. In 2010, planted forest represented seven percent of the world’s total forest area. This is equivalent to 264 million hectares. Source: The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) |
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