The World Forest Situation 



tured wood far less per person than 

 the industrialized nations. 



The slightly industrialized regions 

 Asia, Africa, and South America 

 and countries such as Greece, Leba- 

 non, Honduras, and French West 

 Africa use relatively little manufac- 

 tured wood. The slightly industrial- 

 ized regions and countries are in two 

 broad categories those with little for- 

 est area per person and those with rela- 

 tively much. The first group uses little 

 wood, even for fuel. This in extreme 

 form, as in China, India, and the 

 Middle East, results in use of agricul- 

 tural refuse and dung as fuel, materials 

 that should be returned to the cropped 

 soils. The second may have a rela- 

 tively high per person use mostly for 

 fuel as in Honduras, Puerto Rico, 

 and French Equatorial Africa. 



The per person rate of consumption 

 for the United States is among the 

 highest for any region or country and 

 indicates the level toward which a 

 vigorous and developing economy and 

 a growing population may push the 

 use of wood. 



About half of the world's total con- 

 sumption of wood is as fuel. 



How SIGNIFICANT these present 

 generalizations may be in the future 

 will depend on future developments in 

 various regions and countries, and 

 these are not predictable. 



But it is worth noting that the Soviet 

 Union has changed in a few years from 

 a net exporter to a net importer of 

 forest products, partly because of a 

 major program of industrial develop- 

 ment. The United States has long been 

 a net importer of all forest products. 

 From 1920 to 1940 she was a net ex- 

 porter of lumber, but has since become 

 a net importer, except by a narrow 

 margin in 1947. 



On the whole, an extremely large 

 latent demand for wood must exist in 

 many of the present low-use countries. 



Either of two developments could 

 turn potential use into actual use. Any 

 substantial industrial development 

 would do so, and this could include 



certain forms of intensive agriculture, 

 particularly those involving fruits and 

 vegetables and other foods processed 

 and packed for consumer use. Any 

 substantial increase of living standard 

 also could do so. A relatively small 

 change upward in housing standards, 

 the addition of a small weekly news- 

 paper, or another use of pulpwood to 

 the average family income would add 

 greatly to the total and per person use 

 of wood. If the nearly 1 *4 billion peo- 

 ple of Asia should raise consumption 

 to the level now in effect in South 

 America, an increase of more than one- 

 third in the total drain on the world's 

 forests would result. Even a continua- 

 tion of present per person use will 

 mean increased total demand, for pop- 

 ulation is increasing rapidly, partic- 

 ularly in the countries with low use of 

 wood or with a low level of indus- 

 trialization. 



It is speculative whether all of this 

 increased demand will develop. But it 

 would appear prudent for countries, 

 regions, and the world to act in the 

 expectation that some increase in ef- 

 fective demand for wood products will 

 develop. 



The essential facts of the forestry 

 and forest-products situation and of 

 the trends in economic affairs indicate 

 how possible is an increased consump- 

 tion of forest products. 



The essentials are: 



1. Industrialization requires use of 

 relatively large quantities of general 

 utility softwoods. Substitution of trop- 

 ical hardwoods for softwoods under 

 existing technological and economic 

 conditions will be slow and difficult. 



2. The major sources of supply for 

 softwoods are Canada, United States, 

 the Soviet Union, and northern Eu- 

 rope. Of these, only the first is now a 

 net exporter. The United States and 

 northern Europe cannot supply their 

 own net estimated needs for some time. 



3. Native softwood supplies in 

 South America, Africa, Asia, and 

 Oceania are less than required for the 

 long run for those regions. They are 

 now net importers. 



