Reference was made to trends in efficiency of end use of other natural resources such as water and energy. A combination of more efficient end use and improved technology suggest that, notwithstanding concerns that have been expressed by many concerned environmental groups about depletion of such resources and prospects of acute scarcity, it will be possible to supply the needs of a world of 10 billion people while at the same time protecting the environment. Similar trends are predicted for forests. Forests have been cleared for agriculture and wood products, but in developed country regions such as Europe and North America, the trend is reversing and the areas of affected lands have begun to shrink. The reversal is due, in part, to increased productivity of agriculture, which has allowed yields and production to rise while the area of land devoted to agriculture has leveled.
Similar improvements are evident in the forest products industry.
By contrast, an intensive management system based on improved yields and increased efficiency of end use would require only one-quarter of the world s forests. The possibilities for more than 10 fold increases in forest productivity and for providing an alternative source of wood supply to extensive harvesting of natural forests have already been demonstrated in the intensively managed forests of countries such as New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, South Africa and Kenya. These are the questions that the project will attempt to address. One suggested approach to answer the above questions would be to set desirable forest conservation targets, based on analysis of the potential for reducing threats to forests. A major thrust of the project is on how to meet world demand for industrial forest products such as timber, plywood and paper in ways that will benefit both local people and the environment.