Chile’s Forests : A Pillar for Inclusive and Sustainable Development
The economic success of the Chilean forest sector relies heavily on its forest plantations, which are facing significant challenges. Plantations are intensively managed for pulp and other wood products for export. This commercial orientation has pr...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/379851591243537122/Chile-s-Forests-A-Pillar-for-Inclusive-and-Sustainable-Development-Country-Forest-Note http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33894 |
| Summary: | The economic success of the Chilean
forest sector relies heavily on its forest plantations,
which are facing significant challenges. Plantations are
intensively managed for pulp and other wood products for
export. This commercial orientation has promoted voluntary
forest management and chain of custody certification and the
development and adoption of the Chilean Sustainable Forest
Management Certification System (CERTFOR). However, as
afforestation rates decline, overall production in forest
plantations is falling, which can be explained by lower
productivity and management effectiveness of small- and
medium-sized forest plantations. Additional challenges
include (a) the environmental impact of current management
practices, and (b) the possibility of a wood deficit in the
coming years. With the focus shifting away from
plantations, Chile’s native forests have the potential to
provide an increasing range of goods and services. Native
forests are generally characterized by unsustainable
management practices and thus are highly degraded, often
only providing firewood. While considerable research on
silvicultural techniques has been conducted, only small
areas have adopted sustainable forest management practices,
with a focus on thinning of second-growth forests and
selective cuttings. However, native forests have the
potential to revitalize regional and local economies through
more sustainable management systems. For this resource to be
sustainably utilized, it is essential to address challenges
such as degradation, decapitalization, and poor development
of the goods/services market that natural forests generate.
Native forests have enormous resilience, and, over time, can
recover and build more sustainable production systems,
consequently increasing the supply of timber and nontimber
resources, as well as biodiversity and other ecosystem services. |
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